Common Phrases Explained Using Political Examples

Screwed the Pooch

A nice way of saying, "you fucked the dog." First used by NASA personnel in the 1960's. It means botching up your end of an activity totally and completely.

While there have been many failures in the ObamaCare roll out, Kaiser Permanente in California has screwed the pooch the worst. Their job as an HMO is to manage health insurance yet they have totally bollocked the simple task of sending out invoices to their clients. They are so backed up they keep extending the deadline for paying invoices because they can't manage to get them out in the first place.

Hoisted With His Own Petard

Blown up with your own bomb. Composed by Shakespeare in Hamlet.  The literal meaning is colorful - "to be lifted up by your own fart."

Chris Christie was hoisted with his own petard. His plan to punish Democrats in the city of Fort Lee by imposing a killer traffic jam has destroyed his chances of being elected President and may see him impeached.

Sold Down the River

To betray the trust of people who depend on you. From the antebellum South when a slave owner would sell the wife or children of a slave down the Mississippi River into the deep South.

The people along the Elk River in West Virginia were sold down the river by the coal industry which has always considered their lives expendable, by their government which considers the public to be an annoying burden, and by their politicians who are bought and paid for by the coal industry.