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Tuesday, June 13, 2017

John Oliver and Brexit

I don't know about you but I sure needed a laugh this morning.  This video from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver about Brexit was the delicious cream in my coffee, replacing my usual reduced-fat milk (The New York Times/Le Monde aka Al-Jazeera sur Seine).  Hat tip to Curtis for the link.

There are so many quotations and commentary from Mencken that are appropriate to all elections and particularly timely when applied to the shipwrecks looking for coastlines in the US and UK today.   But I will go with this one since it beautifully captures my sentiments after watching Oliver.

"Consider, for example, a campaign for the Presidency. Would it be possible to imagine anything more uproariously idiotic — a deafening, nerve-wracking battle to the death between Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Harlequin and Sganarelle, Gobbo and Dr. Cook — the unspeakable, with fearful snorts, gradually swallowing the inconceivable? ...

But feeling better for the laugh. Ridi si sapis, said Martial. Mirth is necessary to wisdom, to comfort, above all to happiness. Well, here is the land of mirth, as Germany is the land of metaphysics and France is the land of fornication. Here the buffoonery never stops."




3 comments:

Donna said...

Victoria, thank you for posting this--it absolutely made my day. But the election results have at least given us fresh hope that a chastened Mrs. May and the hard-liners will not lead the UK over the no-deal cliff after all, because they simply won't be able to.

Inaka Nezumi said...

Amusing, but again struck by the incongruous, excessive use of expletives. Or maybe I'm just an old fart now. But can't help feel he has a trying-too-hard aspect somehow.

On the other hand, the "Thatcher in the Rye" line forgives a lot!

Victoria FERAUGE said...

Donna, Wasn't it fun? The younger Frenchling watched it after dinner and what a pleasure it was to hear her laughing out loud. Oliver hit a home run with this one. I'm kind of enjoying the spectable of the "we could do better" folks coming up against the realities of governing. How is that working out for you, folks? :-)

Nezumi-san, I like the incongruity of it. Here is a guy who looks he should be in accounting or something and then he opens his mouth and the funniest stuff just pops out along with some foul language. And I agree the Thatcher in the Rye was a hoot and a half. :-)