Millions of dollars in taxpayer funding allocated for the Cowboy Poetry festival sparked off a riot reminiscent of Madison Wisconsin recently. Pastoral poets and haiku writers exhibited their anger, despair, and woe that cowboy poets received federal funding while they receive none.
Last month Harry Reid defended borrowing from China in order to fund the cowboy poetry festival.
Maxmillian Shelley, chair of Pastoral Poets for The Government Shining Love Upon us Like the Sun, said he didn’t understand why Cowboy poets were being funded while pastoral poets were all but ignored by society at large and received little or no taxpayer funding. “We sing like melodious birds and ponder the stream of funding washing past us,” he said. “And we weep.”
The haiku writers also were outraged over the snub and said that with all Japan has gone through recently this snub of haiku writers was especially deplorable.
During the riot, the pastoral poets stormed the outside of the building chanting derogatory yet fancy slogans about the cowboy poets even blocking the entrance at one point which turned out to be a big mistake as the cowboy poets manhandled the pastorals handily and threw them from the entrance. And then the pastoral poets wept. Again.
Despite America facing bankruptcy, the pastoral poets and haiku writers intend to demand taxpayer funding in coming years. With such a glaring need, many Democrats are expected champion their cause and push for federal funding. Republicans say they would be outraged if they’re funded but admitted they would likely back down if anyone called the mean or accused them of being stingy.
(Happy April 1st)
April 1, 2011 at 3:44 am
LOL! That was a good April Fools joke.
April 1, 2011 at 1:37 pm
Cowboy Poets.
Broeback Mountain.
Dirty Harry.
Ahhh. Liberal elite.
April 1, 2011 at 2:56 pm
Didn't people used to write poetry because they liked writing poetry, and not because somebody was funding them?
Can I get funding for my hikes in the Smokies? I'm sure I can think of some culturally significant dodge to act as a money drain: "In the Footsteps of the Southern Highlanders: an Ambulatory Expression of Appalachian Folkways." I could even write poems about it, too! That ought to be worth a couple or three thousand of somebody else's bucks!
"Cowboy poets" . . . balletic policemen aestheically sensitive Marines . . . no doubt such entities exist–and why not? But why should I foot the bill for their hobbies, or to bolster their self-esteem?
Self-esteem-power is a very inefficient source of energy, and has to be constantly renewed. It's worse than the battery in a cordless phone!
–Anthony Nonymous