Word: softenings
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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While at Williamsburg, Reagan reportedly authorized Kohl to raise the possibility of a U.S.-Soviet summit when he goes to Moscow next month. Some White House advisers believe a meeting with Andropov would help Reagan politically in 1984, since it would probably soften his cold warrior image. But others reportedly feel that it could backfire unless it yields progress on arms control. In the past, Reagan has said he would be willing to sit down with his Soviet counterpart only if there was a chance of producing substantive results...
...report out a strengthened variant of a Senate "compromise." passed 91 to 5 last month, that would postpone withholding for four years and, in the interim, step up tax enforcement. Reagan, who in the past has pledged to veto any attempt to repeal or postpone withholding, appeared to soften his stance in the face of the veto-proof votes. Said he: "I'm going to wait and see what they come up with there on the Hill...
...extremely heavy, brutal and prolonged" Soviet bombing of rebel regions, and repeated the U.S. desire "to see Afghanistan's agony brought to an end through Soviet troop withdrawal as part of a negotiated settlement." Western military analysts in Pakistan said that the Soviets may be trying to soften up their withdrawal routes for the time when a pullout is arranged. But Moscow was hardly taking any chances. In Ghazni, south of Kabul, some 10,000 Soviet troops, along with ground and air support, were reportedly massed in preparation for a maneuver to seal off the border with Pakistan...
During his two-term mayoral stint, which ended in 1980, the tough-talking Rizzo earned enemies among blacks and liberals for his outspoken support of a police department they considered to be brutal to blacks and insensitive to citizens' rights. To soften his combative image during the current campaign, Rizzo signed up for some public relations cosmetology. First he hired New York Media Consultant David Sawyer, who attempted unsuccessfully to portray his barrel-chested client as wiser and mellower. Then Sawyer's replacement, Baltimore Consultant Robert Goodman, promised to show "not the old Rizzo or the new Rizzo...
...racism, even male chauvinism or the belabored-to-death class system, but an enemy there must be. Americans often make a hash of British plays, mangling not just the accents but the invective. Sometimes, though, an American director's instinctively naturalistic approach, evoking a slice of life, can soften a didactic play and give it newfound emotional depth...