Please Pass The Popcorn

That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves. - Thoreau

Red and blue pills.

With their twisted, phony views.

Bunch of old coots.

Their ideas moot.

Wrinkled and plugged.

Craniums drugged with shoulders shrugged.

Speaking from both sides of their maniacal mouths.

With flagrant, forked tongues.

Saying anything and everything.

Fist-bumping and dry-humping.

Like political pelicans, "Look at me.  I can stand on one leg."

Pandering peacocks spreading out their plumes to attract and sway.

Nothing new or genuine to say.

Belching, bellicose buffoons.

Jugglers of rhetoric and empty promises.

Dormant volcanoes spewing demented double-talk.

Ministers of pretentious propaganda.

Pontificating pissworms.

Whimsical windbags.

Hoping to coin a newsworthy quote.

Too bad they ain't gettin' my varicose vote ...

Author's Note

"Politics is the gizzard of society, full of grit and gravel, and the two political parties are its opposite halves - sometimes split into quarters - which grind on each other. Not only individuals but states have thus a confirmed dyspepsia." - Thoreau

Reviews

[R.E. Ray]

Pete, this says everything I believe about politics and politicians in the most colorful piece I can imagine.

This is something we might’ve read in one of the 18th or 19th Century papers, likely under pseudonym and targeting a particular candidate. Great language and flow. So much packed into this poem. Good music, too.

[Pete]

enough is enough - it got old a long time ago. i only watch and listen out of morbid curiosity and desire to be entertained. i usually change the channel pretty quickly. from the quotes, thoreau called it correctly a long time ago. he had no use for them or their institutions. just leave me be was his attitude. thanks for weighing in r.e. ... :)

[Pete]

music is david byrne from talking heads with christina wheeler singing and dancing - simply amazing and hypnotizing! a category of their own ... :)

[barleygirl]

If you don't mind my saying so, I had multiple orgasms reading this! *wink! wink!* When I opened this, seeing the photo & taking your title into consideration, I was already getting wet. I knew this was going to be a ton of fun, so I actually had the sensation that I was settling into my wheelchair as if about to get off & kick up my heels. I quit TV a year ago, so I haven't seen these debates, but I've perused some of the analyses & I have all these same thoughts, starting where you start, how the f**k did we end up with two old cronies of the sickest stretch of politics our country has ever known? Can't this country elect a person younger than 70, for gawd's sake? This is a f*****g ridiculous choice & it's no wonder kids aren't growing up to be voters. Anyhow, this is brilliant satire & your wordplay is off the charts. There couldn't be a more mellifluous harmony of fun & viciousness ever conceived (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Pete]

lol. a bit of 'poetic masturbation' (wink wink) regarding the current state of politics. your observations are astutely cynical as they well should be. thanks for casting your vote of social abstinence ... :)

[andrew mitchell]

What a perfect title lol very clever and so apt in this game of leadership battles that boast but never deliver. We should go back to the Roman arena, pad them up in a gladiator suit and throw them in!

[Pete]

lol. thanks andrew. the term "leadership" only loosely applies. even a circus needs performers and an audience. be strong and keep the faith my friend from down under ... :)

[Patricia Wedel]

Brilliant satire... at least we know it is difficult to be
healthy, wealthy and wise... with old guys with failing eyes, etc.
Give me a break... but not an earthquake. We have enough to deal with...
not being able to mingle in an election year. Two Parties and Popcorn.
truly, Pat

[Pete]

lol - you made me laugh Pat. it's so ridiculous. just throw another log on the fire and let it keep burning down. better to laugh than cry says i. my best to you ... :)

[Patricia Wedel]

Pete... it cheers me to read your reply... It is surreal— perhaps the warm weather will help and summer too ... scientists are fighting for a cure or whatever... gently, Pat

[Sami Khalil]

As if watching a recurring movie or an old circus. Get the votes by telling half truths and lies. Get the public roused up as if to go on a rampage. There was reverence to politics, respect to offices but not anymore. You write powerfully Pete.

[Pete]

as i get older, i can't help but feel that it's just a circus. definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results - we keep sending different people into the same three rings and expecting things to change. it's gotten so old and ridiculous. can't they just go away and let us live unburdened and unfettered? thanks sami ... :)

[Sami Khalil]

Wow! I do agree. You are welcome sir Pete...