For all the international commentary regarding the apparent plot within the prime minister’s own party to politely push him out, let’s not overlook his government’s continued flirtation with being held in contempt of Parliament. As a Globe and Mail quite rightly reminds us:

There is no precedent that allows the government to weasel its way out of a House production order; its only alternatives are to prorogue Parliament, a doubling down on disdain that the Harper government resorted to in a similar case in 2009, or simply refuse to comply and be found in contempt of Parliament, an extremely rare occurrence that the Harper government inflicted upon itself in 2011, and which can lead to a non-confidence motion.

It’s not over until it’s over—and, even then, it may still not be over until the very last vote is counted (and recounted). The only thing pundits and polls will do in the meantime is feed your anxiety. If you absolutely must engage in idle speculation about the forthcoming US election, better to aim for thoughtful fare like Gerald F. Seib’s “bright spots” essay in the Wall Street Journal, or Adam Gopnik’s reflection on the worst case in the New Yorker, which includes this anchoring observation:

To grasp what is at stake in this strangest of political seasons, it helps to define the space in which the contest is taking place. We may be standing on the edge of an abyss, and yet nothing is wrong, in the expected way of countries on the brink of apocalypse. The country is not convulsed with riots, hyperinflation, or mass immiseration. What we have is a sort of phony war—a drôle de guerre, a sitzkrieg—with the vehemence of conflict mainly confined to what we might call the cultural space.

The best thing I read all week was Giles Coren’s response in the Times to the news about Christopher Columbus’s apparent DNA analysis. It’s precisely what I thought when the evidently breaking news alert rudely arrived on my phone.

Over on his excellent podcast, Lexicon Valley, John McWhorter takes a fun look at the word busy.