Magazine: Can comedians ever be taken seriously?

[Gerald]

http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/q764/gasturbin/_66145965_comedians624pa_getty_zpsc0c2e5c7.jpg

In the past week, two comedians have stood for election - Beppe Grillo in Italy and John O'Farrell in the UK's Eastleigh by-election. What are the pitfalls of putting your money where your mouth is?

It's just like old and new times. The euro tanking, stock markets in see-saw mood, bond spreads rising. No doubt Angela Merkel is wearing a "Really guys? I thought we were over this" expression on her face. After the Italian electoral impasse, we are looking somewhere for certainty.

One dead cert is that a least some of the columns written about Italy's potential king-maker Beppe Grillo will contain the line "Did you hear the one about the comedian who turned into a politician?"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21616412

Note: 3 March 2013 Last updated at 00:00 GMT

[Catfish]

It is just a voter's reaction of not taking politicians seriously anymore.

Which is probably an enlightening moment, for mankind.

Not understanding this, german clowns call Italy a two-clown government ..

[Gerald]

german clowns call Italy a two-clown government .. :haha:

[Armistead]

They can't do any worse...

[vienna]

There are times comedians make a hell of a lot more sense than politicians. Some of my favorite observations have come from Will Rogers:

"With Congress, every time they make a joke it's a law, and every time they make a law it's a joke."

There are more on this link:

http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/purcell/s_514102.html#axzz2MgsymNGz

In the U.S., a rather well-known comedian who went on to politics is Al Franken, U.S. Senator from Minnesota. He seems to have deported himself well and served his consitituency well...

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