Word: deflective
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...could usurp his anti-Washington, outsider mantle, reminds anyone who'll listen that Wilson pledged to finish his full term as California's Governor, "and should do just that." Phil Gramm's aides point to inconsistencies in Wilson's record--"opportunistic wafflings," says Gramm strategist Charles Black. Wilson advisers deflect such shots with blithe confidence. "Big deal," says pollster Dick Dresner. "Clinton swore he'd serve his term [as Arkansas' Governor], and no one's record is totally coherent...
ELIZABETH HURLEY, known chiefly for standing near Briton du jour Hugh Grant in photogenic outfits, is the new face of Estee Lauder. Now she might be able to deflect attention from another part of her anatomy. Hurley wasn't overjoyed when Grant publicly described her breasts as "magnificent, the best pair in London." While she believes in a free press, Hurley says, "I'd often like to censor Hugh Grant...
...healthy tradition of culling its favorite sons and daughters from unexpected niches. Merrill attended Amherst College, but his education was interrupted by a year of military service in Europe in 1944. A mere World War, though, and the tumultuous love affairs he also endured, were hardly sufficient to deflect his sense of purpose. Year by year, with ferocious industry, he added to his glittering shelf of books...
...Fault lines also became apparent regarding the proposed balanced- budget amendment, with moderate Republicans (joined by some Democrats) objecting to a provision that would mandate a three-fifths majority of both houses to approve tax increases. Of course, Republicans' differences weren't so great that they couldn't deflect Democratic demands that a balanced-budget amendment include a detailed plan laying out proposed spending cuts. And in the Senate, G.O.P. leaders marshaled through a measure adopted by the House that would subject Congress to employment laws already applicable to the private sector...
...practical counterargument is that it would buy time for the public school system. One of the great engines of disenchantment with the way bureaucrats instruct children is the religious right, for which Johnny's inability to pray and to read are linked. Returning prayer to public schools might deflect conservative evangelicals from the campaign against the education establishment. Evangelists for school choice don't want the public school system to get better; they want it to get worse, as a prelude to getting out of it and into private schools. To them the push for prayer is like asking...