Politics is a Joke

Humour in politics is where we are reminded of the adage; ‘there’s many a true word said in jest.’ Satire has been mainstay of political comment for hundreds of years. One could go to guillotine or gallows for offending a monarch or head of state. However, it was problematic to respond as extremely to parody. To do so would be an admission of its real purpose.

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7774886808_187e1d5cd3One of England’s most enduring periodicals was Punch magazine (1841 – 1992). Private Eye first published in 1961, later used satire to make life a misery for England’s elite.

There was much satire in Bolshevik Occupied Russia (USSR). Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was the butt of such ridicule. A popular story had it that upon achieving high office in 1958 he shared his good fortune with his elderly mother. The babushka was breathless and wide-eyed as her son showed her his magnificent dacha-palace. Strolling through expansive gardens the old dear was introduced to fawning gardeners.

Mightily impressed by the Rolls-Royce motorcade and her son’s expensive tastes reflected in his magnificent home’s interior, she turns to First Secretary of the Communist Party, “It is wonderful, dear Nikita, but, what will you do if the Communist Party returns?”

Satire has roots deep in the soil. Lord Sandwich was scathing when in parliament he addressed John Wilkes, editor of The North Briton: “Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of the pox.”

The newsman retorted: “That depends, sir, on whether I embrace your politics or your mistress.”

Winston-Churchill-Joke-Quotes

Winston-Churchill-Joke-QuotesBritain’s Winston Churchill could be witty. George Bernard Shaw loathed his porcine foe better known for his flatterers than for genuine friends. The Irish playwright wrote: “I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play. Bring a friend, if you have one.” Churchill replied, “Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second, if there is one.”

Much of the wit attributed to Britain’s only unelected premier was not his at all. Many ripostes attributed to Churchill are derived from old music hall humour. “If you were my husband I would give you poison.” The comeback being, “If you were my wife I would take it,” he answered back.

Satire is prevalent in the West. It was recently revealed that, as part of a student initiation ceremony, Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron used a dead swine’s head to perform oral sex. Such was the subsequent lampooning that we can be sure that this much ridiculed head of state has no further interest in pigs’ heads. Then again, as the European Union’s parliament is notorious for pigs with their heads in the swill, who knows?

David-Cameron-Pig

David-Cameron-Pig

For the edification of its credulous audience the U.S will soon premier the 2016 Punch and Judy Show. The excited audience will cheer either naughty rascal Punch or the shrewish Judy. Little do the innocents in the audience know whose hand is in these glove puppets? It is all good fun and it keeps the naïve amused and distracted whilst the grown-ups get on with running the real world.

American humor is a match for most and at political comicality excels. This is exemplified by the lampooning of its presidential hopefuls. Such humor lightens the mood in what would otherwise be an unspeakably tedious theatrical production. My current favorite is the letter sent to a periodical’s agony aunt.

Dear Abby: My husband is a liar and a cheat. He has cheated on me from the beginning and when I confront him, he denies everything. What’s worse, everyone knows he cheats on me. It is so humiliating! Also, since he lost his job 14 years ago, he hasn’t even looked for a new one. All he does all day is smoke cigars, cruise around and shoot bull with his buddies and has sex with hookers while I work so hard to pay our bills. Since our daughter went away to college and then got married; he doesn’t even pretend to like me, and hints that I may be a lesbian. Signed: Clueless

Dear Clueless: Grow up and dump him. You don’t need him anymore! Good grief woman, you’re running for President of the United States!

Source Article from http://renegadetribune.com/politics-is-a-joke/

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