Word: peccavi
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Impeachment is as much a political as a legal process. It is where the sacrament of penance becomes politically relevant. Clinton performed miserably in his first public ceremonies of repentance, but then last Friday, at the White House prayer breakfast, delivered at last a persuasive peccavi, mea culpa. It was fascinating to watch the President's speech with a window at the bottom of the television screen showing the Dow Jones average moving like an electrocardiogram. The Dow was in losing territory when the Clinton started speaking, and rose steadily into the plus column as he went...
...Peculiar Peccavi. There are presently 150 to 200 Americans held prisoner in North Viet Nam, and from them...
...confessions sound bizarre indeed to anyone familiar with American parlance. Last November, for instance, Radio Havana carried a peculiar peccavi, purportedly in the voice of Commander Jeremiah A. Denton, U.S.N. 485087, U.S.S. Independence. Sorrowfully admitting his "vicious, revolting crimes" in bombing "the innocent people and civilian buildings of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam," the recorded confession continued: "The brave and determined workers of an antiaircraft battery shot down my aircraft." The tape went on to heap praise on "the kindness of heart of the Vietnamese government and people." It made Commander Denton sound just like the boy next door...
...that was in 1843. The Americans who have followed General Napier into Asia are far more apt to say peccavi without intending a pun. Vast numbers of well-meaning Americans are instantly ready to feel guilty and inadequate about their nation's role among the "underdeveloped" peoples. This book is a slashing, oversimplified, often silly and yet not-to-be-ignored attack on the men and women who have taken up the white man's burden for the U.S. in Southeast Asia...
...affairs of fact and rote, it cannot be said that we trained the memory and impoverished the understanding. It is possible that, in brief compass, we taught our students to think on fundamentals sufficiently well to impress their academic mentors. If this be a fault, I ery "Peccavi...