On Hiatus

I have not been diligent in writing for this blog;

Used to do a lot of rhymes but it became a slog.

It's no fun to rhyme about what's going on out there.

America is in a crisis...  I am in despair.

I'd thought Donald Trump an aberration - just a fluke -

Now I see he isn't, and that makes we want to puke.

He attacks the very things that made this country great;

Demonizing every Democratic candidate.

His base loves him for it; they adore his Twitter rants...

Echoing his ugly sentiments in racist chants.

Maybe Trump's just cynical and it's his strategy

But the fact it's working for him is depressing me.

I feel like a dummy 'cause I never understood

How it is that people, even in my neighborhood,

Here, in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, are supporting Trump...

My faith in humanity has gone into a slump.

'though I've tried, repeatedly, to see the other side;

Put aside how often his Administration's lied,

Watched a lot of FOX and Friends for what they had to say,

I found myself overwhelmed...  I've had to step away.

Go Vote!

 

I'll be glued to coverage of the returns tonight,

Hoping that the country will impose some oversight

On a President who's been behaving like a troll.

This mid-term election is about our country's soul.

Here it is...  November 6th, and I've already voted.

Turnout was much higher than I've previously noted:

Younger voters who don't normally participate,

Brand new voters at the polls deciding their own fate.

It's unprecedented in a mid-term that we see

Hordes of people taking part in their democracy.

Pollsters are reluctant to predict the tighter races

Because lines are out the door at many polling places.

Hopefully this indicates a Democratic wave;

Citizens who feel this country's worth the fight to save

From the demagoguery we've been subjected to.

It's a referendum on what is and isn't true.

Shakespeare Revisited

 

"Something's rotten in the State of Denmark," Shakespeare said...

Then, in just a few short acts, the whole damn cast is dead.

As our current tragedy unfolds - the play undone -

I'm afraid our State will end up like that other one.

Men and women merely players; all the world a stage.

Our mad king's soliloquies are on his Twitter page.

Something isn't only rotten here...  It stinks like hell.

Alas for our democracy.  I thought I knew it well.

Methinks I doth smell a rat.  Its name is Donald Trump;

An Othello with the intellect of Forrest Gump.

In this comic tragedy we're in, perhaps it's best

If a flight of federal agents sing him to his rest.

The Free Press - Front-line Soldiers in the Culture War

 

If you've read my rhymes before than you are well aware

I'm concerned the fabric of our nation's gonna tear.

We're divided into camps who cannot get along;

Each of us convinced the other side has got it wrong.

We can't even seem to all agree on basic facts;

True or false depends on how the president reacts

Which depends on how his friends on FOX report their "news"

Based on some conspiracy as asinine as Q's.

Donald Trump continues to attack the 4th Estate,

Saying they're the reason why America's not great.

He's called them "disgusting...traitors." Claims reports are "fake"

Anytime he doesn't like the news, for heaven's sake!

What about the evidence out there for all to see?

What about objective truth or plain reality?

Hard to spin the cold, hard facts ('though Giuliani tries)

Can't ignore that Donald Trump is telling voters lies.

Yet, somehow, the president has managed to convince

His supporters they should not believe reporters, since

They're all out to get him with their slanderous attack

And he needs true blue Americans to have his back.

So, they all fall in to line and truth's a casualty

In this culture war Trump's launched against a press that's free.

Journalists are patriots.  They're holding down the fort.

They deserve our gratitude and have my full support.

I Can't Look

I'm afraid to look and see what Michael Cohen's tape

Causes Donald Trump to tweet about his latest scrape

With the law...  I wonder if he'll tweet it all in CAPS?

Or, if he will start a war the next time that he snaps.

Or, is this new scandal meant to cover up his last?

And, which one was that, exactly?  They go by so fast.

Were we still on Putin?  Hell...  I'll have to check my list;

It's the one with reasons I continue to #RESIST.

It's a pretty lengthy list and, 'though I've written small,

I've required several pages just to hold it all.

Guess my list is not the same as those inside Trump's camp.

