During the Watergate crisis Richard Nixon's team were under a
lot of pressure. (1) they were guilty and (2) the truth that
was coming out made them look guilty.
So what to do?
The "none of us had a clue about anything," wasn't working.
It didn't wash with the public. So, according to the White
House tapes they devised a new strategy to save themselves.
They would let some bad information out but spin it.
From Wikipedia:
***BEGIN QUOTE***
A limited hangout, or partial hangout, is a public relations
or propaganda technique that involves the release of
previously hidden information in order to prevent a greater
exposure of more important details.
It takes the form of deception, misdirection, or coverup often
associated with intelligence agencies involving a release or
"mea culpa" type of confession of only part of a set of
previously hidden sensitive information, that establishes
credibility for the one releasing the information who by the
very act of confession appears to be "coming clean" and acting
with integrity; but in actuality, by withholding key facts, is
protecting a deeper operation and those who could be exposed
if the whole truth came out. In effect, if an array of
offenses or misdeeds is suspected, this confession admits to a
lesser offense while covering up the greater ones.
A limited hangout typically is a response to lower the
pressure felt from inquisitive investigators pursuing clues
that threaten to expose everything, and the disclosure is
often combined with red herrings or propaganda elements that
lead to false trails, distractions, or ideological
disinformation; thus allowing covert or criminal elements to
continue in their improper activities.
Victor Marchetti wrote: "A 'limited hangout' is spy jargon for
a favorite and frequently used gimmick of the clandestine
professionals. When their veil of secrecy is shredded and they
can no longer rely on a phony cover story to misinform the
public, they resort to admitting—sometimes even
volunteering—some of the truth while still managing to
withhold the key and damaging facts in the case. The public,
however, is usually so intrigued by the new information that
it never thinks to pursue the matter further.
In a March 22, 1973 meeting between Richard Nixon, John Dean,
John Ehrlichman, John Mitchell, and H.R. Haldeman, Ehrlichman
incorporated the term into a new and related one, "modified
limited hangout."
The phrase was coined in the following exchange:
"PRESIDENT: You think, you think we want to, want to go this
route now? And the--let it hang out, so to speak?
DEAN: Well, it's, it isn't really that--
HALDEMAN: It's a limited hang out.
DEAN: It's a limited hang out.
EHRLICHMAN: It's a modified limited hang out.
PRESIDENT: Well, it's only the questions of the thing hanging
out publicly or privately."
Before this exchange, the discussion captures Nixon outlining
to Dean the content of a report that Dean would create, laying
out a misleading view of the role of the White House staff in
events surrounding the Watergate burglary. In Ehrlichman's
words: "And the report says, 'Nobody was involved,'". The
document would then be shared with the Senate Watergate
Committee investigating the affair. The report would serve the
administration's goals by protecting the President, providing
documentary support for his false statements should
information come to light that contradicted his stated
position. Further, the group discusses having information on
the report leaked by those on the Committee sympathetic to the
President, to put exculpatory information into the public
sphere.
The phrase has been cited as a summation of the strategy of
mixing partial admissions with misinformation and resistance
to further investigation, and is used in political commentary
to accuse people or groups of following a Nixon-like strategy.
***END QUOTE***
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited_hangoutIsn't this exactly what the "essays" are doing? Aren't they
implementing "the strategy of mixing partial admissions with
misinformation and resistance to further investigation"? The
Church is doing the same thing Nixon did . . . and for the
same reason.