backlash

The SinglePlayer plan she swore was dead
is back, now Hillary is off the scene
'cause Congress, 'though it's  uniformly Red
rejects the plan that Trump concedes is mean.
The Gilded Age that sounds good to the Kochs
when life was cheap, and contracts unconstrained
has scant appeal for ordinary folks
where thousand suffer for each fortune gained.
This plan designed to fail, based on known facts
would throw twenty-four million in the ditch
to spare the One Percent from paying tax
ensures Insurance CEOs stay rich.
A nation waking up to Donald's lies,
will have to learn again to unionize

second time as farce

With passing time, it's clear that Donald's dim
but trusts that we won't notice what he can't
so confidant the rules are not for him
but if we balk, he'll bluster, lie, and rant.
His fans evince no interest in news
nor  that the healthcare plan he backs is mean.
They're tired of oratory from Ted Cruz,
but now, he drove his golfcart on the green!
Is nothing sacred? Can't he show some class?
Some immigrant must seed and groom his track.
Another Dangerfield's the braying ass
as Washington's remaking Caddyshack.
A tragic hero must soar high to fall
but Trump's the basest jackass yet of all

Ichthy!

Had Greenlanders, like normal Norse, caught cod
they'd have occasion to give mighty thanks
to their new Christian Savior and God
for guiding their longships to the GrandBanks
the Portuguese fed Europe on salt fish
but only came ashore to dry their haul
no rival learned where they became so rich
until Columbus showed us where to trawl
Leif Erikson's odd dietary quirk
left North American for French and Brits
phlegmatic colonists, so not berserk
laid low the skaelings with disease and wits
strange petulance, a toddler's attitude
to starve where waters teemed with so much food

out of touch

our "representatives" hide from Townhalls
unwilling to confront what they would find
this year's Republicans don't have the balls
to legislate what's on the voters' mind
Paul Ryan's gotta know that Trump's no friend
his Party loyalty's not worth two cents
this Speaker's term is grinding to an end
if he can't swap this Bozo for Mike Pence
while Trump does Bannon's will, the People seethes
and culmination's not far down the road
the flux of lies each time the Donald breathes
the mid-term's primed and poised to just explode.
While Mueller sifts the WhiteHouse for what's true
we mobilize to paint both Houses Blue

politicized

Directors Coats and Comey document
the meetings in which Trump sought to obstruct
investigation of our president;
in any proper court, he would be fucked.
Still, for impeachment, there still looms a flaw;
Paul Ryan smilingly says there's no crime.
Crass politics intrudes on rule of law;
no just result can be had at this time.
Until the mid-terms, Congress looks all Red;
Paul Ryan holds the gavel, and the reins.
The force that should constrain him is in bed
with Donald, and it does not feel our pains.
To take back power from the venal few,
2018 must swing Congress Blue.

Warmbier

when Dennis Rodman's Kim Jong Un's state guest
the banquets would turn the most jaded head
imported delicassies! Fresh! The best!
the centerpiece is comatose, not dead
a Useful Idiot without a peer
whose name insures attention on the news
he'll toast his host and match him beer for beer
but graciously make sure that Kim can't lose
distracting from a planet on the brink
his spectacle could tune world tensions down
the Trumpsters love a circus and don't think
Korea's runner-up for "scary clown"
three narcissistic children share the stage
no one of whom behaves like half his age

walks in the wood

the senator from WallStreet sneers at blame
Trump's Russian patron stole the race she'd bought
this cycle, she bore the dynastic name
and those "Progressives" just seem over-wrought
and so, she drinks, and ambles through the trees
while grooming Chelsea for a grand debut
a Senate stint might build some cred and she's
inured to stoop if she must pay such dues
the Clinton dynasty has run its course
Bill's merit doesn't privilege his clan
no royal road can circumvent the source
no princeling's better than another man
we tossed king George and overturned his throne
what fool would kneel before one of our own??

October Surprise

directors Coats and Comey testified:
the president attempted to suborn
investigations of why Flynn had lied
in violation of the Logan norm.
Obama's sanctions needed time to bite
'til Russian gold reserves were nearly spent
but Trump claims not to know it wasn't right
to masquerade like he were president.
Our Chief Executive is always one
the president-elect must bide his time
until inauguration's sworn and done
to play the diplomat must be a crime.
Like Nixon's, Reagan's team sprung a surprise
but--unlike Trump's--they knew which parts were lies

refusal to answer

Director Coats refused a straight reply
when asked if Trump impeded Comey's task
too cagey under oath to flatly lie
but dodging what the Senate had to ask
behind closed doors, more secrets might unspool
to inculpate Mike Flynn and many more
but Burr's committee won't be made the fool
and odds they'll let this drop are nil-to-poor
a "no" would be seen to exonerate
the president we're told tried to obstruct
investigations into Russiagate
but Flynn points back at him, and both are fucked
Trump's dalliance with Putin won't end well
our whole republic might be shot to Hell

after Salman

bin-Salman's resume's too thin and short
to justify succession to the throne
a hundred older cousins at the court
have references lined up of their own
the Yemen quagmire can't produce a win
Farouk got toppled while he mucked about
it's easy shipping foreign armies in
but Hell's to pay to bring live soldiers out
to mess with Qatar risks new Arab splits
demolishing what Nasser had begun
the Umma fragmented to feuding bits
and evidence is scant that he's the one
his generation's never worn the crown
but this first trial balloon is going down

custodian

Yates warned Mike Pence that Flynn'd been compromised
our secrets weren't safe with such a man
yet weeks went by, and Trump claimed he's surprised
to learn that Putin knows what's in his hand
with Clapper, she's been called to testify
on secrets spilled to Sergei Kislyak
she came to tell the truth; he came to lie
about why Flynn'd been given--twice--the sack
how many Special Counsels will we need
to prosecute a swamp filled with Trump's kin
whose fam'ly ethics start and end with greed
to whom gross nepotism is no sin
the DoJ's stripped of Loretta Lynch
but Sally Yates could rock it, in a pinch

2018

this cycle, eight contested seats are Red
a third of what the Democrats defend
McConnell's lodged it in his turtle head
that he could be Trump's savior, and friend
incumbents have the edge--unless they're Cruz
name-recognition's worth a mint alone
this Texas Senate seat is Ted's to lose
an asshole loathed the most where he's best known
an uphill fight, to trade Trump in for Pence
who thinks Creation's not that long ago
but weighed against Trump's gross incompetence
that's not the most germane stuff to not know
the world's aghast at what this fool might do
before both Houses can be painted Blue

Foreign Emolument

Trump curtsied prettily to the Emir
defying protocol of what one ought
as if this parvenue could be a peer
and aristocracy's so cheaply bought
our allies wince to think that Riyadh's whore
could use our globe-encircling armament
to profit bigly from a baseless war
morality just bores this president
the wisest can't anticipate what's next
no principle, no policy, no creed
lends continuity to his next text
the only constant theme's his endless greed
the Saudis yoke his neck with gold and jewels
a trifling price to buy this prince of fools