Where everything is bipartisan until it is not.
To control, administer, or influence behavior and policy through authority and restraint. The verb form of 'governance,' often used by people who enjoy having power over others' decisions.
A government-provided safety net of financial assistance designed to keep citizens from hitting absolute rock bottom. It's the economic equivalent of a airbag that deploys when life goes sideways.
Congress (the House and Senate) and its responsibility to write laws—the slow-moving deliberative body where bills go to die quietly.
A political approach claiming to represent the interests of ordinary people against an elite establishment—essentially harnessing anger and resentment into a coherent governing philosophy.
To refrain from voting on a measure—the cowardly middle ground that allows politicians to avoid going on record while pretending they didn't vote.
A court's authority to review and hear appeals from lower court decisions, allowing people to complain about unfavorable verdicts.
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.
A politician's reversal of a previously stated position—the cardinal sin of politics, because voters apparently prefer consistency to evolving views based on new information.
A portmanteau blending "dumb" and "Trump," describing supporters who back policies against their own economic interests, often out of spite. It's political commentary wrapped in crude vocabulary—a lefty's exasperated diagnosis of voting behavior they find illogical.
The practice of granting favors (like government jobs) to political allies as rewards for support—basically organized nepotism with a government paycheck.
A specific gerrymandering technique that spreads voters of a particular party across multiple districts, diluting their voting power—the surgical precision version of political dilution.
A gerrymandering technique that concentrates voters of a particular party into a single district, wasting their votes by creating an overwhelming majority—like locking millions of people into one unbeatable fortress while ceding everything else.
Sexual conduct with a minor below the age of consent, legally presumed to lack capacity to consent regardless of perceived willingness.
Division of State Police—the law enforcement arm of New York State's executive branch, commonly known as State Troopers or NYSP.
That magical moment when someone officially verifies that yes, the thing you asked about is actually happening and you didn't misunderstand the entire email. In some contexts, it's also a religious rite where teenagers make promises they'll totally remember forever.
An organization formed to collect and distribute campaign contributions, legally separating corporate money from direct campaign coordination (wink, wink).
Federal law allowing citizens to request government documents, creating a slowpoke bureaucratic process for obtaining 'secret' information.
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.
A legal mechanism allowing detainees to challenge the legality of their imprisonment, fundamental to due process protection.
When two parties disagree so fundamentally that nothing gets done; democracy's way of ensuring everyone leaves equally frustrated.