It's said that Elizabeth I once rebuked the court fool for not being hard enough on her.  While the story may be apocryphal, it demonstrates that even rulers who considered themselves divinely appointed had the ability to recognize their fallibility.

Even the Queen of England saw the need to consider the question, "What kind of fool am I?"

As Suzannah Lipscomb points out, Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, also had at court a fool by the name of Will Somer, a man who used wit to cajole the king out of his dark humors, but who also could be relied on to tell the temperamental and erratic king the truth.  

She writes, "When most around the king were yes-men, Henry could rely on Will Somer and other fools to speak honestly. We have evidence of him being able to change Henry VIII's mind. These special qualities of fools -- their ability to bring mirth and their relationship to truth -- explains their privileged, hallowed status[.]"

The tradition of the clownish fool who tells the truth has waxed and waned, but it has continued in some form or another until this day, be it in the form of the late-night comedian or, more recently, the anonymous rodeo clown (Tuffy Gessling's protégé ) who made the mistake of wearing an Obama mask to poke fun of POTUS.

Unlike Henry VIII and his courtiers, who actually laughed at Somer's wit, the left is not amused.   

In fact, the rodeo clown incident so ticked off the true believers in their secular messiah that it sent them into Paula Deen syndrome.  Once again, someone perceived to have offended leftist sensibilities became a target for complete destruction.  The left and the NAACP are actually calling for a federal investigation of the clown for "inciting violence against President Obama."

Yes, as a commentator at The Examiner points out, that would be the same left "who made movies depicting the assassination of President George W. Bush, who hanged Sarah Palin in effigy, whose messiah mocked her as a pig with lipstick, [and who are now] destroying the life of this man and his associates."

But this is the left's guy.  So...no one can make fun of The One without dire consequences.  Folks who are inclined to authoritarianism do not like clowns, as laughter incites spontaneity, evading control.  What might happen if everyone is laughing?  What happens when folks take a real look at the clowns around them?  We can't have that.

Retaliation against Gessling's prank has been swift:

As a result, the clown has been banned in the State of Missouri and his announcer friend is being investigated to be fired from his job as a school superintendent. So what does it say about Barack Obama and his regime when a rodeo clown puts on an Obama mask and pokes fun at the Leftist messiah and they set out to destroy their lives, even to the point of death threats?

Well, we can at least console ourselves that retaliation can take on forms worse than death threats.  Ah...much worse, as in actual death, as "Happy Jack Feder," a former clown, points out in the most recent edition of American Spectator.  Happy Jack relates a little-known incident that occurred in Stalinist Russia: 

After a hard day's work, Uncle Joe blessed a Moscow circus with his presence. The clowns performed a bit that contained (what Stalin perceived as) political commentary obliquely critical of him. Yet the audience roared with delight at the funny clowns!

True to form, Stalin had his armed guards line up the clowns in center ring and execute them, on the spot.

Then, as a clever follow-up on Stalin's part, he had the guards turn their guns on the audience and slaughter dozens. Call it a curtain call: it was curtains for all.

Oh, the dangers of mocking Great Leaders.

Evidently, President Obama's supporters don't stand in the tradition of Henry VIII and his daughter, both of whom had the ability to laugh at themselves.  Truly great leaders, like the late Ronald Reagan, have a sense of humor.  They can see their own shortcomings.  They know they share the foibles and fallibilities of the human race.  An outstanding statesman like Winston Churchill, Stalin's contemporary, was known for his wonderful off-the-cuff ripostes.  We're still waiting see a book come out about Stalin's wonderful witticisms.

The inability of a powerful world figure to laugh at himself or to allow others to laugh at him is a sure sign of insecurity.  Humorlessness may even be, as Happy Jack writes, a sign of "decadence, corruption, and incapacity.  When a President and his ilk can't laugh along with a timeless, harmless, sure-fire gag about Himself, Joe Public smells a fish -- and there's to be a clown who will pull a rubber fish out of an Obama look-a-like pants. HA! HA! HA!" 

One thing is for sure.  The rodeo jokester incident shows the left is packed with a mirthless bunch of clowns.  Let's hope the poor guy survives the attempts to destroy him along with the hallowed institution of fools. 

But there may be hope.  It seems Tuffy Gessling's unnamed prankster has a standing invitation to perform in Texas, a bastion of sanity that still allows politically incorrect humor.

Maybe Happy Jack will come out of retirement and join him.  We could use a few laughs.

Send in the clowns!