Limericks / Obama Limerick (July 28, 2009)

Thank you for your review. These limericks were posted as a pair on www.obamafu.com (with 350+ of these, and 1100 more coming, it is getting harder to keep track of them…) – that’s why they ended up as a pair here. First flaw you noted can be possibly avoided (I don’t quite like the extra sounding syllable in “our” vs “your”, even if it is a slight one) – I could drop commas, and instead, enclose “for attacking your doctor” in parentheses, to clarify the possessive bent. “takes the” vs “gets a” changes a meaning somewhat – I had the title awarded, you changed it to an earned one/fought for. Maybe. Dunno. Have to think about this one. Thanks again.

Earned or awarded, it’s damn near the same. ’’Takes’’ just seems like a stronger and better fitting word when compared to the likes of ’’gets’’.

Thank you for reading it. Where exactly have you stumbled? I solicit specific comments all the time – there are three hundred of these puppies already, and if Mr. Obama lasts until the end of his term, there are 1158 more to come… I simply can’t ensure they are all ok, without extra help.

Thank you for reviewing it.

There are four line limericks and five line limericks, both perfectly acceptable – look at Edward Lear’s – and, as a matter of fact, five-liners always have been more popular.

Limericks have been used as political satire before, but not to the extent that it is now done at www.obamafu.com – 250+ of them, all pertaining to a limited subject, Mr. Obama’s presidency, – and because of this, I have to vary the style to make sure that the reader does not get tired.

Forgot to add – this set of two limericks can be split in half, and read individually. It is just shown here this way.

Thank you for reading it. You may want to read other reviews and oomments – maybe, they will clarify it for you.

As far as attacking Mr. Obama… This is something I feel compelled to do, both for my children and their future, and to keep my own conscience clear.

From the clarity standpoint. In the first line you have two clauses, and “for attacking your doctor” is a subordinate one (because it is incomplete), so when afterwards you say “He”, by the rules, it should refer to the last mentioned subject of an independent clause which always takes precedence over the reference to the subject of the subordinate clause.

“Johnny got, just like Freddy did before him, the same present. He liked it.” He is Johnny.

News media – or, specifically, the liberal division of news media – is pathetic to watch not because they are now cooling down their admiration for Obama (they should have done it from the start), but because they behave in the way of French in Paris – they are either at someone’s feet, or at someone’s throat. Free men do not behave like this – this is a way of a slave.

A story may be coming. I dunno…

I agree with you wholly about the news media. They make me sick. Now i know why i didn’t finish my major in journalism. Todays’ media does not know what real reporting is. I refuse to be a hypocrite. You know more about the limerick than i , so i will take your word for it. Limerick is the one thing i studied very little but i admire those who know how to write them. I wanted Hilary Clinton. Not because she is a woman but because she is relentless and  knows policy.i think i would felt safe with her at he helm. I went out and worked for her and got to meet her. I work for the Democrati party but this does not mean i would vote strictly democrat. If a good republican was up for office i would vote for him. I did not work for Obama. I cried at the poles because i was unsure of him. I am still unsure of him. I cae very much about the state of our country. Sandi

Sandy,

I forgot to add – the limericks I posted at www.obamafu.com, from the very beginning of it, were the first ones I ever wrote (the first one was written on Nov 4th last year) – of course, I read Lear, and a lot of them elsewhere, but never tried the genre myself, until the blasted November…

My politics are almost always pretty much black and white – no compromises (my family history was my best teacher). And my politics are the same as you’d find in Founders’ writings, in Robert Heinlein novels, and of course, in all the wealth of Greeks and Romans.

Long ago, I found out that if you set standards for yourself, and fight for them, you end up paying less than you would if you just submitted to circumstances.

I also believe (and it is not my arrogance speaking, but rather a firm belief in what the world is)), that no man on this planet can behave as if he is ignoring the fact that I, and everything I stand for, exist – without paying for it dearly, one way or another.

I studied politics and have come to the conclusion that even a good man can be corrupted by power. The people have become too complicated. I am old -fashioned about many things. I tell the truth and i expect that of my leaders, but all of them lie compulsively. I love how the politicians stumble on the subjects of homosexuality, abortion and race. None of them will give you a straight answer as to how they roll. Why can’t one politician get up and be honest? I am not a gay basher. I have friends who are gay.  But the issue of Gayism, abortion, and racial issues stump them all. Mr. Lincoln would turn over in his grave if he could see what the country has turned too. I am a little liberal, only because there are things i can do nothing about. The world is too big for me. If i make a stand, i will become lost in a sea of rhetoric.  I suppose this makes me a coward. I hope not. I try to look at things the way there really are. I vote, that’s all i can do. Sandi

Sandy,

The real corruption – not the one that is simply associated with the greed, but the corruption of the soul – has nothing to do with politics.

