It looks like the news media are now in the levitation business. Two items on the same Google News page:
- Questions of race hang over House vote to rebuke Wilson. MiamiHerald.com
- Fallout From ACORN Scandal May Hovers [sic] Over Other Community Groups. FOXNews
Sorry, no URL for the first item. If you click on the link you get a different article on the topic.
Wikipedia describes what’s happening here:
Levitation (from Latin levitas “lightness”)[1] is the process by which an object is suspended against gravity, in a stable position, without physical contact.
It is also a conjuring trick, apparently raising a human being (or other object) without any physical aid. The illusion can be produced by clever mechanics, lighting arrangements and other means.
I presume it also covers of the case of smearing someone without making actual fact-based accusations.
Without physical aid or physical contact, Wikipedia says. And to think that until now I thought it was done with slime.