But that's part of Newman's nonconformist charm, and (I suspect) his intention: awkwardness and pensiveness are more likely to bump us out of our complacency – to engage our brains, indeed – than conventional comic timing and delivery.
The treatment of Mr. Morales contrasted starkly with that of Orlando Hernandez, who was one of Cuba's most celebrated pitchers until 1996, when he was banned from baseball after the government suspected his intention to defect.
It was one of the most heartening declarations for years although one suspects his good intentions have yet to face their sternest provocation.
Non-lethal weapons can force a suspect to declare his intentions, and that sometimes leads to a save.
Bajoghli writes in the Guardian: Having spent nine years in Iran researching among Basij, Revolutionary Guards, and veterans from all across the political spectrum, I know that Hasan Rouhani's recent overtures to the west are neither shocking nor are his intentions suspect.
The moment an attractive model he interviews takes a romantic interest in him, the purity of his intentions becomes suspect.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for Beijing's foreign ministry suggested readers would suspect the intentions behind "unconvincing" reports on the offshore assets.
The spokesman added: "From the point of view of readers, the logic of some of the related articles is unconvincing, and it leads people to suspect the intentions behind it".
The law lords ruled that Roma should only have been subjected to more intrusive questioning if there had been specific reason to suspect their intentions from the answers given to standard questions put to everyone, and that UK immigration officers should have been given careful instructions in how to treat all passengers travelling from Prague in the same way.
So in a way Graves has lobbed the ball straight into his court, which one suspects is his real intention, however hamfisted he may have been in doing it.
