BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE

i
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
 
The three towering geniuses of European culture, 
Shakespeare, Mozart and Leonardo Di Vinci, were 
not allowed to  appear on the euro note as they 
might, in their separate ways , cause offense; 
mozart because he was a “womanizer”, Shakespeare, 
because he wrote The Merchant of Venice, a play 
judged to be anti-semitic, and Leonardo because 
he was reported to fancy boys. Now the euro note 
carries a picture of a rather dull bridge.
 
John Mortimer,  Where There’s a Will
 
 
POLITICAL THOUGHT
 
From the Renaissance to the eighteenth century,
The impulse behind classic works of political 
thought was the urge to shape events. Machiavelli 
wrote to rescue Florence and Italy from internal 
corruption and external weakness.
Jean Bodin designed a theory of sovereignty that 
might rescue France from its wars of religion. 
The Marian exile of the mid-sixteenth century, 
and John Locke under Charles II, devised 
justification for resistance to prevent tyranny.
 
Blair Worden in TLS (August 4,2006)
 
 
 
POLITICIANS/POLITICS
 
 
No matter how paranoid you are, what the 
government is actually doing is worse than 
you can imagine.
        William Blum
 
Don’t believe anything until it’s been 
officially denied.
         William Blum
 
 
People used to complain that selling a president 
was like selling a bar of soap. But when you buy 
soap, at least you get the soap. In this campaign 
you just get two guys telling you that they really 
value cleanliness.
 
David Brooks

LIGHT VERSE POET BRUCE NEWLING WRITES ABOUT

SOON-TO-BE- EX-PRESIDENT TRUMP

    
           President Trump Delivers His State of
             The Union Address,February 4,2020
    
                   He stood below the Speaker's chair,
                   With golfer's  tan and flaxen hair
                   Entirely his, with no toupee
                   And all with very little gray.
                   Given his looks belie his years,
                   What does he have between his ears?
                   What is this man? All huff and puff?
                   Or is he made of sterner stuff?
                   Is he a steak?  Is he a ham?
                   Might he be mutton dressed as lamb?
                   A statesman?  No; as that, he fails;
                   He's one whose trolley's off its rails. 
                   But showman? Yes;he made his points.
                   Most notably, he self-anoints
                   And,as his Congress claque applauds,
                   Adds to his string of self-awards.
       
                   Stromboli-like, Pelosi fumed;
                   Her copy of his speech was doomed.
                   She clutched it with a raptor's grip--
                   Oh,rapture! Yes, I heard it rip.
                   Glancing,nauseous, through her copy,
                   It's no wonder she got stroppy.
                   
                   It seems the copy--every page--                      Then wound up in her parrot's cage,
                   Or so her housemaid said, when pressed.
                   This is recycling at its best.
                   The sheets, bespattered, I daresay
                   Will be collectibles one day;
                   And maybe once Trump's on the skids,
                   It will be time to call for bids.
                   "Chump Impeached by Champ Pelosi"--
                    Give the champ a gorgeous posy.
                  
                              The   Coda 
        
                    Tempting fate trough self-seduction,
                    Trump promotes his own destruction.
                    When that will be, God only knows:
                    Nemesis comes on tippy-toes.
                                                        
                 Copyright   (c) 2020 Bruce E. Newling
     
    
    
    
    
    
    
   OUR VICE PRESIDENT
    
   Mike Pence
   Knows from whence
   All Presidential power flows,
   Hence, the brown upon his nose.
    
    
   Louis Phillips
   **
       
   
      
  
  
  
  
  
  
 The 14th Amendment, Section 3:
  
  
  
 No person shall be a Senator or Representative 
in Congress, or elector of President and Vice 
President, or hold any office, civil or military, 
under the United States, or under any State,who, 
having previously taken an oath, as a member of 
Congress, or as an officer of the United States, 
or as a member of any State legislature,or as an 
executive or judicial officer of any State, to 
support the Constitution of the United States, 
shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion 
against the same, or given aid or comfort to the 
enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of 
two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
   **

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