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Showbusiness for Ugly People Trivia Quiz

Someone called politics 'showbusiness for ugly people.' Here's more political wit and satire, about general principles rather than individual politicians or policies.

A multiple-choice quiz by Woordenboer. Estimated time: 7 mins.

Author
Woordenboer

Time
7 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
157,364

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
15

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
6 / 15

Plays
904

Last 3 plays: donkeehote (12/15), Guest 67 (5/15), PurpleComet (11/15).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 15

1. Who said: "The problem with political jokes is they get elected"? Hint

Eugene McCarthy

Henry Cate VII

P.J. O'Rourke

Dan Quayle

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Question 2 of 15

2. A general who became a politician himself once remarked: "Since a politician never believes what he says, he is quite surprised to be taken at his word." Which one? Hint

The Duke of Wellington

Charles de Gaulle

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Moshe Dayan

3. This American politician said: "Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation." Although his own reputation wasn't spotless, he did win the Nobel Peace Prize. Hint

Theodore Roosevelt

Henry Kissinger

Martin Luther King

Jimmy Carter

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Question 4 of 15

4. This 19th century American said: "An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, will stay bought." Hint

Mark Twain

Ambrose Bierce

John D. Rockefeller

Simon Cameron

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Question 5 of 15

5. Which satirical wit said: "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard"? Hint

George Bernard Shaw

Mark Twain

Ambrose Bierce

H.L. Mencken

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Question 6 of 15

6. Here's a clever one: "Nothing can so alienate a voter from the political system as backing a winning candidate." Which American politician came up with this? Hint

George H.W. Bush

Newt Gingrich

Richard M. Nixon

Mark B. Cohen

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Question 7 of 15

7. Who said this: "Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed"? Hint

H.L. Mencken

Robert A. Heinlein

P.J. O'Rourke

Laurence J. Peter

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Question 8 of 15

8. Which playwright wrote: "A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul"? Hint

William Butler Yeats

George Bernard Shaw

Niccolo Macchiavelli

Vaclav Havel

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Question 9 of 15

9. Who claimed: "Giving government money and power is like giving car keys and whiskey to a teenage boy"? Hint

Milton Friedman

Margaret Thatcher

P.J. O'Rourke

Rush Limbaugh

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Question 10 of 15

10. Remarkably, it was the leader of a powerful government who said: "Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." Who was that? Hint

Margaret Thatcher

Ronald Reagan

Boris Yeltsin

Helmut Kohl

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Question 11 of 15

11. Whose definition is this: "An elephant: A mouse built to government specifications"? Hint

Ambrose Bierce

Robert A. Heinlein

Mark Twain

Bob Wells

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Question 12 of 15

12. Who said: "For every action there is an equal and opposite government program"? Hint

Robert A. Heinlein

Bob Wells

H.L. Mencken

Ambrose Bierce

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Question 13 of 15

13. Who said: "If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free"? Hint

Robert A. Heinlein

Douglas Adams

P.J. O'Rourke

Laurence J. Peter

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Question 14 of 15

14. This quote is from a war hero who became a politician. Which American general and president said: "I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution"? Hint

Andrew Jackson

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Ulysses S. Grant

George Washington

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Question 15 of 15

15. Which American president said: "If you want to make enemies, try to change something"? Hint

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

John Quincy Adams

Abraham Lincoln

Woodrow Wilson

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Most Recent Scores

Apr 17 2024 : donkeehote: 12/15
Apr 13 2024 : Guest 67: 5/15
Feb 27 2024 : PurpleComet: 11/15

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Who said: "The problem with political jokes is they get elected"?

Answer: Henry Cate VII

Eugene McCarthy did say: "Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to understand the game, and dumb enough to think it's important."

2. A general who became a politician himself once remarked: "Since a politician never believes what he says, he is quite surprised to be taken at his word." Which one?

Answer: Charles de Gaulle

General de Gaulle also said: "I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians." This conclusion prompted him to take power in 1940 and again in 1958.

3. This American politician said: "Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation." Although his own reputation wasn't spotless, he did win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Answer: Henry Kissinger

Kissinger's German accent was reportedly explained by his brother, who spoke flawless English: "Henry never listens."

4. This 19th century American said: "An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, will stay bought."

Answer: Simon Cameron

Simon Cameron (1799 - 1889) was a succesfull businessman. In politics, his career was rather erratic, as he successively joined four different parties. He was Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of War at the start of the American Civil War.

5. Which satirical wit said: "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard"?

Answer: H.L. Mencken

Shaw said something quite similar: "Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve."

6. Here's a clever one: "Nothing can so alienate a voter from the political system as backing a winning candidate." Which American politician came up with this?

Answer: Mark B. Cohen

Mark B. Cohen is the Democratic Caucus Chairman in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

7. Who said this: "Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed"?

Answer: H.L. Mencken

P.J. O'Rourke did say: "The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."

8. Which playwright wrote: "A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul"?

Answer: George Bernard Shaw

The other playwrights were politicians themselves, though not necessarily robbers.

9. Who claimed: "Giving government money and power is like giving car keys and whiskey to a teenage boy"?

Answer: P.J. O'Rourke

P.J. O'Rourke is a libertarian 'gonzo journalist', who has published such titles as 'Eat the Rich', 'Give War a Chance', and 'A Parliament of Whores'.

Answer: Ronald Reagan

President Reagan liked to joke about taxes. Another one: "The taxpayer - that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take a civil-service exam."

11. Whose definition is this: "An elephant: A mouse built to government specifications"?

Answer: Robert A. Heinlein

A quote from the notebooks of Lazarus Long, from Heinlein's novel 'Time Enough for Love'.

12. Who said: "For every action there is an equal and opposite government program"?

Answer: Bob Wells

Bob Wells also said: "Actions lie louder than words."

13. Who said: "If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free"?

Answer: P.J. O'Rourke

Heinlein did create the acronym TANSTAAFL, meaning 'There ain't no such thing as a free lunch', in his novel 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress'.

Answer: Ulysses S. Grant

General U.S. Grant's tough terms for defeated Confederate forces earned him the nickname 'Unconditional Surrender'.

15. Which American president said: "If you want to make enemies, try to change something"?

Answer: Woodrow Wilson

President Wilson also said: "A conservative is a man who sits and thinks, mostly sits..."

Source: Author Woordenboer

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Exit10 before going online.
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