Patrick Jake O'Rourke (born November 14, 1947) is an American political satirist, journalist, and writer. Born in Toledo, Ohio, he was educated at Miami University (Ohio) and Johns Hopkins University.

He confesses that during his student days he was a left-leaning hippie, who in the 1970s underwent a damascene conversion. He emerged as a political observer and humorist with definite libertarian, sometimes conservative, and decidedly anti-leftist viewpoints.

O'Rourke wrote articles for several publications before joining National Lampoon in 1973, where he served as managing editor among other roles and authored such articles as "First Blow-Job" and "Foreigners Around the World." Going freelance in 1981, O'Rourke's pieces appeared in magazines such as Playboy, Vanity Fair, Car and Driver, and Rolling Stone. He later became the foreign-affairs desk chief at Rolling Stone, where he remained until 2001. In 1996, he served as the conservative commentator in the point-counterpoint segment of 60 Minutes.

An early proponent of gonzo journalism, O'Rourke's nascent master-work in the genre was a National Lampoon article, appearing in March of 1979 "How to Drive Fast on Drugs While Getting Your Wing-Wang Squeezed and Not Spill Your Drink."^* The article later appeared in his first book, Republican Party Reptile (1987), which became a bestseller. As the book's title implies, O'Rourke espoused economic and geopolitical views that were notably right-wing, yet his views on sex and drugs remained uncomfortably liberal for many of his conservative fellows.

O'Rourke can best be described as a libertarian (and has, in fact, sarcastically proposed two other American political parties: one to cater for those with his peculiar mixture of views, and another for those who hold the opposite mixture).

Currently O'Rourke is H. L. Mencken Research Fellow at the Cato Institute and is a regular correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, and frequent panelist on National Public Radio's radio game show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!. He is perhaps best known in the United Kingdom as the face of a long-running series of television advertisements for British Airways in the 1990s.

O'Rourke has been married twice, and has three children; two daughters and one son, the most recent born in 2003.

Bibliography

• Republican Party Reptile (1987)
• The Bachelor Home Companion (1987)
• Holidays in Hell (1988)
• Modern Manners (1990)
• Parliament of Whores (1991)
• Give War a Chance (1992)
• All the Trouble in the World (1994)
• Age and Guile Beat Youth, Innocence, and a Bad Haircut (1995)
• The American Spectator's Enemies List (1996)
• Eat the Rich (1999)
• The CEO of the Sofa (2001)
• Peace Kills: America's Fun New Imperialism (2004)

Quotes

• "I'm a registered Republican and consider socialism a violation of the American principle that you shouldn't stick your nose in other people's business except to make a buck."
• "Neither conservatives nor humorists believe man is good. But left-wingers do."
• "A Conservative is a liberal who has been mugged by reality."
• "Politicians are interested in people. Not that this is always a virtue. Fleas are interested in dogs."
• "Personally, I believe a rocking hammock, a good cigar, and a tall gin-and-tonic is the way to save the planet."
• "Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys."
• "I like to think of my behavior in the sixties as a 'learning experience.' Then again, I like to think of anything stupid I've done as a 'learning experience.' It makes me feel less stupid."
• "The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."
• "A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them."
• "Drugs have taught an entire generation of American kids the metric system."
• "The French are a smallish, monkey-looking bunch and not dressed any better, on average, than the citizens of Baltimore. True, you can sit outside in Paris and drink little cups of coffee, but why this is more stylish than sitting inside and drinking large glasses of whiskey I don't know."
• "There are a number of mechanical devices which increase sexual arousal, particularly in women. Chief among these is the Mercedes-Benz 450SL."

External links

• The Onion A.V. Club interviews P.J. O'Rourke
• LibertyGuide.com profile
• O'Rourke's The Liberty Manifesto
• Unofficial P.J. O'Rourke web page
• Spike Magazine Interview

1947 births | Living people | American humorists | American journalists | American satirists | game show panelists | Irish-Americans | Johns Hopkins University alumni | Miami University alumni | National Lampoon people | People from Toledo, Ohio | Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! panelists

P.J. O'Rourke | P.J. O'Rourke