I was struck by parts of an article in Sunday’s New York Times about the firing of David C. Iglesias, the U.S. Attorney in New Mexico. Iglesias is among several U.S. Attorneys the Department of Justice has fired in recent months and the story has been widely reported. This article had to do with the pressures that were brought to bear on Iglesias by some of his former political patrons including New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici. An excerpt follows:
“Are these going to be filed before November?” the senator asked, referring to charges in the courthouse case, Mr. Iglesias said. “And I said I didn’t think so. And to which he replied, ‘I’m very sorry to hear that.’ And then the line went dead.”
Mr. Iglesias said the message was clear. “I felt leaned on,” he testified to the Senate this month. “I felt pressured to get these matters moving.”
Mr. Domenici has apologized for making the call. “However, at no time in that conversation or any other conversation with Mr. Iglesias did I ever tell him what course of action I thought he should take on any legal matter,” he said in a statement. “I have never pressured him nor threatened him in any way.”
Yeah, right.
The fact is that nonverbal communication—how we say what we say—is extraordinarily rich in meaning. It is what makes spoken language differ so profoundly from written language. In writing, the meaning is in the words on the page. We might underline or italicize or use punctuation to emphasize certain words to steer readers toward a particular meaning. When we write, we are (or should be) mindful that others may also read it so other opinions as to the meaning can be garnered.