Moment/ -gate

Posted by SR on January 19, 2005

In Reply to: Accountability moment posted by Brian from Shawnee on January 18, 2005

: : : Paul Krugman reports that '... Bush declared that the election [of him] was the "accountability moment" for the war in Iraq.' PK takes Bush to be saying that the voters think Bush did the right thing by invading Iraq and that no more discussion of whether he did the right thing should take place.
: : : Question -- Was this the birth of a new phrase?

: : I googled "moment of accountability" because it seems I'd heard it that way before. There were several hits including one by Bush's opponent in the election: "This is the moment of accountability for America," (John) Kerry said. "All of the hopes and dreams of our country are on the line today. The choice is clear."

: Well OK, as long as we're only accountable for a moment. I mean, this is America after all, and frankly I think this whole "accountability" thing is way too complicated and inconvenient. (example of "cynicism moment")

: Wouldn't "Accountability Moment" be just another member of the Moment family of phrases? The patriarch is either "senior moment" or "defining moment" I think. New members of the family seem to come along all the time. Just on a hunch I googled on "Zell Miller Moment" and "Bill Buckner Moment" and got lots of hits on each one.

American mass media reporters and writers have a penchant for overuse as in "----- moment" or, as in the case of any political controversey since Richard Nixon, attaching the suffix "----gate." I'm sure there are other examples!