• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2022
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Calling Politicians Clowns Is a Disservice to Clowns. Seriously.

December 27, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

clowns politicians
Not a happy one. (Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash)

By Sean Mccusker

A recent Labour party campaign mocked short-lived prime minister Liz Truss and current chancellor Jeremy Hunt as clowns, complete with photoshopped red noses, colourful wigs and oversize bowties. This advertisement echoed years of similar criticisms of former prime minister Boris Johnson and former US president Donald Trump.




These are decidedly undeserved and pejorative representations – but not of the politicians.

It might surprise some to learn that clowns have a long history of contributing positively to politics and society. They have brought disruption, subversion, comfort and joy to healthcare, education and humanitarian efforts.

Earlier this year, clowns welcomed refugees at the border of Ukraine and Moldova as they made their way across from their war-torn homes. These clowns, from the Israeli Dream Doctors project, are part of a longer tradition of clowns in the medical domain. The front page of a 1908 edition of the French magazine Le Petit Journal showed clowns entertaining children in a London hospital ward.

The Gesundheit! Institute, founded by physician and clown activist Patch Adams, uses clowning to promote holistic models of healthcare around the world. The volunteer clowns involved see themselves as social activists. They are in good company with other, more politically-motivated activist clowns such as the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army. This group came to prominence in protest against the war in Iraq, and reached a zenith at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland in 2005, armed with feather dusters and water pistols, camouflage gear and red noses.

Clowns and jesters have also contributed to some of the oldest educational institutions. There is evidence that “Mr Tripos”, a satirical jester-examiner, would sit upon a three-legged stool during early Cambridge oral examinations in the 15th and 16th centuries and would question the candidate, often through ridicule. Over time, Mr Tripos evolved into an entertainer rather than an examiner, introducing a level of subversion and ribaldry to these formal proceedings.

Court jesters

Some of the most influential clowns in history have been the jesters who spoke truth to power. In the royal courts of the medieval and Renaissance periods, their role was mainly to amuse and entertain, but in Europe and elsewhere in the world jesters would also challenge monarchs, holding them accountable while at the same time distracting the nobility from the monarch’s shortcomings.

Will Somers, one of the favourite jesters of Henry VIII, was a commoner elevated to the royal court, crossing those boundaries as only a jester or fool could. He was famed for his discretion but also his integrity. An anonymous 17th century biographer records that he would “tell the truth… to shame the Devil”.

Photo of a court jester sculpture in Stratford-upon-Avon, UK.
Court jesters often held monarchs to account.
Stephen Radick / Shutterstock

Jesters also maintained peace in the community by preventing the missteps of the ruler.

In China, when the Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259–210 BCE) had completed the unification of the many state walls into one Great Wall, he decided that it would benefit from a coat of paint. It was only his jester Yu Sze who managed to forestall this project and save the many lives it would have cost.




In southern India, Tenali Rama, jester and advisor to the court of the emperor Krishnadevaraya, who ruled the Vijayanagar empire from 1509 to 1529, prevented the social unrest that would have arisen through the controversial promotion of a barber to the high Brahmin caste. This is just one version of a story about one of his many deeds, which are now the subject of children’s books and cartoons.

Send in the clowns

By no means is there demand for a true “coulrocracy” (governance by clowns), not even a clown minister – though a jester in the houses of Parliament would be very welcome. However, perhaps what has been missing from our political processes is the voice of mockery and reality that clowns and jesters provide, grounding our policymakers and preventing their greatest misjudgments.

We have the satirists of the modern media but these are outside of the court. They shout and throw epithets from outside rather than challenging and questioning from within. People in power would do well to embody some clown spirit and exercise clown principles.

In a recent study, our research team examined how the idea of “groupthink” (the desire for conformity and compliance which leads to poor decison-making) has been blamed for incidents including the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Challenger shuttle disaster and the COVID-19 pandemic.




Along with clown trainer Andrea Jiminez, we developed a set of clowning routines to help organisations challenge the characteristics of groupthink – invulnerability, fear, and moral and intellectual rectitude.

For those who find themselves unwilling to engage with clown training, there are many great clowns from whom to learn humility. Humanitarian Nalle Laanela, himself an accomplished clown, founded the Swedish chapter of Clowns Without Borders. In his Clown Manifesto, he lays out principles which would do well as moral guidelines for those who seek public office. Among his ten commandments, he tells us that the role of the clown is to “comfort the disturbed, disturb the comfortable”, “connect with your audience”, and most importantly, to “be real”.

In our politically turbulent era, when people have lost faith in their leaders and are dissatisfied with democracy, it may be time to send in the clowns – not send them off. Let’s just hope that after so many years of misrepresentation, they still want to play with us.

Sean Mccusker is Associate Professor in Education at Northumbria University, Newcastle.


