I wonder which one came first

http://videosift.com/video/David-Mitchell-Dear-America

Cleese's certainly looks older.

Touché...but seriously...is John Cleese starting a religion?

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I'm a huge python fan to pretty much academic levels, and I hold up this sketch as an example of comedy as a craft, and of Cleese in particular as a craftsman.

Every line has its place. Every word. The premise itself is funny enough, and the way it's developed is great, but what I love the most is the way the core in particular was pared down to balance extracting the most comedy and frustration against the massive repetition.

They did improve on the intro in particular as time went on, and the end works best in the context of the whole episode, but the core remains pretty much unchanged. Not only was it scripted meticulously, it also allows the performers plenty of room to change it around and keep it fresh.

If you really want to add some fuel to your, shall we say, "dislike" of HRC, have a look at this. It's an excerpt of Thomas Frank's new book "Listen, Liberal!". Afterwards, you might have to reassure yourself that HRC is, in fact, not a creation of John Cleese's or Terry Jones'.

Edit: I should probably have provided an appetizer.

"For poor and working-class American women, the floor was pulled up and hauled off to the landfill some twenty years ago. There is no State Department somewhere to pay for their cell phones or to pick up their day-care expenses. And one of the people who helped to work this deed was the very woman I watched present herself as the champion of the world’s downtrodden femininity."

John Cleese is hardly new to this. When he and the python troop made Life of Brian, more than 35 years ago, church leaders tried hard , and in many locations succeeded in getting it banned.

Back then he did the circuits talking with religious leaders defending that he had the right to still say something even if they disagreed with it. It's worth noting, much of his support came from within Academia were young students were eager to push back against the religious leaders controlling what people should and shouldn't say in a film.

Fast forward 35 years to today, and now a new batch of young students from Academia are making the exact same fight against what should and should not be said. Professors and administrators who don't get on board are getting fired. Students who don't get on board are being expelled.

Where the religious leaders used to try and shut down criticism of their views on religion, abortion, sexual identity and other subjects, today it is SJWs trying to shut down criticism of their views on religion, abortion, sexual identity and other subjects.

Cleese is at least being even handed with calling actions out on both ends of spectrum regardless were he sits on it. It's tragic that the notion of critical thought and argument is done better by comedians than supposed leaders of thought both 35 years ago and still today.

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Yeah, all I'm saying is that this statement (by Cleese) is facile (and I think he'd be fine with that assessment, given he had less than a minute to make it for full impact). Most learning and motivational theory indicates a strong jump in confidence and perceived ability in the initial learning stages (even just after a few minutes, if it's a simple task) and then a sharp drop off as the cognitive effect of "I did it" reconciles with the awareness that "I don't have this skill, though." That initial boost is what we need to be a learning species.

At the same time, that effect is tempered by a host of other effects - previous experiences of other learning tasks, society's communicated expectations and obstacles (for example, I picked surgery in my example because that's been communicated to me as being difficult; I don't have the same reservations about my janitorial skills, even though that's also an area I've no experience in), and all that will play in equally or even more strongly when estimating your own ability.

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One more for the road: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2014/01/today_i_briefed.html

Bruce Schneier, whom I consider to be the supreme overlord in my line of work, was asked to brief six members of Congress on the actions of the NSA, because the NSA refused to.

This is so surreal that somebody should investigate if this whole affaire is being orchestrated by John Cleese...

Up for Cleese, down for fleece.
If it sounds like a South American country to you now Johnny, yer a little late to the game.
Mafioso Gestapo Gestalt with a shill at the helm of the sinking ship of rights and freedom under natural laws.