THE POLITICIAN

[Cropduster]

THE POLITICIAN

You elected me to office
but you seem to be dismayed,
as if I am expected to
keep promises I made.
You can't expect I'll honour
every promise, every quote.
See, I was just pork barrelling,
just trying to win your vote.
You understand the game I'm in,
I'm a pollie, not a saint.
If honesty's a virtue, friend,
then virtuous I aint.
Second oldest of professions,
both professions see you screwed,
but one you gladly pay for,
at the risk of sounding crude.
So now I am a member, and
an hon'rable one at that.
I stand upright at question time
and have a little spat.
A member of the caucus
in the party room I side
with who'll see us win election,
on their coat tail I will ride.
You see, self preservation
is the politicians creed
If you don't get re-elected
Then you simply won't succeed.
No you just won't curry favour,
not with those anointed few
who carry all the power to
hand ministries to you
That's when you earn the big bucks
with your snout deep in the trough
of all those perks and benefits,
and though you clearly scoff,
there is method in my madness
for I aim, did I not mention,
for a posting as ambassador of
some exotic far off nation
or at very least, retire upon
a hefty pollie pension.

Copyright (c) Allan Cropper September 2015

[r.magnay]

...funny isn't it? how we all like to bag pollies but very few of us would like to be one...

I was only thinking about pollies and what we perceive to be their sloppy handling of the truth recently, I guess it is hard to answer a question put to you by an interviewer when they insist on a yes or no answer when there is no yes or no answer...seems the poor ol' pollies are damned if they do and damned if they don't!
I guess there are good ones and bad ones, but even that becomes just someones opinion...like you mate, I think I'll stick to baggin' them too!...

[Heather]

Another good one Allan.

Tony Abbott will miss out on his prime-ministerial pension because you have to be in the job two years to qualify and he missed out by two weeks.

Heather

[Cropduster]

Thanks Heather.

Do you think we should take up a collection for Tony?

[Cropduster]

Thanks Ross

I understand politicians are in a difficult situation and often need to break promises due to changing situations or to toe party lines.

I am over the hackneyed sound bytes that are repeated ad nauseum by politicians for fear of being caught out saying something wrong and put to the sword on social media.

I long for a statesman who I feel I can be proud of and who can represent us on the world stage without being cringe worthy.

It is not enough to be intelligent, nor to have your heart in the right place. You need to have the strength of character and confidence to stand up and clearly articulate what your party is doing and explain why.

[Bob Pacey]

Truth in every word Alan.



I liked the beat of the poem right up until those last few lines ?

did you miss some thing out ? the rhymes just go askew ?




Bob

[David Campbell]

Sadly, too true, Allan. Pollies are trained by PR hacks to handle the media, and the basic rule is to give a prepared answer no matter what question is asked.

That's apparently a furphy, Heather. Although it was widely reported at the time, it was wrong. Check out: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/ ... jv14d.html

He'll get about $300,000 a year, so a collection probably won't be necessary! (What's the pension for retired poets?)

Cheers
David

[Heather]

Thanks David. You mean you can't believe everything the press tell us?

My mother used to work for several politicians and from memory they had to serve two terms to receive a pension.

Heather

[Cropduster]

Thanks Bob

The last few lines were written on purpose to finish with a triplet of rhymes, be they not pure rhymes.

Something a little different to finish the poem with.