Word: loath
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...sanctity-of-boundaries standard that Third World members held dear. Idi Amin's Uganda, Pol Pot's Cambodia and other killing fields piled up bones unchecked in large part because the carnage was performed within sovereign borders. Many developing countries were disturbed by these atrocities, but they remained loath to compromise the U.N. Charter's criterion for use of outside force; the days of "intervention" by Western colonial empires were too recent. Beyond that, some U.N. members did not bear much scrutiny when it came to internal violence. While condemning bloodshed in Soweto, for example, Syria freely bombarded insurgents...
...More important, it's not clear that the president believes change is necessary. When he speaks of change, he usually means pushing domestic policy farther right. But he has not Shown the political will to do that in the last three and a half years, and he is understandably loath to criticize his own decisions...
...priorities dramatically. He used to emphasize deficit reduction and tax breaks for the middle class, but now considers "investment" the key to economic growth. Unfortunately, since everything he does and says should be geared toward repressing the conclusion that he is too slick for high office, Clinton is still loath to confess the change. He continues to deny the obvious; his advocacy of a middle-class tax-rate cut was a sop to New Hampshire's strapped primary voters, and his scaling back of that promise today merely confirms a new and more sober political and economic stance...
...filtering institutions may be inevitable, but it is no cause for celebration. The parties, Big Media and Congress are, Lord knows, unwieldy, obtrusive and often offensive. But they're all we've got. Until we find something else to stand | between us and the maximum leader, we should be loath to throw them away...
...emphatic, headstrong side of the President -- a side the Irish would relish -- is rarely seen. She admits that she doused the spontaneous side of her nature when she joined the bewigged, masculine Irish bar. Even now she is loath to provide a glimpse into her exemplary private life. When she toured the U.S. last fall, she came across as rather straitlaced. An American who talked to her said the unthinkable: "She's Nancy Reagan -- only good...