Bang the bugle, blow the drum
The Republican circus – here they come
Cue the music – and balloons
Cue the zanies and buffoons
Be prepared for oohs and ahhs
Don’t worry – there’s no gravitas
Pay attention to each act
Each elephant whose trunk is packed
With jape and jab and jibe and joke
And smoke and mirrors to evoke
In children laughter as they see
Such feats of great hyperbole
Watch the little clown car entering
And the clowns spill into center ring
Onto the sawdust that is spread
Upon the ground and in each head
Of the clowns of every shape and size
Whose pratfalls shall amaze your eyes
The greatest jugglers in the nation
Pachyderms of prevarication
Acrobatic leaps of logic
Sanctimonious, demagogic
Delight at all the high wire walking
Hear the squawking and war hawking
See them ride on highest horse
Through their uncivil intercourse
Watch them jump through flaming hoops
These nervy nimble nincompoops
See the babbling bald buffoonery
Lo – the loopy loony toon-ery
On parade the proud poltroon-ery
The great gargantuas of goon-ery
The shimmering showmen sure to shill
The naysaying non compos mentis-ly ill
Gaze at the phabulous phalanx of phreaks
Glimpse the glorious gaggle of geeks
See the colossal collection of carney
Be dazzled by the blather of blarney
Behold the bald-faced blah blah blah
The bombastic behemoths of bourgeois
This is every penny’s worth
The greatest grimmest show on earth
Enjoy the show – but after it
Please don’t step in the elephant shit
© tony powers and Barking in the Dark, 2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to tony powers and Barking in the Dark with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
“Acrobatic leaps of logic”- I think that says it all !!!! This is one of my favorites, Tony, Brilliant !
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Thank you Janet, it’s kind of you to bestow such a compliment. continue…
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“The greatest grimmest show on earth”… yes indeed it is. Your last line left me laughing!
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thanks Re, as always i appreciate your laughter. continue…
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It certainly feels like the circus, doesn’t it? This piece is especially delightful for its clever use of alliteration. Not to sound like an English teacher or anything.
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thanks Lisa h…get your program heah…you can’t tell your clowns without a program…i’m glad you liked this one. continue…
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You have nailed it once again. A simple context of ‘circus’ and everything falls into place. Have to point out a favorite line -as is my wont-
‘The naysaying non compos mentis-ly ill’
Loving it. Actually dig this ballad the best of your last three. You’ve fit the platform of the ‘cons into the circus theme perfectly. Damn.
Of course the last line just makes it, Was going to say the piece flowed into it… but the imagery on that made me slightly nauseous.
Too late. Wrote it anyway.
Tony you’re the best pundit going. If it means anything this is the first blog comment I’ve posted in weeks.
You and your vivid, darkly witty and linsightful writings demand it.
Be well… and step carefully.
~R
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awwww…blushing again…thanks for all these lovely props Rachael, and for honoring me in that it made you leave the first comment in weeks. i am touched, and i shall tread carefully always with one eye on the umgawa. you be well too…please – we need all intelligent and brave hands on deck. continue…
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I will not get ‘uncivil intercourse’ out of my head for weeks!
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thanks man. i appreciate it. continue…
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Their all full of elephant shit. 🙂
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thanks Don…yes they are. I appreciate the read and comment. continue…
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Great blog, great poetry, top notch writing.
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i sincerely and humbly thank you Don. continue…
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By the way, not to be a smart ass, but it should be South Carolina, not North …..
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oh shit…how’d i do that…will edit. thanx man. really. i outsmarted meself. continue…
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nervy nimble nincompoops………( Canadian giggle)
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glad you enjoyed it Liz, it gave me giggles to write it. continue…
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I enjoyed reading!
Here’s the versatile blogger award from me to you!
http://frugalistablog.com/2012/01/11/getting-to-know-you-well-me-really/
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p.s. thanks for the award. i will put it on my mantle. continue…
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I was all excited to see the circus, until the last line snapped me back to sanity.
Also, I now have an image of the full line up of candidates spilling out of a day-glo neon Yugo.
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yay…hold that image dude…no – don’t. sorry. continue…
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🙂 So much fodder for good material for you during an election year! LOL (I think it’s this way every election year, no matter who’s running, but that’s just the Libertarian in me ;-)…) On another note, yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of the opening of Guatanamo – and emphasized the yet-to-be-realized promise of Obama to close the place down. Think he’ll manage it before November? It’s particularly frustrating that this hasn’t been accomplished, especially in light of the President recently signing the abominable NDAA (albeit his additional “promise” that Americans would never be interminably detained…*smirking just a bit here…)
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Janece, yup…too much material – waaaay too much. re Guantanamo – i too am frustrated by its not getting done yet…but it does appear to a complicated issue see: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/us/politics/23gitmo.html?_r=1&hp as to NDAA that’s just plain fucked-up – period. it’s more of bush/cheney bullshit thinking and fear-mongering. i hate it. i know you like Ron Paul…but i just can’t get around his positions on social security citizen’s united, healthcare, school prayer, the civil rights act, the electoral college, and on and on etc etc… anyway, i know we want the same things ,but we differ on the means to obtain them. thanks for reading, and for your usual great comment. continue…
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Tony, I have the feeling that if we were to ever sit down face to face over a glass of wine, we would enjoy an engaged, respectful albiet energetic discussion on all of these things. And probably have to be told a number of time to “keep it down”. LOL (in a good way)
I understand how – on the surface – some of his positions on those issues seems wonky without indepth study. As a Libertarian, Dr. Paul is about freedom without anarchy. Personal freedom. For example. The school prayer issue. His stance is this. If a school group wants to participate in it – it’s not up to the state or the Feds to say that they can’t. On the other hand, he also believes that it should never be compulsory to participate in. By the way, the prayer he’s speaking about isn’t confined to the Christian faith. Dr. Paul, while a Christian himself, firmly believes in religious tolerance. So his views would be applicable to those that are practicing Muslims, Jews, Hindus, etc.
Anyway…thanks my friend. And here’s to a more PEACEFUL union – however it comes about 🙂
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P.S. You would have LOVED my posts (rants) during the Bush/Cheney regime. Those were some great blogging years 😉
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Yes Janece, it would be a very enjoyable glass of wine however differently we feel about Dr. Paul’s positions, or his qualifications to be President of this country. Let’s agree to disagree on that for now, and I will definitely look further into his record. As always, thank you for reading my stuff, and for your usual intelligent comment – and i know i would have enjoyed the bush/cheney rants. continue…
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I’m still laughing! The entire thing is great, but I so love the intro… “Bang the bugle, blow the drum / The Republican circus – here they come / Cue the music – and balloons / Cue the zanies and buffoons”
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thanks Michelle..i stole “bang the bugle, blow the drum” from myself…it’s the first line of a song i wrote called “Goin’ Into Space” from my last CD. i’m so glad you picked up on the fucked up-ness conveyed by that line. continue…
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LOL! You are SO talented!!!! 🙂
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why…blush…blush… thank you sweetheart. continue…
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