Damning With Faint Praise

This Morning's Sacramento Bee included the best example of damning with faint praise I've seen in ages.

To briefly fill in the situation, Michael Lyon, the boss of a major local residential real estate brokerage called" Lyon" got more or less caught using hidden cameras to make "secret video recordings of house guests and others in bedrooms and bathrooms through cameras concealed in clock radios and behind vents". Although the Statute of Limitations ran out before the FBI completed its investigation, there is much evidence supporting the conclusion that Michael is a very naughty boy. The local DA is investigating.

With his dirty laundry being blown all over town, Michael the Lascivious Lyon promptly resigned from the family business.

Jean Li, now the interim CEO and long time brains behind the organization (at least that's what she says) immediately added her two cents with an interview/article in the Sacramento Bee. Methinks she "come(s) to bury Caesar, not to praise him."

She begins by claiming Lyon is "resilient and intends to clear his name". She carefully avoids vouching for the dead man in any way. When answering questions about the charges and Lyon's character, she carefully quotes someone else's statements.

She goes on to boast that "she was responsible for diversifying the firm – the region's largest – by establishing a Lyon mortgage division and creating a partnership with an insurance company. She said she often joked with Lyon that "I'm the brains (of the company). You're the face."

I'm just glad the guy lives in Roseville, so if and probably when his name gets added to Megan's List it won't ding my property value, what little is left these days.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.