Goodness, that whole business about President Trump unilaterally renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America doesn’t seem quite as funny now that the administration has barred Associated Press reporters from White House events because the news organization won’t entirely go along with Trump’s dictate. (You can’t spell “dictatorship” without, well, most of the letters in “dictate.”)

You know the details: Trump signed an executive order renaming the gulf in question, leaving AP style gurus with a quandary: The rest of the world, which the AP serves with accurate and timely information (and which at last count has 8.2 billion people, only 335 million of whom live in the United States), still calls this body of water the Gulf of Mexico. The AP came up with a split-the-baby sort of solution for its reporters: “Refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.” (The AP acquiesced to Trump’s other geographic request, to return the Alaskan mountain Denali to its Mount McKinley moniker, reasoning that the president has full authority to rename features within U.S, borders.)

A Trump administration official cited the AP’s refusal to go along with the Gulf of Mexico business as “irresponsible and dishonest reporting” that demonstrates its “commitment to misinformation.” Let me blunt: That’s a lie. No, that’s not quite right. It’s a shameless lie.

And, again, we shouldn’t be surprised by any of this, not even this puerile, bullying response to a press decision that doesn’t curry favor with the administration. We should expect more of this over the next four years, from this schoolyard-level bullying all the way to investigations by the Federal Communications Commission and lawsuits (which too many media organizations have been willing to roll over and settle). In the meantime, there is something you can do about this, if you’re so inclined: Donate a couple of bucks to the AP.

And I know I told you last week that we need to be careful about reacting to everything out of the administration as an outrage. But … but … (picture me sputtering in rage as I say “but” … “but”) this particular outrage seems to sum up so much about the second Trump administration thus far. I couldn’t help myself.

Finally on this: Here’s Gilad Edelman from The Atlantic with a minority view.

Speaking of the Trump administration — and the AP — here’s an AP story summing up the administration’s first month and spotlighting some warning signs. The story does note, accurately, that Congress has pretty much rolled over for the administration, but it quotes a Republican congressman from Florida as saying “I’m not powerless. I’m a member of Congress,” which I found kind of funny.

And here’s Katherine Wu in The Atlantic, with a piece exploring how the administration’s actions regarding research funding have set the stage for a “prolonged battle about how research can and will be done in the United States.” Here’s a fun fact that Wu cites: “Every dollar invested in research and development has been estimated to return at least $5 on average—billions annually.”

If you’ve watched “Saturday Night Live” as long as I have — can it possibly be 50 years? — you’ve probably grown to appreciate the so-called “bumper” photos, the ones that show the host or the musical guest and are seen as the show goes into or comes out of a commercial break. The great Edie Baskin was the show’s original photographer, but for the last 25 years, Mary Ellen Matthews has handled SNL’s photographic duties. To help mark the show’s 50th anniversary, Matthews has a new book out, “The Art of the SNL Self-Portrait.” The New York Times has a terrific feature about Matthews’ work.

Speaking of “Saturday Night Live,” Maureen Dowd at the Times has a long — and occasionally prickly — profile of Lorne Michaels, the longtime producer of the show.

The biggest news in Oregon journalism last week was the word that Therese Bottomly, the editor of The Oregonian (and almost by definition therefore the most important person in Oregon journalism) plans to retire later this year. Bottomly — a terrific journalist who has done an excellent job at The Oregonian) — has worked her entire 42-year career at The Oregonian. She also was a fine player for the University of Oregon’s soccer team way back when.

The second-biggest news this week in Oregon journalism was that a cyberattack aimed at Lee Enterprises briefly halted publication of what The Oregonian called “two small Oregon papers” — which is to say, the Gazette-Times and the Democrat-Herald. both of which are owned by Lee. The cyberattack targeted a number of Lee publications in other states as well. This is the reason why, if you like to look at the paper’s e-editions online, last week instead you got to view some of their puzzle pages.

The Gazette-Times reports that Paul and Lainie Turner, who have owned Darkside Cinema for years as a labor of love, are looking for an exit strategy. It’s not an immediate thing — they’re hoping to leave the business by the end of 2027 — but they’re considering their options, and your ideas are welcome. Corvallis would not be the same without the Darkside, and the least you could do is occasionally darken the doors of the theater and check out a movie there. As it turns out, the theater right now is showing a blue-ribbon array of Oscar nominees — and that Led Zeppelin documentary. (Paul Turner recommends “Flow,” the wordless Oscar-nominated animated feature from Latvia, and so do I.)

Finally, this week, a nice bonus: The Atlantic has a new short story, “The Moron Factory,” by George Saunders. It’s high praise to say that the story is vintage Saunders. And I can’t help but think it would be fun to read aloud.

That’s it for this week. We’ll see you next week, when I’ll try to limit the sputtering in outrage.