Archive for the ‘Blame Game’ Category

Trump’s “Blame Everyone But Himself” Mentality (Limerick)

Thursday, October 25th, 2018

“As wave of attempted bombing continues, Trump chooses to blame the victims.”

Who’s to blame for the bombs that were sent
To kill people Trump loves to torment
Via Twitter and speeches?
The victims, Trump screeches.
The Divider-In-Chief must repent!

Successful Soul-Searching Is Tough Sans A Soul (Limerick)

Wednesday, December 9th, 2015

Conservatives, bummed and bereft,
Due to Donald Trump’s poll number heft,
After searching their brains
To explain his huge gains,
Found the cause: It’s Barack and the Left!

The “Mistakes Were Made” Game (Limerick)

Thursday, February 19th, 2015

The “Mistakes Were Made” Game (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Simply playing the passive voice game
Is a popular way to dodge blame.
The “mistakes were made” line
Is the best tell-tale sign
That slipp’ry evasion’s your aim.

“Party First” Politics (3-Verse Limerick)

Wednesday, September 25th, 2013

“Party First” Politics (3-Verse Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

When the government runs out of cash
And shuts down, then just who will you bash?
If you’re paying attention,
The party you’ll mention
Is Republican — that’s who you’ll trash.

But misinformation’s widespread
Cuz the public is constantly fed
Big Republican lies
Which attempt to disguise
Who would chop off the government’s head.

Yet the GOP’s mission is clear:
It’s a goal they’ve chased year after year
To stymie Obama,
No matter the trauma
To all that our nation holds dear.

Sequestration Blame Game (Limerick)

Friday, February 22nd, 2013

John Boehner’s 2011 PowerPoint presentation provides ample proof that sequestration originated with the Republicans.

But even if we didn’t have that smoking gun slide show, the GOP’s attempt to label it “Obama’s sequester” wouldn’t pass the straight-face test. Here’s Andrew Sullivan making that powerful point:

…I simply cannot see how a political party that has branded itself in favor of drastic spending cuts can somehow win a public debate in which they are now apparently opposing drastic spending cuts, and “blaming” them on Obama. And their branding means that the slow government shutdown we will almost certainly now face will surely stick more to them than to Obama.

Sequestration Blame Game (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

What’s the key to the GOP brand?
Budget cuts that our land can’t withstand.
So it’s laughably lame
That they’re trying to claim
The sequester’s Obama’s scheme grand.

Finger Pointing Blues (Limerick)

Thursday, November 8th, 2012

When a political party loses big time, the way the Republicans lost on Tuesday, there are two ways to go: 1) Careful introspection; or 2) Blame game. Guess which route the Republicans picked.

Finger Pointing Blues (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

The Republican game is “cast blame.”
Faulting somebody else is their aim.
It’s Sandy! It’s Rove!
It’s Chris Christie, by Jove!
But they lost cuz the GOP’s lame.

Limerick Ode To The Not-So-Super Committee

Monday, November 21st, 2011

The blame game is going strong with the customary false equivalencies.

Limerick Ode To The Not-So-Super Committee
By Madeleine Begun Kane

The Super Committee’s derailed,
And now we are being regaled
With tales blaming Dems
Sold as “media gems.”
It’s “balanced” reporting that’s failed.

Happy Blame Someone Else Day (Tanka)

Friday, May 13th, 2011

Today, May 13th, is the first Friday the 13th of 2011, which makes it Blame Someone Else Day. I thought I’d celebrate it with a tanka (a haiku plus two more seven-syllable lines).

Blame Someone Else Day:
Annual celebration,
with one exception —
the Republican Party
commemorates it daily.

UPDATE: The next Blame Someone Else Day will happen in just eight months on Friday, January 13, 2012. So mark you calendars! If you don’t and you miss it, you’ll only have yourself to blame.

Limerick Ode To A Government Shutdown

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

Limerick Ode to A Government Shutdown
By Madeleine Begun Kane

The thought of a government shutdown
Should be quickly, decisively cut down.
But I fear that we’re screwed
Cuz of Washington’s mood:
Boehner’s party has turned into Nut Town.

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!

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.

De-Moralized?

Sunday, June 28th, 2009

I’ve heard some twisted rationalizations over the years. But Rush Limbaugh’s attempt at blaming Obama for Mark Sanford’s failings really takes the cake.

A double limerick, just for Rush Limbaugh:

De-Moralized?
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Rush claims that Obama’s to blame
For Sanford’s disgrace and his shame:
The stimulus bill
Destroyed Sanford’s will.
Wow, even for Limbaugh, that’s lame.

When a Democrat strays — no excuse!
Just right-wing attacks and abuse.
But conservative sins
Are spinned — turned to wins.
Try to reason with Rush? It’s no use!

Bankrupt Values

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

Republicans have no shortage of things to fulminate about.  One of their favorites?  The General Motors bankruptcy:

Bankrupt Values (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

An auto co known as GM
In the past was considered a gem.
It’s in bankruptcy now.
Will that hurt? Yes, and how!
But the GOP’s goal? Blame the Dem!

(You can find my lighter car humor columns and limericks here.)

Fox Pundits At Sea

Monday, April 13th, 2009

Fox News “pundit” rants always look foolish, especially when they’re packed with gleeful predictions of Democratic failures. And most especially when their predictions turn out to be dramatically wrong.

Such, thankfully, was the case with the loony rantings indulged in by Newt Gingrich, Glenn Beck and sundry Fox News personalities who “bet against the Obama administration’s ability to rescue Richard Phillips, the American ship captain who was taken hostage by Somali pirates.”

