There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
Noam ChomskyRead
Language is a weapon of politicians, but language is a weapon in much of human affairs.
Interpretation
Language is a powerful tool that can be used to manipulate and influence people in various situations.
In this quote, Noam Chomsky emphasizes the dual nature of language as both a means of political persuasion and a universal tool in human interactions. He suggests that language possesses the ability to shape opinions, emotions, and social dynamics, thereby playing a critical role in various fields beyond politics, highlighting its significance in communication and human affairs.
In practice
In a debate about political rhetoric, one might say, 'As Noam Chomsky puts it, language is a weapon of politicians.'
There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
The 'free-floating intellectual' may occupy himself with problems because of their inherent interest and importance, perhaps to little effect.
If you're teaching today what you were teaching five years ago, either the field is dead or you are.
There are very few people who are going to look into the mirror and say, 'That person I see is a savage monster;' instead, they make up some construction that justifies what they do.
The Republican Party has become overwhelmingly so extreme that it's hardly a traditional political party anymore.
There is still much debate about whether torture has been effective in eliciting information - the assumption being, apparently, that if it is effective, then it may be justified.
I entirely concur in the propriety of resorting to the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation. In that sense alone it is the legitimate Constitution.
Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.
Those who know the truth are not equal to those who love it Confucius All truth is safe and nothing else is safe, but he who keeps back truth, or withholds it from men, from motives of expediency, is either a coward or a criminal.
Everything is complicated; if that were not so, life and poetry and everything else would be a bore.
There is no such thing as a happy ending. I never met a single one to equal "Once upon a time.
I do not say think as I think, but think in my way. Fear no shadows, least of all in that great spectre of personal unhappiness which binds half the world to orthodoxy.
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