Wordplay VI: (Mostly) Politics Edition

BY MARTIN KICH

In this series, I have highlighted headlines that are cleverly expressed, making use of puns, irony, figurative language, or unexpected word choices to grab a reader’s attention. Not surprisingly, the Trump administration has so unabashedly flouted all sorts of political conventions that headline writers have felt freer to write headlines that during previous administrations might have seemed unnecessarily flippant or unjustifiably disrespectful.

“Acosta’d.”

[The Atlantic Politics and Policy Daily Newsletter. 16 Nov. 2018. On CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta being allowed back into the White House, after a judge found the revocation of his press credentials to be arbitrary.]

“Collin’ for an Indictment.”

[Vox Sentences Daily Newsletter. 8 Aug. 2018. On New York Congressman Chris Collins’ indictment for insider trading.]

“Collin’ His Lawyer.”

[The Atlantic Politics and Policy Daily Newsletter. 8 Aug. 2018. On New York Congressman Chris Collins’ indictment for insider trading.]

“Democrats Should Un-Friend Facebook.”

[Column by Michelle Goldberg. New York Times 16 Nov. 2018.]

“Donald Trump Made Voter Turnout Great Again.”

[Chis Cilizza’s The Point Daily Newsletter. 19 Nov. 2018.]

“For a Second There, We Stopped Talking about Trump.”

[Column by Gail Collins and Bret Stephens. New York Times 20 Nov. 2018. Written as a dialogue, the column records their thoughts about the midterm elections.]

“Get Ready for Mueller Time!”

[L.A. Progressive Daily Newsletter Header. 26 Nov. 2018.]

“How Donald Trump Made Political Comedy Grate Again.”

[Column by Clarence Page. Chicago Tribune 16 Nov. 2018.]

“Malcolm Nance Says U.S. Has Become the ‘Michael Cohen of Saudi Arabia.'”

[Article by Susie Madrak. Crooks and Liars 17 Nov. 2018.]

‘A Manafort-Sized Cloud Hangs over Washington.”

[Chris Cilizza’s The Point Daily Newsletter.17 Aug. 2018.]

“A Massive Change: Nations Redefine the Kilogram.”

[Article by Sarah Kaplan. Washington Post 15 Nov. 2018.]

“A Matter of Corsi.”

[The Atlantic Politics and Policy Daily Newsletter. 26 Nov. 2018. On Roger Stone associate Jerome Corsi’s announcement that he has turned down a plea deal offered by the Mueller investigation.”

“Nancy Pelosi Is the Best Person to Lead the House Democrats. That’s Why She Should Retire.”

[Column by Dana Milbank. Washington Post 20 Nov. 2018.]

“No More Funny Business.”

[The Atlantic Politics and Policy Daily Newsletter. 19 Nov. 2018. On the decision to end the tradition of having a comedian as the headliner for the White House Correspondents Dinner and to invite, instead, a presidential historian to be the featured speaker.]

“One Strzok and He’s Out.”

[The Atlantic Politics and Policy Daily Newsletter. 8 Aug. 2018. On the firing of FBI agent Peter Strzok.]

“How Paradise Was Lost.”

[The Los Angeles Times’s Daily Headlines Newsletter. 13 Nov. 2018. On the outbreak of major wildfires in California and the destruction of the town of Paradise.]

“The New Normal Isn’t Normal at All.”

[Column by Kathleen Parker. Washington Post 20 Nov. 2018. On President Trump’s consistently and increasingly aberrant behavior in office.]

“Pardon the Fowl Mood.”

[Jack Fowler’s Morning Jolt Newsletter. National Review 23 Nov. 2018.]

“Prince Charles Is 70 and Ready for the Gift of Popularity.”

[Article by Tom Sykes. Daily Beast 17 Nov. 2018.]

“Sanders Finds Prime Target in Amazon.”

[Article by Harper Neidig. TheHill. 11 Sep. 2018. The Sanders is Bernie Sanders, not Sarah Huckabee Sanders.]

“Sil Vous Plea.”

[The Atlantic Politics and Policy Daily Newsletter. 21 Aug. 2018. On the guilty pleas entered by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen.]

“Slovenia’s Greta Garbo Syndrome.”

[Article by Marco Lovec. European Council on Foreign Relations. The title is explained in this way: “Slovenia has such a high expectation of potential partners that it risks to end up alone.”

“Thanksgiving with the Troops at Mar-a-Lago.”

[Article by Lucian Truscott IV. Salon 22 Nov. 2018. On President Trump’s often repeated but seldom demonstrated high regard for American troops serving in harm’s way.]

“’This Is Our Lane’: The NRA Told Doctors to Ming Their Own Business. Then a Man Shot up a Hospital.”

