Andrew Sullivan once had a good thread about words with no equivalent in the English language. Personally I've always thought American political vocabulary was a bit meager, so here are my proposed words to broaden the online conversation. Feel free to leave your own in the comments!
Contravesty: A media sensation that purports to inform the public about a controversy but makes a mockery of the issues and/or view points involved. Coverage of people tweeting about Andrew Briebart's death is a classic example.
Disasterporn: A news story that massively overinflated the danger of a natural disaster or other event. British media coverage of snow often turns into diasterporn.
Hackdit: A pundit who's public presence largely consists of trying to win arguments on television. A pundit who doesn't even write columns or blog posts.
Luntzism: The belief that by using certain words or phrases conservative politicians can make unpopular policies popular. Created by GOP pollster Frank Luntz in the 1990's.
Newt: A charlatan of a colossal and historic scale.
Sexberal: A liberal who largely focuses on issues of gender
and sexuality while ignoring things like economics, foreign policy or
climate issues.
Sully: To melt down in public about a purported political disaster that fails to materialize. Named after The Great Andrew Sullivan Freakout of 2012.
Uncle Leo: A public intellectual or pundit who ascribes legitimate political or policy differences to anti-Semitism. Named after the character Uncle Leo from Seinfeld who attributes food he doesn't like in restaurants to the chef being anti-Semitic.
Wonkabee: A want to be wonk, a person who puts on a persona of expertise but is not in fact an expert.
Zundit: A pundit who will never leave the national spotlight or be fired no matter how wrong their predictions or poor their behavior.
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