DO YOU WANT TO KNOW what WaĀterloo and WaĀterĀgate and WhiteĀwaĀterĀgate have to with each other? And what does a just plain old gate have to do with anyĀthing and where does ABBA fit into this? What if I brought anĀother, more reĀcent gate into the conversationālike BengĀhaziĀgate? YesĀterday I posted a piece on Trey Gowdy and Hillary Clinton and whoās lying about whose lies and out of that came this . . .
In āanĀother fishing exĀpeĀdiĀtion without a bite,ā I called the atĀtempts of the oh-so parĀtisan ConĀgresĀsional comĀmittee inĀvesĀtiĀgaĀtions to unĀcover the eluĀsive and unĀdeĀfined ātruthā about BengĀhazi a never-ending story and the most reĀcent as āthe latest round of Clinton-bashing by the Vast Rightwing Conspiracy.ā
Noting that this was the ninth (!) such comĀmittee, I stated that it was ācomĀmitted to fishingāer, I mean findingāthe ātruthā about what hapĀpened in BengĀhazi three years ago.ā 1
AcĀcuĀsaĀtions against the Obama adĀminĀisĀtraĀtion of everyĀthing from mere inĀcomĀpeĀtence to a cover-up followed.
Of course.
After the first few Republican-chaired comĀmitĀtees found no wrong-doing, shouldnāt they have quit?
Of course.
But they havenāt and the atĀtack, its afĀterĀmath, and the onĀgoing seĀries of inĀvesĀtiĀgaĀtions are reĀferred to as BengĀhaziĀgate, which is seen around the world as a seĀries of parĀtisan atĀtacks that have fanned the flames of haĀtred against curĀrent PresĀiĀdent Obama and fuĀture PresĀiĀdent Clinton while failing to unĀcover a single shred of evĀiĀdence to use as a founĀdaĀtion for that haĀtred or the investigations.
Alas, that is how the Vast Rightwing ConĀspiracy works.
This carĀtoon by Jeff Danziger for The New York Times is tiĀtled āTrent Gowdyās LipĀstickā and refers to the rhetorĀical exĀpresĀsion āTo put lipĀstick on a pig.ā This idiom refers to making cosĀmetic changes in an atĀtempt to disĀguise the true naĀture of something.
The void that is the Internet
As usual, when I comĀpose at my comĀputer, I have acĀcess to the InĀternet and the stagĀgering array of facts and figĀures and even opinĀions. And I can get lost there: open up Google and type in a phrase and sudĀdenly I am looking at someĀthing else only tanĀgenĀtially reĀlated but nonetheĀless reĀlated to my topic that sends my mind caĀreening off in a new diĀrecĀtion and I just have to add this stuff to my essay and someĀtimes I do but mostly I donāt.
For exĀample, yesĀterday a friend posted a line from a ā60s album on one of my FaceĀbook enĀtries: ābut still you can say ādarker and darkerā.ā I knew I knew that line but at first I thought it was FireĀsign TheĀater. So I typed those words into Google, but I erĀroĀneously subĀstiĀtuted and for but and that alĀtered the reĀsults of the search. Still, I had more than 43,000,000 sites to choose from! 2
On the first page, I had links to sites about Fifty Shades Of Darker, Donald Trump, lake surĀfaces, and staying out of the sun. The second Google page was even better beĀcause I found an arĀticle tiĀtled āWhat The Color of Your Urine Says About You.ā
And that alĀlowed me to use a line from that arĀticle as a non-sequitur reĀsponse to the ādarker and darkerā quote. (You had to have been there.)
When using a search enĀgine, the reĀsulting posĀsiĀbilĀiĀties may be pracĀtiĀcally endĀless if one keeps his mind open to those posĀsiĀbilĀiĀties and out of that search came this . . .
This carĀtoon by Clay BenĀnett of the ChatĀtanooga Free Press deĀpicts Hillary Clinton nonĀchaĀlantly fending off the many swords of the many BengĀhazi comĀmitĀtees out to flay her.
