Word: attackable
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...Defcon 5: Attack by implication. No names are named, but everyone knows who you're taking about. Take Barack Obama's major foreign policy address this week, in which he launched a broadside against "the conventional thinking in Washington" that led to the war in Iraq. He never mentioned Senator Hillary Clinton by name, but the entire press corps immediately understood that when he talks about those who "argue that they weren't really voting for war, they were voting for inspectors, or for diplomacy," he means Clinton. Obama continued the offensive by framing the entire race for the Democratic...
...Defcon 4: Attack by position. Between attacking by implication and actually naming one's opponent, there's an intermediate step: referring to your opponent only by his or her position. At his rally in New York's Washington Square Park on last week, Barack Obama took this tack: "There are folks who will shift positions and policies on all kinds of things depending on which way the wind is blowing," he told the crowd. "Even your Senator from New York wasn't clear about the Yankees. I know who I'm rooting for." Needless to say, Obama wasn't taking...
...Defcon 3: Attack with faint praise. The opponent is named, but the shiv is delivered with a smile. John Edwards, perhaps true to his Southern roots, is an expert at delivering this kind of attack. Witness Edwards' comments in last week's presidential debate on troop withdrawals from Iraq: "I don't have any doubt that Senator Clinton wants to take a responsible course. There is a difference, however, in how we would go about this." He then proceeded to argue that Clinton would actually extend the war in Iraq, not end it. Or take Senator Joe Biden's comments...
...Defcon 2: Full-frontal attack. This is a significant escalation. Mitt Romney launched one against Rudy Giuliani in Iowa this past August: "If you look at lists compiled on Web sites of sanctuary cities [cities hospitable to illegal immigrants], New York is at the top of the list when Mayor Giuliani was mayor. He instructed city workers not to provide information to the federal government that would allow them to enforce the law. New York City was the poster child for sanctuary cities in the country." Not wanting to escalate the confrontation any more, the Giuliani campaign responded strongly, using...
...gain the upper hand over a rival faction in the Party, the so-called "Elitist" group. Whichever side wins the struggle, it's unlikely to make much difference in the way the security forces treat dissenting voices like Li's. For now, however, the crude brutality of the attack has, if anything, made him more determined to persevere. In reply to a question about whether he would do what the men wanted and leave Beijing, Li's answer was simple: "My office is in Beijing, My home is in Beijing. I'm definitely going to stay in Beijing...