Word: firestorm
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...January, when Pope Benedict XVI reversed the 1988 excommunication of four bishops of an ultra-traditionalist Catholic group called the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), he probably knew it would ignite a firestorm. The church has significant unresolved problems with the society, among them its gross disobedience to the previous Pope. Benedict was determined to try to end a schism with a movement that exhibits a fervent piety he shares and is trying to encourage in Europe, where SSPX is strongest. But almost simultaneous with the Pope's announcement, a Swedish-TV interview surfaced in which SSPX bishop Richard...
...taking on the task. Among other objections, they felt that the military was better equipped to deal with interrogating prisoners of war; the military, after all, had its own interrogation school. But, as the message came down, then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, apparently aware of the potential political firestorm that would result, had grown nervous about the Pentagon's initial involvement...
...Michigan, who head the two congressional judiciary committees, have argued for such a panel, modeled on the widely respected one that studied 9/11. Having sparked the current conflagration by releasing the memos, Obama can only hope that creating such a commission could tamp it down - and keep this political firestorm from sucking up the valuable political oxygen he needs for his many other initiatives...
...AIDS Prevention Research Project and had worked and researched extensively on the HIV pandemic afflicting sub-Saharan Africa. And his conclusions, expressing agreement with Pope Benedict XVI—who, on his recent trip to the continent, had denied the panacean potential of prophylactics—provoked a miniature firestorm...
...This was a rare instance of Barack Obama reacting reflexively, without attempting to think creatively, about a serious policy question. He was, in fact, taking the traditional path of least resistance: an unexpected answer on marijuana would have launched a tabloid firestorm, diverting attention from the budget fight and all those bailouts. In fact, the default fate of any politician who publicly considers the legalization of marijuana is to be cast into the outer darkness. Such a person is assumed to be stoned all the time, unworthy of being taken seriously. Such a person would be lacerated by the assorted...