If it were, then they - like me - would all have writer's cramp.

What's Happening? Part 3

Donald Trump did everything except bestow a smooch

Right on Putin's Russian ass - completely screwed the pooch.

Dancing like a puppet to the tune that Russia sings...

Makes me wonder why Trump's letting Putin pull his strings.

Trump said that he couldn't understand why Russia would

Meddle in U.S. elections and that Mueller should

End the witch hunt... Never mind that everyone agrees

Presidents leave politics behind when overseas.

Presidents don't disregard the briefings from their staff,

Don't ignore indictments, then explain it as a gaff.

They trust their intelligence reports and don't agree

With the word of former members of the KGB. 

I don't know what's happening or how we reassure

NATO allies in the region, but one thing's for sure

Putin got the guy he wanted - Trump as president -

And he's proving more than worth the rubles Russia spent.

The Celebrity President

 

I don't watch Big Brother; I don't watch The Bachelorette.

There are no Real Housewives fighting on my TV set.

I can't stand the kind of shows they call "reality."

I don't find them entertaining; not my cup of tea.

I do not like any shows where judges make a choice -

If someone is talented, can dance, or has a voice.

Not the target audience at which the Networks aim;

I don't want to see somebody's dreams go down in flame.

It's the kind of TV genre that the president

Loves the way that he loves FOX & Friends, because he spent

Years when his own program, The Apprentice, was the rage.

Sadly, he has brought this genre to a larger stage.

Tune in for his big reveal, tonight at 9 PM,

When Trump names his SCOTUS pick; his second one of them.

'though I'm a Survivor, I feel Naked and Afraid...

Sure that I'm not gonna like whatever choice he's made.

Choosing Sides in the Culture War

 

I am almost 60 now, but I have never seen

Anything like this before; the differences between

Those who like the way that Donald Trump has done his job

And the folks, like me, who look at him and want to sob.

'though I've tried, I cannot understand the people who

Still believe the president says anything that's true.

Any time his lips are moving or he's typing tweets

He lies (or insults the global leaders whom he meets.)

I find that disqualifying; Trump supporters cheer.

Think "elites" are only weeping in our craft-brewed beer.

Claiming "incivility" when someone argues back,

Screaming there's a "culture war" and they're under attack.

I can't see how they feel threatened; aren't they the ones

Who hold all the power now (and almost all the guns)?

I can't wrap my head around it, though I've really tried...

Last time that I thought too hard about it all, I cried.

The SCOTUS Blues

Funny (I mean funny "strange" and not the "ha ha" kind)

How fast Mitch McConnell can completely change his mind

About how elections matter when you choose a judge...

I can understand why Democrats may hold a grudge.

Donald Trump will get to pick his second nominee

For a seat on SCOTUS. They're a lifetime appointee;

Meaning that for 30 years or more the court will lean

To the right as it's deciding what our laws should mean.

I guess I cannot be shocked by this hypocrisy;

Just one more of many wounds to our democracy.

Maybe it's the weather for, although I should be mad,

I can barely muster up the energy for sad.

TDS - Getting Sicker by the Day

"You've got Trump Derangement Syndrome," diagnosed my son...

I'm afraid he's right because I tend to come undone

Anytime I hear what else our current president

Said (while his supporters claim "that wasn't what he meant.")

With this new, post-factual environment we're in

I'm becoming deafened by the ever present din

From the White House... Now I've got a ringing in my ears,

My blood pressure's through the roof. I'm frequently in tears.

I am prone to bouts of screaming when I watch the news;

My head spins at diametrically opposing views,

And I'm having trouble seeing how we fix this mess...

Crap! On top of Seussilitis, I've got TDS. 

FLOTUS on a Mission

 

"I really don't care. Do U?" Melania's coat read.

Wonder what was going through the First Lady's staff's head.

That is not the message that I'd think they'd want to send.

Even if the White House doesn't care, can't they pretend?

Donald Trump claims she was just expressing her disdain

For the "main-stream media" and not for children's pain.

