MovieChat Forums > Good Morning, Vietnam (1988) Discussion > Highway Beautification Bill joke

Highway Beautification Bill joke

posted 9 years ago by HarveyManfredSinJohn
3 replies | jump to latest

I don't get it.

President Nixon's daughters, especially Tricia, were good-looking (arguably among the most attractive Presidential children of all time) so why the punchline: "The bill says that President Nixon's daughters can't drive in a convertible on a public highway"?

I realise that Cronauer despised Nixon and his politics, but why bring his daughters into matters, and why crack a joke that had absolutely no bearing on fact (basically the equivalent of a "Yo' momma" insult)? Would Cronauer have made the same joke about Chelsea Clinton?  Or would she out of bounds because her father is a Democrat? 

[–] grandsammer 9 years ago

Actually, the joke was about the daughters of LBJ (a Democrat). Here's the full quote: "Here's a news flash: Today President Lyndon Johnson passed a highway beautification bill. The bill basically said that his daughters could not drive in a convertible on public highways.".

Cronauer also makes at least one other LBJ joke ("Because 'Linda Dog' would be too cruel").

As has been noted, the movie Cronauer was neither a Republican or Democrat, but just held to basically a "nothing is sacred" view of life, making fun of everyone and everything that crossed his path, from politics (e.g. Nixon AND LBJ jokes) to religion (e.g. "Pope on a rope" joke) to racial/ethnic and homosexual stereotypes and caricatures (e.g. "Roosevelt E. Roosevelt" and "Mr. Leo").

In real life, however, Adrian Cronauer is, in fact, a Republican.

[–] HarveyManfredSinJohn 9 years ago

Thanks.

I don't know why I read it wrong (on the quotes section), especially since the film takes place during LBJ's presidency, and Nixon is frequently referred to as the former VP (to Eisenhower).

Well, I'm not going to comment on LBJ's children, especially since I can't recall what they look like, but I'm glad the joke wasn't about Nixon's daughters, even if I think bringing a President's children into things is still pretty low.

And thanks also for the trivia about the real-life Cronauer's political sympathies. Interesting...then again, the GOP was a different beast back in the 60s/70s to the one it is today.

[–] pjpurple-1 8 years ago

Well, LBJ's daughters were Lynda Bird and Luci Baines, both pretty girls, but it wwas Adrian Cronauer's attack on anything political for why he went after them. It was funny stuff, but kind of mean spirited. It was war time and LBJ was the focus of all that was wrong...