#Bellogate: The latest in a long list of #stupidgates

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, or you’ve been holed up in the library getting an early start on your first essay for the past 24 hours (and it’s more likely you’ve been living under a rock), you’re familiar with what the students ‘twittering on the twitter’ have now dubbed #bellogate.

What you may not have realised is that #bellogate is part of a long, proud tradition of tacking the suffix ‘gate’ onto mostly innocuous, mostly political (although not always) scandals.

So, because Pi Politics loves you and wants you to be apart of this larger cultural phenomenon (also because we’re the resident politics nerds at Pi), here are our favourite ‘gates’.

MURDOCHGATE

BECAUSE HACKING IS NOT COOL.

Rupert Murdoch let News of the World hack phones. Not cool, Rupert.

BIGOTGATE

BECAUSE GORDON BROWN IS GORDON BROWN

Brown calls old woman ‘bigoted’. Whether she was or not? Not that important.

DEBATEGATE

BECAUSE IT RHYMES

Honestly though, getting his hands on some of Jimmy Carter’s debate prep materials was nowhere near the most immoral thing Ronald Reagan ever did.

PASTYGATE

BECAUSE THERE’S NOTHING MORE BRITISH.

George Osborne tries to tax patsies. British people revolt.

BRIDGEGATE

BECAUSE CHRIS CHRISTIE WANTS TO BE PRESIDENT.

The world’s busiest bridge that happens to connect New Jersey to Manhattan? Let’s shut it down.

MAYFLOWERGATE

EVEN THOUGH THIS IS FICTIONAL, THE WEST WING IS AWESOME.

Setting: Fictional Aaron Sorkin universe

Scandal: Unrealistically attractive presidential hopeful, Matthew Santos, throws down some real talk to the people of New Hampshire and basically calls them ‘Mayflower descendants’.

Best line: “That’s a ‘gate’ already? No way does that qualify as a ‘gate’!”

GARGLEGATE

BECAUSE IRELAND.

Was Brian Cowen intoxicated? Was he not? Is his accent just really weird? Decide for yourself.

MONICAGATE/LEWINSKYGATE/ZIPPERGATE

BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE STUPID AND WE OBVIOUSLY DON’T NEED A ‘GATE’ TO RECOGNISE THIS AS A SCANDAL.

No need to explain this one.

TROOPERGATE

BECAUSE SHE CAN SEE RUSSIA FROM HER HOUSE.

The specifics aren’t important – it has something to do with firing a state trooper. (If you’re really curious, just Google it.) BUT, it’s Sarah Palin and Pi Politics miss her.

WEINERGATE

BECAUSE THIS WAS INEVITABLE WITH THE NAME ‘WEINER’ IN THE AGE OF TWITTER.

If you google it, maybe use some kind of filter. It could be dangerous.

BILL GATES

SORRY.

Although, he once did that. So it’s justified

IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND THE ORIGINS OF THE ‘GATE’ SUFFIX (REALLY?), PLEASE WATCH ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN.