Life, 1920-05-27 · page 9 of 44
Life — May 27, 1920 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical comic strip contrasts senators' public rhetoric with their home behavior. In six panels, a senator speaks to his wife with increasingly grandiose, flowery language borrowed from Congressional speeches—discussing ordinary matters like coffee with inflated patriotic rhetoric about "American ism as against un-Americanism" and the "foundations of this great and glorious nation." The joke satirizes senators' tendency to use pompous, verbose language and self-important declarations during official proceedings, even on trivial matters. The wife's patient, bemused reactions emphasize the absurdity of applying such overwrought political grandstanding to domestic life. The satire suggests senators are out-of-touch with reality and prone to theatrical excess in their public statements.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE. If Senators Talked at Home as They Do in Congress My dear, will you have another cup of The question at issue is one of American coffee?’ ism as against un-Americanism, and 1, thank God, am one hundred per cent. American!" etc. “The matter may scem small to some, but “shall _now take time to read a short to me it threatens the very foundations of this article of fifty thousand words on the culture great and glorious nation,” and so forth. of the c ¢ bean, which may or may not have some bearing on the case.” He reads. “ After that, who can deny that those who “ And so on the question of whether or not oppose me in this matter are selfish, corrupt, I shall have another cup of coffee, I must, in partisan, unpatriotic and pro-German?” ete justice to myself, my country and my con- stituents, vote Aye!” comicbooks.com