Word: timidity
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...such modest goals sound like crazed radicalism? Because, a male observer is forced to admit, men and male-dominated institutions are exceedingly timid about revolution. Perhaps, however, Hochschild's prickly, irritating, distressingly reasonable book can help us to see the next step. The call used to be for soft-center males, studs who could cry. That was silly. Men don't cry. They brood, and mutter, and sulk, sometimes for hours on end, while on TV the Red Sox are slowly dying. That's fine, the author is saying, but not while there are children to be bathed, dinner...
Paying heed to the cataclysmic outcome of that refusal, the Kremlin calibrated its response with great care. Early in the week, the Congress issued a timid resolution urging that "wisdom, sound reason and a balanced approach" prevail in China. Later, caution became less evident. "We hadn't expected this," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennadi Gerasimov, adding that his government was "extremely dismayed" over the events in China. But Moscow's options were limited. After almost two decades of exchanging ideological insults, the Chinese were scarcely prepared to accept a lecture from the Soviets. In any case, admonitions would only feed...
Bush was frustrated. Deeply stung by domestic and allied criticism that he was drifting into a policy of pallid reaction to Kremlin moves, disappointed in the much touted "review" of Soviet policy that advised only a timid "status quo plus," Bush finally found the urge for action. More important, Baker returned from Moscow convinced that the Soviets were "really serious" about transforming the conventional balance. Gorbachev had laid out a forthcoming Soviet offer that looked as if it would produce both a propaganda coup and an opening for negotiations. Says a senior White House official: "Baker had a feeling that...
...straightforward production of Abundance, a skeptical re-examination of 19th century frontier mythology through the eyes of two mail-order brides. Henley's underlying theme seems to be the way people change during the course of life, often swapping roles with intimates: the exuberant pioneer gradually becomes a timid drudge, while her starry-eyed friend hardens into an adventurer. The final scenes do too much too fast and too vaguely. But the script has the makings of Henley's best work since her stunning debut in Crimes of the Heart...
...stand-up material. David Letterman, camp counselor on NBC's irreverent Late Night, seems to have boosted his political consciousness as well -- not just in his brief monologues but in such regular bits as the often hilarious Top Ten lists. Newcomer Pat Sajak also takes regular, if timid, swings at political figures like Vice President Quayle...