The Irony Committee

Plus: Grover Cleveland and James K. Polk, role models?

I’ve been eager to introduce all of you to the Irony Committee. Which is a committee made up only of me. Which the Irony Committee has decided is ironic.

If you didn’t follow that, allow me to elaborate.

For years and years, it would bother me when people used the word “ironic” to describe something that was not the least bit ironic. The most famous example of this, certainly, is the Alanis Morisette song that confuses coincidence or bad luck with irony.

Rather, irony is more of a cosmic misunderstanding, like when someone or something ventures blindly in one direction when reality is going the opposite direction. And that’s where the Irony Committee comes in.

The Irony Committee exists in a Twitter account I started four years ago to serve as judge and jury on what is ironic. And although its rulings can be rare, they are necessary.

Here are some samples: