Coined by journalist Raymond Clapper and the Associated Press reporting on the selection process, leaders of the US Republican party gathered in a room at the Blackstone Hotel, considered one of the finest and most exclusive luxury accommodations of Chicago, host to numerous presidents during the twentieth century, to reach a consensus on whom their nominee would be. 
This secretive conclave of GOP power-brokers chose a compromise candidate in junior senator from Ohio, Warren G Harding (previously here and here) after several non-conclusive rounds of voting among delegates at the convention being held at the Coliseum across town. The fact that Harding had not been a serious contender prior to this private meeting confirmed in the minds of many that the American political machine was not truly representative and inscrutable, like the concept of the star chamber, and the phrase became shorthand for the murky, hazy inner workings.
synchronoptica
one year ago: constant entertainment (with synchronoptica) plus solving Zeno’s paradoxes
seven years ago: white-washing white supremacy, assorted links worth the revisit plus a memorial to those lost to Hurricane Maria
eight years ago: segregated America
nine years ago: an ugly colour for cigarette packaging, rethinking heath and hygiene plus the Playboy mansion sold
ten years ago: romancing Sparta plus the immortal cells of Henrietta Lacks
