Two gems from the Happy Tutor at Wealth Bondage that I meant to share earlier. First this one:

You know, said the Head Eunuch to the Emperor, your Fool would be OK, if you just got him neutered.

And another worthy contribution to the neglected genre of the aphorism:

Went to a lunch presentation with an experienced consultant to nonprofit boards. A good and decent man who urged diversity, among other virtues. He said that in his experience most nonprofit boards are still more like a private club than not, with members who are mostly white, monied, from wealthy families or from top management, and male. He did say, though, that increasingly the boards recognize that certain constituencies are missing, among them the poor, women, minorities, and cubicle dwellers. Therefore, he says, boards often will set an empty place at the table, representing the Absent Other.

Thus we have 12 Empty Suits agreeing with an Empty Chair that justice has been done.

Looking about the room, seeing the smiles of recognition, in a beautiful home, on a beautiful street, in an all white enclave of wealth in Dallas, where the leading families live, I must say I felt both glad to pass as one of them, and driven to madness. There are reasons why satire is not permitted in polite society. It would be in bad taste. It would disrupt the self-congratulatory mood and the sense of mutual good will. It would tend to call into disrepute the most reputable of our citizens and institutions. So, out I tiptoe, smiling, and shaking hands, fingers twitching for a keyboard. May the successful people never find out about my secret life in this Bordello, or I will be ostracized. Thus, meritocracy works, through inter-locking elites, to insure that the right people run our civic and cultural insitititutions, along with those of business and government. That way, the Empty Seats will be Served.

Maybe we could sell WB Blow Up Dummies to round out these Boards. Wind up their little voice box and they say, “Thank you, Sir! For including me.”