The 23rd Qualm

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Jul 12 2006, 02:50 PM) [snapback]285218[/snapback]</div>

Wonderful! Sad, but wonderful.

 

Just a little something I found when looking this up on the net....

March 06, 2006
Origin of “The 23rd Qualmâ€

Claim: a retired Methodist minister wrote the piece circulating in the blogosphere under the title “The 23rd Qualmâ€:

Bush is my shepherd; I dwell in want.
He maketh logs to be cut down in national forests.
He leadeth trucks into the still wilderness.
He restoreth my fears.
He leadeth me down paths of international disgrace
for his ego’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of pollution and war,
I will find no exit, for thou art in office.
Thy tax cuts for the rich and thy media control,
they discomfort me.
Thou preparest an agenda of deception in the presence of
thy religion.
Thou anointest my head with foreign oil.
My health insurance runneth out.
Surely megalomania and false patriotism shall follow me
all the days of thy term,
And my jobless child shall dwell in my basement
forever.

Status: false.

On March 26, 2004, the New Hampshire Gazette ran the earliest version I have found that ridiculed George W. Bush. It was a letter to the editor by liberal activist Brad Carr. The Gazette commented that the rant had been around since the Hoover years.

On the Organization of American Historians site a book review (by a high school student) backs up the NH Gazette’s claim. The book is The Depression and the New Deal: A History in Documents by Robert S. McElvaine, published in 2000. The review excerpts the “1932nd Psalmâ€:

Hoover is my shepherd, I am in want,
He maketh me to lie down on park benches,
He leadeth me by still factories,
He restoreth my doubt in the Republican Party…

Further, an archive of the Charlton County (GA) Herald shows that this newspaper printed the Hoover psalm in 1930 (search on that page for “new psalmâ€), explaining its origin with “one of our friends handed in this, which appealed to him, so we reprint it.†I found versions of the 23rd Qualm tailored to Roosevelt, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, and Clinton; but nothing for Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Ford, or George H. W. Bush. Here is one of the Reagan versions. Those for Nixon and Carter are quite similar.

Reagan is my shepherd. I shall not want.
He leadeth me beside the still factories.
He restoreth my doubt in the Republican Party
He guideth me to the path of Unemployment for the Party’s sake
I do not fear evil for thou art against me.
Thou Anointest my wages with freezes so that
my expenses runneth over my income.
Surely poverty and hard living shall follow the Republican Party
and I shall live in a Rented House forever.

By the time of Reagan, the political psalm had grown a tail. The versions I found aimed at Reagan, Carter, and Nixon all end with some variant of:
5000 years ago, Moses said, “Pack your camel, pick up your
shovel mount your nice person, and I shall lead you into the promised
land.â€

5000 years later… F.D.R. said, “Lay down your shovel,
sit on your nice person, and light up your Camel. This is the promised
land.â€

Today… [Nixon/Carter/Reagan] will tax your shovel, sell your
camel, kick your nice person, and tell you there is no promised land.

PS

I am glad I am an American… I am glad I am free
but I wish I were a doggie and [Nixon/Carter/Reagan] were a tree!

The earliest version I found to point at Bill Clinton was posted in December 1993 in a collection of humorous email maintained by a student at the University of Delaware. I found the Clinton version reposted in 1996 and 1999. Here is the 1996 variant:

Bill Clinton is my shepherd, whom I do not want.
He maketh many lies about green pastures.
He leadeth me beside the still factories.
He restoreth my doubt about the Democratic party.
He leadeth me in the paths of Socialism for his name’s sake
Yea, I will walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Debt
And I will fear much evil for he is with me
And Hillary Rodham and her staff they discomfort me
He preparest a tax hike for me
To give presents to mine enemies.
He anointest my wages with inflation so that my expenses
runneth over my income.
Surely proverty and hard times shall follow me
All the days of his administration,
And I will dwell in the rented HUD house forever.

After the 2004 appearance of a Bush variant of The 23rd Qualm, I found a couple of blog postings early in July 2005. And then on July 28 of that year, Arianna Huffington’s blog picked it up. After this exposure the meme took off. A Google search for “The 23rd Qualm†now lists 342 pages, and a search for “Bush is my shepherd†returns 9,560.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Jul 13 2006, 02:22 PM) [snapback]285815[/snapback]</div>

Well, if you read my post again, you will see that this is not MY claim either (that is why I said "just a little something I found on the web" ... I copied the entire passage from a page I found on the web. The claim comes from the person who posted it on the web...not from me. Just thought I would add what I found on the web on the subject.

Boy, you sure are quick to jump on people sometimes, even when they are not picking on you first! Time for another hug!

 

Of course, when Bush saw this he said "See! I have a divine mandate, I'm mentioned in the Bible!" (sigh)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Jul 13 2006, 03:08 PM) [snapback]285834[/snapback]</div>

I do not know what you are talking about! I was trying to help...not hurt you in anyway. I thought it was interesting that there were other 23rd Qualms listed. I thought you would find it interesting too. My mistake for not adding the link.

Oh, so you did not see the other line that was bolded that also says...

STATUS : FALSE

This was just meant to reaffirm what you had written that the author was unknown...and that others had made claims in the past to the author, but no one actually knows the author.

Please, please do not take offense when none was intended. I valued your post and thought my post added value, and was not meant to take away from yours.

 

Oh NO!!

MrsSmith95, what will you do with yourself now that you're on isrameriprius ignore list?

No one can cope with that... hahah.. What a joke...



The guy is funny.. Hear something you don't like, block the source. Pretty soon, he's wrapped up in his pathetic cocoon of himself and the one or two people who agree with everything he says. What a nice way to go through life... oblivious...

More power to him, and I'm sure he won't see this because I'd have to have been ignored by him long ago.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Jul 12 2006, 02:50 PM) [snapback]285218[/snapback]</div>

But in your heart, you know 'W' is right B) B)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Jul 13 2006, 03:08 PM) [snapback]285834[/snapback]</div>

Please SSaA!

May I have another

Add me to that list too

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daronspicher @ Jul 14 2006, 11:13 AM) [snapback]286231[/snapback]</div>

That's probably true, but there's some siutations you can't ignore a person. I tried to ignore myself, but I couldn't because apparently I'm in the same group as myself...Danny could explain that I'm sure, but I didn't really get it. Unfortunately now I have to read what I wrote - what if I change my mind? I don't want to influence my future self with dangerous radical ideas!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daronspicher @ Jul 14 2006, 09:13 AM) [snapback]286231[/snapback]</div>

It's just too bad...because he totally misunderstood my intentions. I was trying to agree with him that the author was unknown and posted that to show that others had done research and still could not find the author. I thought that the other versions were funny too and thought he would get a kick out of them.

Instead he thinks I was trying to prove him wrong! Why would I pick a fight for no reason over something like whether an author existed. This was meant to be a light subject that people could get a laugh over...and now...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(wstander @ Jul 14 2006, 09:25 AM) [snapback]286234[/snapback]</div>

By the way...here is the link requested and accidentally left out of my original post

Origin of the Qualm