But unpopularity is gruel for politicians (and actors), and he is likely to feel chastened.

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We were like 21st century Oliver Twists, poised to be kicked out of the workhouse if we asked for more gruel.

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Comment: Granted some of this, like Proposal 10, is thin gruel.

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In general, however, fans of hardcore puzzlers will find little to challenge them, and action game fans will find Long Road Ahead thin gruel.

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But this is relatively thin gruel compared with the recent past.

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In areas where adults are reduced to eating just one meal a day, babies are fed little more than flavored cassava root or a thin gruel.

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But they've done remarkably well with much thinner gruel.

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Partly because, since the election, the press has had to subsist on a dispiriting gruel of reviews, white papers and bills, leaked only in so far as the government wanted them leaked and, in truth, making dull news.

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But this is thin gruel.

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