Wordsmith Peggy Noonan, of the Wall Street Journal commentariat, picks words, phrases, etc. that she believes characterize 2013. Her word of the year is "botched" as a descriptor of the Obamacare rollout.
You've already guessed Noonan's sentence of the year: "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it." As a lie, it defines the Obama presidency, the same way "Read my lips, no new taxes." defines the Bush 41 presidency.
Words she finds missing from the health care debate: medicine, research and cure. Some of her favorite words came from Delta Airlines which announced it will not permit the use of cell phones aboard its flights, regardless of whether the Feds say it's okay.
Noonan's most riveting sentence of the year, spoken by a billionaire Wall Street investor: "I hate it when the market goes up. Every time I hear the stock market went up I know the guillotines are coming closer." A knowledge of the French Revolution isn't conducive to peace of mind among the privileged, maybe he shouldn't dwell on A Tale of Two Cities or spent much time with Les Miserables.
On the other hand, maybe the unnamed billionaire holds large short positions in the market. That's reason enough not to want to see the market rise.
