- Post turtle
Post turtle is a phrase that has been used in political discussion of various countries, including the U.S. and
Canada , based on an old joke. Various politicians have been referenced by the joke or used the joke, includingBill Clinton , [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E4D91039F937A15750C0A9649C8B63 New York Times] ,George W. Bush [http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/jokes/bljokebushpostturtle.htm] ,Stephen Harper [http://www.canadaka.net/modules.php?name=jokes&op=ViewItems&vid=81] , andSarah Palin [http://www.ieatgravel.com/?p=1128] .The Joke
An old rancher is talking about politics with a young man from the city. He compares a politician to a "post turtle". The young man doesn't understand and asks him what a post turtle is.
The old man says, "When you're driving down a country road and you see a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle. You know he didn't get up there by himself. He doesn't belong there; he can't get anything done while he's up there; and you just want to help the poor, dumb thing down."
Notable usage
William Kennedy reviews the book THE NATURAL The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton byJoe Klein who quotes Clinton on his own achievement: "If you see a turtle sitting on top of a fence post, it didn't get there by accident"cite web |author=William Kennedy |publisher=New York Times |date=2002-03-24 |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E4D91039F937A15750C0A9649C8B63 |title=The Turtle on the Fence Post |accessdate=2008-09-30 |format=html ] .
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