Etymology

Mayberry Machiavelli

Today it means: A person who furthers a cause by "reducing every issue to its simplest, black-and-white terms for public consumption", i.e., denying nuance by presenting stark but fallacious alternatives. Full definition →

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The story

Coined by John J. DiIulio, Jr., who ran President George W. Bush's Faith-based Initiative. See Machiavelli. Mayberry was the name of a small rural town in The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D., US TV shows that ran from 1960 to 1971.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.