Rumsfeld Use of Word “Appease” Irks Dems
In a speech to the American Legion Convention in Salt Lake City, Secretary Rumsfeld asked “Can we truly afford to believe that somehow, some way, vicious extremists can be appeased?” Inasmuch as the term “appeasement” is widely associated with unsuccessful pre-World War II efforts to deter Adolf Hitler from starting a war, Democratic critics of President Bush’s handling of the war on terror were quick to take offense.
“I never said ‘appease,’” protested Representative John Murtha (D-Penn). “I said we should assuage the fears of the Muslims by pulling our troops out of their countries.”
“Mollify is the term I use,” said Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisc). “I am no appeaser. I am a ‘mollifier.’”
“At first, I was for placating our adversaries,” said Senator John Kerry (D-Mass). “Later I switched to favor propitiation. But now I agree with Senator Feinberg. I think we should mollify them. Parenthetically, if I may interject, they would most likely have been placated, propitiated and/or mollified by now if I had been elected president in 2004. But never, ever would I appease them. Rumsfeld is slandering me.”
“I am no appeaser,” said Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass). “Getting bombed has always struck me as the better option. Rumsfeld needs to apologize and resign.”
“This is almost as bad as the ‘cut-run-surrender’ smear the Republicans have been trying to lay on us,” Howard Dean, Democratic National Committee Chairman, complained. “We never said that. Our position is that the U.S. should disengage, flee and yield. And we aren’t waving a white flag. It’s ‘cream.’”
Thus far, Rumsfeld has declined to apologize, resign, or respond to the Democrats’ complaints. “How can I respond?” Rumsfeld asked. “Their position is incoherent. “Appease, mollify, placate, whatever—it’s all the same thing.”
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Pronunciation: 'mä-l&-"fI
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): -fied; -fy·ing
Etymology: Middle English mollifien,
from Middle French mollifier,
from Late Latin mollificare,
from Latin mollis soft;
akin to Greek amaldynein to soften,
Sanskrit mrdu soft, and probably to Greek malakos soft,
amblys dull, Old English meltan to melt transitive verb
1 : to soothe in temper or disposition : APPEASE
mollified the staff with a raise
2 : to reduce the rigidity of : SOFTEN
3 : to reduce in intensity : ASSUAGE, TEMPER
intransitive verb, archaic : SOFTEN, RELENT
synonym see PACIFY