There’s that old chestnut of a curse: “May you live in interesting times.” These times are certainly interesting, but I think the word Duplicitous describes a fair bit of what makes them interesting. And I wouldn’t curse anyone with a life lived in duplicitous times.

The manipulative deceit which marks even the most casual-seeming conversation whenever it strays into topics of hyper-partisanship is marring friendships, relationships and family cohesion. It doesn’t take long for this to boil over into anger, even hatred, and the conditions which produce regrettable statements.