passed expiration

The old man's been so long in politics
schoolchildren who'd been bused have come of age.
Kamala's now a bright star in the mix
eviscerating Biden, live, on stage.
Old battles he long waged, no one still fights.
Desegregation's wounds just ain't that raw.
To still be arguing that it's "States' Rights"
pits Joe against a world of settled law.
Liz Warren proudly offers something new
although she's not the youngster in the pack.
Unless you're battle-frenzied like Ted Cruz
she's not the mark a sane man would attack.
Two women to whom Joe can't condescend
will not retreat, or compromise, or bend.

tot-in-chief

Sean Hannity's lost credibility;
he screamed to bomb Iran, but no bombs fell.
As if some fleeting whiff of sanity
moved Trump to bid Rasputin 'go to Hell'.
Steve Bannon's long since left, and took his kit
Trump worried we'd discern who wore the pants. 
Predictably, that bromance went to shit
with acrimony and wild coke-fueled rants.
No grown-up's ever really held Trump's leash;
advice elicits threats and screams of rage.
as long as Mitch refuses to impeach
he'll pout and strut his hour upon the stage.
Each month, a staffer flips, and pleads, and sings
but none reveals who pulls the puppet's strings.

round one: Warren by acclamation

When Betsy Herring took your case apart
you felt her gleaming logic in your gut.
no one alive could doubt that she was smart
and brought a blazing talent to rebut.
The Senate let her flay a witness raw
for daring to mansplain how banking works.
This full professor out of Harvard Law
has zero tolerance for WallStreet jerks.
Tonight, she took the stage as one of ten
as many more are gonna have to wait
while she makes mincemeat of these taller men
who came less well equipped to the debate.
Another Roosevelt for our new age
laid bare corruption from Miami's stage.

rudderless

Trump's slavering for war when Hannity
is ranting on the White House TV set.
But Tucker Carlson's preaching sanity.
And so we haven't bombed the Persians--yet.
McDonnell-Douglas stock price tends to grow
on rumors that we're sending in our boys.
But no one's certain in this to-and-fro
who's setting policy, and what's just noise.
The world's economy's poised on the brink
for fear the tot-in-chief does something brash.
If Trumpty-Dumpty acts, instead of thinks,
The price of oil could soar, while markets crash.
Intent to show himself the peer of kings,
Trump can't discern how FauxNews pulls his strings.

used

It's time that we re-list the MEK
a "Terrorist Group" like we used to do.
Long years, they've kept John Bolton in their pay;
"our" Foreign Policy's set by their tool.
To frame Iran for tankers they've attacked,
won't fool a Sanders, Warren, or a Gore.
But Trump trusts Fox as if their crap were fact
and means to lead our nation into war.
Obama balked the powers that would use
our military to enact their ends.
But feckless Senators refuse to choose
and Hannity assures Trump that they'll bend.
A president enthralled with shiny bling
can't see the threat from those who'd pull his string.

donors balked

Now, Biden backs a Climate Change debate
despite the ukase of the DNC.
As if to save our planet shouldn't wait
but warrants the least bit of urgency.
Haim Saban frets too many feel the Bern;
to fix America would be too tough.
He wanted Hillary to serve "her turn";
tell voters to be satisfied enough!
A generation's come of age since Gore
acknowledged what we're doing to this Earth.
But donors like the way thing were before;
they know the whole world's price, but not its worth.
The "factions" that had cost our Framers sleep
have sown the whirlwind; dust is all we'll reap.

RSVP

Prince Charles pulls duties Harry would disdain;
to socialize with Trumps he rates a "pass".
He'll never let the Press hear him complain
but Harry'd rather nappy Archie's ass.
The pomp and circumstance that Trump adores,
for Harry seems the height of normalcy.
He's trained to guard his country from new wars
and from this blight upon diplomacy.
But Charles can't ever turn his mummy down.
He's desperate to stay in her good grace.
Still thinking he might someday wear the crown,
he studies showing Donald his best face.
Arriviste peasant, sure he's born to rule;
the Windsors recognize an arrant fool.

follow the money

Piketty contemplates democracies
and--being who he is--he documents
the downwards ratchet towards plutocracy
as bankers come to own their governments.
The pseudo-Left of Clinton, or of Blair
expected laborers to fill their ranks.
But--tangibly--made clear they didn't care
enough to risk the ire of WallStreet banks.
A Sanders, or a Warren terrifies
the Few controlling credit, trade, food, gas,
and media that promulgate big lies
about whose platform serves the ruling class.
Unbalanced discourse, written by the Right
does nothing to redress the Workers' plight.

evil precedent

Three fifths the value you'd assess a man
behukotai constrains a woman's place
an age before James Madison's grand plan
we'd codified the West's sexist disgrace.
Obsessing on the happenstance of birth
as if one chromosome defined one's fate
impugning what  our sisters' lives are worth
is not for halakhah  to legislate.
Strange code for how a People should behave
when first they undertook to live lives free.
Remember how it sucked to be a slave
but don't give those you've bought their liberty.
The code for cohanim can be obscure;
what we're supposed to learn here I'm no sure.