Trying to make nothing sound like something

Here is a Scott Adams Periscope I had not seen In it he encourages us to listen closely when a standard politician is talking, trying to make nothing sound like something. But they say it with a tone of voice that makes the listener think, "This guy is right on top of that stuff!"

Scott also talks about being called an "apologist" for Trump. That's what people say when they cannot factually rebut your argument.

Placating his base

Instapundit had the quote of the day yesterday: "Don’t worry. He’ll stop the spying like he closed Gitmo."