Deadline Poet | The Nation
Deadline Poet
Calvin Trillin
From Blumenthal and Hitchens having lunch,
A sideshow has emerged that causes spec-
Ulation touching ethics and such things:
It might make sense to end it now, except
That wouldn't show the managers respect.
So even if their case now seems inert,
'Twas said the honest folks of Salt Lake City
Deplored sins large and even itty-bitty.
But, trying for the Games, they thought it pretty
Chief Justice Rehnquist now presides.
He rules the chamber that decides
If Clinton should remain or go.
This role's important, that we know.
The middle names we have are, as a rule,
Obscure, pretentious, odd or just not cool.
So someone named John Bloomingblaise McGill
So now comes forward John McCain,
A high-tech version of Gawain
When with his steed, a Navy plane.
He says he's forming his campaign
In every century, it seems,
The Constitution's put to test.
Important questions must be asked,
And ours is, "Did he touch her breast?"
They now know how
To clone a cow.
The corollary
Is pretty scary.
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