tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6345889130053053070.post6578590895197218323..comments2023-08-20T21:14:43.398-07:00Comments on Before Nine: Master DebatingMongo, At The Momenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00973606827337262084noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6345889130053053070.post-10641849839456512622015-12-21T08:04:52.141-08:002015-12-21T08:04:52.141-08:00does it truly matter who becomes Spokesmodel of th...does it truly matter who becomes Spokesmodel of the U.S.? in my honest opinion - in some ways yes, in others no <br /><br />i wish to adduce a verse i wrote, in the format of the poem "The Mad Gardener's Song", the best thing about Lewis Carroll's <i>Sylvie and Bruno</i> - it is sprinkled through the novel one verse at a time, but here it is all assembled<br /><br /><br />The Mad Gardener’s Song<br /><br />He thought he saw an Elephant,<br />That practised on a fife:<br />He looked again, and found it was<br />A letter from his wife.<br />“At length I realize,” he said,<br />“The bitterness of Life!”<br /><br />He thought he saw a Buffalo<br />Upon the chimney-piece:<br />He looked again, and found it was<br />His Sister’s Husband’s Niece.<br />“Unless you leave this house,” he said,<br />“I’ll send for the Police!”<br /><br />He thought he saw a Rattlesnake<br />That questioned him in Greek:<br />He looked again, and found it was<br />The Middle of Next Week.<br />“The one thing I regret,” he said,<br />“Is that it cannot speak!”<br /><br />He thought he saw a Banker’s Clerk<br />Descending from the bus:<br />He looked again, and found it was<br />A Hippopotamus.<br />“If this should stay to dine,” he said,<br />“There won’t be much for us!”<br /><br />He thought he saw a Kangaroo<br />That worked a coffee-mill:<br />He looked again, and found it was<br />A Vegetable-Pill.<br />“Were I to swallow this,” he said,<br />“I should be very ill!”<br /><br />He thought he saw a Coach-and-Four<br />That stood beside his bed:<br />He looked again, and found it was<br />A Bear without a Head.<br />“Poor thing,” he said, “poor silly thing!<br />It’s waiting to be fed!”<br /><br />He thought he saw an Albatross<br />That fluttered round the lamp:<br />He looked again, and found it was<br />A Penny-Postage Stamp.<br />“You’d best be getting home,” he said:<br />“The nights are very damp!”<br /><br />He thought he saw a Garden-Door<br />That opened with a key:<br />He looked again, and found it was<br />A Double Rule of Three:<br />“And all its mystery,” he said,<br />“Is clear as day to me!”<br /><br />He thought he saw a Argument<br />That proved he was the Pope:<br />He looked again, and found it was<br />A Bar of Mottled Soap.<br />“A fact so dread,” he faintly said,<br />“Extinguishes all hope!”<br /><br />– Lewis Carroll<br /><br /><br />note how the worldwide financial crisis of 2008 is presaged in the “banker’s clerk” stanza – instead of its proper role as a facilitator of the real economy, expressed by the character of the clerk riding the bus, the financial sector became so overgrown that it was eating everyone’s dinner<br /><br />in that same time period, autumn 2008, i wrote a stanza inspired by barack obama<br /><br /><b>He thought he saw a Candidate<br />Who’d put an End to War:<br />He looked again, and found it was<br />The Same Game as Before.<br />“If that’s the way it goes, ” he said,<br />“Then what is voting for?</b><br /><br /><br />==========<br /><br />by the way, a wonderful poem about mistaken apprehensions is Albert Goldbarth's "WHILE MONITORING THE SKY FOR AIRSPACE VIOLATIONS, INDIA'S ARMY REPORTEDLY MISTOOK JUPITER AND VENUS FOR CHINESE SPY DRONES"<br /><br />see http://www.blckdgrd.com/2015/02/im-sorry-i-mistook-you-weather-balloon.htmlmistah charley, ph.d.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06303695341246058680noreply@blogger.com