I stuck mostly to the subject
I find hisĀtory and polĀiĀtics and popĀular culĀture and rock & roll and grammar and word-play alĀmost equally fasĀciĀnating topics, and I someĀtimes comĀbine two or more in one essay. YesĀterday I did not.
I stuck to the subject.
Mostly.
But I did get sideĀtracked with the use of gate as a suffix and started babĀbling on with my two typing finĀgers when I reĀalĀized that I was off on a sideĀtrack that would make for a more fun main track as its own post. So I exĀcised it from āanĀother fishing exĀpeĀdiĀtion without a biteā and saved it for this piece today.
So here we are at that post!
This carĀtoon by Signe Wilkinson of the PhiladelĀphia InĀquirer & Daily News tells it all!
All gates are not Watergates
The use of gate as a suffix in BengĀhaziĀgate and WhiteĀwaĀterĀgate does not refer to that wooden conĀtrapĀtion that you have to swing open to enter a garden. Adding gate to a noun is taken from and refers to WaĀterĀgate, which most people know has someĀthing to do with the resĀigĀnaĀtion of Richard Nixon from the Presidency.
AcĀtuĀally, the WaĀterĀgate is a hotel in WashĀington, DC. The 1972 scandal asĀsoĀciĀated with it and PresĀiĀdent Nixon inĀvolved breaking into the DeĀmoĀcĀratic NaĀtional Committeeās headĀquarĀters along with larĀceny, unĀdocĀuĀmented slush funds, and obĀstrucĀtion of jusĀtice, among others. These crimes and misĀdeĀmeanors were carĀried out by Tricky Dickās henchmen, a clanĀdesĀtine coĀterie of creepy charĀacĀters from C.R.E.E.P., a Rep*blican verĀsion of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. (Look it up!)
The term WaĀterĀgate has come to enĀcomĀpass an array of clanĀdesĀtine and often ilĀlegal acĀtivĀiĀties and gate has beĀcome a common suffix. At least common among elected Rep*blican ofĀfiĀcials in the DC area in the past twenty-five years.
In brazen atĀtempt after brazen atĀtempt to create columns of smoke where only a match had been lit (if that!) during the presĀiĀdency of Bill Clinton, those repĀreĀsenĀtaĀtives have acĀcused the ClinĀtons of one non-event after anĀother, giving us such non-scandals as:
⢠TravĀelĀgate of 1993, in which we learned that the ClinĀtons had the right to fire anyone they wanted to, inĀcluding memĀbers of the White House Travel Office;
⢠TroopĀerĀgate of 1993, in which we learned that memĀbers of the Arkansas State Troopers were paid to give tesĀtiĀmony against former GovĀernor Clinton; and
⢠WhiteĀwaĀterĀgate of 1992, in which we learned that the ClinĀtons may or may not have made a profit in a priĀvate busiĀness venĀture inĀvolving the WhiteĀwater DeĀvelĀopĀment CorĀpoĀraĀtion during the 1970s and ā80s.
There were more.
āWaĀterloo! I was deĀfeated, you won the war. WaĀterloo! Promise to love you forĀever more. WaĀterloo! Couldnāt esĀcape if I wanted to. WaĀterloo! Knowing my fate is to be with you. WaĀterloo! FiĀnally facing my WaĀterloo.ā See, I got ABBA into this thing after all!
Finally facing my Waterloo
WaĀterĀgate has taken on meaning simĀilar to that of WaĀterloo, the deĀciĀsive battle in 1815 in which Napoleon lost not just the battle but also his power, abĀdiĀcating his role as EmĀperor of France. As an idiom, to refer to someoneās WaĀterloo is usuĀally a refĀerĀence to a deĀciĀsion or acĀtion that deĀcided the course of that personās caĀreer or lifeāalways negatively.
