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A Brief History of the Non-Denial Denial

2016-05-17 · explainer · John · 3:33 · watch on YouTube

Topic: US politics & society · mode: Explainer · tags: timely hook, civic or action cta

John traces the 'non-denial denial' in American politics from Nixon's press secretary through John Edwards, Bill Clinton, John Brennan and Chris Christie, and argues that voters in an election season should ask what exactly politicians are denying.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — The non-denial denial as a form of political deception; the term from All the President's Men; Ron Ziegler's Watergate statements, technically true

  • ★★★ John says the so-called non-denial denial has perhaps been the most prominent form of deception in American politics for the past several decades. (hedged) — 00:00:01
  • ★ John says he first heard the term while reading All the President's Men, about the Watergate cover-up. — 00:00:08
  • ★ John says the Watergate cover-up led to President Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974. — 00:00:12
  • ★★ John says Nixon's press secretary Ronald Ziegler answered reports on the scandal by blaming 'hearsay, innuendo, guilt by association' and saying no one in the White House directed sabotage. — 00:00:14
  • ★★ John argues Ziegler's first statement only criticised the press and the second was carefully worded to be technically true, although Nixon had still committed obstruction of justice. — 00:00:30

00:00:49 — John Edwards's denials of the National Enquirer story; 'false' is vague; Bill Clinton's 'sexual relations' denial

  • ★★ John says that in the decades since, the non-denial denial has become almost beautiful in its linguistic sophistication. (playful) — 00:00:49
  • ★★ John says that after the National Enquirer reported John Edwards had a child outside his marriage, Edwards called it tabloid trash, praised his wife, and finally called the story false. — 00:00:52
  • ★★ John argues that saying tabloids are full of lies, or praising one's wife, is not denying the story, and that 'false' is common in non-denial denials because it is vague. — 00:01:03

  • ★★ John says Bill Clinton's denial of sexual relations with 'Miss Lewinsky' first seemed unambiguous, but Clinton was using 'sexual relations' to mean a specific sexual act. — 00:01:30

    “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.”

00:01:52 — Narrowing the definition of guilt (John Brennan on CIA hacking); 'no evidence' and 'I can't recall'; Chris Christie's non-answer; attacking the press with vague words

  • ★★ John says narrowing the definition of guilt until you are no longer guilty is a popular strategy. — 00:01:52
  • ★★ John says CIA director John Brennan, asked whether the CIA spied on Senate aides, said nothing could be further from the truth, because without password theft it wasn't 'hacking' by his definition. — 00:01:57
  • ★ John says both Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan used 'There's no evidence of that' and 'I can't recall'. — 00:02:21
  • ★★ John says that during the Bridgegate investigation Chris Christie said 'I am not a bully' in response to a question that was not about whether he was a bully. — 00:02:29
  • ★★ John says calling press allegations defamatory, libelous, slanderous or outrageous is an ancient tactic, but outrageous things can be true and such words are vague and refute nothing specific. — 00:02:37

00:02:56 — Why it matters: in an election season voters should ask what exactly is false and what is denied; language can render things opaque; sign-off

  • ★★★ John says it is important to pay attention to the language of people who are or want to be our leaders, especially in an election season. (hedged) — 00:02:56 · United States presidential election
  • ★★★ John says voters should ask what exactly is false when someone tweets that something is false, which lies are meant when someone is called a liar, and what precisely a denial denies. — 00:03:04
  • ★★★ John concludes that language exists to make thoughts transparent between people, but is a tool that can also be used to render things opaque. — 00:03:19

Mentioned

Central: Non-denial denial

Also: People: Bill Clinton · Chris Christie · John Brennan · John Edwards · Richard Nixon · Ron Ziegler · Ronald Reagan

Works: All the President's Men

Organizations: Central Intelligence Agency · National Enquirer · United States Senate · White House

Concepts: paltering

Events: Fort Lee lane closure scandal · United States presidential election · Watergate scandal

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