Word: wretched
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...later years, he discerned how democracy could be distorted, pointing to Republican France and Napoleon (a "wretch," Jefferson declared, of "maniac ambition"; he added "Having been, like him, entrusted with the happiness of my country, I feel the blessing of resembling him in no other point"). Jefferson stitched together popular sovereignty and liberty, all under divine sponsorship and legitimized by ancient precedent and English tradition. Writes the historian Merrill Peterson: "For the first time in history, 'the rights of man,' not of rulers, were laid at the foundation of a nation. The first great Colonial revolt perforce became the first...
Without question, Lo's Diary should be published. But it needn't be read. This slip of a thing never emerges from the shadows that tower over it: those of Humbert--that predatory wretch condemned to sing so beautifully of his sin--and his grand, glowering creator. It will have utility only if it leads readers back to the immortal original. Choir, please turn to page 9 of The Annotated Lolita. All together now: "Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul...
...doing his job. But you would be wrong. According to the New York Times, our cigar-abusing, bongo-thumping President plans to celebrate the Senate's highly charitable verdict by launching "an all-out offensive to knock off his foes." It's not enough for this self-absorbed wretch to defile the nation's highest office. Now he's dragging his whole party into the muck. And amazingly, Democrats are buying into the Big Creep's definition of victory: three-quarters of the country believe he is untrustworthy and lacking ethical standards, and they're popping corks. Party leaders...
...characters; her calm control reminds audiences that she is running the show. Her greatest exertions accentuate Celimene's sexuality, tempting Alceste with a stocking-clad leg or suggestive negligee. One of the best scenes in the play has Celimene transforming Alceste from an indignant suitor into a groveling wretch. As she humiliates Alceste into wearing a ridiculous feathered band, the audience sees Celimene at the height of her coquettish powers...
Rumor: Giuliani strangled a homeless man to death after the hapless wretch begged for a handout without saying please. Fact: No such incident has occurred, at least not recently. The ugly rumor may have been sparked by the shooting by an off-duty police officer of an unarmed "squeegee man," one of those aggressive supplicants who threaten windshields with slimy rags or sponges unless compensated, in conjunction with the fact that soon after the mayor came to office, most squeegee men and other homeless people mysteriously disappeared. But the suggestion that the mayor and some shadowy private army roam...