Post turtle is a phrase that has been used in political discourse of various countries, particularly in North America, based on an old joke. Various politicians have been referenced by the joke or used the joke, including
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
,
George W Bush
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd President ...
,
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
,
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, and
Joe Biden.
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; you wonder who put him there; he can't get anything done while he's up there; and you just want to help the poor thing down."
Notable usage
Ronald E. Poelman used the post turtle reference referring to himself when he was first appointed as a
general authority for
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
during
General Conference in April, 1978, saying, "Like the little turtle who found himself on the top of a fence post, I know that I did not reach this place by myself."
Mary Doria Russell
Mary Doria Russell (born August 19, 1950) is an American novelist.
Early life and education
Russell was born in Elmhurst, Illinois
She graduated from Glenbard East High School in Lombard, Illinois, which has registered its chapter of the Nati ...
used the post turtle reference in her 1996 novel ''
The Sparrow'', attributing it to Father D.W. Yarborough, leader of the first Earth expedition to another planet. Yarborough refers to post turtles in the context of seeming anomalies in nature and regards them as proof of the existence of God, specifically of God trying to get our attention.
''The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton'' by
Joe Klein
Joe Klein (born September 7, 1946) is an American political commentator and author. He is best known for his work as a columnist for ''Time'' magazine and his novel ''Primary Colors'', an anonymously written roman à clef portraying Bill Clinton' ...
, published in 2002, quotes Clinton as saying: "If you see a turtle sitting on top of a fence post, it didn't get there by accident." According to Klein, this was Clinton's way of claiming partial responsibility for "the historic prosperity and the global peace that attended his time in office".
Molly Ivins
Mary Tyler "Molly" Ivins (August 30, 1944 – January 31, 2007) was an American newspaper columnist, author, political commentator, and humorist.
Born in California and raised in Texas, Ivins attended Smith College and the Columbia Univers ...
is attributed to usage for George W. Bush.
In 2008,
Steve Benen
Steve Benen (born May 15, 1973) is an American political writer, blogger, MSNBC contributor and producer of ''The Rachel Maddow Show'', for which he received two Emmy Awards in 2017. His first book, ''The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing ...
, lead blogger for the liberal "The Political Animal" at ''
Washington Monthly
''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine is known for its annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which serves as an alternat ...
'', referred to
Eric Cantor
Eric Ivan Cantor (born June 6, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented Virginia's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2014. A Republican, Cantor served as House Minority ...
as a post turtle.
At the 2010
CMAs,
Brad Paisley
Bradley Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting with his 1999 debut album ''Who Needs Pictures'', he has released eleven studio albums and a Christmas compilation on the Arista Nashvil ...
used the phrase in his acceptance speech for Entertainer of the Year.
References
{{reflist
External links
Further examples of the "post turtle" jokeat The Big Apple.
Animals in politics
Political terminology
Political satire
Metaphors referring to animals
Internet memes