Two years ago, official Washington failed to come up with a name for … the thing that happened two years ago. Most everyone settled on Trump-Russia or the Russia investigation or the Mueller probe or any number of unimaginative appellations.
Well, here we are again, nearly two months into yet another Donald Trump scandal with no name. “Why is there not a catchy, gate-like name for this Ukraine scandal yet?” asked one Twitter user in October. “It’s like the writers aren’t even trying anymore.” Indeed, John Oliver, the host of “Last Week Tonight” on HBO, could only come up with “Stupid Watergate 2.” Jimmy Kimmel recently coined “Ukraziness.” Other attempts have been made online, some better than others: Snakes on Ukraine. Zelenscheme. Crackpot Dome. Red Hat.
California Democrat Eric Swalwell, who serves on the House Intelligence panel that is leading the impeachment inquiry, has road-tested “Defense Dollars for Dirt,” but that hasn’t caught on. Anthony Shore, a naming expert and founder of Operative Words who has in the past advised Swalwell on framing issues (but not on this one), says it’s a pretty good try in that it explains what’s at stake. Danny Altman, the CEO of A Hundred Monkeys, another naming company, agrees: “‘Dollars for Dirt’ is OK, that’s got a little bit of poetry there, and it gets across the crassness of it.”
View the complete November 21 article by Jonathan Miller on The Roll Call website here.