Pithy
Anything that’s a problem for the Democrats becomes a little easier if Ted Cruz is in the opposition.
the United States cannot be a benign power and a messianic one at the same time
Peter Beinart via Freddie deBoer
Words of the Year
Irredentism: a political and popular movement whose members claim (usually on behalf of their nation), and seek to occupy, territory which they consider "lost" (or "unredeemed"), based on history or legend.
If you didn’t know what this meant, join the club. I only recognized it as a put-down of some sort in foreign policy.
If you don’t know why I might nominate this as word-of-the-year, may God have mercy on your soul.
Runner-up, revanchism: the political manifestation of the will to reverse territorial losses incurred by a country, often following a war or social movement.
Some people seem to think that 25-cent words like that settle a debate.
Janissary: A member of a group of elite, highly loyal supporters. It would be tempting to call the formerly Never-Trump Now-Trump-Sycophant Republicans "janissaries" except that the janissaries were also highly-skilled and tightly-disciplined, whereas the Trumpistas in DC are a pack of lawless jackals, vying for advantage over their fellows and of uncertain loyalty even to Trump.
Lizardman’s Constant
Lizardman’s Constant is an idea proposed by Scott Alexander that each poll always has about 4% weird answers. In one poll, 4% of Americans said that reptilian people do control our world and, in another 4% answered ‘Yes’ to the question ‘Have you ever been decapitated?’
Quite Interesting on Twitter
Dark Humor
Every morning, Ghislaine Maxwell wakes up surprised and relieved to find she didn’t commit suicide the night before.
Nellie Bowles, Common Sense
Background, should you need it, here and here.
You can read most of my more impromptu stuff here (cathartic venting) and here (the only social medium I frequent, because people there are quirky, pleasant and real). Both should work in your RSS aggregator, like Feedly or Reeder, should you want to make a habit of it.
Tipsy Teetotaler ن 