A Short History of Dick Cheney as Minder

deadline poet

By Calvin Trillin

This article appeared in the December 8, 2003 edition of The Nation.

November 20, 2003

At first, we thought we should be glad
To have a nanny for the lad--
Young Bush, who might be overawed,
Who'd barely even been abroad,
Who seemed to us a lightweight laddie
Who'd need a sitter sent by Daddy.

But Cheney's shop became the place
Where fantasists would make their case:
Iraqis threaten. At the least,
We'd rearrange the Middle East
And rule the world forevermore
If we just smashed them in a war.

Dick bought this bunk, and sold it, too.
He lied back then, and he's not through.
He'd fooled the rubes like you and me
Who never thought that he would be
A zealot once he got installed.
Stealth Nanny's what he should be called.

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About Calvin Trillin

Calvin Trillin is The Nation's "deadline poet." He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1963 and has written the syndicated weekly column "Uncivil Liberties" since 1986. He has authored many, many books, including Tepper's Not Going Out and Deadline Poet: My Life as a Doggerelist. more...
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