[net.politics] Can't You Take a Joke?

paul@phs.UUCP (Paul C. Dolber) (08/25/84)

Re: The furor over Reagan's "five minutes" gaffe: James J. Kilpatrick
notes in his column (Durham Morning Herald, 8/24/84):

    Andrei Gromyko, it has been reported, used to invite guests
    to press a red button in his office. What had the visitor
    done? "You haff just blown op Chicago!" Leonid Brezhnev joked
    about a Russian invasion of the United States. "We occupy
    Boston, and Mr. Carter says our action is inappropriate. We
    take Philadelphia, he says it is not acceptable. When we take
    Chicago, Mr. Carter is really upset. He says his patience is
    not without limits."
    ...
    Let us not be stiff-necked about gallows humor... We do poorly
    to censure our leaders for the rare occasions when they slip
    from absolute rectitude for a moment of innocent fun.

It should be noted that also defended was Ferraro's "Italian
husbands" gaffe, and thus the defense was nonpartisan.

Regards, Paul Dolber @ DUMC   (...duke!phs!paul).