concern trolling

Conservatives flog Biden as the man
that Democrats'd be "wise" to nominate.
Big corporations see in him a fan,
who'd block the State that dared to regulate.
Liz Warren has them quaking in their boots;
they haven't faced her ilk since FDR.
A friend of Labor judging their disputes,
and prosecuting sycophants like Barr.
Two parties in the bankers' golden thrall,
abandoned Labor generations past.
If they're not to be stood against the wall,
one must speak for the Left, and hold it fast.
JRubin should rebuild her own failed team;
she's got no writ to steer the Blue machine.

I'll bring the marshmallows

Joe Biden gives Liz Warren a great foil
to show how corporations write "our" code.
This smiling astroturfed son of the soil
tracks every donor and how much they're owed.
The White House taunts him, coyly out of reach
so patiently, this Boy Scout waits "his turn"!
Professor Warren's prepped and primed to teach
a lesson he'll be crestfallen to learn.
The on-shore haven corporations use
assured their government has got their backs
is Delaware, where peons pay their dues
while corporations there shirk laws, and tax.
The CHANGE Americans need, this time 'round
is more than voting out one venal clown.

transparency

Pete Buttigieg speaks less than half his mind
expounding narrative, not policy.
He'll freely speak of what he's left behind,
but what's ahead's not there for us to see.
Obama's "looking forward, and not back"
precluded prosecuting anyone.
But mayor Pete's unbothered that we lack
clue-one of what he thinks ought to be done.
"I'm smart; just trust me" won't cut any ice
when Warren's program's all lined up to roll.
This contest must not be just who sounds nice;
our planet's future's riding on this poll.
'Though youthful candidates get fawning fuss,
the bankers' fav'rites just don't work for us.

Centrism

Pete Buttigieg advances our discourse
of what's meant by a "proud American".
In SouthBend, or projecting Naval Force,
he's risen to the leadership of men.
But where he stands on issues isn't clear;
he'd rather feed us narrative and charm.
He never makes the points I'm poised to hear;
some donors, he's reluctant to alarm.
To save our system from its own excess--
as Teddy Roosevelt did in his time--
unless we break some eggs, we can't redress
two parties hostage to ongoing crime.
Conservatives assure us we love Pete,
but status quo's a ticket to defeat.

reset

Our country's hostage to the Donald's cult;
no normal politics will bring him down.
Our Founding Fathers planned for an adult
but couldn't have foreseen this puerile clown.
The nightmare demagogue that they foresaw
might raid the Treasury to purchase friends.
But Trump's contemptuous of courts of law,
corrupting policy for private ends.
Liz Warren comes, like Roosevelts before
to save our system in its time of need
from malefactors wanting ever-more
who'd tear our country down to sate their greed.
If Democrats keep peddling status quo,
they'll fade like Whigs while Workers' parties grow.

duty

Liz Warren deems that Congress must impeach
but--for her part--she's mounting a campaign.
Let others wring their hands, and strut, and preach;
her calling's to reform, not to complain.
His cavalcade of crimes leaves many numb;
corruption over-tops all precedent.
Few dreamt the voting public was so dumb
to make this preening brat "our" president.
That fickle public lurches Left, then Right.
Obama scared the oligarchic clique.
But should the Speaker fight the People's fight,
we'd prosecute this venal orange freak.
The rule of law's not lightly to be waived
if our republic's somehow to be saved.

SpecialCounsel's limits

The full report refutes Bill Barr's glib gloss;
the Special Counsel felt his hands were tied.
He had no writ to prosecute his boss,
despite strong evidence he'd bigly lied.
That Russia meddled's proven without doubt
but Putin might have done that on a whim.
As candidate, Trump didn't have the clout
to dictate KGB hitlist to him.
A race so close depended on a thread
as turnout was suppressed by foreign aid
Since Trump and Putin plainly were in bed,
who cares if Mueller can't prove Vlad got paid?
No SpecialCounsel could transcend his writ
when Mitch McConnell doesn't give a shit.

dilatory

The Europeans gave Theresa May
six month to own the letter she had sent.
A bonus, supernumerary stay
to seize the reins of her own parliament.
Bob Mercer'd spent a wad in BREXIT's cause,
and Putin blandished Britons to believe
no sov'reign nation bows to Brussels' laws
when members took a hankering to LEAVE.
Entrepreneurs hate the uncertainty.
And bankers want to know what's gonna come.
they'll take their capital, and pack and flee;
increasingly, it's clear Theresa's dumb.
In desperation, some turn to the Queen
to save us from this frightful Halloween

technical difficulties

Mick Jagger's mitral valve no longer seats;
what should surge one-way sloshes to-and-fro.
'though myocardium's not missing beats,
Jack Flash can't jump with diastole so low.
Replacement parts, of plastic, or of pork,
are on the shelf and at the surgeons' choice.
Just as sir Mick gets healthcare in New York,
vast resources attend a rich man's voice.
Keith Richards stops to wish his brother well;
a lifetime they've been yoked, through thick, and thin.
Not ready to slough off this mortal shell,
the tour's on pause without his glimmer twin.
To miss one concert's date's a trifling loss;
this Stone's too busy to be gath'ring moss.

stones

Keith Richards almost seems immune to death
'though passing years have winnowed down his friends.
The gin, and heroin, and coke, and meth...
for lesser mortals, spelled an early end.
Subdural hematoma gave a scare
Hans Brinker's father's old pathology.
They had to drill to vent the pressure there
when Keith came down the coconut palm tree.
Mick jogs a million miles to stay so svelte
while Keith's a lot more laid back, for his part.
He feasts, and sometime buys a longer belt;
he's not the one laid up to patch a heart.
The tour's on hold until the band's back, whole;
no subset of the Stones seems moved to roll.

technical delays

Mick Jagger's mitral valve no longer seats
what should surge one way sloshes to and fro.
'though myocardium's not missing beats,
Jack Flash can't jump with diastole so low.
Spare parts of plastic, or recycled pork
can reset entropy's slow steady rot.
sir Mick gets top shelf care when in New York;
they'll leave no ragged edge on which to clot.
But Keith is like a fixture of the stage
what would have killed ten men just gets him high.
Las Vegas wrote him off at half this age
but neither glimmer twin seems like to die.
That one show's cancelled's not too great a loss
these Stones ain't ready yet to gather moss.