How those Fox nuts salivated in anticipation of Obama’s failure! And how disappointed they must surely be in the wake of Phillips’ rescue after the Obama-authorized killing of three pirates.

I, for one, don’t expect any gracious apologies any time soon. Do you?

Fox Pundits At Sea (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Obama’s been tested and won.
Three pirates were killed with a gun.
Now will loons who foretold
That he’d fail to be bold
Say they’re sorry, congrats, job well done?

Dear “Everyday Working Class” Sarah

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008

Sarah Palin, who likes to refer to herself as “Joe Six Pack“, is trying to dupe us into believing she’s “an everyday, working-class American.” Palin even claims that her “Joe Six Pack” status is why “the Washington elite” don’t think she should be running for Veep.  (Apparently it has nothing to do with her making Dan Quayle look like a genius and George Bush look coherent.)

Just wondering: How many “everyday, working-class Americans” do you know who own “a single-engine plane, two boats, two personal watercraft and a half-million-dollar, custom-built home on a lake…”

Sarah deserves another limerick, don’t you think?

Dear “Everyday Working Class” Sarah
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Your custom-built lake house sounds nice,
And your plane,  boats, and tanning device.
But kindly don’t claim
You’re a “working class” dame.
We don’t buy it, so sorry, no dice.

George Who???

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

After losing three back-to-back Congressional races in solid Republican districts, the GOP has a spanking new game plan:

George Who??? (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Bush enablers are trying to blame
All their woes on George Bush — that’s their game:
Each Congressional loss
Is the fault of their boss.
Their new creed? “Never liked what’s-his-name.”

Update: Next Monday evening, I’ll be attending a New York screening of War, Inc., John Cusack’s new movie satirizing the Iraq war.  If you’re planning to be there too, please email me, and maybe we can meet.  I’ll be going via a ticket I won in RawStory’s war limerick writing contest.[tags]Campaign Satire, Election Humor, Republican Limerick, GOP Verse, Bush Blame, Congressional Races, Distance From Bush, Childers Mississippi[/tags]

Running from Mistakes

Monday, March 19th, 2007

Running From Mistakes
By Madeleine Begun Kane

It’s essential to learn from mistakes
And to not place the blame on bad breaks.
If you curse lousy luck
Or try passing the buck,
Run for office. You have what it takes!  [tags]Political Mistakes, Bad Breaks, Passing The Buck, Campaign Satire, Blame Game Humor, Election Humor[/tags]

Leave No Campaign Plans Behind … in a Hotel Room

Tuesday, January 2nd, 2007

Leave No Campaign Plans Behind … in a  Hotel Room
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Rudy claims that he has expertise
In security matters. Oh, please!
He has lost secret papers
And blames evil capers,
So Rudy won’t win White House keys. [tags]Rudy Giuliani Humor, Presidential Campaign Humor, Blame Game, Political Dirty Tricks[/tags]

Bush and Cheney’s Blunderland (Song Parody)

Thursday, November 2nd, 2006

Chalk it up to pre-election delirium, but I just wrote a Bush-Cheney song parody to Winter Wonderland, without realizing that I used the same tune back in 2004 for a pre-election song parody.  Fortunately, a bad memory does have some benefits, so the lyrics are quite different. Here’s my new one:

Bush and Cheney’s Blunderland (Sing to Winter Wonderland)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Rummy’s great, and he’s staying.
No debate. Stop your braying.
“Fantastic” at war!
Bush Rummy adores.
Welcome to Bush/Cheney’s Blunderland.

War is hard, but we’re winning.
GOP, lies and spinning.
Our war in Iraq
Is really on track.
Welcome to Bush/Cheney’s Blunderland.

Bush and Rove are great at building straw men.
Then they proudly knock their straw men down.
Dub implies we’re traitors.
We’ll say, “No Man!”
It’s time to stop pretending you’ve been crowned.

Ev’ry day, they conspire.
Reckless knaves, thieves, and liars.
The Bush/Cheney reign,
Democracy’s bane.
Welcome to Bush/Cheney’s Blunderland.

           =========

And now some links, for your reading pleasure:
* The Worst Political Websites.
* I like Avedon when she’s in a snit.
* Don Davis’s Kerry: How Do You Ask Me To ‘Die’ For My Last Mistake?
* OneGoodMove has the New York Times’ latest editorial, and it’s a great one.
* Gary Trudeau Profile. (Via Alternative Hippopotamus)
* No Bush profiteering op left behind.
* Carnival Time: Carnival of Satire and Carnival of the Vanities.
* I sure hope journalists everywhere read this column and heed its counsel.
* Eric Schwartz sings his Clinton Got A Blowjob. 

Dear Peggy

Sunday, October 22nd, 2006

It’s always embarrassing for me to admit this, but Peggy Noonan and I  went to the same high school —  Massapequa High School on Long Island, New York. (I didn’t know her, though. Or if I did, I don’t remember her.)

As a sister Massapequan, I like to write Peggy Noonan the occasional poem.  Today’s verse was inspired by this Peggy Noonan Wall Street Journal column, as dissected by Eric Boehlert in Media Matters.

Dear Peggy
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Peg’s practicing projection
As the wingnuts often do.
Noonan’s accusations
Versus Dems come right on cue.

Conservatives are civil?
And the Dems would stop dissent?
Peggy, it’s your allies
Who would discourse circumvent.

My Peggy Noonan haiku is here, and my post about the many famous Massapequans (Jerry Seinfeld, the Baldwin brothers, etc.) is here.[tags]Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, Massapequa High School, Massapequans, Media Matters, Projection, Dissent, Civil Discourse, Jerry Seinfeld, Baldwin Brothers[/tags]