Word: undercutting
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...directly with the Viet Cong? The notion certainly appealed to Laborite Wilson's troublesome left wing, but as a diplomatic stroke it was less than inspired. The Viet Cong is not a government, and does not even claim to be. To dignify the Communist guerrillas thus would seriously undercut Washington's insistence that it will only discuss peace with the Viet Cong's masters in Hanoi. At week's end the mission reconsidered its plans, and Wilson announced that their flying safari might be called off entirely unless at least one Communist government relented and agreed...
...where the fighting is. Thousands who could by now be back home are serving voluntary second and third tours of duty in Viet Nam. They have had hard going, but almost to a man they believe that the Vietnamese war can be won-if only their efforts are not undercut on the home front...
...indignation we are meant to feel is undercut by the "cool" aspect of Duke's existence. Like James Bond, he and his companions appear to have a sort of moral license to enjoy the forbidden pleasures of promiscuity, drink, and bloody adventures. Their hip talk and brotherhood in crime have an alluring in-group quality. Miss Clarke allowed this deceptive appeal to enter her argument when she chose adolescent protagonists...
Dozza thrives on paradox. When Bologna's Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro ordered the shaky old church of San Giorgio torn down, it was Dozza who insisted on repairs to preserve it as an historic landmark. In 1956, when a Christian Democratic candidate for mayor tried to undercut Dozza by promising sweeping social-welfare programs, the Red mayor branded his scheme financially irresponsible, and was re-elected by a landslide...
...whether Miss Worthen is just trying to honestly relate what the narrator might think, or undercut "beatific" with the billboard buddha to tell us something about Laurie or the narrator or both, are important matters about which only her editor knows for sure...