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Faint praise

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Here are a few media examples.

1. Faint praise from an impossible captain

Gordon Brown's moral compass has broken down. The needle still moves, but something inside the fine old Calvinist instrument has gone haywire, with the result that the Prime Minister has lost his bearings.

...

At about the sixth time of asking, the Prime Minister was prevailed upon to say: "Of course I've got confidence in Harriet Harman." He said it twice, but by then it just sounded as if he was damning her with faint praise.

- Telegraph.co.uk, November 29, 2007

2. Rumsfeld's faint praise for Tenet

Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, damned the outgoing CIA director with the faintest of praise yesterday after suggesting better intelligence might have thwarted the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

Without mentioning George Tenet by name, Mr Rumsfeld - as is often his habit - couched his criticism in the form of a question: "Is it a terrible failure we did not have the intelligence to prevent the September 11 attacks?"

- Independent.co.uk, June 5, 2004

3. Critics damn Madonna film

Critics damned Madonna's first feature film with faint praise on Thursday and suggested her career behind the camera might be as successful as her acting.

"Filth & Wisdom" had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on Wednesday and early reviews agreed a poor-to-average movie was saved by its exuberance.