[Gail White]

OOH, to think that I just wrote about 20 lines of heroic couplets satirizing the American religious right. Unfortunately, I have no idea how I could adapt it for the UK.

[John Whitworth]

I don't see why you would have to adapt it, Gail. We know about the American religious right, the more so since all those beheadings. Send it in (or sixteen lines of it) and see.

[Gail White]

Thanks, John, I'll try it.
Since you mentioned Ulysses' speech in Troilus and Cressida...this is
a big favorite with my husband, who used to give it to his history students to illustrate points about the Great Chain of Being. He still believes that "when degree is shaked/The enterprise is sick."

[Lance Levens]

Here's an old, obscure party (USA) with a cutting edge agenda:

The Know Nothing Party (1840-1860)

The Know Nothings—they had the knack.
Their goal was simple: send 'em all back!
Start with the priest, that foe of thrift.
(We’ll nail him when he gets stuck in the lift)
The Irish, the Greeks, the Dagos and Yids.
Easy: we just poison their kids.
The school lunch is where we’ll do the deed.
Those foreign chappies have to feed.
The Frenchies, too, they have to go.
Those kraut lovers with their guts of dough.
Norwegians and legions of Chinamen, too.
Too bad we can't put them all in a stew.
One by one we’ll purge our tree
Till there’s nobody left but you and me.

[Birthe Myers]

My husband says I run the risk of making people think I am advocating the Tea Party's ideas with this, so I hasten to say that I am NOT.


Tea party song

The way I love this country is way inside my gut,
you wouldn’t know the feeling, you all just talk a lot.
It used to be the rights of folks like us were understood,
the government was righteous, and life was hard but good.

No liberals to tell them to share their hard earned take
to pay for others’ weakness, they kept what they could make.
You only know from books, but it always is you lot
who tell us to pay taxes on everything we’ve got.

The infrastructure’s crumbling, so build it up again,
it can’t be that expensive if they could build it then.
This is the land of plenty, I’ve always heard them say
the government has money, we shouldn’t have to pay.

Cut budgets, cut support for care and cut the arts right out.
Eradicating socialism is what we’re about.

(And I repeat: This voices the views of the conservative Tea Party. NOT MY VIEWS. I'm for everything the Tea Party is against.)

[Jayne Osborn]

Hi Birthe,
I'm not sure if you're familiar with this publication, but

Eradicating socialism is what we’re about

won't cut it with Staggers, unless you're being ironic - they are socialists!

[Birthe Myers]

Oh, Jayne,

My husband was right - you think the song voices my views even though I wrote above it that they are NOT.
I am a socialist if I am anything. The views in the song are those of the opposition, the odious US Tea Party. It is their song, I am quoting them. I thought it would be clear as clear that I was making the views as awful and as despicable as I could. How can you think I would think this? It is a Tea Party song. I mean to show their silly opinions on country and government - and taxes.

[John Whitworth]

I think it's obvious that you are writing satirically. But socialists are notoriously cloth-eared. It is a problem when writing political stuff for the Staggers. Only the broadest brush will do - see my entry. But give it a whirl. There is a rumour the present NS Editor actually has a sense of humour, which would be a notable first.

Mind you, a party which elects the ridiculous Miliband Junior as leader MUST have a sense of humour, you would have thought.

[Jerome Betts]

don't see why you would have to adapt it, Gail. We know about the American religious right, the more so since all those beheadings. Send it in (or sixteen lines of it) and see.

John, think you had a typo here. The maximum is fourteen lines, no?

[John Whitworth]

Yes it is. Sorry. I confused it with the Speccie.