The Point: Remembering the decade in political memes

View this email in your browser December 30, 2019  | by Lauren Dezenski We're saying goodbye to 2019 -- and hello to a whole new decade -- in this special edition of The Point. We'll be back on January 2, 2020. See you next year! The decade in political memes The 2010s brought us a lot: From "YOLO" to Baby Yoda, Unicorn Frappuccinos to Bitcoin, and, thanks in part to social media's proliferation, the rise of memes. You've definitely seen a meme before (the current President tweets them frequently), but let's also define it: A meme is a "an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online especially through social media," according to Merriam Webster. So, let's look back on the decade through this very special (and decade-specific) lens: Political memes. Did your favorite make the cut? Read my whole piece on CNN.com to find out! The Point: They're a unique and memorable way to look back on the decade that was ... and a fun way to remember the politics of the last decade.  -- Lauren QUOTE OF THE YEAR "It was Jackie O., and that's good, but we have our own Jackie O. today. It's called Melania. We'll call it Melania T." -- President Donald Trump, delivering No. 73 of his 199 wildest lines of 2019, carefully curated by our own Chris C.  Hear some of these for yourself in The Point podcast! LET'S GET QUIZZICAL So much has happened in 2019! A former Trump administration member made a debut on Dancing with the Stars. A Democrat vowed in a debate to defeat him and "harness love for political purposes." A dog was dubbed a hero!  Test your memory skills of the past year with The Point's Year in Politics Quiz. 2019'S LIE OF THE YEAR Donald Trump's not-so-perfect phone call with Ukraine is the lie of the year, according to fact checking service PolitiFact. "Since the September 26 release of the whistleblower complaint about his call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump has insisted more than 80 times that the whistleblower's account is fake, fraudulent, incorrect, 'total fiction,' 'made up,' and 'sooo wrong,' " Chris writes of the PolitiFact piece. It later adds: "Despite what Trump claims, the whistleblower got the call 'almost completely' right." ONE BIG THROWBACK Chris wrote this haiku about Rick Perry in 2016:  His memory fleets About what he wants to cut Oops, he's in charge now Fast forward to December 2019: Perry resigned from his post as energy secretary. He's also facing scrutiny about his role in the Ukraine scandal.  THANKS FOR WATCHING How to testify in a Senate impeachment trial It's been quite a year for The Point on YouTube! We're up to three episodes a week, and have some BIG stuff planned for the New Year. Join us on YouTube in 2020! Have you subscribed yet? 🎉 HAPPY NEW YEAR! 🎉 And thank you for reading The Point newsletter.  We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski. Follow Chris and Lauren on Twitter. Subscribe to The Point unsubscribe from this list    Copyright © 2019 Cable News Network, LP, LLLP. A WarnerMedia Company. All Rights Reserved., All rights reserved. You are receiving this message because you subscribed to CNN's The Point with Chris Cillizza newsletter. Our mailing address is: Cable News Network, LP, LLLP. A WarnerMedia Company. All Rights Reserved. One CNN Center Atlanta, GA 30303 Add us to your address book Sign up to get updates on your favorite CNN Original Series, special CNN news coverage and other newsletters.​