‘Mistakes Were Made.’ Echoes from Nixon Era

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/03/15/mistakes-were-made-echoes-from-the-nixon-era/

‘Mistakes Were Made.’ Echoes from Nixon Era

Ed Sills, Texas AFL-CIO communications director, finds an frighteningly familiar comparison between George W. Bush and Richard Nixon.

In reading today’s papers and Internet articles, I couldn’t help but reminisce about the Watergate Era, when the John Mitchells, Ron Zieglers and Richard Nixons of the world were purposely using the passive voice to conceal responsibility.

When someone says, “I erred,” that use of the active verb is a whole lot different in tone and substance from the passive construction, “Errors were made.” Editors torment young reporters every day over this issue of both style and substance. The passive voice has its place when a writer or speaker legitimately doesn’t know something, but its use becomes a question of character when a writer or speaker is trying to conceal something.

In the Austin American-Statesman, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales declared oxymoronically, “I believe in accountability,” followed immediately by the addition, “I acknowledge that mistakes were made here.” He goes on to
“accept that responsibility,” but in placing himself in charge of finding out “what went wrong here” when he was obviously in the middle of or directly responsible for that wrongdoing, he again shirks it.

George W. Bush picked up on the theme today in discussing the issue with a press corps that has followed his Latin American tour.

“Mistakes were made. And I’m frankly not happy about them,” Bush declares in an AP article today in which he says he is “upset” at the Justice Department scandal.

The rhetorical device moved to Texas in lightning fashion with Gov. Rick Perry’s spokesman’s quotation today in the Austin American-Statesman on the Texas Youth Commission scandal.

“Mistakes were made all across this agency, but we are going forward at this point,” Perry spokesman Ted Royer said. In this case, the passive voice dances away from the extent of Perry’s responsibility.

When the passive voice comes to the fore, it’s time to parse other statements to see what might really be true in the centrifuge of political spin.

FULL story at link.

[Berry Cool]

1. It is an old, old trick of the public relations field.

When you use the passive voice, you don't have to assign the action in question to a specific entity or person. You can simply say "Mistakes were made." "A decision has been made." "The following policy has been implemented for employees..." That way, people get angry, but nobody can point the finger.

[DeadElephant_ORG]

2. what mistakes SPECIFICALLY ??

We've got to get more fluid in whacking their talking points right back at them. Like tennis.

"OK, fine. What specific mistakes were made? Who made them? How will you hold the perpetrator accountable? What will be the specific consequences of those mistakes?"

Our problem is not the the press are lap dogs. They are GUARD DOGS.