Since I am posting old russian jokes elsewhere in this thread.. here's an example of an "open secret": A man yells in the street: "Nicholas is a moron!". He is

Since I am posting old russian jokes elsewhere in this thread.. here's an example of an "open secret": A man yells in the street: "Nicholas is a moron!". He is taken away by the police on charges of lese majeste (insulting the monarch). He tells the policemen "Please let me go, I meant another Nicholas!". The police chief replies: "Do not lie. If you said 'moron', you certainly meant the Tsar!"