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I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: Go West (and Be Ready to Walk Many Miles)

Even games like Oregon Trail don't really do justice to how tough it was to follow the famous advice to "Go West" in the 1850s and 1860s, before the transcontinental railroad made things a lot easier. Covered wagons are famous, but they were also bulky and prone to breaking down, and the heavier they were, the slower the horses or oxen moved, and the more animal feed that was needed. The upshot is that if you were not very young or very old or very sick, you needed to be ready to hoof it for a fair part of the journey. That's 1,000+ miles of walking, without modern shoes, and without much in the way of roadways or sidewalks. The pioneers were indeed a hardy folk. They were also apparently quite woke, if you believe the reboot of Little House on the Prairie that just debuted on Netflix.

We had two headline theme hints last week. First: "[W]e'll suggest you re-read the note at the very top of the page today." Second: "[I]f you're still wrestling with this week's headline theme, we'll tell you 'there's no need to feel down' and you should 'pick yourself off the ground.' And that applies even if you're not a young man." And here is the solution, courtesy of reader M.C. in Newton, MA:

This week's headlines all contain the titles of Village People songs:

"Macho Man" Hegseth Doing Everything He Can to Create a Christian Nationalist Military... [title track from their 1978 album Macho Man]

...While Many Republicans Want to Do the Same with America... [from their 1983 album In The Street]

...But Some Democrats Are Pushing Back Against That Sort of Sodom and Gomorrah Thinking [a 1978 single]

Never Forget: Dave Lara and "The Group," in the Navy from the 1979 album Go West]
I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: Did the Women in Uniform Make Victoria Cross? [from the 1978 album Cruisin']

This Week in Schadenfreude: The Onion Has Achieved Complete Success in Its (Info)Wars against Alex Jones [also from In The Street]

This Week in Freudenfreude: For Many Marchers, It's the Happiest Day of the Year [from their 2019 album Magical Christmas]

My condolences to the family and friends of Victor Willis, the group's lead singer, who passed away last week. Can't Stop the Music.

Last week's posting was tricky (so was this week's posting, actually), so we didn't even notice we forgot to put the first part of the first three headlines. Oops. Anyhow, the passing of Willis and the pride-themed post made this doubly appropriate. Oh, and "Go West" from this headline obviously fits the theme.

Here are the first 60 readers to get it right:

N.H. in London, England, UK
M.H. in Nepean, ON, Canada
J.T. in Philadelphia, PA
T.K. in Half Moon Bay, St. Kitts
B.J.M. in Steep Falls, ME
M.B. in Menlo Park, CA
K.G.W. in Lafayette IN
T.K. in Manchester, MO
A.S. in Fairfax, VA
Z.K. in Albany, NY
E.P. in Windham, CT
J.S. in Huntington Station, NY
R.S. in Landing, NJ
M.M. in Dunellen, NJ
B.R. in Arlington, MA
A.F. in Minneapolis, MN
P.S. in Chicago, IL
M.S. in Canton, NY
D.D. in Bucks County, PA
S.I. in Minneapolis, MN
S.K. in Ardmore, PA
G.H. in Acton, ME
M.W. in Altea, Spain
G.W. in Avon, CT
M.T. in Wheat Ridge, CO
E.S. in Providence, RI
D.B. in Pittsboro, NC
E.S. in Cincinnati, OH
A.J. in Baltimore, MD
M.Z. in Sharon, MA

B.D. in Hood River, OR
K.R. in Austin, TX
M.K. in Long Branch, NJ
M.S. in New York City, NY
A.C. in Kingston, MA
R.D. in Cheshire, CT
P.J.J. in Quakertown, PA
P.A. in Redwood City, CA
D.S. in Fort Collins, CO
K.J. in Toronto, ON, Canada
B.S. in Hastings, NE
J.H. in Lake Forest, CA
G.K. in Blue Island, IL
J.W. in Victoria, BC, Canada
P.R. in Havertown, PA
R.S. in Milan, OH
D.M. in Oakland, CA
J.N. in Zionsville, IN
D.D. in Portland, OR
L.A.J. in Bourbonnais, IL
D.F. in Norcross, GA
M.K. in Seattle, WA
R.C. in Winter Haven, FL
M.R. in San Diego, CA
M.B. in Albany, NY
P.W. in Tulalip, WA
D.B. in Glendale, CA
G.M. in Arlington, VA
R.M. in Summerville, SC
J.F. in Fayetteville, NC

The 60th correct response was received at 5:27 p.m. PT on Friday.

For this week's theme, it relies on one word per headline, and it's in the category Television. For a hint, we'll say that it all starts with the fact that were stuck with "Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA)" as one of the headlines we had to work with. There aren't TOO many things you can do with that.

If you have a guess, send it to comments@electoral-vote.com with subject line July 10 Headlines. (Z)

This item appeared on www.electoral-vote.com. Read it Monday through Friday for political and election news, Saturday for answers to reader's questions, and Sunday for letters from readers.

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