The dog standing on its hind legs

[Joel S. Berson]

A correspondent on another list writes:

"It must have been horribly frustrating to be a literate screenwriter
in the Sixties.

" I'm watching "The Outer Limits" and this general tells an
intelligence officer how surprising it is to see him talk in
operational terms: "It's like Samuel Johnson said about a dog
standing on its hind legs; the thing is not done well, but one is
surprised to see it done at all." "

My faint recollection is that some general did say that.  Or perhaps
some politician.  Can that be confirmed?  (Perhaps I've been led
astray by the association of another '60s Johnson with dogs.)

Joel

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