Political satire became obsolete when they awarded Henry Kissinger the Nobel Peace Prize.
Interpretation
The quote humorously suggests that the act of awarding Kissinger the Nobel Peace Prize undermines the credibility of political satire.
Tom Lehrer's quote reflects a cynical view on the state of political satire by pointing out the irony of giving the Nobel Peace Prize to Henry Kissinger, whose actions were often criticized as contributing to war rather than peace. This irony illustrates that when reality becomes too absurd, satire loses its impact, indicating a disillusionment with both political figures and the effectiveness of satire to prompt change or reflection.
In practice
This quote could be used in a political debate to highlight the absurdities of political awards.
All books can be indecent books, though recent books are bolder._x000D_ _x000D_ For filth, I'm glad to say, is in the mind of the beholder._x000D_ _x000D_ When correctly viewed, everything is lewd._x000D_ _x000D_ I could tell you things about Peter Pan_x000D_ _x000D_ and the Wizard of OZ, there's a dirty old man!
You can make fun with Saddam Hussein jokes ... but you can't make fun of, say, the concentration camps. I think my target was not so much evil, but benign stupidity people doing stupid things without realising or, instead, thinking they were doing good.
But in the new (math) approach, the important thing is to understand what you're doing, rather than to get the right answer.
You can't be satirical and not be offensive to somebody.
In my youth there were words you couldn't say in front of a girl; now you can't say 'girl.'
[...] things most people do naturally are often inexplicably difficult for me.
It's easy being a humorist when you've got the whole government working for you.
Ford Prefect suppressed a little giggle of evil satisfaction, realized that he had no reason to suppress it, and laughed out loud, a wicked laugh.
I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk?
Nobody likes to see a stupid guy wise up.
There's a hell of a distance between wisecracking and wit. Wit has truth in it; wisecracking is simply calisthenics with words.
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