Adichie, born in Nigeria but now living both in her homeland and in the United States, is an extraordinarily self-aware thinker and writer, possessing the ability to lambaste society without sneering or patronizing or polemicizing.
Romney's inauthenticity is so transparent it gave his primary opponents Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich a chance to lambaste him without having to pretend outrage.
Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive magazine, wrote: "The controversy over Günter Grass's poem about Israel and Iran only confirms what Grass was saying: That it's impossible to criticize Israel without being lambasted".
And Pyongyang's behaviour makes it difficult for Mr Obama to be bold and engage in open, direct talks with the North Koreans without risking being lambasted by critics for caving in to threats and legitimizing Kim Jung-un.
The fact that Trump was attempting to take such an active role in the exchange may also have left Republicans feeling like they had some cover to support a DACA deal without fear of getting lambasted by the President.
Now you find yourself sitting in a cubicle for 20 minutes or so until you're utterly sure that you'll be able to waddle to safety without being caught and subsequently lambasted forevermore.
It almost goes without saying that Mr. Paladino was lambasted by many City Room readers.
