catfishing n.— «The exact day the first North Carolina politician hooked his thumbs in his suspenders and referred to a “catfish amendment” is probably lost to history.…The term refers to a proposed change on a bill that...
family photo n.— «The Foreign Office immediately rang the mobiles of Kim Darroch, the Foreign Office head of news, and Alistair Campbell, Blair’s press secretary. The politicians were just heading off for an EU family photo session. Blair...
Clinton fence n.— «Just after the morgue-like Border Patrol HQ, the road turns to dirt and the four of us—three Minutemen and I—bounce along in their SUV for a few minutes, due south. Then, abruptly, looms the border, represented here at...
son stroke n.— «One has heard of the “son stroke” syndrome, many a politician has fallen victim to it. One has seen the “son stroke” extend to daughters. A few years ago, this writer had raised the issue of the...
karaoke democracy n.— «The term “karaoke democracy,” coined by Takashi Inoguchi, a professor at the University of Tokyo, is part of a theory that focuses on the dominance of the bureaucracy in Japanese politics. He describes...
dog whistle politics n.— «A simple statement such as “I don’t like political correctness” might not sound too threatening but there are some who hear something quite different, such as “It’s okay to be racist.”...