Where everything is bipartisan until it is not.
A retaliatory system configured to launch automatically if a nation is destroyed, ensuring mutually assured destruction.
A fancy British title for a woman who's done something impressive enough to earn royal recognition, or a pantomime staple where a man in drag steals the show. Definitely not your average dame.
Supreme control, sovereignty, or ownership over a territory or domain—the kind of power that gets historical empires to wake up sweating. It's dominance with a fancier medieval accent.
Coded language understood by a target audience while appearing innocuous to others, the art of saying offensive things without technically saying them.
Division of State Police—the law enforcement arm of New York State's executive branch, commonly known as State Troopers or NYSP.
Official orders handed down by authority figures who've decided democracy is exhausting. These are legally binding pronouncements that make something law whether you like it or not—think royal edicts but with more paperwork and legal citations.
Political rhetoric appealing to emotions, prejudices, and fears rather than reason or evidence. It's basically the default style of half the political universe.
An acronym for 'Democrat In Name Only'—a politician registered as Democratic whose voting record or beliefs align more with conservative principles, making them out of step with their party's base.
The process by which colonies achieved independence from colonial powers, often messily. Freedom tastes better when you fight for it.
A government representative skilled in negotiation and tact, basically a professional liar with impeccable manners.
A system of government in which power is vested in the people, who exercise that power either directly or through elected representatives. It emphasizes individual rights, free speech, and rule by majority with protections for minorities.
A satirical nickname for George W. Bush highlighting his perceived detachment from reality and current events, particularly regarding his response to Hurricane Katrina and various foreign policy decisions. It's political snark disguised as wordplay.
The policy of releasing people from long-term institutional care (such as psychiatric hospitals or prisons) into community-based settings. It began in the 1950s as a mental health reform but often resulted in inadequate community support.
A severe environmental and economic crisis in the American Great Plains during the 1930s, caused by prolonged drought combined with poor agricultural practices that left topsoil exposed to wind erosion. Massive dust storms devastated farming communities and forced widespread migration.
The geographic area a representative is supposed to serve, unless gerrymandering has made that area look like a Rorschach test.
When different branches or chambers are controlled by different parties, generally producing legislative gridlock and mutual recrimination. It's democracy's version of a dysfunctional marriage counseling into permanent separation.