“Every man a king…”

FAMOUS POLITICAL QUOTE: “Every man a king but no man wears a crown.”        Huey P. Long (1893-1935)        Louisiana populist politician        His campaign slogan from 1928 until his assassination in 1935

MUSICAL COUNTERQUOTE: “I’m a cracker And you are too But don’t I take good care of you? ...Here comes the Kingfish, the Kingfish Everybody sing Here’s the Kingfish, the Kingfish Every man a king.”        American singer/songwriter Randy Newman (b. 1943)          In his song “Kingfish” (1974)

ARTISTIC COUNTERQUOTE: “Every Man a Rembrandt”        Max S. Klein (1915-1993)        Marketing slogan for his “Paint by Number” painting kits

THEATRICAL COUNTERQUOTE: “Just remember what Huey Long said — that every man’s a king — and I’m the king around here.”        Stanley Kowalski to Stella and Blanche        In Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire (1947 play; 1951 film)

UPDATED POLITICAL COUNTERQUOTE: “Some desperate Democrats want the president [Obama] to regress even further — past Clinton, all the way to Huey Long. Flog the fat cats; every man a king. But inauthentic populism in a politician is as painfully obvious as a child trying to muster fake tears.”        American columnist Michael Gerson        In his Washington Post column, Jan. 27. 2010

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