This Week In Words: November 9–15, 2019

Representative Peter King, a Republican from Long Island, is retiring. He denied that he's worried about losing his next race, but Democrats now make up the majority of voters on the island and the recent election gave them six out of its nine State Senate seats. In the last two elections, Republicans have performed badly in suburban swing districts around the country. If something belies something else, it contradicts it. You may also see the synonymous phrase "give the lie to".

While President Trump and his allies complain that the impeachment inquiry is a witch hunt being fueled by people he calls "Never-Trumpers", many of the witnesses testifying in hearings this week were appointed by the President himself. Other members of his administration have refused to testify. If the House files Articles of Impeachment, the President and his lawyers would be allowed to participate. A cabal is a group of people who work in secret to attain power or influence.

The Supreme Court is set to rule on whether the Trump Administration's decision to end the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program was legal. If the program is eliminated, over 700,000 people who were illegally brought into the country as children could be subjected to deportation. Capricious comes from the Italian capriccio, which literally translates to "head of a hedgehog", meaning a head with the hair standing on end in fright or frenzy.

Google, which is working on a number of healthcare-related projects, has been accused of collecting the data of millions of people without permission. As it catalogs patient data for Ascension, a healthcare provider in 23 states, it's also working on a number of tools that it says would improve care by making data searchable and using AI to identify patterns. Experts agree that these could be useful, but express concern about privacy and patients' rights.

The widow of Elijah Cummings, the Congressman from Maryland who recently passed away, will be running for her late husband's seat. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings was chairwoman of the Maryland Democratic Party, a job she resigned upon announcing her candidacy. She says that she and her husband discussed the possibility of her replacing him in Congress if he succumbed to the cancer that took his life. Impassioned is an easy one to remember, what with passion right there in the middle.

Former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has declared that he will enter the already crowded Democratic primary field, and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is on the verge of entering. Both have said they're worried that Joe Biden, seen by many as the Party's best hope for defeating Trump, is not up to the task. Observers aren't sure what these two potential candidates would bring to the field that can't already be found among the current roster.

A record-breaking cold snap has hit the Midwest and is moving east. Chicago got as low as 7˚F this week, and parts of Kansas dropped below zero. There was even snow on the Texas-Mexico border. This type of cold normally occurs in the middle of winter, not late fall. More extreme weather is a characteristic of the changing climate.

Venice, Italy is also suffering from extreme weather, in this case catastrophic flooding due to extremely high tides. 80 percent of the city was flooded at the highest water, which broke the previous record set in 1966. A huge flood barrier is under construction and expected to be ready in 2021. Most of the buildings in the city date from the 12th century, and the flooding is causing severe damage to many structures.

Hillary Clinton was harshly critical of Boris Johnson's decision to not release the U.K. government's report on Russian interference in British politics, specifically the Brexit referendum, until after the next election in December. She said that given how much we know about Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, the British people should know what role foreign powers played in manipulating public opinion before the crucial vote.

As the public impeachment hearings get under way, people are drawing comparisons with the impeachments of Nixon and Clinton. While a narrow majority of Americans now believe that President Trump should be impeached, 60 Senators would have to vote to convict after the House impeaches him. With Republicans controlling the Senate, that's seen as virtually impossible unless public opinion shifts dramatically. Nixon resigned before impeachment, and Clinton was acquitted in the Senate.