Word: speciously
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Whatever the verdict on Tuesday, whatever the margin of victory, that lingering question has already marred the mantle of legitimacy that would otherwise surround the new President. Nothing, for example, could be more specious than Bush's desperate claims in the waning days of the campaign, "If I win, it will be a mainstream mandate -- that's what this election is all about." A mandate represents a covenant between the candidate and his constituency about what he plans to accomplish. But almost all the causes Bush embraced were both negative and irrelevant to the White House; it would...
...guises suddenly vanished, some severely deranged and dangerous folks would be walking about the streets. That would be O.K. with Masson, who several times states his opinion that mental institutions should be emptied and that "patients should not be incarcerated." In fact, Masson calls schizophrenia a "specious medical disease" and announces that "there is no such medical entity as mental illness...
...after four years the College might actually deserve a little thanks from its students. But the manner in which the Senior Class Gift committee organizes this thanking emphasizes the worst aspects of the University. Not only is the committee's argument about the apolitical nature of the gift specious and manipulative, but the techniques used to raise funds stratify the class and smack of the money mania that makes University fundraising a dangerous ethical game...
Crack's corruption of children is becoming, in the Bible's phrase, a millstone around the neck of American society. Never before has public awareness of the crack crisis been so widespread. But most of the sweeping solutions being offered seem specious, if not unworkable...
...observers believe that when the INF treaty comes before the Senate for ratification, Minority Leader Dole will vote for it. In the meantime, Dole is hedging. For weeks he has said he will reserve judgment until he has a chance to read the agreement. That evasion appears a bit specious because, as a prominent Senator, Dole could be briefed on every facet of the accord. His waiting game is intended to show voters, particularly those on the right, that he is no pushover for either Moscow or the White House...