海角大神

Jeb Bush and the rise of 'terrible, horrible, no good, very bad' politics

In an era of insta-political analysis 鈥� much of it damage assessment 鈥� the 'terrible, horrible, no good, very bad' phrase from a famous children's book has become a gem.

鈥淭errible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad.鈥�聽A string of adjectives, derived from the title of Judith Viorst鈥檚 classic children鈥檚 book, that pundits have adopted as the ideal way to pronounce something 鈥� usually, a politician鈥檚 missteps 鈥� as unrelentingly awful.

Political journalism loves to draw from popular culture, especially in a Twitter-centric age in which it鈥檚 become essential to render definitive, swift and catchy pronouncements. Ms. Viorst鈥檚 1972 book 鈥淎lexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,鈥� in which the title character from discovering chewing gum in his hair to being served lima beans for dinner, accomplishes all of this in an easy way.

The latest development setting the meme in motion is Jeb Bush鈥檚 recent clumsy efforts to address whether he would have followed in his brother鈥檚 footsteps in deciding whether to invade Iraq. and all were in agreement that Bush鈥檚 repeated attempts to address the question amounted to a 鈥渢errible, horrible, no good, very bad week鈥� for the ex-Florida governor.

But Mr. Bush is merely the latest in the GOP field to get pinned with the label. The left-leaning website Talking Points Memo his fellow Republican rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the appellation in February for opposing funding for the Homeland Security Department and for rejecting Loretta Lynch鈥檚 nomination for attorney general. That same month, The Daily Beast for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker after he declined to answer whether he believed President Obama is a 海角大神.

Others who have been given the T/H/NG/VB treatment include Mr. Obama, for a in 2013 involving the Internal Revenue Service as well as other controversies, and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, for an assortment of perceived missteps over the years ranging from the Democrats鈥� thrashing in last year鈥檚 midterm elections to her 2010 . It also can be applied to ideas, such as conservative reaction to one of the president鈥檚

In fact, Viorst鈥檚 book itself has proven so irresistible that it has spawned some political parodies. BuzzFeed鈥檚 Krystie Lee Yandoli about Vice President Joe Biden: 鈥淚 went to sleep after having a case of ice-cold colas and now my breath smells like soda and when I got out of bed this morning, I had a massive sugar hangover and by mistake I dropped my favorite red tie in the toilet after I used it and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.鈥�

Meanwhile, the whimsical website McSweeney鈥檚 in the voice of an imaginary tea party Republican. 鈥淚n traffic I wanted to drive in the carpool lane,鈥� the aggrieved author wrote. 鈥淩ideshares got to drive in the carpool lane. Electric buses and hybrid cars too. But the nanny state wouldn鈥檛 let me drive in the carpool lane. I said it was unconstitutional. I said it was socialism. I said if I don鈥檛 get to drive in the carpool lane I鈥檓 going to use my Second Amendment rights. No one even listened.鈥�

Chuck McCutcheon and David Mark write their "Speaking Politics" blog exclusively for Politics Voices.