> read http://www.civmag.com/articles/C9909E05.html
> for an argument against conformity and for irony
The text Peter refers us to (by Hitchens) contains the following passage:
When, for example, did you ever see the word bipartisan
employed as anything other than an approbation? Or the word
partisan used as other than disapprobation? A sample sentence
might say something like -- and this in a news story -- "Hopes rose
yesterday of an end to the recent outbreak of partisanship on the...
In 19th century U.S. there was a different word for "independent" or "nonpartisan" -- it was Mugwump, someone who sits on the fence with his mug on one side and his wump on the other and can't tell the difference.
Carrol