A TRUE politician NEVER commits to anything except running for office. The trick is to SOUND like you’re committing, without actually committing. A non-committal commitment.
Hardin threw himself back in the chair, “You know, that’s the most interesting part of the whole business. I’ll admit I had thought his Lordship a most consummate donkey when I first met him — but it turned out that he was actually an accomplished diplomat and a most clever man. I took the liberty of recording all his statements.”
There was a flurry, and Pirenne opened his mouth in horror.
“What of it?” demanded Hardin. “I realize it was a gross breach of hospitality and a thing no so-called gentleman would do. Also, that if his lordship had caught on, things might have been unpleasant; but he didn’t, and I have the record, and that’s that. I took that record, had it copied out, and sent that to Holk for analysis, also.”
Lundin Crast said, “And where is the analysis?”
“That,” replied Hardin, “is the most interesting thing. The analysis was the most difficult of the three by all odds. When Holk, after two days of steady work, succeeded in eliminating meaningless statements, vague gibberish, useless qualification — in short, all the goo and dribble — feel found he had nothing left. Everything canceled out.
“Lord Dorwin, gentlemen, in five days of discussion, didn’t say one damned thing, and said it so you never noticed.”
And we all know how politicians like to make sure that their clarifications don’t ever really clear up what they will actually do.
You mean, like committing to something, without actually committing to it?
Nah… they’d never do that, would they?
A TRUE politician NEVER commits to anything except running for office. The trick is to SOUND like you’re committing, without actually committing. A non-committal commitment.
Gotta love the passive voice. “I misspoke”. (I lied.) “Mistakes were made”. (I am accepting no responsibility, as usual.)
From Asimov’s Foundation:
Hardin threw himself back in the chair, “You know, that’s the most interesting part of the whole business. I’ll admit I had thought his Lordship a most consummate donkey when I first met him — but it turned out that he was actually an accomplished diplomat and a most clever man. I took the liberty of recording all his statements.”
There was a flurry, and Pirenne opened his mouth in horror.
“What of it?” demanded Hardin. “I realize it was a gross breach of hospitality and a thing no so-called gentleman would do. Also, that if his lordship had caught on, things might have been unpleasant; but he didn’t, and I have the record, and that’s that. I took that record, had it copied out, and sent that to Holk for analysis, also.”
Lundin Crast said, “And where is the analysis?”
“That,” replied Hardin, “is the most interesting thing. The analysis was the most difficult of the three by all odds. When Holk, after two days of steady work, succeeded in eliminating meaningless statements, vague gibberish, useless qualification — in short, all the goo and dribble — feel found he had nothing left. Everything canceled out.
“Lord Dorwin, gentlemen, in five days of discussion, didn’t say one damned thing, and said it so you never noticed.”
sorta like this whole comic