September 27, 2011

Word of the Day

By: AF Editors

Crony Capitalist

September 27, 2011
WORD OF THE DAY

excrescence (n)
(ik-skres-uhns)

1. an abnormal outgrowth, usually harmless, on an animal or vegetable body
2. a normal outgrowth, as hair or horns
3. any disfiguring addition
4. abnormal growth or increase

Example:
Even if the administration eventually escapes any finding of legal wrongdoing, Solyndra threatens to haunt the green energy campaign in much the same way that the collapse of Lincoln Savings became the emblem of the savings and loan industry’s recklessness in the 1980s. The Solyndra story includes Obama campaign donors and everybody’s favorite Wall Street whipping boy, Goldman Sachs, in the middle of the whole sorry mess. Yet it would be a mistake to mark the story down as merely another excrescence of crony capitalism. It is much worse.
(The Weekly Standard)