Lawyers like Prof. John Yoo (who is given passing reference in the book) and Prof. Viet D. Dinh are viewed by many law professors and civil libertarians as grotesque and even monstrous in their work to excuse torture and to deny the basic rights of detainees.
The president left it mostly to others on Wednesday to praise his record and defend his decisions, beginning in an eight-minute video that, while celebrating his major accomplishments, dwelled heavily on the challenges Mr. Obama has faced, and worked hard to excuse him for what he had not achieved, particularly on gun control.
Make a simple comment such as: "Got to get back to work". "Excuse me please, but I need to make a call". "Hate to miss this story, but I have a project waiting". Just slipping away unnoticed says, "I'm unimportant and childlike". Look at people when they are talking to you.
But it was clearly meant to position him as the one who wanted to keep working on a budget, to excuse himself from blame for passing the governor's bill, or, in the highly unlikely event that government is shut down, to fault the governor and point out that Mr. Silver had an alternative.
There is nothing in their work that seeks to excuse the damage done by sex-offending.
But does the attack upon religious fanaticism also work in a dangerous way to excuse the secular imagination an insight into its own capacity for violence?
In our current work culture, results seem to excuse bad behavior.
This kind of excuse can work to an extent, especially as a shield to criminal liability.
That's not to excuse shoddy work.
Another thing: That Watters & Co. would attempt to excuse their work by playing the "light piece" card belies a great deal of ignorance about one of the most durable purveyors of racism: Jokes, that is.
Display your work line and your husband or wife might actually fall for the "I'm working late" excuse.
