Mayberry Machiavelli

Meaning

Noun

• 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.

Origin

• 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.