The chances for responsible progress seem greater in the Senate, despite mischievous efforts to undermine the E.P.A. by Republicans and some coal-country Democrats.
But it will probably do him little harm with his core constituency, which, partly thanks to his own mischievous efforts, still regards white people as capable of any sort of frame-up.
His speech at New York University was a mischievous attack on efforts to enact strong statutory reforms that would prevent another Enron disaster.
A man with a trim beard and a mischievous sense of humor, he recounted his efforts to persuade the Pakistani military to arrange a meeting between the Afghan government and Taliban leaders in Pakistan.
Over the past several months I followed two individuals — the animator Pi San and the blogger Wen Yunchao — in an effort to understand the dynamics of "mischievous mockery" and the increasingly serious game of cat-and-mouse taking place along China's digital front lines.
The A.C.L.U. filed what it acknowledged was a "mischievous" Freedom of Information Act request in an effort to force the government to acknowledge counterterrorism operations that it had refused to discuss on secrecy grounds and that were mentioned in the cables.
Today, the language of "the common man" and much worse can be found on many news sites, often in part as an attention-getting device, an effort at comic relief, or simply as a means to seem mischievous or bold.
A mischievous smile spreads.
