Many of our readers will be aware that JLH spends most of his time translating German for us. However, a while back he took some time off from all the umlauts and the eszetts to pen a little spoof for us. It’s been in my “IN” tray for a few weeks, but now is a good time to break it out, in the wake of last night’s congressional elections:
The Charge of the Lightweights
by JLH
With apologies to the shade of Lord Tennyson*Half a step, half a step,
Half a step backward,
All in a world gone mad,
Stumbled the White House crowd.
“Strategy we have none —
We’ve never needed one.
For a country that is bad,
We just scraped and bowed.”Side to side, they careened,
But their base remained serene,
Placid and somewhat cowed,
Despite the dark suspicion that
Someone was stupid.
Theirs not to reason — why?
Theirs but to vote and sigh.
Through a world they’d driven mad,
Bumbled the White House crowd.IS to the right of them,
Putin to the left of them,
Muslim Brothers holding their hands,
Clichés resounding proud,
Blindly, halting but pell-mell,
Thinking still that all was well,
Into the maze they went —
Faster than word can tell.
Insouciant White House crowd!
Then flashed their intellects bare,
Flashed as they twisted in air,
Torturing the tactics there,
Blotting their copybooks
While the world mused out loud.
Lost in the mirrors and smoke,
Preconceptions bent and broke.
Leading from behind —
“Please, can we just rewind?”
Allies and enemies alike
Reeled as from an obscene joke —
Clever old White House crowd.Sycophants to the right of them.
Sycophants to the left of them,
Leftists and Muslims behind them,
They follied and blundered,
Desperate friends left in the lurch,
Those who had fought so well,
While their hopes and countries fell —
Still our heroes emerged untouched,
Thinking not overmuch,
Ayres and Alinsky proud
Of their doughty White House crowd.When can their ignominy fade?
Oh the wild charges they made!
Not bloody, but not unbowed,
Dishonor is their middle name,
And no one now disputes their fame,
Ignoble White House crowd.
| * | For those who are unfamiliar with the source, this satirical verse is a loose pastiche of “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. |
Thank you it is an excellent poem.
Nice re-working of Tennyson’s poem.
The Republican party was not the active participant in the routing of the Democrats as many want to believe. I do not give them any credit for the election’s outcome. It was the voters and particularly those motivated to stop the willful destruction of the country who were the agents of the change. You could say that the Republican party was a passive participant and that those elected were shoved from behind by an infuriated electorate. Now that they have been thrust into a position to do something, will they act? Or will they remain passive?
A very good question. Mitch McConnell’s statements are a good start, but if they don’t at least try to do something, who will believe in them?
Bravo! Excellent summary of the six-year trip through the looking glass. Prayerfully we will know better next time than to chase a rarebit down a debt hole.
Sure beats Al Gores silly poem any day