Warning, egregious sarcasm ahead.

A few months ago there was a meme going around Facebook where you took the first line or two of a literary classic and then appended “And then the murders began….” It was a bunch of harmless fun, if a tad gruesome, and it was especially fun when applied to children’s literature. You know, “Don’t let the pidgeon drive the bus! And then the murders began…”

I have a humble idea for a new meme that fits the Donald era a bit better. How about we take the first line of a news story and then append “And then the death threats began….” I’m sure it’ll be just as much fun, right? I’ll start.

“Eighteen states and the District of Columbia filed suit against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Thursday over her delay of regulations meant to protect federal student loan borrowers defrauded by their schools.” And then the death threats began…. (source)

“Two climate scientists suggest they’ve come closer to resolving a critical debate about how quickly human activity will heat up the planet.” And then the death threats began…. (source)

“Democrats are trolling Republicans’ pick to succeed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with memes of his recent beach-closure controversy.” And then the death threats began…. (source)

“Microsoft revealed today that it plans to cut thousands of jobs as part of a reorganization process that will see the software giant focus its efforts on the cloud.” And then the death threats began…. (source)

“Democratic Senate President John Cullerton is urging the Illinois House to also override the governor’s vetoes of a $36 billion budget plan.” And then the death threats began…. (source)

OK, maybe these are a little too realistic, too plausible, to be as much fun as the original meme after all.

Perhaps the fact that all of these sound plausible should give us all pause, hmmm?