Meet the new punchline: the preexisting condition. It doesn't matter if it's one word or two--this health-care term adds that extra dose of clinical feel to saying someone or something has issues. A few examples from past weeks:

• 'Preexisting Condition Vexes Mitt Romney'  Politico's Jonathan Martin and Ben Smith discuss Romney's latest political problem--his proximity to health care reform as former governor of Massachusetts.

• 'Insurance Companies' Pre-Existing Condition: Heartlessness'  That's from Vanity Fair's Bill Bradley.

• 'Republican's Pre-Existing Condition': Fear  That's from hogan at conservative hub RedState.
  

• 'Racism Is a Pre-Existing Condition,' declares Julianne Malveaux at Afro. "Racism is, after all, a disease. For these Tea Party members it is a pre-existing condition."

• Femininity Was a Preexisting Condition, the Chicago Tribune's Mark Silva says, using Pelosi's own words as a metaphor for female political power.

• 'Is Health Reform Exhaustion a Pre-Existing Condition?' asks Linda Bergthold at The Huffington Post.

• 'Annoying Topics? A Pre-Existing Condition for Sure,' confirms Terry Dickson at The Florida Times-Union.

• 'Joe Biden's Mouth Is a Pre-Existing Condition,' concludes Pejman Yousefzadeh at The New Ledger.
  

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Heather Horn