I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts...
-- Will Rogers

Hope to government officials: Remember, you guys, your salaries are paid by the tax payers, and I may be one some day.
— from "My Favorite Spy" (1953) Quote courtesy of Allan R M Jones

Irony Curtain Velvet Laughter

Hope was famous for making fun of politicians. In the 1950s this was considered proof that our democracy worked. No small accomplishment considering what was going on elsewhere in the world: we could laugh at our leaders! But Hope’s political commentary, like his social observations, never cut deep, never dealt with real issues, were meant to tickle the funny-bone, not excite the brain. Politicians liked being “insulted” by Hope. It gave them the aura of Everyman, and they trusted that Hope’s barbs would not be pointed.
Like any Velvetish Theatre and Irony of the Absurd, Laughter has the power to rattle our bones, open our senses, stir out minds, move us personally, and shake the world.
· Sicknik humor [Common Dreams]