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All the President's Men · 1976 — 第 16 / 18 章 · 3'36" · B2

Clawson Denies the Canuck Letter, Explained：non-denial denial

On the surface it's a routine source check: Sally Aiken says Ken Clawson confessed to writing the Canuck letter. But the reporters turn the room into an interrogation, then call Clawson, whose reply is a masterpiece of evasion — "We were shooting the breeze about the election." Nothing he says denies anything; that's the whole point.

あらすじ

Sally Aiken walks into the Washington Post newsroom with a tip: Ken Clawson, a White House communications official, told her he wrote the Canuck letter that damaged Muskie's campaign. Woodward and Bernstein press her on when, where, and what else was said, then phone Clawson. He denies nothing directly; the reporters call it a non-denial denial.

InterrogationsPhone callsConfrontingAskingB2fastamerican
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注目の表現

shoot the breezebullshit questiontaste for the jugularnon-denial denial

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  63. ❝ 独白Clawson's pleading call12 行練習ページ ↗
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このシーンの表現

non-denial denial

a denial that denies nothing

After Clawson's careful phone denial, Bernstein names it: he denied nothing that mattered.

His statement was a non-denial denial that left every charge standing.

このシーンの他の表現

  • shoot the breeze

    to chat idly

  • bullshit question

    a nonsense question

  • taste for the jugular

    a killer instinct

  • hedge

    to avoid committing

  • clear conscience

    no guilt at all

このシーンのメモ一覧

76 行のセリフに 23 件のメモ

表現 · A2pick up something

to collect or answer

Why don't you pick up your messages?
表現 · A2take care of something

to look after

Haven't the slightest idea. I have this whole place to take care of.
発音slightest idea

Blend the t of slightest into idea as one run.

Haven't the slightest idea. I have this whole place to take care of.
表現 · A2make sure (that) ...

to check or ensure

I just wanna make sure you know who wrote it, though.
表現 · A2have drinks

to drink together

- When did he tell you? - We were having drinks.
表現 · B2hedge about something

to avoid committing

He didn't say anything? Come on, you're hedging.
表現 · C1have a taste for the jugular

a killer instinct

Pressed on why she waited, Sally half mocks herself for lacking the men's killer instinct.

I guess I don't have the taste for the jugular you guys have.
文法 · B2the taste for the jugular you guys have

relative clause: The clause you guys have modifies taste, with the relative pronoun left out.

I guess I don't have the taste for the jugular you guys have.
スラング · A2you guys

you people — Casual plural address; avoid it in formal writing.

I guess I don't have the taste for the jugular you guys have.
表現 · B1get it all wrong

to misunderstand entirely

CLAWSON [OVER PHONE]: Absolutely. Sally's got it all wrong.
表現 · B2shoot the breeze

to chat idly

On the phone Clawson frames the night as harmless small talk to shrink what he actually said.

We were shooting the breeze about the election.
発音shooting the breeze

Link shooting and the, then stress and hold breeze.

We were shooting the breeze about the election.
表現 · B2awfully good

extremely good Awfully here means very, not terribly.

She's an awfully good reporter.
スラング · B2bullshit

nonsense — Only in anger; never in formal or polite settings.

That's a real bullshit question.
表現 · B2straight out of somewhere

as if from somewhere

That is a question straight out of Wichita, Kansas.
表現 · B1take place

to happen

Do you remember where this shooting the breeze took place?
文法 · B2where this shooting the breeze took place

noun clause: The where-clause is the object of remember and keeps statement word order.

Do you remember where this shooting the breeze took place?
表現 · C1a non-denial denial

a denial that denies nothing

After Clawson's careful phone denial, Bernstein names it: he denied nothing that mattered.

That's a non-denial denial.
スラング · B2for chrissakes

for goodness' sake — An exasperated plea among people who know each other, not for formal use.

Sally, for chrissakes, don't tell them I came to your place.
発音clear conscience

Link the r of clear into conscience without a pause.

Well, I have a clear conscience.
表現 · B1a wife and a family

a settled family life

Sally, I have a wife and a family and a dog and a cat.
表現 · B2what counts is ...

the thing that matters

I don't care where it happened. What happened is what counts.
文法 · B2What happened is what counts

subject clause: What happened serves as subject and what counts as the complement, echoing the point.

I don't care where it happened. What happened is what counts.

「Clawson Denies the Canuck Letter」を読み解く

What's really going on

This scene is about the machinery of denial, not the truth of the rumor. Sally Aiken comes forward reluctantly — "I guess I don't have the taste for the jugular you guys have" — and the reporters immediately test her, asking whether Clawson was just trying to sleep with her, and why she waited two weeks. When they finally get Clawson on the line, every answer is designed to be quoted safely. "We were shooting the breeze about the election," he says, and when pressed he snaps, "That is a question straight out of Wichita, Kansas." He never says he didn't write the letter. Woodward and Bernstein catch the trick instantly: it's a non-denial denial — a statement that sounds like a denial but concedes nothing. In Washington, that distinction between what is said and what is admitted is everything.

Theme

LiesClawson's answers are built to say nothing; the Canuck letter and its authorship become a contest over what can be proven.
DeceptionThe reporters prize a non-denial denial — language that sounds like an answer while carefully avoiding one.

このチャプターで学べること

  • Shooting the breeze shrinks an admission into small talk.
  • A non-denial denial never touches the real charge.
  • Hedging avoids committing without telling a lie.
  • Taste for the jugular names a newsroom killer instinct.

発音のポイント

  • slightest idea — Blend the t of slightest into idea as one run.
  • shooting the breeze — Link shooting and the, then stress and hold breeze.
  • clear conscience — Link the r of clear into conscience without a pause.
I guess I don't have the taste for the jugular you guys have.

Sally pushes back on the interrogation, saying she lacks the killers' instinct the two reporters have for going straight for the throat.

We were shooting the breeze about the election.

Clawson claims the conversation was idle small talk, a way to make the accusation sound trivial without actually denying he said it.

I don't care where it happened. What happened is what counts.

The reporters dismiss Clawson's dodge about the location of the meeting: what matters is that he let slip he was with her, not where.

Sally, I have a wife and a family and a dog and a cat.

Clawson, panicking on the phone, begs Sally to stay quiet by listing everything he stands to lose if the story runs.

このシーンについての質問

Why does Sally Aiken wait two weeks before telling Woodward and Bernstein about Clawson?

She says she doesn't have their instinct for the kill — "the taste for the jugular." She's a source, not a hunter, and coming forward puts her own reputation and privacy on the line.

Did Ken Clawson actually admit to writing the Canuck letter?

He never denies it outright. He calls the conversation small talk and attacks the reporters' question, but he never flatly says he didn't write the letter — which is exactly what makes it a non-denial denial.

What makes Clawson slip on the phone call about where they met?

Sally says he came to her apartment. Clawson insists it wasn't in her apartment, but by arguing about the location he concedes the meeting happened — the reporters jump on the contradiction.

Why do Woodward and Bernstein push Sally so hard about her motives?

They need to know her account will hold up. Whether Clawson was trying to impress her or sleep with her changes how reliable the tip is, so they test her before they run with it.

What does "shooting the breeze" mean?

It means casual, aimless small talk. Clawson uses it to frame his conversation with Sally as harmless chatter rather than a confession about the letter.

大統領の陰謀 · 全 18 章

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第 16 / 18 章 · 残り約 7 分