Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

There is so much going on this week with words! I'm sure most of you have heard Condoleezza Rice's comments, and I don't think it's entirely unfair to juxtapose them with a quote from Richard Nixon:

In a 1977 interview with David Frost:

Nixon: When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.
Frost: By definition?
Nixon: Exactly!

In a discussion with students at Stanford University, April 24, 2009:

Rice: By definition, if it [waterboarding and other "enhanced" interrogation techniques] was authorized by the president, it did not violate our obligations under the Conventions Against Torture.

I predict that Rice will explain that this statement was taken out of context, or that she misspoke. We'll see. Rice made a few other statements that caught my attention. She said with confidence that "we did not torture anyone." She said that Gitmo was declared a "model prison" by the OSCE and she admonished a student to "do his homework" before he presumed to question the interrogation tactics used there. She also asserted that Nazi Germany posed less of a threat to US and global security than the 9/11 attack and terrorism, because Germany didn't attack America directly within its own territory. And then, in what seemed almost like an emotional outburst (this is not a sexist remark), she admonished anyone who might dare to question the use of enhanced interrogation tactics not to second guess what you would "have to do" if given the responsibility of protecting the nation. And to think that up to now I actually thought of Rice as intelligent. I would have given Rice the benefit of the doubt if she claimed to misspeak in one, and maybe even two, statements. But there are far too many gaffes here for that escape clause.

Words are important, as is our way with words.