Lessons In Politics

It's election season and OTR thinks it's about time for a history lesson from the popular culture archives. While we're listening to the candidates and mulling over the state of the union - the address is coming up shortly - we need to be reminded of the social and political realities driving the nation. The American writer and cartoonist, Al Capp, defined these realities quite well in his satirical syndicated strip, Li'l Abner. It ran from 1934 to 1977 and enriched the culture on several fronts.

In 1959, Paramount Pictures released film musical based on the strip and a 1956 stage production. It was a moderately successful film in its day and, after fifty years, an even more significant object lesson in American politics. With music by Gene De Paul and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, the stage version of Li'l Abner remains a popular production for high schools as well as local and regional theater groups. OTR thinks it should be required viewing for voters, first, to get them smiling, and second, to instruct them in the principles of political reality.  Here is your first lesson:

Gilbert and Sullivan came to same conclusion in England by 1880.