There should be a word for that particular unsurprised flatness you feel when reading the NYT once again trying to find the most tangential angle at which to tiptoe around an obvious issue without touching on a blazingly obvious truth. Often you can tell from the mealy-mouthed headlines that it’s the NYT. They always try to paint their cowardice as some kind of superior intellectual take on the issue too, but everyone can see full well what they’re doing.