Word: downplay
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Despite overflowing praise from Gomes, Flores, and others, in his brief remarks, Sullenberger sought to graciously downplay the magnitude of his heroism...
...they fail to note that hotter summers and increasing droughts could threaten agriculture. They assert that sea levels can rise only 1.5 ft. over the coming century, ignoring the very real risk of accelerated melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, which would multiply that number. They downplay the risks of carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. And they make a habit of referring to any climate scientist who expresses fear over a warmer future as a "doomsayer" - a bit of a loaded term...
...would send "the wrong signal," warned Campbell. His boss agrees. "Sanctions remain important as part of our policy," said Hillary Clinton, describing them and engagement as "tools" to achieve the same goal: democracy in Burma. Considering Than Shwe's nonexistent track record on reform, U.S. officials are right to downplay the impact of engagement. Barring any real concessions from the hard man himself - starting with the release of Suu Kyi and other political prisoners prevented from running in next year's polls - democracy remains a distant prospect. "Everyone is calling for reform, but I don't think Than Shwe feels...
...several Twitterers suspect that the Nobel Prize may hinder Obama from doing just that by galvanizing his opponents at home and ratcheting up the unrealistic expectations he's been trying to downplay since he entered the White House. Here's @alexevansuk again: "I can hardly wait for reactions on US conservative blogs." Another Twitter regular says, "If the Nobel Committee deliberately set out to sabotage Obama, they couldn't have done it better." Actually, that was me. I'm sure many others will have made much the same point by now. Twitter often reminds users how many different viewpoints there...
...American capitalism, one wonders why an author with such a nuanced command of language would resort to clichés so elementary in composition. Volpi rounds out his scattered and unsatisfying account of 20th century history with a flurry of fictional accidents and tragedies that he seems to downplay as simple “proof of the irrationality of the future, the name we humans give to entropy.” Perhaps Volpi diminishes the significance of his character’s individual tragedies for the very purpose of making his point, but his failure to give us any reason...