Office of the Independent Blogger

A brief note: this is a bit of poetry I wrote about John McCain and Barry Goldwater. Who says political commentary can’t rhyme?
EDIT: this is a poem I am, in a lot of ways still fond of, but man…it’s such a sixteen-year-old’s poem.

Living in the Arid Zone Of

John McCain of Arizona
Lives in the Arid Zone of
Barry Goldwater’s Shadow
A place that glows like El Dorado
But all that glitters isn’t gold
And this space is bright and green
I’ve never heard it told
That McCain’s a weapon’s dream

People seem to be forgetting
The legacy they’d be getting
If they insisted on electing
The Senator from Arizona
Who lives in the Arid Zone of
Barry Goldwater’s Shadow,
A place called “Bald Bravado”

Some whisper that he’s mad
Driven so by the Vietcong
I say it cause he’s never had
A reason not to bomb
On Iraq — let us attack
On Iran — let flights run
On Kosovo — if it’s Clinton, No
On China — just give it time, duh

Years before Bush proposed invading
John beat the War Drums
His calls for War predating
Even the new Millennium
This is a Moderate Hawk?
He’s a man who can not talk
Without taking a Swipe
At Apples just not Ripe
For invading

McCain wants the form of Campaign Finance
I guess it’s from Saints that he’s Financed
John doesn’t know Jack! (Abramoff) (he does)
He only takes the Dollars of
“Good lobbyists” — at least he claims a nice stance!

Oh McCain — the man’s Untainted
What a way he’s been painted
By those with no need for acquaintance
With facts, who needs those
When a Senator is Sainted

McCain’s men so excel at Public Relations
That if his aides had been Stationed
In the Arid Zone of
Barry Goldwater’s 1964 Arizona
This would be a different nation

If you watch the Senate close
You might see Goldwater’s ghost
It’s over McCain that he hovers
Laughing at what the Media don’t cover

The subject of Goldwater’s Revenge
Is scarier than Stonehenge
But it’s hard to hear that story
When the press finds Itself adoring
The man from the Arid Zone of
Barry Goldwater’s Arizona

Goldwater called for us to Saw Off the Coast
If McCain said it, there’d be many toasts
To his wonderful charm
Because what’s the harm
In giving a ride to Goldwater’s ghost

McCain is a leader!
But I see him as addled
You see, my dear reader
Goldwater’s truly in the saddle

And Barry Goldwater never looked this good
Because Goldwater didn’t have a fawning press
And Goldwater never looked this good
While setting out to make a mess