“Don’t say the word pretext so loud. There has never been a pretext even once. We certainly don’t know what you mean. Just be quiet. Don’t say ‘We have to speak up now, because there will always be an excuse when the troops descend on the city or the strike hits the boat or the vans roll up and start shoving people inside.’ I’m sorry I said excuse. I’m sorry I said pretext. I should have said reason. I should have said nothing.” theatlantic.com/newsletters/ar