"There will always be those who are ready to throw in the towel," Mr. Annan said in his remarks opening the special session.
The 63-year-old, who has something of a "guru" status, with over three decades in the advertising industry, also threw in cryptic remarks about the impact that the results of the U.S. general election would have.
Mr. Alda is a genial and active guide through all of this, not only undergoing a brain scan, but also asking trenchant questions of the experts and throwing in amusing off-the-cuff remarks from time to time.
When Sean Reyes, the attorney general who came up with the idea in the first place, testified before Utah lawmakers, he threw in an odd remark about perpetrators of fraud.
Mrs. Clinton and former President Bill Clinton used New Year's Eve to barnstorm separately across eastern and central Iowa, with several events each before meeting in downtown Des Moines for a New Year's Eve party (with a few minutes of political remarks thrown in).
Within minutes of his first routine - the one that needlessly insulted Jean Dujardin for his low profile since winning last year, and threw in a dismally unfunny remark about the torture in Django Unchained resembling what Rihanna and Chris Brown would call "date night" - he was laboriously trying to bypass criticism.
Every picture is explained carefully to the audience, and she tries to imitate the remarks that Jack would have thrown in about each picture as shown.
Mahoney plays an aging lothario professor who often gets drinks thrown in his face by indignant younger women after a sleazy remark.
The 40-minute special, Sunday on HBO, consists of a parade of young children making cute, often inaccurate remarks about things like what "family" means, with an occasional song thrown in to break up the cloying monotony.
Speaking to supporters in Sarasota, Fla., Mr. Romney seized on the remark as an admission of failure, saying: "The president today threw in the white flag of surrender.
As he spoke, it became clear that his remarks were less an introduction and more a homily, with more than a little biography thrown in.