I hold that lack of teaching (and good teaching, I hold, is done by explanation, practice, and example, in the way of Epictetus and Aristotle, not in the way of Pavlov or Skinner) about freedom and liberty in the childhood creates a fertile soil for this corruption.

People indeed are more complicated, because our intellect – despite what modern psychology tells you (yes, I dabbled in psychology all my life)continues to evolve. And thank God, that it does – even now, our complexity does not even come close to the complexity of the world we live in, while ideally, any being will come to a real balance with his own world then and only then when the complexity of his world, already present in his physical presence and structure, will be reflected in his consciousness.

I am also an old-fashioned person, when it comes to my principles and beliefs (and to a lesser degree, in my habits)- even though I try to remain current and pertinent as much as I can.

I do not bash anybody, either. I simply always remember the famous Dirty Harry line: “Every man has to know his limitations.” And this includes every “group”, whatever the group is. All and every one of them have to know, understand and, most importantly, accept their place in the general scheme of things.

The idea of a “special interest” – of any sort, based on whatever the hell it may be based on (and today, it could be a special treatment for a uniquely special group – one-legged Australian aborigines, who tattoo themselves in ecologically-clean ink to the glory of postmodern theory and practice), is repulsive to me.

Lincoln was a good man in the eyes of many, and an evil reincarnate in the eyes of just as many others. I manage so far to keep his duality at bay, and accept both sides. It has nothing to do with his historical impact – it has everything to do with his motives and his deeds.

Liberals and radicals want to change the world for the abstract ideal “better one”. Conservatives want to keep all the good that the world they live in already offers. These two points of view, most of the time, can’t be reconciled.

Today, in our society, in United States of America, there are more values and things to be preserved, than there are to change and/or destroy.

As I said, I am for the liberty and freedom, and today, United States is the ONLY country in the entire world, where this idea is protected and pursued.

And there is nothing more important than that.

If we allow it to collapse or even simply weaken, the dark times will come. And the world will lose the only hope and beacon of this freedom for a long, long time.

You are not a coward, and the world is not too big for you – the world is creeping up to you every day, probing into the boundaries stealthily, and you, to the best of your knowledge and ability, deal with it. And vote on it, right and wrong, as you see fit.

Fish is never lost in the sea, and it is not one with other fishes – it is one with the sea itself, and it is its inalienable birthright, and in the end, most of its life’s meaning.

Getting a review like this on a Friday night… well… it is better than the Friday night itself! Thank you. I hope I will continue to please you with my offerings.

Hey no problems! :-) It was great and I got it straight away, even though I’m in Australia, its a known fact that the US healthcare system is a disgrace, and since gaining the presidency, Obama has yet to make a significant impact to the healthcare system and any other major changes that he promised to instill within the government. Your limerick was hard hitting and I loved it, seems as though many other reviewers did not understand it though lol. Have a great night! :-)

Thank you – I am still up for a while… answering comments…:)

Thank you for reading it. You may want to take a look at our web site (www.obamafu.com) where I have posted over 200 of these.

At first I was going to bounce you review… then I realized that I need to tell you something about limericks that may help you to review them (and other work) in the future.

A limerick is a form which has 5 lines rhymed and metered in a certain way, standing on its own.

So, here we actually have not one, but TWO limericks.

I looked around URBIS and most of the time, people (including me) post a SINGLE limerick for the review (I know, they are short, but if you try to write a good one, you will see that it is not that easy, and these five lines sometimes make your brains bleed…).

A collection is also occasionally posted here – but it is rather rare, and most of these “multiple” collections I have seen here are not well done.

When you review a piece which does not have a predetermined form (a story, a poem), you can say, “it should have been longer”. When you are looking at a piece which has a pre-set structure, for example, a 14-line sonnet, you cannot ask for it to be longer, because it would not be a sonnet anymore.

I agree with you here Obamafu, you are definately correct. And I’m glad that you mention this, as most limericks are only 5 lines, and are difficult to create as cleverly as you have done so here.

Thank you for review. There are more posted – and more coming – and a whole lot of various ones, 200+, I posted at www.obamafu.com (the home base…)