Scandalgate

If I can get serious here for a minute, no one seems to be addressing the real issue about Watergate and what it has meant to journalism, government, and the country in the 30 years since the story broke.

That is, of course, the shorthand labeling of each new scandal with the suffix "-gate." Stupid, lazy, and wrong.

Watergate was the name of the hotel at which the break-in occurred. That name really has no meaning outside of the context of the scandal, unless you are looking for a place to stay in DC.

So, sticking a "-gate" at the end of an unrelated word is really meaningless. Travelgate? Troopergate? Meaningless!

Journalists and editors: you can do better. Get creative and stop with the shorthand.