Sunday, January 20, 2008

Chuck Rosenthal Haiku Contest

As the media snowball continues to roll forward regarding Harris DA Chuck Rosenthal's indiscretions, part of me wants to cover the blow by blow, but Kuff is doing a great job at that. So let's for once take a somewhat lighter approach.

Why don't we hold a Haiku contest (that's a Japanese poem with a 5-7-5 syllabic structure)? Here are a couple I came up with this morning:
Chuck Rosenthal can't
blame anyone but himself
for losing his job.
Or,
The DA's mistress
gets a cushy job
and a county car.
I'll choose the best ones and highlight one per week in Grits' sidebar.

Give it a shot - it's a fun little diversion. Leave your submission in the comments, via email, or post it on your own blog and send me a link.

35 comments:

  1. Any man who thinks
    His job puts him above crime
    Should live by his thoughts.

    ReplyDelete
  2. There once was a DA named Chuck
    Who finally ran out of luck
    When his emails disclosed
    Racist views he did hold
    And his secretary he f**ked.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Chucky, Chucky, Chuck
    You have mucky, muckied up
    Spectacularly

    ReplyDelete
  4. I can't put this in haiku 5/7/5 form but maybe someone else can. Here it is in lower caps, like chuck's self esteem...low, low, low

    i've known chuckie for some 27 years

    i always put off his bad attitude towards police, defense attorneys, crime victims and even other prosecutors to arrogance

    but after reading his lovelorn emails, i now know it was insecurity and not arrogance

    as mike deguerin once said, if you're riding with chuck in an elevator and having a conversation, you're talking to yourself.

    the citizens were paying you, chuck, to fight crime, not to have you spreading your sad pathetic personal life all over the emails.

    have you ever heard of tampering with evidence or interefering in a federal investigation

    ReplyDelete
  5. Blood flows south from brain
    Organ sounds humectant note
    Dark bile rules supreme

    ReplyDelete
  6. There once was a da named chuck
    most people thought he sucked
    he ran out of luck
    with his emails amuck
    and then he refused all comment and refused to resign

    In case no one has figured it out, the reason chuck hasn't resigned has nothing to do with pride, or not being run off, but that Harris County is {for now} paying the bills for his private lawyers in Federal Court. If indicted for obstructing at the Federal level, Chuck will seek to have Harris County pay for his criminal lawyer bills as well.

    Who do you think Chuck will hire if indicted?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Me! Me! Hire Me! Put me in, Coach!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'll take a stab 9:59:

    Arrogance never
    Substitutes for confidence
    Nor competence, sir.

    Ride with Chuck on a
    Lonely elevator ride
    To ignominy.

    Let me kiss your ear,
    Chuck wrote, you know fighting crime
    Always turns me on.

    :) Great post, great idea - Nobody deserves it more! Keep 'em coming, folks!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Predators he gave
    deferred adjudication
    None now Rosenthal

    ReplyDelete
  10. Years of hidden pleas
    Then a few sordid emails
    Now they want sunlight?

    ReplyDelete
  11. We are all guilty
    for electing hypocrites
    to public office.

    Chuck is a bigger
    hypocrite than George W. Bush
    and Rick Perry combined.

    ReplyDelete
  12. OK, I'll give it a try. I posted my entry over at my blog, titled Ode to Chuckie.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ready to pound them
    Wherever he found them
    Men black and brown
    For Chuck, white was fine too
    The longer the better
    Now or never

    ReplyDelete
  14. At his own office
    Chucky can find the restrooms
    But can't be trusted.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Mr. Rosenthal
    Your racist emails bring shame
    To the dream of King

    ReplyDelete
  16. Chuck, you should resign
    Oh your e-mails we did find
    You racist bastard

    ReplyDelete
  17. Via email:

    Chuck Rosenthal acts
    Like the scandal's no big deal
    How the mighty fall!

    A new DA's what
    Houston needs because the old
    DA's grave misdeeds

    ReplyDelete
  18. long time assistant
    supreme court justice
    he screws then screws us

    ReplyDelete
  19. Houston politics
    has always smelled like a fish
    old, and yet the same.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Honestly, people, HAIKUS only!!!

    5 syllables
    7 syllables
    5 syllables

    If you don't know what a syllable is, then you shouldn't be commenting; in fact, you shouldn't be at a keyboard at all.

    At least the limerick guy knew what he was doing (although he's also a syllable short in line 5). That's the funniest one so far!

