Archive for the ‘Barack Obama’ Category

The Birth Of Lunacy

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

As I wrote Monday, David Vitter has an unexpected primary fight on his hands. Well, apparently he’s now so desperate to hold on to the wingnut vote, that he’s turned into a full-fledged Birther.

At a town hall event Sunday, he made it clear that he backs Birther lawsuits challenging President Obama’s citizenship, saying he supports “conservative legal organizations and others who would bring that to court.”

That brings me to my latest David Vitter limerick:

The Birth Of Lunacy
By Madeleine Begun Kane

David Vitter has told us his view
Of the Birther position, on cue.
He profoundly approves
And says it behooves
Those with standing to sue, baby, sue.

Those Sorry Republicans

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Those Sorry Republicans
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Just what’s the Republican mission?
To oppose each Obama position.
He gets tough on BP—
Gets an escrow, then see
Their response to the BP contrition:

Reps Joe Barton and Bachman and Price
By default claimed Obama ain’t nice.
He’s been mean to BP.
It a shakedown, you see.
Cuz unthinking objection’s their vice.

But fighting this fund makes no sense.
To do so’s an error immense.
The people approve.
It’s a positive move,
And opposing it makes them look dense.

Even Boehner and co seem to know
That defending BP’s a no-go.
Strikes a terrible tone,
So they rushed to disown
The pro-BP speech made by Joe.

But a hundred-plus others expressed
The same viewpoint in print. Not addressed!
It seems Boehner and co
Are pretending as though
The have solved their BP PR test.

It is clear where Republicans stand.
They are naught but a pro-corp’rate brand.
They put citizens last
And are only aghast
When a Dem gives the people a hand.

Related Posts: Kick-Ass Limerick, Haley’s Barbaric Attitude and Oily Obstruction.

Kick-Ass Limerick

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

The language police are at it again. Republicans and Fox News (sorry to be redundant) are simply horrified at President Obama’s “unpresidential” language.

What are they so pretend-upset about? Obama used the word ass in response to Matt Lauer’s oil crisis question about kicking butt.

Apparently this is extremely shocking to the same folks who had no problem with f**ks from Bush, Cheney, and McCain.

That brings me to my latest limerick:

Kick-Ass Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane

The Republicans’ delicate ears
Are offended by ass, it appears.
F**k is fine from McCain,
Bush, and Cheney — that’s plain.
But ass from Barack begets jeers.

Leery About Elena

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

Apparently, anti-Kagan attacks from the right have been inspiring some liberals to rally around her. But I’m not among them. Not yet, anyway.

Now for all I know, Elena Kagan may be a closet liberal. I sure hope so. But so far there’s little to suggest that Kagan’s any more liberal than President Obama, and that scares me.

Leery About Elena (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

There’s no doubt that Ms. Kagan’s quite smart.
Some say brilliant, but does she have heart?
We’ve a liberal hole.
Will she fill it with soul,
Or tip the court “right” from the start?

Obama’s What???

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

How amusing! We’ve moved from “Obama’s Katrina” to “Obama’s Harriet Miers.” Yes, wingnutty Republicans are invoking Harriet Miers in discussing Obama’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. Sorry, Redstate and the rest of you, the answer to “Will this be President Obama’s Harriet Miers Moment?” is “No!”

That brings me to my latest limerick:

Obama’s What???
By Madeleine Begun Kane

“Obama’s Katrina,” they say.
“Obama’s H. Miers,” they pray.
To the wingnuts give thanks
For reminding the ranks
Of the many ways Bush went astray.

Related Posts: U.S. Supreme Court Humor

Republican “Patriots”

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

It’s amazing how many Republicans are rooting for Obama to fail, despite the dire consequences to our nation of presidential failure. As Steve Benen points out in his discussion of Michele Bachmann’s remarks:

Got it. President Obama has policies intended to help the economy, improve our national security, make quality health care more affordable and accessible, resolve the housing crisis, improve our existing energy policies, etc. Maybe those policies will be effective, maybe not. If they have the intended effect, we’ll have a safer, more prosperous future.

It’s fascinating, then, to see right-wing Republicans, including some currently in Congress, bypass the debate over the policies’ efficacy and go directly to rooting against the country. …

That brings me to my latest limerick:

Republican “Patriots”
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Disliking a president’s fine,
And critiquing his actions benign.
But hoping he fails —
That his White House derails?
I’m sorry, that crosses the line.

Obama, Please Aim For Even Stevens

Friday, April 9th, 2010

It’s the end of an era. The great Justice John Paul Stevens has announced his resignation from the U.S. Supreme Court. Here’s a thank you limerick for Justice Stevens:

Obama, Please Aim For Even Stevens
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Great thanks to a judge I admire:
Justice Stevens, alas, must retire.
A supreme loss, indeed!
Please Obama, take heed:
In his place, name a judge who’ll inspire.

Liberal Drilling? Chill, Obama, Chill!

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

Like so many of my fellow progressives, I am dismayed by Obama’s plans to open offshore areas to oil and natural gas drilling for the first time.

