BOROWITZ WISDOM

I BELIEVE ANDY BOROWITZ IS the preeminent political satirist of our time. As I noted in “The Best of Lines,” he has “an amazing way of condensing his satirical news stories into four or five concise, rib-splitting paragraphs.”

Andy Borowitz, Shaker Heights, Ohio-born 1958, writer, comedian, satirist, and actor. Winner of the first National Press Club award for humor. Image by Dionic at English Wikipedia. 

Andy is our Mark Twain, Will Rogers, and Mort Sahl, our Stan Freberg, our Tom Lehrer.

Satire—And Wisdom. And in these troubled times, Andy also displays wisdom. As proof of this, I offer tidbits from his recent “Are We Thinking Too Much About Politics?”appearing in my email July 11, 2025. It’s more lengthy than a typical Borowitz, but again with nary a word wasted. 

Mousse and Cookie.

“On Tuesday,” Andy wrote, “I posted this photo of my two dog friends, Mousse and Cookie, in a TBR live chat, along with the least provocative comment imaginable “Good morning TBR community! No matter how your day is going so far, I thought this photo of Mousse and Cookie might improve it ❤️”

Andy describes what happened next: “After a bunch of comments praising the dogs, the chat quickly veered to such topics as Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill, ICE raids, and even (eek!) Kash Patel. This made me wonder: Are we thinking too much about politics?”

“That might sound hypocritical coming from someone who writes about politics every day,” he says. “If we’re too obsessed with the Trump shitshow, then clearly I’m part of the problem.”

I Interject. Indeed, this concerns me here at SimanaitisSays as well. When I started this as a retirement hobby back in 2012, I intended to write about anything I damned well pleased: Cars, Sherlock Holmes, Vintage Aeroplanes, Our English Language, Science-Technology, Trippin’. I tossed in And Furthermore as a catchall for other stuff. 

But then in 2016 along came Trump—when I added Politics within And Furthermore.

Lose Some, Gain Some. I lost a few readers and gained some others with this. No matter, though, given the “whatever I damned well pleased” aspect of it all. In fact these days SimanaitisSays and its not unrelated GMax aeroplane fabrication are essential elements in my keeping away the wobblies. 

Andy Continues: “We’re all faced with a tricky choice. If we bury our heads in the sand, the dictatorship wins. But if we’re in a constant state of panic, it also wins. It’s hard to mount an effective resistance if your hair’s on fire 24/7.”

“Now,” he says, “I’m not here to dispense New Age wisdom. (Full disclosure: I did live in California for 15 years.) But worrying nonstop about politics isn’t just bad for the resistance. It’s bad for your health.” 

“When times are this dark,” Andy reminds us, “we need to find moments of light.”

Agreed!! In response to this, I offer bits of light from the earlier satirists cited here. Mark Twain: “I have a higher and grander standard of principle than George Washington. He could not tell a lie; I can, but I won’t.” 

Will Rogers: “I don’t make jokes. I just watch government and report the facts.” 

Morton Lyon Sahl, Montreal-born 1927, Canadian-American stand-up comedian, actor, and social satirist. Time, August 15, 1960, referred to Sahl as “Will Rogers with fangs.”

Mort Sahl: “On conservative offspring: If anybody comes up to you and says, ‘My kid is a conservative—why is that?,’ you say, ‘Remember when we told you if you kept using drugs your kids would be mutants?’ ”

Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, Vol. 1 The Early Years and Vol. 2 The Middle Years. Rhino Records R2 72476.

Stan Freberg: The Puritans sing, “Take an Indian to lunch this week/Show him we’re a regular bunch this week/Show him we’re as liberal as can be/Let him know he’s almost as good as we.”  

Tom Lehrer: “Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.”

This satire recently came from no less than The White House. How statesmanlike. Image from Snopes.

And, to conclude with Andy Borowitz: “Trump Warns If He Doesn’t Win Nobel Peace Prize He Will Bomb Norway.” 

Ha. I feel better now. Have a nice day. ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025