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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.
Barking In The Dark 
“Acrobatic leaps of logic”- I think that says it all !!!! This is one of my favorites, Tony, Brilliant !
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Posted by MJ, Nonstepmom | January 14, 2012, 10:49 pmThank you Janet, it’s kind of you to bestow such a compliment. continue…
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Posted by barkinginthedark | January 15, 2012, 6:00 am“The greatest grimmest show on earth”… yes indeed it is. Your last line left me laughing!
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Posted by Sparks In Shadow | January 14, 2012, 5:27 amthanks Re, as always i appreciate your laughter. continue…
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Posted by barkinginthedark | January 14, 2012, 9:02 amIt 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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Posted by lisahgolden | January 14, 2012, 1:24 amthanks 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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Posted by barkinginthedark | January 14, 2012, 9:04 amYou 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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Posted by Rachael Black | January 13, 2012, 11:10 amawwww…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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Posted by barkinginthedark | January 14, 2012, 9:08 amI will not get ‘uncivil intercourse’ out of my head for weeks!
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Posted by On My Square | January 12, 2012, 11:46 pmthanks man. i appreciate it. continue…
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Posted by barkinginthedark | January 14, 2012, 9:11 amTheir all full of elephant shit. 🙂
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Posted by Don in Massachusetts | January 12, 2012, 11:28 pmthanks Don…yes they are. I appreciate the read and comment. continue…
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Posted by barkinginthedark | January 13, 2012, 1:02 amGreat blog, great poetry, top notch writing.
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Posted by Don in Massachusetts | January 13, 2012, 1:04 ami sincerely and humbly thank you Don. continue…
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Posted by barkinginthedark | January 13, 2012, 2:06 amBy the way, not to be a smart ass, but it should be South Carolina, not North …..
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Posted by Don in Massachusetts | January 13, 2012, 4:51 amoh shit…how’d i do that…will edit. thanx man. really. i outsmarted meself. continue…
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Posted by barkinginthedark | January 13, 2012, 8:16 amnervy nimble nincompoops………( Canadian giggle)
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Posted by An Embarrassment of Freedom | January 12, 2012, 4:01 pmglad you enjoyed it Liz, it gave me giggles to write it. continue…
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Posted by barkinginthedark | January 13, 2012, 1:03 amI 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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Posted by blondgirl008 | January 12, 2012, 2:38 pmp.s. thanks for the award. i will put it on my mantle. continue…
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Posted by barkinginthedark | January 13, 2012, 1:21 amI 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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Posted by El Guapo | January 12, 2012, 2:10 pmyay…hold that image dude…no – don’t. sorry. continue…
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Posted by barkinginthedark | January 13, 2012, 1:22 am🙂 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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Posted by Janece | January 12, 2012, 11:21 amJanece, 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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Posted by barkinginthedark | January 13, 2012, 1:38 amTony, 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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Posted by Janece | January 13, 2012, 4:46 pmP.S. You would have LOVED my posts (rants) during the Bush/Cheney regime. Those were some great blogging years 😉
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Posted by Janece | January 13, 2012, 5:11 pmYes 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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Posted by barkinginthedark | January 14, 2012, 9:00 amI’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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Posted by She speaks.... | January 12, 2012, 5:08 amthanks 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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Posted by barkinginthedark | January 12, 2012, 5:19 amLOL! You are SO talented!!!! 🙂
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Posted by She speaks.... | January 12, 2012, 5:05 amwhy…blush…blush… thank you sweetheart. continue…
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Posted by barkinginthedark | January 12, 2012, 5:25 am