Merry Christmas!

I'm sorry that I've neglected this blog for several months. I hope to get back to writing political verses again in 2011. 2010 was a very busy year for me.

Happy Holidyas!

Giles Corey: An Iron Man Who Was a Victim of the Salem Witch Hysteria

My first guest blogger post is now up over at Jonathan Turley's blog.

Giles Corey: An Iron Man Who Was a Victim of the Salem Witch Hysteria

Some News

FYI: I've been asked to be a guest blogger on Jonathan Turley's law blog next week.

In his post, Introducing Our New Guest Bloggers, today, Professor Turley wrote the following:

I am happy to report we will be implementing another one of your suggestions for improving the blog. Various people suggested a year ago that we have guest blogging to allow regulars a chance to make entries on the blog. With my upcoming speech in France, I thought it would be a great time to try this out for a week from October 31st to November 6th. I have selected three of our best known and most respected regulars: David Drumm (aka Nal), Elaine Magliaro (aka Elaine M) and Mark Esposito (aka Mespo).

You can read the rest of Professor Turley's post here.

You can read Jonathan Turley's biography here.

Lewis Black on Glenn Beck and His Terrible Affliction

Glenn Beck has been in the news a lot lately because of his “Restoring Honor” rally that was held last weekend in Washington, D.C. I couldn’t resist posting a video of one of the funniest Back in Black segments that I’ve ever seen on The Daily Show. In the segment, Lewis Black claims that Glenn Beck has Nazi Tourette’s Syndrome.



And here’s a Countdown video in which Keith Olbermann fact checks a tale Glenn Beck told about the Washington Monument at his “Restoring Honor” rally:



A Little Glenn Beck Couplet

The blather of Beck
Is nothing but drek!

Sarah Palin's Geography Song: Fifty Nifty States

I know I've been neglecting my Political Verses blog in recent months. There have been lots of things going on in my life--including my daughter's recent wedding.

I came upon the following Sarah Palin's Fifty Nifty States video that was a segment on Jimmy Kimmel's show. I thought people might enjoy watching it.


Fifty Nifty States

A Chicken for a Checkup: A Poem about Sue Lowden

I'm sorry that I've been neglecting my Political Verses blog lately. I've been working on other writing projects. Sometimes...a news story cries out to me--and I can't ignore it. I just get inspired and HAVE to write a verse about it. Such is the story of Sue Lowden who is running against Harry Reid in the Nevada senate race.

Lowden, a former beauty queen, thinks SHE knows how to solve the problem of rising healthcare costs: BARTERING for doctor's services. Some folks call her idea "chickens for checkups." Here's a segment on Lowden from a recent Rachel Maddow Show:


A Chicken for A Checkup: A Poem about Sue Lowden
by Elaine Magliaro

“Drat!”said the doctor.
“Drat!”said the nurse.
“Our healthcare problems keep getting worse!”

“Oy!” said the doctor.
“Oy!” said the nurse.
“Here comes that lady with a chicken in her purse!”

“A chicken for a checkup?
Sue’s a nincompoop!
Does she REALLY think that I'm C. Everett Coop???”

More on Sue Lowden and Chickens for Checkups

From Daily Kos
Lowden: Let them Barter with Chickens, or Let them Eat Cake?
by mcjoan (April 23, 2010)

Does Sue Lowden really think that a system of barter can really replace the complex healthcare fee system in the U.S.? That doctors who accept chickens or house painting as a form of payment can pay their office staff, or their rent, or their utilities, or for the medical equipment they need through bartering with vendors? We don't know, because she hasn't been asked that. But chances are, she really doesn't have a particular depth of knowledge in how the healthcare system works and what the deep-seated problems within it are if she can glibly offer up bartering as a remedy.

Read the rest of the article here:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/4/22/859713/-Lowden:-Let-them-Barter-with-Chickens,-or-Let-them-Eat-Cake


From Huffington Post
Chickens For Checkups? Democrats' New Website Mocks Sue Lowden For Barter-For-Health-Care Proposal (4/21/2010)

Sue Lowden, a Republican candidate challenging Majority Leader Harry Reid for his Nevada Senate seat is refusing to back down from an earlier suggestion that America consider a medical barter system as an alternative to current health care solutions.

On Monday Lowden took the idea one step further.

"Before we all started having health care, in the olden days, our grandparents, they would bring a chicken to the doctor," Lowden told a local news station. "They would say I'll paint your house."

Now, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has launched a new website to ridicule Lowden for her support of the bartering proposal.

The website, Chickens for Checkups, calls Lowden's health care barter system "an old-timey solution for a modern problem," and says that such a program would ask Americans to "barter with their doctors for health care with things like chickens and house painting," items she referenced on a local news program.

Read the rest of the article here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/21/chickens-for-checkups-dem_n_546762.html


Visit Chickens for Checkups.

Bring a Chicken to the Doctor

Chicken Song & Dance

Epitaph for John Edwards by J. Patrick Lewis

J. Patrick Lewis is a master of writing light verse for both children and adults. I am always happy to post a "political" verse he sends along to me. Here's one he sent the other day:

Epitaph for John Edwards
(when the time comes)

But everyone kept telling me
to get Rielle!

If you like that verse--you're sure to enjoy J. Patrick Lewis's book Once Upon a Tomb: Gravely Humorous Verses (Candlewick, 2006). The large-format book includes "delightfully deadpan" color illustrations by Simon Bartram--which complement the sly humor in Lewis's text.

The "gravely humorous verses" tell about the demise of a number of individuals who

earned their living in different lines of work/professions--including beautician, philosopher, soccer player, gravedigger, movie star, tattoo artist, and poet.

