Politics Be Dammed

[rick]

Say what you will about the man, but the sight of Henry Kissinger on the Colbert Report saying, "Its Time to Rock" was the funniest thing I have ever seen from a politician in my life.

I laughed my ass off.


Any other pieces of politicians actually being funny on purpose and having it work?

[Fenris]

Does Winston Churchill (http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=388) count?

Lady Astor: "Winston, if I were your wife I'd put poison in your coffee."
Winston: "Nancy, if I were your husband I'd drink it."

õ
Not the sort of thing politicians can say today!

[Mike Smash!]

Does Winston Churchill (http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=388) count?

Lady Astor: "Winston, if I were your wife I'd put poison in your coffee."
Winston: "Nancy, if I were your husband I'd drink it."

That is an awesome retort.

[rick]

I do remember seeing Richard Nixon on Laugh-In when I was a kid. He did a "Sock It To Me" gag, little realizing that eventually the American public would take him up on the offer.

http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/4784/dickun4.jpg

[Fenris]

That is an awesome retort.


Churchill had a marvellous way with words. Which is the sort of thing we can only envy, nowadays.

I'm doing this as a paraphrase from memory, but let's see:

Pat Moynihan was campaining for re-election; his opponent made a speech in which he talked about Professor Moynihan, and how much he respected Professor Moynihan, and how he was sure that he and Professor Moynihan would both take the high road in campaigning...

And Moynihan smiled, "Ah, the mudslinging has begun!"

õ
Fighting words, indeed!

[Gordon Smith]

I do remember seeing Richard Nixon on Laugh-In when I was a kid. He did a "Sock It To Me" gag, little realizing that eventually the American public would take him up on the offer.

http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/4784/dickun4.jpg

I saw that Nixon appearance on Laugh-In as well.

[Serik]

Obama's football thing the other night was sorta predictable, but I appreciate him having a sense of humor about the "will he run?" talk.

Abe Lincoln supposedly had a dirty sense of humor. He would always tell a joke about how the Brits put a picture of George Washington in Ethan Allen's outhouse when Allen visited England. Allen responded, "Well, nothing makes an Englishman shit faster than the sight of General George Washington."

But ya, you'd be hard pressed to beat Churchill.

[Lightbend]

Ah, yes. Churchhill.

"I may be drunk, but you sir, are ugly. And tomorrow, I shall be sober."

[Pól Rua]

Margaret Thatcher's husband Dennis was asked at one point: "How do you sleep at night?"
His response: "I sleep like a baby. I wake up every ten minutes screaming and pissing myself."

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Politics/Pix/pictures/2004/04/30/wavingbig.jpg

[Spike-X]

Margaret Thatcher's husband Dennis was asked at one point: "How do you sleep at night?"
His response: "I sleep like a baby. I wake up every ten minutes screaming and pissing myself."

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Politics/Pix/pictures/2004/04/30/wavingbig.jpg
As you would.

[moebius]

I didn't get to see it except for the monologue, but how was Al Gore on SNL?

[Mike Smash!]

I didn't get to see it except for the monologue, but how was Al Gore on SNL?

Was this a new episode? Because I've seen Gore on SNL before and he was in one of the few genuinely funny skits the show has anymore, playing Willy Wonka's "all business" by-the-book brother explaining to Willy why he couldn't hand over his factory to a child.

Hilarious skit and one of the few clever pieces I've seen SNL due in the last decade.

[thehod]

I found three rather amusing ones...

He's a tit, but he can be rather amusing at times..

I have as much chance of becoming Prime Minister as of being decapitated by a frisbee or of finding Elvis.
Boris Johnson

Totally unsourced, but it does rather sound like Winny doesn't it?

Churchill: Madam, would you sleep with me for five million pounds?
Socialite: My goodness, Mr. Churchill... Well, I suppose... we would have to discuss terms, of course...
Churchill: Would you sleep with me for five pounds?
Socialite: Mr. Churchill, what kind of woman do you think I am?!
Churchill: Madam, we've already established that. Now we are haggling about the price.

And totally fictional, but brilliant nevertheless, From Yes Minister..

Jim Hacker: Don't tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers:
•The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country;
•The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country;
•The Times is read by people who actually do run the country;
•The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country;
•The Financial Times is read by people who own the country;
•The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country;
•And the Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is.
Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read the Sun?
Bernard Woolley: Sun readers don't care who runs the country, as long as she's got big tits.

[Alan Lynch]

Al Gore's appreances as himself on Futurama are solid gold. Granted it's someone else's jokes, but he delivers some ridiculous dialogue really well.

Saw a repeat of Have I Got News For You the other night, with William Hague presenting. God help me, he was pretty funny.

[moebius]

Was this a new episode? Because I've seen Gore on SNL before and he was in one of the few genuinely funny skits the show has anymore, playing Willy Wonka's "all business" by-the-book brother explaining to Willy why he couldn't hand over his factory to a child.


This was May 2006.

[TheTen-EyedMan]

And totally fictional, but brilliant nevertheless, From Yes Minister..

Jim Hacker: Don't tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers:
•The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country;
•The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country;
•The Times is read by people who actually do run the country;
•The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country;
•The Financial Times is read by people who own the country;
•The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country;
•And the Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is.
Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read the Sun?
Bernard Woolley: Sun readers don't care who runs the country, as long as she's got big tits.

That show is the Entourage of politics.

I don't think you can give either show a bigger wrap.

[Agent Helix]

The Futurama trailer for An Inconvenient Truth featuring Gore and Bender was great.

"Yes, Bender, I'm a streetwise PIMP, with a HYBRID PIMPMOBILE."

[sherlockbones]

konrad adenauer:
"in deutz beginnt der bolschewismus und hinter braunschweig die walachei"
"in deutz begins the reign of bolshevism and i you leave braunschweig you are already in wallachia"

paraphrasing this shows adenauer great dislike of the prussians and communists, hinting at his local patriotism for cologne and his frankophility(sp?). deutz is the largest quarter of cologne and on the east side of the rhine and has a strong working class tradition. marx was very successful there during his time in cologne.
mhh, nobody will get this anyway. people of cologne have been mocking the people on the east side of the rhine for ages.

[LtMarvel]

Gore did a brilliant bit for SNL in which he gave a State of the Union address from some alternate universe where the SC gave him the victory in 2000.

It sounded like a SotU speech with the minor issues from the 90s, rather than the big issues created by the Bush people.

[jessecuster3]

"The most terrifying words in the English langauge are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help." Ronald Reagan


"Making a speech on economics is a bit like pissing down your leg. It seems hot to you but never to anyone else." Lyndon B Johnson

[Merey]

Yes, last night's episode rocked! It's just too bad that the whole of The Decemberists couldn't be there.

[king mob]

Ahhh, Boris Johnson, where do you start!? His tackle in the England Celebs Vs Germany Celebs charity game during the summer is a good start.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOivzoRc0I8


There's also this cracking bit from Have I Got News For You.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcgrZs4GXv4

[Drew Van T.]

deutz is the largest quarter of cologne and on the east side of the rhine and has a strong working class tradition. marx was very successful there during his time in cologne.
mhh, nobody will get this anyway. people of cologne have been mocking the people on the east side of the rhine for ages.

I don't know about the West Side ("Damn you, Sharks!") but I did enjoy the Chocolate Museum right in the middle of the river. :D That was one of my outings in summer this year...