#SMOD, explained

In light of the meteor and asteroid activity today, a mysterious entity known as "SMOD" has been invoked a lot on Twitter and other social media. I still get asked who or what it is regularly, so I thought I'd give a concise explanation of what #SMOD means.

In early 2012 during the Republican presidential primary, it became clear that (in some conservative pundits' opinions) there was not going to be a candidate strong enough to unseat President Obama. At this point, the great Ace of Spades decided to throw his support behind a new candidate, Sweet Meteor of Death (or, SMOD).

SMOD turned out to be the perfect candidate for our times. It would put an end to petty partisan bickering, and solve all our social, economic, and political problems...once and for all. RedState also endorsed it, and a Twitter handle sprang up. Soon, SMOD even had an issues ad:

Invoking SMOD (or its Twitter counterpart, #SMOD) is a symbolic throwing up of the hands in disdain and disgust. When you encounter something so mind-numblingly stupid that you think humanity can't possibly survive much longer, or doesn't deserve to, there's SMOD. When a #facepalm or a #headdesk won't convey sufficient horror or dismay, there's #SMOD. When you reach the point of frustration where the only reasonable solution is cosmic global apocalypse, there's SMOD.

Hopefully the next election turns out better so we don't have to come up with an even...stronger option:

"Death Star" Galaxy Found Blasting Smaller Neighbor  The supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy is blasting a smaller neighbor with a violent energy jet—earning it the moniker the "Death Star" galaxy—scientists announced today.

#DSG2016, anyone?