Rick Santorum's "suspension" (read: termination) of his presidential campaign has caused an unintentional (we think) meme has sprung fully formed from Twitter's brain. That meme goes something like, "Santorum quit on the same day that [X happened.] Coincidence?

Obviously, the absolute apex of this meme's brilliance was the tweet by Neil Bhatiya, of The Century Foundation, who wrote, "On the day Santorum bows out, Dan Savage does his "What I read" compendium for @theAtlanticWire COINCIDENCE!?!?" Because of Santorum's well-known vocal opposition to gay rights and his feud with Savage, most of these jokes involve butts, or sex, or a combination of the two. Warning: Some are funnier than others.

• "Gawker runs history of Goaste piece & #santorum quits - coincidence? I think not!," tweets Ian 'Cat' Vincent. He was not the only one to make this joke. (Goaste is the very not safe for work early Internet meme of the genre one could describe as "tell your friend this link to a gross photo is really a link to a photo of attractive bosoms.")
• "I have a colonoscopy and Rick Santorum backs out of the Presidential race on the same day. Coincidence?" Gary Locke tweets.
• "Boil Water Notice lifted in Jacksonville area, Santorum suspends presidential campaign. Coincidence? #spooky," Will Knous, managing editor of MSCENE magazine, tweets.
• "I register to vote and within an hour Santorum drops out of the race. Coincidence? I THINK NOT! #IHaveThePower," tweets @TheTrampRO.
• "Rick Santorum suspends his Pres. campaign simultaneously with #Phish announcing leg 2 of the Summer tour. Coincidence? I think not," says @CoolStarry.
• "Santorum drops out on the same day I hear about Katy Perry's 3-D concert movie. Coincidence?" Anthony Mercado says.
• "JCPenney runs out of blue sweater-vests. Rick Santorum suspends campaign. Coincidence?" tweets @JuliWithoutTheE.
• "On the day Santorum says the race is over, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad announces his endorsement for Mitt Romney. Coincidence?" Jonathan Lewis Ketz, reporter for Iowa's WQAD, tweets.
• "Santorum quits and market plummets 200. Coincidence? I think not," Rick Sommer tweets.
• "Rick Santorum pulls out and Glee comes back on tonight? #coincidence? #idliketothinknot #gaysharks," says @McMonnie.

Of course, a different interpretation of these events is that Twitter is not a bubbling cauldron of creativity and conversation and new thoughts as it is sometimes portrayed, but a sad reflection of the fact that we are all the same: Dads in training, making dad jokes.

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Elspeth Reeve