Ted Cruz: "Guess what, I’m Cuban! & no self-respecting Cuban man of the era would let his wife work”

[kpete]

There's Nothing Funnier Than Someone With No Sense of Humor

by tristero


.....................

When an Amherst team argued at a tournament in 1989 that Ricky Ricardo should have let Lucy work, Mr. Cruz said, in an incensed voice: “Well, guess what, I’m Cuban! And no self-respecting Cuban man of the era would let his wife work.”

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Although Ted Cruz doesn't seem to realize this, you probably guessed something rather important: Ricky and Lucy Ricardo never existed. That's right: they are fictional characters. And Ted Cruz, defending the conservative adage that women shouldn't work and belong at home defended an entirely bogus example with an entirely bogus assertion. Because what makes this genuinely hilarious is that there is actually some reality afoot.

"Ricky Ricardo" was played by none other than the very real Desi Arnaz, a famous Cuban bandleader - and, in fact, a brilliant musician (despite a lot of cheesy music he performed on the show). Lucy Ricardo was played by Lucille Ball, one of the greatest comedians - hell, actors - of the 20th century.

And in real life, contra Ted Cruz, Desi and Lucy were a married working couple, working on the show together. In fact, Desi owed his job on the show to Lucy, who insisted that the network hire her husband. (Theirs was a troubled marriage, but that's another story; suffice it say that Arnaz's notion of a "self-respecting" Cuban man did not include faithfulness to his wife).

In other words, a very famous and accomplished Cuban man "of the era" and his wife worked very hard to create an indelible, immortal fictional relationship premised on the quite delible and dying fiction that wives of famous and accomplished men don't work. And they succeeded so well that the hapless, humorless Ted Cruz mistook it for reality.

...............

tee hee hee:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/23/us/politics/ted-cruz-honed-political-skills-in-princeton-debate-club.html?hpw&rref=politics&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0
via:
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2015/04/theres-nothing-funnier-than-someone.html

[onehandle]

1. Is this true for Canadians too? nt

[cwydro]

2. What a moron.

[bulloney]

3. Kind of like Dan Quayle going off on Murphy Brown having a child out of wedlock.

I remember a David Letterman monologue where he signaled to the camera to come up close to him to where it was just a face shot of Letterman so he can let Quayle in on a "secret." Letterman whispered into the camera: "Murphy Brown - She's fiction!"

These Republican candidates and their followers are so detached from reality it would be funny if their beliefs didn't have such adverse effects on this country.

[sufrommich]

4. Lucy was a very competent business woman who ran

one of the largest production companies in Hollywood.Desi was her business partner and had no problem with his wife working in a non traditional role in real life.

[KansDem]

5. Desilu Productions

Desilu Productions was formed in 1950 using the combined names of "Desi Arnaz" and "Lucille Ball". Desilu Productions was initially created to produce Lucy and Desi's vaudeville act to sell the television series to Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) executives. Both Arnaz and Ball wanted to adapt Ball's CBS radio series My Favorite Husband to television. The television project eventually became I Love Lucy.[1] During the first few years of I Love Lucy, Desilu rented space at General Service Studios (now the Hollywood Center Studios), on Santa Monica Boulevard and North Las Palmas Avenue. Desilu Productions used Stage Two which was named Desilu Playhouse. Later a special entrance was created at 6633 Romaine Street on the south side of the lot allowing entrance into the Desilu Playhouse.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desilu_Productions

Television shows produced or filmed by Desilu
The Jack Benny Program (CBS; 1950-1964/NBC; 1964-1965)
I Love Lucy (CBS; 1951-1957)
Our Miss Brooks (CBS; 1952-1956)
The Danny Thomas Show AKA Make Room for Daddy (ABC; 1953-1957/CBS; 1957-1964)
Private Secretary (CBS; 1953-1957)
December Bride (CBS; 1954-1959)
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (ABC; 1955-1961)
Meet McGraw (NBC; 1957-1958)
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour (CBS; 1957-1960)
Whirlybirds (Syndicated; 1957-1960)
The Real McCoys (ABC; 1957-1962/CBS; 1962-1963)
The Ann Sothern Show (CBS; 1958-1961)
The Untouchables (ABC; 1959-1963)
The Andy Griffith Show (CBS; 1960-1968)
The Lineup AKA San Francisco Beat (CBS; 1954-1960)
Sheriff of Cochise AKA United States Marshal AKA U.S. Marshal (Syndicated, 1956-1960)
Harrigan and Son (ABC; 1960-1961)
My Three Sons (ABC; 1960-1965/CBS; 1965-1972)
The Dick Van Dyke Show (CBS; 1961-1966)
The Lucy Show (CBS; 1962-1968)
You Don't Say! (NBC; 1963-1969)
My Favorite Martian (CBS; 1963-1965)
Gomer Pyle, USMC (CBS; 1964-1969)
I Spy (NBC; 1965-1968)
Hogan's Heroes (CBS; 1965-1971)
Star Trek (NBC; 1966-1969)
Family Affair (CBS; 1966-1971)
That Girl (ABC; 1966-1971)
Mission Impossible (CBS; 1966-1973)
Mannix (CBS; 1967-1975)
The Mothers-in-Law (NBC; 1967-1969)

Watched many of these shows while growing up!

[Johonny]

6. What kind of man has his self-respect derived from what they deny their wife?