comprehension

[Joe]

1) "This administration is high on rhetoric and high on ideology and low on actual strategic thinking and truth," Kerry said.

Does "high on rhetoric and high on ideology" mean "talking too much rhetoric and ideology things" or "giving too much weight to rhetoric and ideology"? Does "low on actual strategic thinking and truth" mean "doing a little strategic thinking and don't care about truth"?


2) Iraqi leaders got their way over U.S. opposition on Tuesday to have their candidate Ghazi Yawar appointed president after Washington's choice stepped aside, averting a showdown between occupiers and occupied.

What does "showdown" mean here? In a dictionary, it says "showdown" is "a meeting, argument, fight etc that will settle a disagreement or competition that has continued for a long time", which I don't think fit in here. Am I right?


3) "In all these threats, we hear the echoes of other enemies in other times, that same swagger and demented logic of the fanatic. Like their kind in the past, these murderers have left scars and suffering. And like their kind in the past, they will flame and fail and suffer defeat by free men and women," Bush declared.

What is the part of speech of "swagger" here? In the dictionary, it can only be used as a noun or a verb, but it seems to be an adjective here.

Thank you very much! :wink:

 

[RonBee]

1) "This administration is high on rhetoric and high on ideology and low on actual strategic thinking and truth," Kerry said.

Does "high on rhetoric and high on ideology" mean "talking too much rhetoric and ideology things" or "giving too much weight to rhetoric and ideology"? Does "low on actual strategic thinking and truth" mean "doing a little strategic thinking and don't care about truth"?

I would say it ("high on rhetoric and high on ideology") means using too much rhetoric and relying too much on ideology.

I would say that ("low on actual strategic thinking and truth") means that Kerry thinks Bush does little strategic thinking and has little regard for the truth. (What Kerry means by "actual strategic thinking" is anybody's guess.)

2) Iraqi leaders got their way over U.S. opposition on Tuesday to have their candidate Ghazi Yawar appointed president after Washington's choice stepped aside, averting a showdown between occupiers and occupied.

What does "showdown" mean here? In a dictionary, it says "showdown" is "a meeting, argument, fight etc that will settle a disagreement or competition that has continued for a long time", which I don't think fit in here. Am I right?

The word there fits the dictionary definition except that the disagreement need not have been one of long duration.

3) "In all these threats, we hear the echoes of other enemies in other times, that same swagger and demented logic of the fanatic. Like their kind in the past, these murderers have left scars and suffering. And like their kind in the past, they will flame and fail and suffer defeat by free men and women," Bush declared.

What is the part of speech of "swagger" here? In the dictionary, it can only be used as a noun or a verb, but it seems to be an adjective here.

The word same in front of swagger tells us that swagger is a noun there. In other words, it is the identical kind as another one.