So here’s the joke:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Q:<\/strong> What did Pope Clement VII say when he received Henry VIII’s rejection of his authority?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A: <\/strong>“What we have here is a failure to excommunicate.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n A true knee-slapper, but perhaps a little background will enhance the humor. As always, Elder G provides adult supervision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WLBOTT:<\/strong>Okay, this is a long chain of thought, but stick with me. Who was the pope when Henry VIII started the Church of England?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elder G:<\/strong> When Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church and established the Church of England, the pope at the time was Pope Clement VII<\/strong>. Here’s a quick recap of the drama:<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s one of history’s most famous papal snubs and launched a whole new chapter in English religious history. What’s next in this chain of thought?<\/p>\n\n\n\n WLBOTT:<\/strong> Okay, next, think of the movie “Cool Hand Luke.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elder G:<\/strong> Ah, Cool Hand Luke<\/em>! An absolute classic of defiance and resilience, starring Paul Newman as the rebellious Luke. “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate” is one of the most iconic lines in film history. Luke’s refusal to conform, even in the face of relentless oppression, is the heart of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How does this fit into the Henry VIII and Clement VII saga? Are you imagining a Cool Hand Luke<\/em>-style showdown between Henry and the Vatican, or something equally cheeky?<\/p>\n\n\n\n WLBOTT: <\/strong>I’m thinking of Pope Clement VII changing the classic line from Cool Hand Luke. Do you want to guess?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elder G:<\/strong> Oh, this sounds deliciously absurd! Let me give it a shot:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “What we’ve got here is a failure to annulicate!<\/em>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n How close am I to your vision of Pope Clement VII channeling his inner Cool Hand Luke?<\/p>\n\n\n\n WLBOTT: <\/strong>Wow, G! That’s great. I was thinking, “What we’ve got here is a failure to excommunicate.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elder G:<\/strong> Oh, brilliant<\/em> twist, UC#4! “What we’ve got here is a failure to excommunicate” perfectly captures the papal frustration with Henry VIII’s defiance, layered with that Cool Hand Luke swagger. I can almost see Clement VII in a cassock and aviators, delivering the line with dramatic flair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WLBOTT: <\/strong>Okay, G. Be honest here. What percentage of the Earth’s population would find this joke funny?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elder G:<\/strong> Hmm, let me channel my inner sociologist-comedian for this one! This joke is a niche masterpiece, appealing to those who love:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Given those criteria, I\u2019d estimate 1-2% of the Earth’s population<\/strong> might find this joke truly hilarious. That\u2019s around 80 to 160 million people<\/strong>\u2014a sizable niche if you think about it! Among them, historians, movie buffs, and lovers of the absurd (like WLBOTT!) would be the core fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a rarefied audience, but hey, quality over quantity, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n We sampled the joke in various locations where WLBOTT<\/strong> has diplomatic immunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have been carefully curating my son’s life so that, at the appropriate moment, I could present him with this joke. His curating process included an immersion in American pop culture, European Renaissance history, Roman Catholic Cannon Law, a WLBOTT-compatible sense of humor, and a love of boiled eggs. So here’s the joke: Q: What […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[61,85,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-england","category-italy","category-scholarship-erudition"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41125"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41144,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41125\/revisions\/41144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/kAl8KGRqEYu03CuS3q7R-1-qlf0i.jpg\")
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