Class Clowns

IN Shaw’s Heartbreak House, a burglar is captured by the guests at an English country-house weekend. At first they intend to hand him over to the police, but gradually they realize that this will require them to appear in court, give evidence, and generally suffer minor inconvenience. But when they accordingly decide to let the burglar go, he surprises them by refusing on the moral grounds that he really ought to pay for his crime. After some haggling, the guests get up a small silver collection to compensate him for his guilty conscience. And the burglar is about to depart when he is recognized by one guest as having pulled a similar stunt at another country-house party. It transpires that “the burglar” makes a comfortable living by exploiting the laziness and embarrassment of the English upper class in this way. The main difficulty he faces in this profession, moreover, is not persuading the rich to part with their money, nor securing his release, but getting caught in the first place. Sometimes he has to throw furniture about loudly in order to attract attention and provoke his own capture. It is in fact a full-time job, to persuade a corrupt and idle upper class even to notice his criminality.

Bill and Hillary Clinton have not yet reached the level of felonious expertise achieved by Shaw’s burglar (although there is said to be a certain amount of furniture-throwing by Mrs. Clinton at times). They have not yet persuaded anyone to pay them for not speaking at conferences or for locating to another neighborhood. But they have reached the stage of forcing the political and media class to notice their criminality.

About the Author

John O’Sullivan

John O’Sullivan is a senior fellow at National Review Institute and a contributing editor of National Review.

IN Shaw’s Heartbreak House, a burglar is captured by the guests at an English country-house weekend. At first they intend to hand him over to the police, but gradually they realize that this will require them to appear in court, give evidence, and generally suffer minor inconvenience. But when they accordingly decide to let the burglar go, he surprises them by refusing on the moral grounds that he really ought to pay for his crime. After some haggling, the guests get up a small silver collection to compensate him for his guilty conscience. And the burglar is about to depart when he is recognized by one guest as having pulled a similar stunt at another country-house party. It transpires that “the burglar” makes a comfortable living by exploiting the laziness and embarrassment of the English upper class in this way. The main difficulty he faces in this profession, moreover, is not persuading the rich to part with their money, nor securing his release, but getting caught in the first place. Sometimes he has to throw furniture about loudly in order to attract attention and provoke his own capture. It is in fact a full-time job, to persuade a corrupt and idle upper class even to notice his criminality.

Bill and Hillary Clinton have not yet reached the level of felonious expertise achieved by Shaw’s burglar (although there is said to be a certain amount of furniture-throwing by Mrs. Clinton at times). They have not yet persuaded anyone to pay them for not speaking at conferences or for locating to another neighborhood. But they have reached the stage of forcing the political and media class to notice their criminality.