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I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.
That quote is from Will Rogers (1879-1935). His biography on the official Will Rogers website takes up a story which is painfully relevant to contemporary politics on both sides of the Atlantic:
Will Rogers called politics “the best show in the world” and described Congress as the “national joke factory.” His folksy humor and honest, intelligent observations about the government and America earned the respect of the nation. Eventually, Will roped in some nominations of his own. He declined a nomination to be governor of Oklahoma and became honorary mayor of Beverly Hills in 1925. For the 1928 election, Life magazine formed the Anti Bunk Party, in the hope that their nominee for the Presidency of the United States would not talk “bunk,” as other politicians did. Will’s no-nonsense spin on the political “show” made him the obvious candidate for the spoof campaign. Will, promising that he would resign if he won, wrote his observations on the election in Life and became one of the country’s foremost opinion leaders.
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