[Article by Lindsey Bever. Washington Post 20 Nov. 2018. On the NRA response to trauma surgeons’ defining gun violence as an epidemic and the mass shooting at the Mercy Hospital and Medical Center in Chicago.]

“This Is the New Abnormal.”

[The Los Angeles Times’s Daily Headlines Newsletter. 12 Nov. 2018. On the outbreak of major wildfires in California.] [Very close to the same heading, “The New Abnormal,” appeared on The Week’s Daily Newsletter on the same day.]

“This Is What Happens when a Stable Genius Leads a Stupid Country.”

[Column by Dana Milbank. Washington Post 19 Nov. 2018.]

“The Tip of the Weisselberg.”

[The Atlantic Politics and Policy Daily Newsletter. 24 Aug. 2018. On the immunity deal reached by the longtime CFO of Trump, Inc.]

“To All the Votes I’ve Counted Before.”

[Vox Sentences Daily Newsletter. 15 Nov. 2018. On the vote recounts in the Florida Senate and gubernatorial races.]

“The Trump Administration’s Legal Positions Are Gobble-Gobble-Gobbledygook.”

[Header to a Tom Toles cartoon in the Opinion section. Washington Post 19 Nove. 2018. (Three days before Thanksgiving.)]

“Trump and Acosta: When Showboats Collide.”

[Op-Ed by Katherine Mangu-Ward. New York Times 17 Nov. 2018.]

“Trump Can Do Better than These Schitty Insults.”

[Editorial Board. Washington Examiner 19 Nov. 2018. On Trump’s Insulting California Congressman Adam Schiff. It occurred to me that if the President read simply the headline, he might think that he was being admonished to come up with better insults, rather than to behave in a more presidential manner.]

“Trump Says He ‘Can’t Imagine’ Anyone but Trump as Time’s Person of the Year.”

[Daily Kos 20 Nov. 2018.]

“Trump Sees a ‘Red Wave’ where Many Republicans See a Bloodbath.”

[The Hill’s Morning Report. 7 Aug. 2018. On expectations about the 2018 elections.]

“Trump Takes a Victory Lap as Troy Balderson Limps to Finish Line in Ohio.”

[Article by Matt Lewis. Daily Beast 08 Aug. 2018.]

“Trump’s Black Friday Sale: Oil, Guns, and Morals.”

[Column by Thomas Friedman. New York Times 22 Nov. 2018. On President Trump’s refusal to condemn Saudi Arabia for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.]

“Trump’s Criticism of Architect of Bin Laden Raid Draws Fire.”

[Article by Eric Schmitt. New York Times 19 Nov. 2018.]

‘Trump’s Pyrite Touch.”

[Slate’s The Gist Daily Newsletter. 13 Aug. 2018.]

“Trump’s Presidential Turkey Pardon Felt Like a Reality Show Meets Absurdist Theater.”

[Article by Nelson Pressley. Washington Post 20 Nov. 2018. It seems noteworthy that Pressley is a theater critic for the Post.]

“While Trump Feasts on Thanksgiving, Troops on the border Eat Rations and Await Pancho Villa.”

[Column by Dana Milbank. Washington Post 17 Nov. 2018.]

“Why Bring a Bonesaw to a Kidnapping, Your Highness?”

[Op-Ed by Fred Hiatt. Washington Post. 19 Nov. 2018. On the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.]

‘You Can Runoff, but You Can’t Hyde.”

[The Atlantic Politics and Policy Daily Newsletter. 27 Nov. 2018. On the run-off election in Mississippi between Cindy Hyde-Smith and Mike Espy for a U.S. Senate seat.]

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Previous Posts in This Series:

Wordplay I: https://academeblog.org/2013/04/01/wordplay-i/.

Wordplay II: https://academeblog.org/2015/05/30/wordplay-ii/.

Wordplay III: Politics Edition: https://academeblog.org/2017/08/11/wordplay-iii-politics-edition/.

Wordplay IV: (Mostly) Politics Edition: https://academeblog.org/2017/10/24/wordplay-iv-mostly-politics-edition/.

Wordplay V: (Mostly) Politics Edition: https://academeblog.org/2018/07/20/wordplay-v-mostly-politics-edition/.

Posts in a Related Series:

Can Reality Be an Oxymoron? Post1: https://academeblog.org/2013/08/21/can-reality-be-an-oxymoron/.

Can Reality Be an Oxymoron? Post 2: https://academeblog.org/2013/12/18/can-reality-be-an-oxymoron-part-2/.

Can Reality Be an Oxymoron? Post 3: https://academeblog.org/2015/12/24/can-reality-be-an-oxymoron-3/.

Can Reality Be an Oxymoron? Post 4: https://academeblog.org/2016/09/03/can-reality-be-an-oxymoron-4/.