Posted on 04/09/2003 8:57:42 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson
The Outlook wasn't brilliant for the Fedayein that day:
The loyal Baathists lay in heaps, with but one inning more to play.
Then “Chemical Ali” ate a JDAM; Oudai did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the tyrants of that game.
A straggling few got up to run away in deep chagrin;
The rest Clung to that hope which springs like venom
That cruel tyrant’s craw within;
They thought, if only Saddam could get but “one more chance” -
The French and Germans would butt in, and once more he might win.
But a B-1 paid a visit , as did also “Buff”-a-roo,
And the former laid his whacks on and the latter thundered too;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance of Saddam's getting up to bat.
But Blix was blinder than a bat, and the UN did appease, And Jaques Chiraq, the Franco hack, sat eating mouldy cheese.
And when debate went on and on, and Politicians blurred,
There was Kofi safe at second and Schroeder hugging third.
Then from the Arab Street and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the desert, it rattled down in Hell;
It knocked upon the camel’s flanks and recoiled within the cave;
For Saddam would crush the Shi’ite’s hopes, his iron rule to save.
There was arrogance is Saddam;s glare, as he threatened and he swore;
Vile hatered burned in his cigar, murder oozing from each pore...
But to this tyrant’s clear dismay, World Leaders of the Free
They kept their word, took up the sword, led on for Liberty!
Now precious blood upon the sand, consecrates hallowed ground;
From Patriots Kurdish, Brit and Yank, mingled can be found;
To water and to nourish a cherished sapling there to see;
Transplanted as a sacred trust; their own tree of Liberty.
And back to them who rule by fire; fire on them poured.
On those who cut down hopes and dreams;
on them was raised the sword;
And when the fearfull lightning of “Shockanaw” rained down;
Where was Saddam the Terrible?
Why... ; Nowhere to be found!
"Fraud!" cried the maddened Jihadists, and echoed all around;
But Al Jazeira assured them; “He’s just hiding underground!”
They saw his face on jerky tapes, they heard his defiant brags;
But his once-proud Armies bust and burned, or put up their white flags.
And when into a Tavern word was out he might have stole;
The “Spirit” visited again, and it’s now a smoking hole.
Then in a strange, tense silence down the Streets of Baghdad stare -
Rumble U.S. Marines victorious, right into “Paradise Square”!
The cheers go up from Baghdad’s Streets as the tanks like thunder roll;
And young Marines dismount, take positions and patrol
A collective sigh of relief from Reporters milling ‘round -
But Liberated Iraqis cry for one more thing;
Mighty Saddam must come down!
Hundreds swarm into the square that day, from ‘neath oppresion’s thumb;
To the idol of a monstor, who at last his time had come;
Their pent-up anquish and despair at last would find release;
Long stifled hope would rise again, for decency and Peace!
Then to the fore of the new-freed mob, steps up a swarthy swain;
Whose mighty muscles bands of slavery no more can restrain;
Climbing up the marble pedestal with comrades resolute;
No more to let Saddam’s proud form their land again pollute.
Around the idol’s neck is hung long delayed Justice’s noose;
As chains of shame and terror at last from their necks are loosed.
Then springs back down to the base once more of Saddam’s marble stand -
None o’re but mighty “BLUTO” - with a hammer in his hand!
The crowd steps back - he takes a whack; see how the shards do fly!?
Another blow, for friends laid low - is that a tear within his eye?
With rage repressed in a strong man’s breast long years now strike again;
That Children of Iraq might never have to know your pain.
Now praises ring off a fallen King; the people dance and shout;
And flog him with their sandals, as if to beat the evil out.
But where is mighty “Bluto” ? Only rumors they explain;
He’s downtown burning posters of that devil, Saddam Hussein!
Oh, somewhere in ancient favored land the sun is shining bright;
The Children smile and sing again, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere Women shout;
And there’s joy again in Baghdad; Mighty Saddam has struck out!
So tryants of the World take note, and mind your treachery;
Lest fate befall when Justice calls the mighty and the Free!
For those oppressed, anquished, distressed might from your dungeons spring;
When “Bluto” swings his hammer; can’t you hear sweet Freedom ring?
Based on the poem “Casey At The Bat” by “Phin" (Ernest L. Thayer) 1888
Edited / corrupted by “Uncle Jaque” April 10, 2003
Image of “Casey” USPS Stamp: http://www.nocryinginbaseball.com/Casey/Casey.gif Images of “Bluto” at the statue base: http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030409/capt.1049920541.iraq_u s_war_xjd128.jpg http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030409/capt.1049
My favorite lines:
Then springs back down to the base once more of Saddam's marble stand
None o'er but mighty "BLUTO" -- with a hammer in his hand!
The crowd steps back -- he takes a whack -- see how the shards do fly!
Another blow, for friends laid low -- is that a tear within his eye?
With rage repressed in a strong man's breast long years now strike again. . . .
When "Bluto" swings his hammer, can't you hear sweet Freedom ring?
...I'd Hammer in the Evenin'
All over this La-and;
I'd Hammer out a DANGER (to Syria);
I'd hammer out a WAR-AR-NING (to North Korea);
I'd hammer out a - LOVE between
My Brothers and my Sisters (We could ALL use more of that!)
A-Alll o-ver this Land!"
No one EVER tosses a Dwarf!
. . .I'd hammer in the evening,
All over this la-aaaand ! 
Ernest Lawrence Thayer is fluttering his wings in Elysium on your behalf - and cheering in his "dulcet Harvard whisper like a caterpillar in galoshes crawling on a velvet carpet".
(That's a comment from the "King of Casey", William DeWolff Hopper, the singer/actor who made "Casey" famous, on Thayer's attempted recitation of the poem.) I'm sure he's cheering too!
Not funny I realize, but when my hubby first saw this guy his first reaction was that was his former job. Ya' never know.
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