When I attend conventions
And hear the people cheering
I hark back to our history
And all its sloganeering
Distilling to its essence
The spirit of a nation
Words that live in memory
And endless inspiration
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The country’s risin’
For Henry Clay
And Frelinghuysen
The staff for Polk and Dallas
They stayed up through the night
Defining that meridian
For which we ought to fight
“First in war and first in peace”
They said of Winfield Scott
The slogan is remembered
Though he didn’t get the shot
Now don’t you think it’s passing strange
That those who worked for hope and change
Who claim to be the best and brightest
Have no idea, no not the slightest
That what they’re saying
In the main, is nothing but a sad refrain
Disgusting, non-productive
And endlessly profane
They should have poets on retainers
And so should late-night entertainers
So, get those Roget’s off your shelves
And look inside them…or yourselves
And craft some terse and pithy phrases
Worthy of the people’s praises
That tell in just a line or three
The future that you hope to see
Or they will find their hopes defeated
By expletives left undeleted