Alabama

There was a comedy record put out in the 1970's, by a troupe called Firesign Theatre. It was called "Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers."

I was too young to hear it when it was new, but I discovered it as a high-school student in the eighties.

It was a rather minor, but memorable, plot-line of the record that, over time, all our corporations had eventually merged into one. And that corporation then performed a "hostile takeover" of the federal government.

It has always been a great, funny, "trippy" comedy masterpiece. But now it seems eerily and supernaturally prescient.

I was, for years, puzzled by the title of the album. But, in hindsight, it is obvious that the title translates to "Don't put out the joint, hand me the roach-clip."