Daily Inspiration Quote by Ann Veneman

You can hear the bureaucracy thinking out loud: a sentence built to acknowledge risk without inviting accountability. Veneman starts with a reassuring statistic - “about 10 percent” - small enough to sound manageable, specific enough to signal competence. Then she slides into the hedging that defines crisis-era governance: “obviously,” “probably,” “some impact,” “too early.” Each softener dilutes the last, until the statement becomes a kind of verbal non-commitment that still performs the ritual of concern.

The specific intent is defensive calibration. As a public servant speaking about export markets, she has to reassure domestic stakeholders (producers, consumers, legislators) while not spooking international buyers or signaling panic. Naming exports at all concedes vulnerability; keeping the effect vague preserves flexibility. This is policy language designed to age well: if the impact is minor, she was prudent; if it’s severe, she warned it was uncertain.

The subtext is that the real numbers either aren’t in yet or aren’t politically usable. “Too early” can mean insufficient data, but it can also mean the administration can’t afford a concrete estimate before it knows who gets blamed for it. The context matters: in agriculture and trade, markets move faster than agencies, and saying the wrong thing can become its own shock. Veneman’s careful, padded phrasing isn’t eloquence; it’s risk management dressed up as candor.