Anglo-Saxon? And By That You Mean…

So, I used to work as a flak in politics, and here’s something I learned.  If a candidate wanted to get a controversial opinion out there—say a racially marked dig at an opponent—here is how they might do it: get an unpaid advisor to make the remark for print but not attribution and then deny that the advisor either got it right or even exists. (And, no, my former boss would never stoop that low.  That would not reflect her values, and, besides, it wasn’t her style.)  Of course, the news outlet will never trust you again, but if you care so little for their opinion that you have (impeccably non-Anglo) surrogates willing to say for attribution that the foreign press just doesn’t