Two items to offer a chuckle or two in these unfunny times, one from me, and one from a wag that was forwarded by a friend.
First, from me: Edgar Allan Poe's poem"El Dorado" (the City of Gold of Colombian legend) may prove to be an augury for Team 44's response to the economic mess:
Gaily benight
An errant knight
JFK's callow shadow
Led us along
His Siren's Song
Promised us El Dorado,
In winter cold
He promised bold
But Great Depression's shadow
Fell on the Land
No growth at hand
'Twas hardly El Dorado.
Congress spent swift
No time for thrift
Will work? Who knows? "The Shadow"!
Oh Shade, asked he
If lost 'twill be
Election El Dorado?
Capitol Hill's
Fat pork-filled bill
Cast its thousand-page shadow
Slide, sadly slide
Promise belied
Thus lost was El Dorado.
Copyright John C. Wohlstetter 2009
Second, from the online wag:
Three contractors were bidding to fix a broken fence at the White House. One is from Chicago, another is from Tennessee, and the third is from Minnesota.
All three go with a White House official to examine the fence. The Minnesota contractor took out a tape measure and did some measuring, then worked some figures with a pencil. "Well," he says, "I figure the job will run about $900: $400 for materials, $400 for my crew and $100 profit for me."
The Tennessee contractor also did some measuring and figuring, then says, "I can do this job for $700: $300 for materials, $300 for my crew and $100 profit for me."
The Chicago contractor didn't measure or figure, but leaned over to the White House official and whispers, "$2,700."
The White House official, incredulous, said, "You didn't even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?"
The Chicago contractor whispered back, "$1000 for me, $1000 for you, and we hire the guy from Tennessee to fix the fence."
"Done!" replied the government official.
And that, my friends, is how the new stimulus plan will work.
Well, Blago would approve, wouldn't he?
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