Before I get to my latest limerick, here are some other bloggers who are aggravated by plans to open coastal waters to oil exploration: skippy, John Amato, Melissa McEwan, Taylor Marsh, and Jonathan Turley.

And now, my limerick:

Liberal Drilling? Chill, Obama, Chill!
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Obama’s pronouncement ain’t thrilling.
He plans to expand off-shore drilling.
As a gal from the left
I am Mad and bereft.
Tell me, what has Obama been swilling?

Et Tu, Dennis?

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Big news on the health reform front: Dennis Kucinich caved. “Something is better than nothing,” the Ohio Congressman explained.

I’m not at all sure I buy the half a loaf theory because I have zero faith in Obama and his fellow Dems. I just don’t believe Democrats will ever manage to improve their health reform recipe.

Et Tu, Dennis? (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Obama takes lib’rals for granted,
And with Dennis’s “no” vote recanted,
It appears that he’s right:
Lib’ral pols have no fight!
Count this lib’ral as quite disenchanted.

Related Post: Dear Obama, Enough With The Voltaire!

I proud to say that this post is mentioned in the excellent
Health Wonk Review: Special Edition On Health Reform.

Dear Obama, Enough With The Voltaire!

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting really tired of this line frequently used by Obama and other pols: “America can’t afford to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”

Obama usually uses this Voltaire paraphrase as an excuse to disappoint progressives yet again.

The original Voltaire quote is “The perfect is the enemy of the good,” translated from the French, “Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien.” (The literal translation actually should be, “The best is the enemy of the good.”)

This brings me to my latest double limerick:

Dear Obama, Enough With The Voltaire!
By Madeleine Begun Kane

There once was a guy named Voltaire,
A Frenchman whose wisdom pols share.
They say, “Perfect, though fine,
Is hardly divine
When it blocks the essential. So there!”

Dear Obama, this line is just guff —
An excuse for not doing enough.
So instead of excuses,
Fight right-wing abuses.
Voltaire is annoying. Hang tough!

Ode To Barack Hussein Hoover

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Responding to his political crisis, President Obama is doing precisely the wrong thing. As Paul Krugman said,

A spending freeze? That’s the brilliant response of the Obama team to their first serious political setback?

It’s appalling on every level.

Something tells me that Obama’s State of the Union address is going to be jam-packed with pandering double talk.

And that brings me to my latest limerick:

Ode To Barack Hussein Hoover
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Prez Obama, once shaker and mover,
Is reduced to a pand’ring maneuver.
Dealt a setback, his plan
Is a spending freeze? Man!
We’ve elected a latter-day Hoover.

     

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Congratulations to my good friend Don Davis of Satirical Political for taking top prize in this year’s HumorFeed contest and being named The Best Satire of the Year. Don won for his hilarious A Real War On Christmas: Outrage Grows Over Excessive Bonuses To Santa’s Elves. Congrats, again Don. Well deserved!

(Full disclosure: I was a member of the four judge panel. However, the contest submissions were anonymous, so there was no need to disqualify myself.)

Ode To Weak-Kneed Democrats

Monday, January 25th, 2010

In the wake of the Massachusetts election debacle, I keep naively expecting Democrats to wake up and smell the need to stop acting like patsies.

Any minute now (I tell myself) Dems under Obama’s leadership will call a halt to the futile act of making nice with Republicans (and Blue Dogs) and will start pursuing a truly progressive agenda.

But, alas, Democrats seem to have learned exactly the wrong lesson from losing Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat to a Republican.

And that brings me to my latest limerick:

Ode To Weak-Kneed Democrats
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Dear Obama and co are you nuts?
Or did someone abscond with your guts?
If you act like you’re weak
All your power will leak,
Hurling Dems out of town on their butts.

     

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Some related posts from Think Progress, Common Dreams, Susie Madrak, and Steve Benen.

Joe “Vote 60” No Mo’

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

I’ve been searching for a positive note in the Massachusetts election debacle and its effect on health care reform and Obama’s agenda. And I’ve finally found the one up side to Democrat Martha Coakley’s upset loss to Republican Scott Brown:

Joe “Vote 60” No Mo’ (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Joe Lieberman’s blue — in a pout.
Massachusetts has cost him some clout:
Mr. “Me-Me-My-Mine”
Now just “Vote 59.”
Dems are screwed with his vote or without.

Al-Qaeda Talking Points?

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Are prominent right-wingers acting as unpaid PR agents for al Qaeda, in their zeal to undermine Obama?

In a word — yes! After all, the purpose of terrorism is to scare people into overreaction. So when GOP attack dogs like Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney, Michael Steele, Bill Kristol, Pete King, Pete Hoekstra, Jim DeMint and countless others characterize a failed terrorist attack as a success and try to terrify the public, they are unwittingly helping al Qaeda.

That leads me to my latest limerick:

Al-Qaeda Talking Points?
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Dear Michael and Peter and Dick,
Your Obama vendetta is sick.
Cuz behavior like yours —
Turning flops into scores —
Creates fear, which makes terrorists tick.

