And when civil-liberties groups have dared to demur, they have been treated with contempt.

ECONOMIST: Tony Blair and liberty | The

Only on Mr Bush's third demand, that Iran become more pluralistic, are the conservatives likely to demur.

ECONOMIST: Iran's diplomacy

He did not demur even when asked to fix watches, although that enterprise did spectacularly badly, and earned him more kicks than kudos, for no watch he took apart ever kept time again.

NEWYORKER: Nawabdin Electrician

Others demur: if North Korea wants to put off inspections until the last minute, the project will indeed be delayed further and put in some doubt.

ECONOMIST: After yet another naval clash, talks are off, again

MPs, who made Mr Brown their leader without demur, into distancing themselves from him or embracing outright defeatism a panicked fickleness that serves only to dig their collective hole deeper.

ECONOMIST: Gordon Brown: The agony of Gordon Brown | The