The American PMQs...in verse

John McCain's suggestion that Congress hold a PMQs equivalent has attracted attention on both sides of the pond. Comment Central wrote first about what exactly McCain should expect.

Now Christopher Hitchens joins the fray, citing the many politicians petrified by the thought of question time. He points towards Hillaire Belloc's beloved Lord Lundy poem. McCain may be a famously tough war veteran but could this happen to him?

It happened to Lord Lundy then,
As happens to so many men:
Towards the age of twenty-six,
They shoved him into politics;
In which profession he commanded
The Income that his rank demanded
In turn as Secretary for
India, the Colonies, and War.
But very soon his friends began
To doubt is he were quite the man:
Thus if a member rose to say
(As members do from day to day),
"Arising out of that reply . . .!"
Lord Lundy would begin to cry.
A Hint at harmless little jobs
Would shake him with convulsive sobs.
While as for Revelations, these
Would simply bring him to his knees,
And leave him whimpering like a child.
It drove his colleagues raving wild!