How could I not pay a nod to the grandeur that was ABBA? WaĀterloo was their first record to hit the charts where it matĀtered: in the US and the UK. As a refĀerĀence to WaĀterloo, it is probĀably better known than the battle that caused Napolean to step down from power in France. Such is the power of popĀular culture . . .
Gate as a transitive verb
The Urban DicĀtioĀnary deĀfines the non-capitalized word waĀterĀgate as ātaping over a door latch to preĀvent the door from locking,ā which is news to me as I have never heard or read the word used that way. But I havenāt read everyĀthing, so maybe itās so, so I donāt want to conĀfuse the sitĀuĀaĀtion by giving yet anĀother meaning to whiteĀwater.
What I sugĀgest here is that we emĀbrace gate as a tranĀsiĀtive verb: to gate someone is to acĀcuse them of scanĀdalous beĀhavior without a shred of acĀtionĀable evĀiĀdence beĀlieving the mere acĀcuĀsaĀtion will do them damage.
ExĀample: During his presĀiĀdency, Bill Clintonās poĀlitĀical enĀeĀmies gated him over the WhiteĀwater investments.
ExĀample: On OcĀtober 22, 2015, the Trey Gowdy-chaired comĀmittee gated Hillary Clinton for more than ten hours.
It would probĀably be best if we kept the use to gate to poĀlitĀical sitĀuĀaĀtions, but it could easily break out of those confines.
ExĀample: Throughout the 1990s, Neal Umphredās proĀfesĀsional enĀeĀmies gated him in print about his work as the auĀthor of price guides for record colĀlecĀtors. Would that be ColĀlecĀtorsĀgate? PriceguideĀgate? OāSullivan-Woodsidegate?
Somehow, using gate that way doesnāt carry as much clout, so Iām thinking we should just use gate for poĀlitĀical conundrums.
Thatās it: so I would like to hear from both of my readers where they stand on the use of gate as a verb . . .
Th-th-th-thatās all, folks!
HEADER IMAGE: Benny AnĀderĀsson, Anni-Frid āFridaā LynĀgstad, AgĀnetha FƤltĀskog, and Bjƶrn UlĀvaeus. What is there to say? Oh, I know: Find yourĀself a copy of the 1994 movie The AdĀvenĀtures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert with Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, and the bloody amazing TerĀence Stamp as three drag queens stuck in the outĀback of Australia.
FOOTNOTES:
1 What hapĀpened in BengĀhazi three years ago was an unĀproĀvoked atĀtack on the US emĀbassy there on SepĀtember 11, 2012. During this atĀtack, four AmerĀiĀcans were murĀdered: J. ChristoĀpher Stevens, ForĀeign SerĀvice InĀforĀmaĀtion ManĀageĀment OfĀficer Sean Smith, and CIA conĀtracĀtors TyĀrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty.
2 The line is from a piece of nonĀsenĀsical diĀaĀlogue is from a secĀtion tiĀtled Bit Of NosĀtalgia from Frank Zappaās 1967 album LUMPY GRAVY.
Iām late to this, but, since you ask:
1. āWhat I sugĀgest here is that we emĀbrace gate as a tranĀsiĀtive verb: to gate someone is to acĀcuse them of scanĀdalous beĀhavior without a shred of acĀtionĀable evĀiĀdence beĀlieving the mere acĀcuĀsaĀtion will do them damage.ā
Iām guessing this means āswiftĀboatingā just aināt gonna catch on. Which makes me sad, beĀcause Iām reĀally tired of ā-gate.ā Dammit this country needs a new euĀphemism for scandal, phony or otherwise!
2. And just as an aside: If ABĀBAās take on the conĀcept of āWaĀterlooā has inĀdeed trumped the purely Napoleonic asĀsoĀciĀaĀtion (which is cerĀtainly posĀsible), then does it now stand for both vicĀtory and defeat?
As in, āYeah weāre standing up here singing about how our sigĀnifĀiĀcant others (who wrote this song) have deĀfeated us, and won the war....but weāre also on our way to selling so many records that no one will be able to keep count,...as of RIGHT NOW.ā