Word: devilment
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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DIPLOMATS in Peking categorically affirm that China wants to see President Nixon re-elected this fall. Reasons? Foremost is the fact that the Chinese know Nixon, respect him, and feel that they understand his and Kissinger's way of thinking and political philosophy; better the devil they know than the one they do not. Second, they feel that reactionaries in general are easier to manipulate. Third, Chou En-lai is reported to doubt whether McGovern can ever enact the reforms he has promised, even if he is elected. In particular, Chou is suspicious of the McGovern plan to withdraw...
...Downey's Messiah is a vaudevillian, his devil is a figure of preposterous melodrama-a glowering, gun-toting saloonkeeper named Greaser (Albert Henderson) who keeps his mother behind bars ("You'll always be my favorite," she reassures him) and who suffers from chronic constipation. His trips to the privy are state occasions, with his retinue of dim-witted subordinates nervously circling outside, awaiting glad tidings of relief that are never forthcoming...
ANWAR SADAT has survived for two years by giving the devil his due-or at least the Soviet Union. But he was saddled with Soviet forces in Egypt far larger and more arrogant than he had ever contemplated, and he was stymied by an intransigent Soviet position on just what Egypt's role against Israel ought to be. So last week Sadat decided it was time to about-face. Addressing the central committee of the Arab Socialist Union, Egypt's only political party, Sadat announced to gasps and grins that he had decided to boot Soviet "advisers...
There had been student demonstrations protesting Sadat's inaction and the unreliability of his Soviet allies. Old army colleagues who, with Sadat, had helped Gamal Abdel Nasser seize revolutionary power 20 years ago this week sent Sadat a secret memo about extravagant dependence on the Soviet devil. The contents were so sensitive that Sadat refused to make them public (a copy was eventually shaken free in Paris...
...Fiats named Dick Balch. He moves his wares with the help of a 12-lb. sledgehammer. In ten-second TV spots, Balch has used the hammer to bash in the windshields, headlights and fenders of some 200 of his shiny new cars. His cockeyed routine often includes a devil's costume, a maniacal post-impact laugh and the question, "If you can't trust your car dealer, who can you trust?" This bang-up if nonsensical commercial has drawn attention as well as plenty of customers and has made Balch a local celebrity. Psychologists may ponder the reason...