Word: tepidity
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When George W. Bush addressed the U.N. in New York City last month, the applause was tepid, the audience somber. When Laura Bush addressed UNESCO, the U.N.'s scientific and cultural offshoot, in Paris last week, the response was heady, enthusiastic. Sure, that's partly because she's a coiffed First Lady and not a controversial President--but the glowing response was also because Mrs. Bush spoke in the gentle, feminist language penned by consigliere Karen Hughes that U.N. types favor. At times she even sounded a bit like Hillary Clinton, saying that "learning empowers women to ask questions...
...hardly hide their sense that the Bush Administration is getting what it deserves. When Bush spoke before the U.N. General Assembly last Tuesday, he faced an audience he has often described as having the enthusiasm of a "wax museum." The applause that greeted his speech was tepid, while that reserved for war opponent Jacques Chirac, the French President, was, at least by the U.N.'s decorous standards, positively thunderous...
...carrot sticks and rice, so that you don’t eat your fill of meat later on. Be strong, and don’t succumb to the temptation. Many an eager young eater’s challenge has fallen by the wayside after he loads up early on tepid fried eggplant and mediocre garlic bread...
...minorities are in the upper ranks of most fields, in part because of past discrimination or current inequalities. And they think that the leadership class of our society should look like the rest of it. It's a laudable goal, and it's why I remain at least a tepid supporter of affirmative action. But let's stop using this notion of diversity to sidestep the real issue. Colleges don't want more minority students so we can all hold hands and sing It's a Small World. Why can't we just say what the real goal...
Many of their efforts have met with only tepid success, however...