# Obscure Newsweek "Whistler's Mother" joke from the 1990s that I never understood **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comedian-jokes\ **Created:** [October 10, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-newsweek-whistlers-mother-joke-from-the-1990s-that-i-never-understood/973027 "2022-10-10T18:21:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-newsweek-whistlers-mother-joke-from-the-1990s-that-i-never-understood/973027/1 "2022-10-10T18:21:23Z")
So there was this Newsweek cartoon from the late 1990s that I’ve never understood and has sort of bugged my mind. I can’t find the original cartoon. But it was [the painting Whistler’s Mother,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistler%27s_Mother#/media/File:Whistlers_Mother_high_res.jpg) except that on the small picture frame on the wall were the words: “Subpoena: Kenneth Starr.” Decades later, I’ve still never gotten it. I know Starr was the guy investigating Bill Clinton at the time. But what’s the joke? ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-newsweek-whistlers-mother-joke-from-the-1990s-that-i-never-understood/973027/2 "2022-10-10T18:27:16Z")
I can’t off the top off my head remember the details of the Starr investigation, but sounds to me like the joke was that he was reaching out to _anyone_, just to find some dirt on Clinton. Or maybe that Clinton was such a horndog that he’d try to bang any woman he saw? I dunno, just a couple of WAGs. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-newsweek-whistlers-mother-joke-from-the-1990s-that-i-never-understood/973027/3 "2022-10-10T19:59:21Z")
It seems risque for Newsweek but could it be the dress and that the handkerchief that she’s holding looking like a certain stain. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-newsweek-whistlers-mother-joke-from-the-1990s-that-i-never-understood/973027/4 "2022-10-10T20:21:28Z")
Well, that was the thing, right? The investigation was initially about Whitewater, which then greatly expanded to cover a wide range of other topics, including sexual harassment, potential ethics charges, etc. Depending on what year it was (probably before the Starr report came out and before anything about Lewinsky had been leaked by Starr’s office?), it’s possible it was merely referring to the wide net Ken Starr cast, since Whitewater itself wasn’t going to play out very well and they were digging into pretty much anything/everything they possibly could. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-newsweek-whistlers-mother-joke-from-the-1990s-that-i-never-understood/973027/5 "2022-10-20T17:34:10Z")
C’mon Dopers, put a little imagination into this. We have to come up with something better than this. reddit says it has the explanation of the joke, but none of the links go to the right joke. Image search doesn’t have the photo, but has ones with Hillary’s face photoshopped on the body. Bill Clinton + Whistle blower + subpoena has to have something to do with blow jobs. That was the line at the time, “But Clinton got a blow job!” ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-newsweek-whistlers-mother-joke-from-the-1990s-that-i-never-understood/973027/6 "2022-10-20T17:40:11Z")
Did Whistler ever paint his father? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-newsweek-whistlers-mother-joke-from-the-1990s-that-i-never-understood/973027/7 "2022-10-20T17:48:28Z")
I’m pretty sure he’s hidden under the dress. Not quite a blowjob joke, but getting closer. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-newsweek-whistlers-mother-joke-from-the-1990s-that-i-never-understood/973027/8 "2022-10-20T17:57:08Z")
BTW: what is the background picture in the original? ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-newsweek-whistlers-mother-joke-from-the-1990s-that-i-never-understood/973027/9 "2022-10-20T18:00:07Z")
Looks like a farmscape, not a lot of detail. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-newsweek-whistlers-mother-joke-from-the-1990s-that-i-never-understood/973027/10 "2022-10-20T18:23:45Z")
The joke is that Whistler’s Mother has become an icon of maternal simplicity and purity, and the absolute last person that you would expect to be involved in an investigation of sexual misconduct. From there you can go either way, depending on your political leanings. You can take it as a joke on Ken Starr for running a fishing expedition, or on Clinton himself for being such a horndog. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-newsweek-whistlers-mother-joke-from-the-1990s-that-i-never-understood/973027/11 "2022-10-20T20:33:45Z")
Geez, I hope that’s not it. That’s not funny, just lame. 🙁 Some of these are funnier than that: [![](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/5880f0d6ba90131b1c803b112993b712637301b4/0_0_1844_1591/master/1844.jpg?width=880&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=0b71ea1d55c0fa0b6e67c20e4b6b8077) ](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/5880f0d6ba90131b1c803b112993b712637301b4/0_0_1844_1591/master/1844.jpg?width=880&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=0b71ea1d55c0fa0b6e67c20e4b6b8077)