Thursday, July 26, 2007

p3 Euphemism Watch

From a syndicated story picked up on the front page of today's Oregonian, concerning the possibility of perjury charges against the Attorney General:
"Democrats said an intelligence official's statement about a classified surveillance program was at odds with Gonzales's sworn testimony."

"Democrats pointed to the Negroponte letter yesterday in an effort to portray Gonzales's remarks as misleading. They said Gonzales is trying to conceal the existence of a dispute between White House and Justice Department lawyers that involved the surveillance program, which many Democrats have criticized as an illegal or unjustified abuse of executive-branch authority."

"Several Democratic lawmakers … have strongly disputed other Gonzales characterizations of the meeting."

Hmm. What is it that everyone's dancing around here? They seem to be getting a little closer with this:
"The panel's members openly attacked Gonzales's credibility on a variety of matters."

And here:
"Gonzales's troubles with his depiction of the NSA spying program began in February 2006…."

Getting warmer . . .
"A Justice official conceded during a background briefing for reporters this week that Gonzales's 'linguistic parsing' has caused some confusion…."

Warmer . . .
"In June, Gonzales veered briefly from his own account when he said at a news conference that the dispute described by Comey centered on the NSA program. But Roehrkasse told The Washington Post several days later that Gonzales misspoke."

Warmer still . . .
"But Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), a critic of Gonzales on the Judiciary panel, said: 'It seemed clear to just about everyone on the committee that the attorney general was deceiving us . . . and this letter is even more evidence that helps confirm our suspicions.'"

Ooh! So close!

You know, if someone had built as many bridges in the last few years as Gonzales has "misspoken," etc., no one would hesitate to call that person a "bridge builder."

But the highest law enforcement officer in the country can lie to Congress over and over, and still no one seems to be able to use the "L-word" to describe him. It's the damnedest thing.

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