Has Donald Trump brought back 'Bizarro World'?
鈥淏izarro World鈥�: Like its comic-book origins, a situation completely at odds with reality, and the now-standard political way to describe anything worthy of extreme disbelief.
DC Comics the Bizarro World 鈥� also known as htraE, or 鈥淓arth鈥� spelled backwards 鈥� in the 1950s as a cube-shaped planet featuring polar-opposite versions of Superman, Lois Lane and others.聽 More recently, it鈥檚 been featured in TV shows like and
It started out being used chiefly in sports coverage, but eventually made its way into politics. One of the earliest references was in a September 1996 piece in Variety asserting that year鈥檚 Democratic National Convention appeared to feature more patriotic events 鈥� and had many more cigarette-smoking attendees 鈥� than its Republican counterpart. 鈥淲hat happened?鈥� columnist Timothy M. Gray asked. 鈥淲as this some Bizarro World, a political alternate-universe?鈥�
Its popularity appears to have soared in this presidential campaign. A search of the term in the Nexis database over the last six months turned up 313 references, compared to 211 mentions during the same period in 2012. In both instances, the overwhelming majority of uses were in political contexts.
鈥淏izarro World鈥� has endured because it鈥檚 so malleable. Some pundits and others commonly apply it to Donald Trump鈥檚 break-every-rule candidacy. 鈥淭rump has created a Bizarro World of politics,鈥� The Washington Post鈥檚 Chris Cillizza last month. 鈥淲hat looks like up is down. What looks bad is good. The rest of the field 鈥斅燼nd the media horde covering the candidates 鈥斅爊eeds to adjust to the fact that this is the new normal.鈥� And Kirsten Powers on Fox News in January: 鈥淲e just moved into this Bizarro World that Trump has created, where if you disagree with him, then somehow you are the establishment.鈥�
Meanwhile, Barack Obama鈥檚 critics invoke it with equal gusto. The New York Post鈥檚 conservative editorial board, criticizing the president鈥檚 international travel schedule for 2016, wrote an opinion piece 鈥淧resident Obama鈥檚 Bizarro-World Victory Tour.鈥� And former George W. Bush administration lawyer John Yoo Obama鈥檚 tenure 鈥渁 Bizarro World presidency鈥� because, he said, it鈥檚 the reverse of what the Constitution鈥檚 framers intended.
Interestingly, according to the Sunlight Foundation鈥檚 invaluable CapitolWords.org, three of Congress鈥檚 of the phrase in floor debates during the last twenty years (all Republicans) have run for president: former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona.
Chuck McCutcheon writes his "Speaking Politics" blog exclusively for Politics Voices.
Interested in decoding what candidates are saying? Chuck McCutcheon and David Mark鈥檚 latest book, 鈥淒oubletalk: The Language, Code, and Jargon of a Presidential Election,鈥�
