Word: decentering
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Justice, in this case, cries out for acquittal. For Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel L. Jackson) is a decent man, and if ever a homicide was justifiable, the vengeance he wreaks on his child's tormentors is it. On the other hand, Hailey is black, the jury is entirely white, the venue is a small town deep in the Southern boondocks, and the prosecutor (Kevin Spacey at his snakiest) is of course politically ambitious, therefore legalistically relentless...
...course, it is hard enough to be a decent and intelligent private person. In the late 20th century, when the media magnify every private witlessness of public figures, then even the appearances of traditional majesty are at risk. Walter Bagehot wrote of the monarchy in the 19th century: "You must not let daylight in upon magic." You must not let daylight in upon Dracula either. Relentless public exposure is the death of grandeur, especially when there are tapes from the phone conversations. The tabloid is to the House of Windsor as a summer dawn to the Transylvanian count...
...with; but surely it imposes upon them an obligation where their children are concerned. A lot of illustrious parents have produced unhappy offspring. Winston Churchill, himself a neglected child, did not do well with his profligate boozehound son Randolph. On the other hand, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis raised sane and decent children against what, one guesses, were considerable odds. Bill and Hillary Clinton, whatever their private shortcomings, seem to be faring well in giving their daughter a constructive, intelligent upbringing...
...persuade him to put troops on alert to "bring pressure on the President." Said Lebed: "I took measures of my own. I told the Ministry not to send Grachev's directives to the troops. Then I visited the headquarters of the Moscow military districts, where I met very decent people." According to defense analyst Vitali Shlykov, "Official cars kept rushing between the Ministry and the dachas of [Grachev loyalists]." Korzhakov and Mikhail Barsukov, head of the Federal Security Service, the domestic successor to the KGB, also got busy on the phone and sent aides to calm down military units around...
...many leaders who have dedicated everything to peace in the Middle East have fallen, either to ballots or to bullets. Shimon Peres was not a consummate politician, but then a consummate politician would not have risked everything for his cause. What Peres has proved himself to be is a decent human being--and a true visionary. What greater honor could be bestowed upon him than for the U.N. to name him as its next Secretary-General? No diplomat on the world stage has been so dedicated to the cause of peace and so tireless in pursuing the U.N.'s primary...