corrente

In praise of satire, sarcasm and battle royal:

There are three things that are real: God, human folly, and laughter. The first two are beyond comprehension. So we must do what we can with the third. -John F. Kennedy

So let me say just a few things to this Convention. We are a big, brawling political Party, and we fight. Somebody said that when Democrats assemble a firing squad, they always gather in a circle.

But when we get together, watch out, and tonight we are together, and I am up here to see that in this critical next 100 days this Party stays together, and that it deliver a beating to those Republicans that they richly deserve, and we are going to give it to them.

[...]

And so, my friends, tonight I say to you one final thing, America is a good country and we are a good people. Our country isn't working very well. We have lost our confidence and we lost our way, and with the help of the Independents and the sensible Republicans that go with us when we are right, we are going to win a victory in November. We are going to turn this country around and we are going to make America work again.

This good country is going to work again, and thank you very much.

Address of the Honorable Morris K. Udall.
Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention, 1976.

***

Of course, there are those Scrooges who think that humor and the serious business of politics should never be mixed. One adviser of President James Garfield warned him, "Never make the people laugh. If you would succeed in life you must be solemn, solemn as an ass." Solemn as an ass he was--and somebody shot him 3 months into his term. It is true, however, that the business of Government is serious business, and in politics, as in any other endeavor, wisecracks are no substitute for substance. But, used adroitly, wit is something more than oratorical ornament; rather, it is a gentle pry bar with which to open the minds of your constituents and colleagues. If your speeches have a humorous slant it is less likely that their substance will be rejected out of hand. - Morris K. Udall.

File your repartee trigger.