You can’t walk down that fence

Posted: May 18, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rep. Adam Smith (D – Washington) was on the podcast The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell discussing Trump’s approach to dealing with Iran, where he says he wants to negotiate but then also advocates for eliminating the country. Smith then said, “you can’t walk down that fence”, mixing “straddle the fence” (support both sides of an issue) and “walk the line” (remain neutral rather than committing to a position). Many thanks to frequent contributor Frank King, the Mental Health Comedian, for hearing this one and sending it in!

I just barely scratched the tip of the iceberg

Posted: February 18, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On the MS NOW show, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, Congressman Maxwell Frost was talking about going to the Justice Department and conducting a two-hour review of the unredacted Epstein files. Frost then uttered this nice congruent conflation of “barely scratching the surface” and “tip of the iceberg”, both referring to the beginning of a much larger issue or problem. Considering there are 3 million files, I think the Congressman’s description is accurate. A big thank you to Ron MacDonald for hearing this one and sending it in!

The doors are closing in

Posted: November 16, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
Gregory Meeks (D-NY) said this one on “Ths Last Word” – “…the Republicans have no way out, the doors are closing in…”  It is a congruent conflation of “the walls are closing in” and “the doors are closing”, both meaning running out of time and the end is nearing.  Doors and walls can be confusing.  A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this one and sending it in.