circular firing squad

circular firing squad

A group, usually a political party, that is allied against a common enemy or opponent but whose internal disagreements and attacks end up doing more damage to each other than to their target. The lead up to the presidential nomination saw the party devolve into a circular firing squad, as each candidate's vociferous bid to unseat the incumbent president ended up creating huge divisions and disarray within the party itself.
See also: circular, firing, squad
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • proceed
  • proceed against
  • proceed against (someone or something)
  • proceeding
  • gain ground on (someone or something)
  • battle against
  • declare war against
  • declare war against (someone or something)
  • firing line
  • fifth column
References in periodicals archive
Everywhere you looked recently, there were signs that the Democratic Party might be in danger of forming a circular firing squad.
And the Eastern Bloc members are apparently trying to reignite the party's old circular firing squad habits of attacking fellow Republicans (say whatever you want about former Gov.
I often feel out of kilter with the modern world" Actress Honeysuckle Weeks, star Foyle's War "The trouble with a Conservative Party leadership election is that it is like a circular firing squad. Everyone shoots at each other" Tory MP Andrew Bridgen
I often feel out of kilter with the modern world" Actress Honeysuckle Weeks, star of Foyle's War "The trouble with a Conservative Party leadership election is that it is like a circular firing squad. Everyone shoots at each other" Tory MP Andrew Bridgen
Last week, he told a crowd at an Obama Foundation event in Berlin that the party is becoming a "circular firing squad" targeting those "straying from purity" on certain issues.
He's right, we're going to be talking about Brexit for years, though finding reasoned voices in the pall of gunfire from the circular firing squad that passes for a Tory cabinet is difficult.
In the end their party leaders point out to them, in private, that to reform the barangays is to institute a circular firing squad. It would reform everyone's political machinery out of existence.
A great way to foster that respect for human life is to elect men and women who understand that a society that kills its weakest, its most vulnerable, is not a city shining on a hill, but a culture that resembles the proverbial circular firing squad.
The committees were scathing about the way the participants had each sought to blame each other, saying that at times their inquiry had resembled a "circular firing squad" with Sir Philip the "worst example".
The circular firing squad is perhaps the left's favorite formation.
But to the consternation of many establishment Republicans, the bloody fight being waged through direct mail, television ads and on digital platforms is shaping up as a circular firing squad that could leave none of them standing.
Admiration for Boehner will grow in retrospect as his successor demonstrates how hard it is to keep House Republicans from forming a circular firing squad.
"I want to avoid a circular firing squad," Vitter said, displaying an image where members who support a common cause shoot each other rather than a common enemy.
What is embarrassing is the continual circular firing squad and lack of creative thinking that's part and parcel of city government.
But these same groups were relying on the state for advice, creating a virtual circular firing squad of nondisclosure.