"The monkeys are running the zoo."

[Jonathan Lighter]

But that's not the point, obviously.  The point is that this take-off of
"The lunatics are running the asylum" seems not to be listed in the usual
sources.

I first encountered it about twenty-five years ago.

1983 _The Adversary Press_ (St. Petersburg, Fla.: Modern Media) 68 [GB: not
verified]: LOUIS HODGES: As you know, the subject of the morning is the
role of reporters, whether or not the sailors have taken over the ship or
the monkeys are running the zoo.

I believe the speaker is Prof. Louis W. Hodges (1933- ), a media ethicist.
If so, the date is especially plausible.

JL

-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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