That strikes me as just another presidential lie...

I don't trust a word he says but, if not that, then why?

Why on earth would anyone emblazon such a phrase

On their back? Their lack of sense continues to amaze.

That's the kind of thing I'd be expecting from a troll.

Never thought I'd live to see the FLOTUS in that role.

Suffer the Little Children...

(Photo courtesy of The Washington Post)

I've been hearing Donald Trump's supporters justify

Tearing little children from their parents when they try

Crossing at the U.S. border, hoping to obtain

Safety and asylum here...  They're making me insane.

How dare they start spouting scripture at me? In God's name

Have these so called "Christian people" got so little shame

That they'd countenance the use of children to advance

Funding for a border wall?  That seems to be their stance.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump keeps lying; blaming Democrats

And his friends on FOX have claimed the whiny, little brats,

Torn away from parents' arms are "acting" when they cry.

Is there nothing sacred to the folks who back this guy?

Even Tom Clancy Couldn't Make This Sh!t Up

 

Donald Trump's a thin-skinned bully who can dish it out

But can't take it; no clue what diplomacy's about.

He's attacking NATO and G7 (make that 6)

Allied nations - while excusing Russia's dirty tricks.

Trump's a raging bull inside a global China shop.

Now we're only waiting for the other shoe to drop.

He's flown off to meet with North Korea's Kim Jong-un...

Gee! What could go wrong with that?  I guess we'll find out soon.

Welcome to the new world order, a la Donald Trump;

One where the United States drops trou' and takes a dump

On the countries which have had our back for all these years.

Trump's A Clear and Present Danger - Sum of my worst fears.

Arming Sister Margaret!

If the GOP agrees to sticking out their necks:

Call for comprehensive, universal background checks,

Give police authority to take somebody's gun,

Raise the legal age to purchase them to 21,

I think we should let the teachers in a school decide

If they want to have a loaded pistol by their side...

If they did - and if they're trained on how to use their guns -

I'm prepared to compromise and let them arm the nuns.

(Sister Margaret was armed... She had her rosary.

She'd begin to swing those beads when she was mad at me.

With that heavy, metal cross that dangled from the end

She was not a woman you would argue with, my friend.)

'though, not everyone is Sister Margaret - Thank God! -

My sons had two State cops coach their Varsity Wrestling squad;

I'd trust guys like them with guns if they brought them to school.

I would make that bargain any day...  I'm not a fool.

If the President's sincere and starts to back away

From positions long supported by the NRA

I think that he'd see his polls dramatically increase.

He would have my full support...  Will wonders never cease?

Resistance Is Still Futile

 

I agree with Donald Trump. 'though, normally, I'd scoff;

I think that the Russians must still laugh their asses off,

Gleeful that the couple million rubles that they spent

Bought them such a "useful idiot" for President.

One who won't impose the sanctions that the Congress passed.

One whose foreign policy decisions are half-assed.

One with a well-documented tendency to lie.

One who doesn't trust his NSA or FBI.

They had so much fun the last time that they're back at work;

On-line trolls pretending they're an ordinary jerk.

Then their "bots" start amplifying those extremist views -

Spreading their conspiracies, supported by fake news.

It is kinda funny - in a tragic sorta way;

I've been doing Putin's job for him (without the pay)

Each and every time that I start kicking up a fuss...

That is worth a couple laughs, except the joke's on us.

President Trump is NOT an A$$hole

 

Can't believe this weekend's spew of tweets from Donald Trump

Down at Mar-a-Lago, where he took a Twitter dump

On the F.B.I. for not preventing Cruz's crime...

God help me if I hear "NO COLLUSION" one more time.

Methinks that he "doth protest too much;" a sign of guilt.

He gets caught red handed, but denies it to the hilt.

Keeps on lying and, when he suspects he's losing ground,

Talks crap about everyone and spreads the blame around.

I would call the President an asshole were it not

For the fact he lacks the warmth and depth that those have got.

There are some resemblances; they both are full of shit

And, sometimes, you can't believe what's coming out of it.