The Conversation arose out of deep-seated concerns for the fading quality of our public discourse and recognition of the vital role that academic experts could play in the public arena. Information has always been essential to democracy. It’s a societal good, like clean water. But many now find it difficult to put their trust in the media and experts who have spent years researching a topic. Instead, they listen to those who have the loudest voices. Those uninformed views are amplified by social media networks that reward those who spark outrage instead of insight or thoughtful discussion. The Conversation seeks to be part of the solution to this problem, to raise up the voices of true experts and to make their knowledge available to everyone. The Conversation publishes nightly at 9 p.m. on FlaglerLive.

Previous Conversations:

  • Understanding the Heat Dome: Why America Is Baking
  • Endorsements Aren’t As Influential as You Think
  • Wiccan Celebrations and the Permanence of Change
  • Privacy Isn’t In the Constitution. But It’s Everywhere in Constitutional Law.
  • Anti-Trans Legislation and Lawsuits Are Pushing back Against Chosen Pronouns
  • How Mike Pence’s Unremarkable Actions on Jan. 6 Saved the Nation
  • Blaspheming Human Rights: The Hypocrisy at the Core of Authoritarian Muslim Nations
  • There Is No One ‘Religious View’ on Abortion
  • Inflation Is Spiking. Can the Fed Raise Interest Rates Without Spiking Unemployment, Too?
  • Blaming ‘Evil’ Is Not Enough
  • Did the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban Diminish Mass Shootings? Yes.
  • Crowded Primaries Are Good for Extremists, Bad for Voters
  • To Get Safe Schools, Mental Health Resources Are Critical
  • Antarctica’s Riskiest Glacier Is Losing Its Grip
  • The Legal Age to Buy Assault Weapons Doesn’t Make Sense

See the Full Conversation Archives
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
You and your neighbors collectively read our articles about 25,000 times each day (that's not a typo) with up to 65,000 daily reads during emergencies like hurricanes. Flagler County residents rely on FlaglerLive for essential, bold and analytical journalism that cannot be found anywhere else. But we depend on your support. Please join our December fund drive! If you donate the cost of a scoop of ice cream, you will be helping us continue to provide comprehensive local news and honest, serious journalism for our community. If you can donate more or become a monthly donor, even better. Donations are tax deductible since FlaglerLive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donate by clicking anywhere in this box. Think of it as buying a scoop, in every sense of the term!  
All donors' identities are kept confidential and anonymous.
   

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Herman says

    December 28, 2022 at 7:27 am

    As is calling the mainstream media along with many small town news sites, journalism…..They are nothing but opinion sites.

    Reply
    • Pierre Tristam says

      December 28, 2022 at 12:27 pm

      I think Herman is Jacques Derrida reincarnated.

      Reply
  2. Jimbo99 says

    December 28, 2022 at 8:53 am

    Vote whores & liars is more accurate. The “Swamp” is back, bugger than ever.

    Reply
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents
  • grand living realty

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Advertisers

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Recent Comments

  • Pierre Tristam on The Hung Jury Got It Right in the Monserrate Teron Trial
  • blerbfamilyfive on Why Will Furry Is Demolishing the Flagler Youth Orchestra
  • We believe the girl on The Hung Jury Got It Right in the Monserrate Teron Trial
  • DAVE on Flagler Pride Fest Is On Despite Hostile Climate, Drag Show Included, With a Few Cautionary Tucks
  • Blame Game on No, Flagler Beach Isn’t Asking for Money. It’s Asking for Cooperation from County and Cities.
  • Laurel on Behind the Divorce, a Bitter, Threat-Ridden Clash Between Waste Pro and Palm Coast Over Recycling Bins
  • Deborah Coffey on Wadsworth Elementary’s Paul Peacock Is Told He’s Done in Flagler Schools; New Principal To Be Named Later
  • Flatsflyer on Wadsworth Elementary’s Paul Peacock Is Told He’s Done in Flagler Schools; New Principal To Be Named Later
  • Greg on No, Flagler Beach Isn’t Asking for Money. It’s Asking for Cooperation from County and Cities.
  • Bailey’s Mom on Wadsworth Elementary’s Paul Peacock Is Told He’s Done in Flagler Schools; New Principal To Be Named Later
  • jake on Flagler Pride Fest Is On Despite Hostile Climate, Drag Show Included, With a Few Cautionary Tucks
  • Dennis Clark on No, Flagler Beach Isn’t Asking for Money. It’s Asking for Cooperation from County and Cities.
  • Bryan on “A Fitting Conclusion”: Family Speaks of Pilot Ray Miller’s Life of Adventure Before Crash
  • Ray W. on The Hung Jury Got It Right in the Monserrate Teron Trial
  • Ray W. on The Hung Jury Got It Right in the Monserrate Teron Trial
  • Dee on Wadsworth Elementary’s Paul Peacock Is Told He’s Done in Flagler Schools; New Principal To Be Named Later

Log in