|
?:reviewBody
|
-
A long-running political joke has been told in various forms, as captured in the following examples: As explained in the first example above, cattle guards are a type of grated obstacle set at ground level and used to prevent livestock from passing through fence openings or entering roadways: The duality of meaning of the word guard (commonly used to reference a person who stands protective watch over property) enables the gag employed here of an official's mistaking physical obstacles used to restrain livestock with persons employed in the task of watching over cattle. The anecdote itself dates at least as far back as the 1950s, according to numerous readers who have written to tell us when they first encountered the legend.: In terms of Internet circulation, we initially encountered this bit of humor as a lampoon of President Bill Clinton (and other Democrats) which started making its way around the Internet in 1995, variously attributed to the 26 October 1994 Newcastle Reporter or the January 1995 issue of New Mexico Stockman Magazine. In 2010, this item was updated to reference President Barack Obama by someone who clumsily left anachronistic references to Clinton-era officials in place (Rep. Pat Schroeder of Colorado left Congress in 1997; Bruce Babbitt's tenure as Secretary of the Interior ended along with the Clinton administration in 2001): In July 2010 we encountered a Canadian version of the jape, one aimed at British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell: The original cattle guard piece was simply a joke that more than a few credulous readers were willing to believe as a true story. Where the tale actually began is anybody's guess, but a February 1995 article took a stab at identifying its putative origins: Similar slaps involving a rube's misunderstanding of what cattle guards are have been made by and at other politicians. Former Democratic state senator Kent Hance of Texas, for example, has been known to tell the following story:
(en)
|
![[This page as RDF]](http://data.gesis.org/claimskg/static/rdf-icon.gif){kind=icon}