Shameless Republicans On Christmas Attack

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

Republicans have been treating Nigerian Abdulmutallab’s failed Christmas Day bombing of Flight 253 like a Christmas gift from Al Qaeda — something really juicy to exploit.

In fact, the Republicans’ partisan response to this attempted terrorism has been so shameless, even Politico noticed.

Republicans like Pete Hoekstra, James DeMint, Dan Burton, and many others have earned themselves a triple limerick by playing politics with national security:

Shameless Republicans On Christmas Attack
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Exploiting a terror attempt
Is surely beneath all contempt.
But that never would stop
Such a GOP op:
“Bash Obama! He failed to preempt.”

There is plenty of blame they should share
For that terrorist scare in the air.
We’ve no TSA head:
DeMint “held” him instead
Of a vote. It’s Republican guerre.

As for funding our air travel screening,
They vote no. Seems they’re pro-terror leaning.
Though their record is poor,
They keep spouting full-bore.
Please Republicans, spare us your preening.

NOTE: Here’s some unrelated, but timely, New Years Resolutions humor: It Is Hereby Resolved.

Dressing Down The President

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

Removing the Medicare buy-in from the Senate health reform bill (to appease Senator Lieberman) was the last straw for Howard Dean. Dean says, “Kill the Senate Bill,” and I’m inclined to agree:

This is essentially the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate. And, honestly, the best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill and go back to the House and start the reconciliation process, where you only need 51 votes and it would be a much simpler bill.

I blame President Obama for this health reform fiasco. For it’s Obama who empowered Joe Lieberman to blackmail the Senate and hold health reform hostage.

And that brings me to my latest double limerick:

Dressing Down The President
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Dear Obama, your job is to lead.
You have failed. So has Senator Reid.
Seems you’d sign any swill
Labeled “health reform bill,”
And then brag that we’ve got what we need.

Yes, you’ve tragic’ly blown your great chance.
So spare us the song and the dance.
Though many will swear
You’ve done much for our care,
I am sorry — the prez has no pants.

Dick Cheney’s Steno Pool (Updated)

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

Somebody please explain why the garbage and lies spewed by Richard Cheney are routinely treated like they’re gospel. Dick makes George W. Bush look like a statesman, for heaven sakes. And yet media outlets love to present the former Veep’s vicious distortions and malicious rants virtually without challenge.

The latest example is Politico’s regurgitation of Cheney’s lengthy tirade against President Obama. A tirade, I might add, made on the eve of Obama’s Afghanistan troop buildup speech at West Point.

Politico deserves a double limerick, don’t you think?

Dick Cheney’s Steno Pool (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Dear Politico, kindly explain
Why you act like Dick Cheney is sane.
You repeat all his lies
Like they’re truthful and wise.
Your stenography’s worse than inane.

Richard Cheney has harmed our great nation.
Yet you act like each Cheney quotation
Is golden and true,
Worth transcribing on cue.
You’re not journos — you just take dictation.

UPDATE: Unbelievable! Apparently the Pulitzer Board is fond of Cheney’s steno pool. It just elected Jim VandeHei, executive editor and co-founder of Politico, to the Pulitzer Board. Can a Pulitzer Prize for Drudge be far behind?

Related Posts: Ode To Fresh Faces; and Bush & Cheney’s Blunderland Song Parody

Fraidy-Cat Republicans

Friday, November 20th, 2009

According to Republicans, it’s way too dangerous for Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder to try terrorists in federal courts. And that seems just a wee bit odd. Because the 2002 trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, an al Qaeda terrorist often referred to as the “20th 9/11 hijacker,” was conducted in federal court on U.S. soil. And it went rather well — even Rudy Giuliani loved it!

Yet Rudy and his Republican ilk now seem terrified at the very thought of trying alleged 9/11 terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
in a New York City federal courthouse.

So, did the terrorists win between 2002 and now? Have Republicans turned yellow? Or is this simply another case of GOP hypocrisy?

Fraidy-Cat Republicans (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

A terrorist trial in fed court
Under Bush met with pride and support.
No GOP sneers —
Just Republican cheers.
But a Dem do the same? Must abort!

Bowing … And Scraping Bottom

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Fox News and all the usual wingnut suspects are simply horrified because President Obama, in a show of diplomatic courtesy, bowed to Emperor Akihito of Japan. This was a shocking and unprecedented show of weakness and subservience, according to sundry Obama bashers, including Karl Rove, Steve Doocy, and Dick Cheney.

It seems only Republican Presidents are allowed such bows (Richard Nixon to Japanese Emperor Hirohito, Dwight Eisenhower to Charles De Gaulle).

But as far as I’m concerned, President Obama can bow to as many foreign leaders as he likes. Although perhaps he should leave the Saudi Prince lip-kissing and hand-holding to George W. Bush.

And now it’s time for a limerick:

Bowing … And Scraping Bottom
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Kissing princes and hand-holding’s fine
For a Prez on the GOP line.
But a bow from Obama
To emp’rors — what drama!
Such nonsense, this sham wingnut-whine.