The 'clique' in the crony clique

A politician recently quit her political outfit citing undemocratic functioning of the party as the reason of her quitting. She said that the supremo of the party is surrounded by his cronies and the decision making is in the hands of the crony 'clique'. 
'Clique' is our word this week. It means a small, select group of people or a coterie. Now should 'crony clique' be treated as more derogatory or defamatory than 'kitchen cabinet' is best left to your judgement.

Vitriol - the tone of election speeches this time!

1   Now that the elections are done and over with - its time for some sanity to prevail. Unlike elections of the past this time the politicians, across the political spectrum, contested the elections during which the pitch was shrill with caustic criticism. Stuff that would classify as 'vitriol'. Its an expression drawn from chemistry where 'vitriol' is used to describe certain metallic sulfates such as copper sulfate or zinc sulfate. 

       We just hope that the campaigning in the next general elections is not so vitriolic.