    Signed,
    The Poem Police

    ReplyDelete
  21. Okay, anyone posting as "The Poem Police" need to write us one!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Bravo Grits! Let's hear one from The Poem Police!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Stuck with Chuck
    As Bexar is with Bill
    It just Sucks

    ReplyDelete
  24. Ear kissing does not
    violate standard office
    decorum, Chuck says

    Kelly Siegler is
    just another grandstanding
    Chuck Rosenthal clone

    ReplyDelete
  25. Why do you think there have been no posts or other mention about this entire scandal on the tdcaa website forum? Surely a matter such as all that envelopes chucky and crew right now is a topic worthy of discussion for the da's?

    Racism, sexism, discriminatory jury selection practices, campaigning on county time...wonder why Shannon and co at the da forum are not tackling these issues head first?

    Maybe it's because the tdcaa is a little too involved with chucky and his emails. There are emails from chuck et al to the tdcaa powers that be (Shannon Edmonds, Rob Kepple) disussing such relevant prosecutorial matters as:

    1. that chuck should show up at Sen John Whitmire's fundraiser last fall with a camera and take pics of everyone in attendance

    2. about how chuck despises Ronnie Earle and was upset that the tdcaa was behind some effort to foster support for Earle and his political prosecutions.

    Was tdcaa engaging in political actions? Is this what they are supposed to do? Most importantly, in the emails released between former DA Holmes and Chucky, Holmes makes reference to "the brasos river rouge" (error in original). Is this the DA of brazos county who is now the president of the tdcaa who Holmes is disparaging? Who is the Brazos River Rouge? Or did Holmes mean Rogue?

    In the released emails, Holmes says he threatened to quit the tdcaa if they backed earle. It is implied that the backing earle sought was regarding the Delay case.

    It's nice to know the powers that be in the TDCAA are so chummy with chuck, the leader of the one office who is singlehandedly destroying the reputation of prosecutors throughout the country, particularly those who prosecute death penalty cases.

    So what is the deal with the tdcaa? Why are they so chummy with chuck, who was their prosecutor of the year in 2007? Why are they discussing political matters as a part of their job? Aren't they funded by the CCA? Aren't they supposed to be a support organization for the line prosecutors in the state, instead of being a political lackey for one da who is arguably the worst Texas DA EVER and who certainly has his own issues with email destruction.

    How about a discussion of why it is bad to assassinate the character of the members of the largest church in america during voir dire? How about a discussion of why secret code words for blacks are bad?

    Final question: If a defense attorney in Harris County destroyed personal emails that chuck's office had somehow subpoenaed into court or to a grand jury, would the DA's office have tried to charge that defense attorney with Tampering with Evidence?

    You bet. Why should chuck be dealt with any different?

    Thanks chuck. You've set back prosecution at least 50 years in the State of Texas. Go give your assistant another raise, before she smartens up and sues you for ruining her life.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Chuck will go to Court
    Things may not go so well dude
    lots of luck, up Chuck.

    Carnage is growing
    I wonder, is it over?
    More to come I think.

    ReplyDelete
  27. What a great fun idea, Scott!

    Mister Rosenthal,
    we are all so enjoying
    your publicized fall!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Just more proof that God gave some men only enough blood to supply one head. Too bad Chucky Boy chose the lower of the two.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Chucky bought a Dell
    It put him in the dog house
    But I'll never tell!

    ReplyDelete
  30. What will he do next?
    Emails? Kissing? Affairs? Texts?
    Chucky's worst is next.

    Pinpoint

    ReplyDelete
  31. Holmes passed him the throne
    Mustache to mustache we groaned
    Next time Chuck, use phones.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Chuck’s awful career
    gets a lethal injection:
    Drugs made him do it.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Dear Grits:

    Here are some haiku about ex-DA Rosenthal:

    Resigning his post,
    Prosecutor exudes fear,
    Like those he condemned.

    Soft skin on keyboard
    Taps private love notes to her;
    Memory betrays.

    Some men overdose
    On fried chicken and melon,
    Others on hubris.

    Supreme Court case thrown,
    He heads home to watch footage
    of women disrobed.

    White, conservative,
    Jurors are peers to a few
    And condemn the rest.

    Bests,
    Elizabeth

    ReplyDelete
  34. This is Chuck on drugs
    Hope Chuck goes to prison soon
    Not holding my breath

    ReplyDelete
  35. Hoo-rah, fiddle dee!
    Down the 'ol drain goes Chucky
    Who will fill his seat?

    ReplyDelete