One of my favorite poems in the book is School Teacher:

Knives can harm you, heaven forbid!

Axes may disarm you kid.

Guillotines are painful, but

There's nothing like a paper cut.

Click here to view a double-page spread in Once Upon a Tomb.

Two Rhyming Verses for Creationists

From The Texas Tribune (2/17/2010)
Meet the Flintstones
by Ross Ramsey

Nearly a third of Texans believe humans and dinosaurs roamed the earth at the same time, and more than half disagree with the theory that humans developed from earlier species of animals, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

The differences in beliefs about evolution and the length of time that living things have existed on earth are reflected in the political and religious preference of our respondents, who were asked four questions about biological history and God:

• 38 percent said human beings developed over millions of years with God guiding the process and another 12 percent said that development happened without God having any part of the process. Another 38 percent agreed with the statement "God created human beings pretty much in their present form about 10,000 years ago."

• Asked about the origin and development of life on earth without injecting humans into the discussion, and 53 percent said it evolved over time, "with a guiding hand from God." They were joined by 15 percent who agreed on the evolution part, but "with no guidance from God." About a fifth — 22 percent — said life has existed in its present form since the beginning of time.

You can read the rest of the article at the following link:

http://www.texastribune.org/stories/2010/feb/17/meet-flintstones/

********************

A Creation Quatrain

On the seventh day God said: "I did my best.
Now I'm going to take a rest!
I labored hard for six long days.
Now write me a hymn of thanks and praise."


A Rah Rah Rhyme for Creationist Cheerleaders

Evolution? Nay! Nay! Nay!
Creationism? Yay! Yay! Yay!
Genesis tells us all we need to know.
Our world was created six thousand years ago.
Darwin got his science facts mangled and twisted.
Humans and dinosaurs co-existed!

Look at the Man: A Poem Explaining Why Women with Mates Gain Weight

Study Says Women With Mates Get Heavier
By Nicholas Bakalar
New York Times (January 4, 2010)

It is widely known that women tend to gain weight after giving birth, but now a large study has found evidence that even among childless women, those who live with a mate put on more pounds than those who live without one.

The differences, the scientists found, were stark.

After adjusting for other variables, the 10-year weight gain for an average 140-pound woman was 20 pounds if she had a baby and a partner, 15 if she had a partner but no baby, and only 11 pounds if she was childless with no partner. The number of women with a baby but no partner was too small to draw statistically significant conclusions.

There is no reason to believe that having a partner causes metabolic changes, so the weight gain among childless women with partners was almost surely caused by altered behavior. Moreover, there was a steady weight gain among all women over the 10 years of the study.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/05/health/05weight.html

********************

Here's a poem I wrote after reading this article:

Look at the Man: A Poem Explaining Why Women with Mates Gain Weight

Once upon a time he was a prince.
Now every time I look at him I wince.
That dashing fellow who once caught my fancy
Now sports big boobies like my old Aunt Nancy.
As I dream of wedded bliss…a life diviner--
He croaks out to me from his worn recliner,
“Honey, do me a favor—be a dear—
Would you go and fetch me another ice cold beer?
And while you’re at it, get a bag of chips!”
Those are the loving words that pass through his wan lips.
He never buys me flowers, takes me dancing.
My mate’s not into sweet talk and romancing.
He’s always in a couch potato mode—
That prince I married turned into a toad.

Who Dat Hangin' at da Laundromat?

From Jonathan Turley’s blog: Flasher Identified By His Pronounced . . . Tooth (2/5/2010)

In what may be something of a disappointment for Ian Rushing, 27, women identified the Oregon man as the alleged “St. Helens Flasher” by his pronounced bad tooth.

Rushing is accused of grabbing women and exposing himself at the Cascade Cleaners in St. Helens. He also won the coveted award for “The Mugshot Most Likely To Be A Flasher.”

He is charged with public indecency, 3rd-degree sexual abuse and violating his probation.

You’ll find links to articles with more information here.

********************

The story about the “St. Helens Flasher” inspired me to write the following Who Dat? verse for two voices:

Who Dat Hangin' at da Laundromat

Who dat hangin’ at da laundromat?
WHO dat? WHO dat?
Who dat rotten-toothed creepy cat?
WHO dat? WHO dat?

DAT man? DAT man?
Dat’s a pervert with no dental plan.
Dat’s da flasher with the silver van!
Dat man’s going to da county can.

How to Report the News: A Satirical Video by Charlie Brooker

I know I haven't been posting many new verses in the past couple of months. I've had a case of writer's block lately.

Here's a funny video I came across today. It was made by Charlie Brooker. Brooker is a British journalist and comic. He is known in England for his satire.

Charlie Brooker—How to Report the News


You can find out about Charlie Brooker here.

One Law Professor's Perspective on the Recent Supreme Court Ruling on Corporate Campaign Spending

Jamin Raskin on Democracy Now (1/22/2010)
(Note: Jamin Raskin is a Professor of Law and the Director of the Law and Government Program at American University’s Washington College of Law)

In Landmark Campaign Finance Ruling, Supreme Court Removes Limits on Corporate Campaign Spending

Senator Centerfold

One thing I NEVER want to behold:

Senator Scott Centerfold!

Craig Ferguson on Haiti & Rush Limbaugh

I think Craig Ferguson is the funniest fellow on television. He cracks me up. That's why I like him so much. He's on the list of My Favorite Men in the World.

Here's another reason why I like Ferguson, who is a naturalized US citizen, so much: