moving forward

Americans can't trust this president
to serve our constitution as one should.
Forever chasing an emolument,
all policy's corrupted for Trump's good.
The demagogue our Founding Fathers feared
might raid our treasury to sway the polls.
But this banality that's now appeared
would threaten life on Earth exacting tolls.
'Though pure democracy's still out of reach,
we've failsafe mechanisms to invoke.
Now madame Speaker's moving to impeach,
McConnell may concede that it's no joke.
A year from now, we'll try GoodGovernance.
But for the nonce, I'd settle for mere Pence.

jockeying

Mike Cohen made his bid, but came up short,
deemed not deserving full immunity.
Half-willing witness holding forth in court
still takes the  bullet for his "client 3".
'Though Flynn was unrequited in his deal
and Weisselberg stepped up to sing his part,
what's public's not enough--although it's real--
we need to find the shit, not just the fart.
But now our play unfolds another act
our CIA remembers those Trump smeared
and sends a whistleblower armed with facts
the nemesis Steve Bannon must have feared.
The game's afoot; the competition's keen.
The knives are out to play the next John Dean.

past the threshold

Pelosi deems these charges just might work
convicting not just Trumpty, but Pence too.
Impeaching one, to stick us with the jerk
was something she'd been disinclined to do.
Both left gross fingerprints on the Ukraine
transactional relations on our dime.
If each sought benefits for their campaign,
McConnell might acknowledge it's "high crimes".
But even if the Senate won't convict,
the cover-up attests there's substance here.
Trump's masters might conclude their puppet's licked
as these investigations roll all year.
'Though Trumpty fervently doubts that it's so,
corruption's not defined by quid-pro-quo.

games within games

When Benny Gantz demurred to even try

to form a coalition, having won

exasperated voters wonder why

and if his whole campaign were just for fun.

Impunity--like Netanyahu's sought--

would be a terrible as pundits said.

Who can't be prosecuted, can be bought;

he'd cling to office 'til the day he's dead.

The optimist can dream that it’s a snare
in hopes of taping bribes by the Likud
to conjure coalitions out of air
(in politics, entrapment’s not deemed rude)

A better system, Churchill couldn't name,

but nobody should doubt this one's insane.

PLAYING GAMES

When Benny Gantz demurred to even try
to form a coalition, having won
exasperated voters wonder why
and if his whole campaign were just for fun.
Impunity--like Netanyahu's sought--
would be a terrible as pundits said.
Who can't be prosecuted, can be bought;
he'd cling to office 'til the day he's dead.
The smallest faction swings to those who'll pay
but haggling's now compressed; the timeline's short.
Corruption prosecution's underway;
October's coming, and his day in court.
A better system, Churchill couldn't name,
but nobody should doubt this one's insane.

two-faced

The Pakistanis leased binLaden space
Wahhabi puritanic man-cave pad
within the aegis of their army base
he operated from Abbotabad.
The master strategist surprised in bed
attempted what his underlings do best
two bullets made a pilaf of his head;
it's rarely prudent to resist arrest.
Musharref claimed to share Obama's view
and parrot talking points he'd learned by heart.
What we'd agreed was rarely what he'd do
duplicity exalted to an art.
Untrusted ally, best among the rats
Islamabad's a Hell for diplomats.

backroom

The threat to Biden forced the Speaker's hand;
she now concedes impeachment could make sense.
The DNC's protective of their man
and calculate he'd win against Mike Pence.
The signals Warren's gonna head the slate
have yet to penetrate through DC's noise. 
Pelosi blithely thinks she'll nominate
two more of WallStreet donors' chosen boys.
Corruption's not a plank that Biden owns
Liz Warren's all geared up to ride that horse.
The nemesis of predatory loans
can't bank on financiers' support, of course.
With thirteen months to go, all Nielsen bets
show CSPAN dominating TV sets.

a dream deferred

Six years, the Eric Holder DoJ
made measured statements, gathered files of fact.
Too late Loretta Lynch engaged the fray
tough prosecutor, unafraid to act.
No urgency intrudes on Holder's bliss
some other day, he'll get in someone's face.
Each opportunity, he duly missed
from Ferguson, to Trayvon Martin's case.
Attorneys working ill-paid for our feds
saw eight years work just languishing, in dust
each month, another Black man shot and dead
and no DA's been doing what they must.
next year, perhaps we'll claim our legacy,
when Kamala serves Warren as AG.

Or chadash

Israeli justice gets a second chance
as Netanyahu--long last!--takes a loss.
The Arabs cast their lot with Benny Gantz;
a nation dares place hope in this new boss.
The prosecutors' patience has run short
as multiple corruption charges pend.
Premier no more, he'll get his day in court
to spin a tale no lawyer could defend.
Twelve years, he's stalled and waffled on TwoState
"facts on the ground" eroding what's been pledged.
The Peace Camp wonders if it's not too late
to celebrate their sister-state half-fledged.
The statehood trek deferred once more begins;
Israelis wincingly learn they've got twins.

unfit

He slurs his speech--although he doesn't drink--
and loses focus--'though he'll never toke.
A fool with eyes to see can't miss the link
between his bankruptcies and all that coke.
Deciding war and peace upon a whim
clay idol of the moralistic Rights
whose Christians name their darling sons for him
Trump violates their ethos day and night.
One barely  even needs to speculate;
it's more than plain to those who know the signs.
his vice is crystal clear to insufflate; 
he makes his worst decisions doing lines.
Our awesome nuke-enabled war machine
is in the stubby paws of this drug fiend.

projecting force

John Bolton's out; his schemes for war roll on
his acolyte O'Brien stays the course.
The planet's ills are all  blamed on Iran
on data misinterpreted, or worse.
A dozen players want to see this fight
from Netanyahu to the MEK.
The  surge in crude oil prices seems alright
if your exporting and not in the fray.
Iranians just want to live their lives;
the Mullahs kept the bargain, for their part
Obama's pact was scrapped by 45
It's not the Persians acting black at heart.
Domestic politics drive the world scene
demanding victims to the War Machine.

values

Takata found a way to save a buck 
replacing airbags' sodium azide.
The boardroom cheered; they couldn't give a fuck
'til courts had proved how many people died.
Shareholders' profit's not the only good
a corporation ought to optimize.
As "persons" they must share our neighborhood
and "good" is what has value in our eyes.
Milt Friedman ran Chicago off the rails
defining "ethics" he could quantitate.
But when executives serve time in jail
society may re-evaluate.
Amoral spreadsheets just provide a tool;
to idolize them, one would be a fool.

Donald the unadvised

John Bolton's man O'Brien's NSA
sustantively, no change from what's before.
The soporific patter of his trade
conceals a predermined course for war.
Some libertarians in Trumpty's base
may blanch at the unjustified expense.
But no one's gonna say it to his face;
the only tax they'll vote for's for Offense.
As arbiter of what's accepted fact
gatekeeper of the president's news-feed,
the post requires more than Bolton's tact:
advisor to a fool who does not read.
Trump only hires advisors dumb as rocks;
"intelligence"--for him--must come from Fox.

false flag

The Persian War that Netanyahu needs
would launch from Washington; he'd leave no trace.
Let Trumpty take the credit for the deed!
One strike could throw the key Knesset race.
His buddy Mr. BoneSaw mustn't know
who struck ARAMCO's oil refinery.
He's pre-convinced the Mullahs are his foe
and wouldn't catch the sort of treachery.
The arms the Houthis think came from Iran
with paperwork attesting it's for them
may not originate in Teheran;
return address is West Jerusalem.
Like Bibi used Dick Cheney once before
salvation for Likud needs us at war.

wag the dog

A Persian war may bring the Press to heel
that had been clamoring for Trumpty's head.
If he can't plagiarize Obama's deal
he'll bleat that they're dishonoring the dead.
A foreign fight might keep support in line
as dissidents demur to march, or speak.
Coerced allegiance while we're in war-time
appeals to Trumpty-Dumpty--'cause he's weak.
Bush-41 attempted this same hack.
When Glasspie lured Saddam to seize Kuwait.
But Schwarzkopf made such short work of Iraq
Bill Clinton left George gasping at the gate.
It's futile asking what this one is for;
since Carter, presidents each launch their war.

Allegorize II

The liturgy goes on about a "king"
as if that should evoke reflexive awe.
We're slow to change the lyrics we all sing,
but poetry's untrustworthy as law.
We've substituted prayers for blood, and fire,
but kept the bronze-age imagery intact.
Whatever in us yearns for something higher
finds ancient metaphors can hold us back.
The species easy to domesticate
had social hierarchies we could co-opt,
to meekly trust a master with their fate,
unquestioning who gets to be on top.
Once I've internalized the deity,
the sacrifice must be some part of me.

insecurity

John Bolton's out; the walrus screwed the pooch;
the lastest axed from Trump's parade of freaks.
Persisting forty times as long as Mooch,
but riv'ling Trump himself in leaking leaks.
The Persian War Mike Flynn has meant to lead
to please his masters in the MEK--
until a figleaf masks the naked greed--
must be deferred (at least another day).
The shopworn plot-line neither thrills nor shocks
we've played this melodrama out before.
He'll join McFarland blowing smoke on Fox--
stock pension-package for a Murdoch whore.
Whoever's next to purr in Trumpty's ear
may get ditched too, before election year.

ta ta

While BoJo mugs, this shit is getting real
and Brussels makes no move to ease Brits' plight.
The Parliament's prorogued without a deal
and Europeans tire of this fools' fight.
The Scots had voted sensibly to Stay
and like their odds as Kingdoms come Untied.
They know the Wealth of Nations grows through Trade,
and opportunities are scant, outside.
They're integrated in a larger world.
No need for civil war; no need to bleed.
They've never lost their flag; it's now unfurled.
And they'll take good queen Bess when they secede.
Three hundred years, one tuchas on two thrones.
Once more, they'll have a monarch of their own.

project Europe

What Hobbes described, Kant would extrapolate.
The boons man finds within Leviathan
accrue--writ large--if each and every State
would take the yoke of something larger on.
The Book of Judges sketched it long before,
a tribal world of shocking violence
and looming over all the threat of war
for want of any global governance.
But dogs smell opportunity in strife
to sell munitions while their brothers bleed.
No values guide their actions in this life
beyond their all-consuming mortal greed.
Where each does what seems good in his own eyes
we're evermore condemned to balkanize.

Allegorize!

The liturgy goes on about a "king"
as if that should evoke reflexive awe.
We're slow to change the lyrics we all sing,
but poetry's untrustworthy as law.
We've substituted prayers for blood, and fire,
but kept the bronze-age imagery intact.
Whatever in us yearns for something higher
finds ancient metaphors can hold us back.
The species easy to domesticate
had social hierarchies we could co-opt.
To meekly trust a master with their fate,
unquestioning who gets to be on top.
No unseen patriarch rules from on High;
the sacrificial animal is I.

tropical parasite

Mugabe's widow wakes to mounting dread
there's none to take her shopping, anymore.
A million in Harare want her dead;
perhaps it's wise to relocate offshore.
There's always Paris where she'll make the scene
beyond the reach of Mnangagwa's cops.
And they'll pretend her filthy lucre's clean
if she'll but patronize the proper shops.
The dowager withdraws to count her loot
above the fray of speeches, ballots, knives...
content that no one's gonna prosecute,
while commoners make shift to just survive.
As onerous as British overlords
kleptocracy proved too much to afford.

slow fade

Eleven years, Mugabe stewed in jail
emerging, he cast off the White Man's Yoke,
but lived to see his revolution fail.
What started hopeful withered to a joke.
Eight years,  George Washington served, then retired
to work his farm, and watch his project bloom.
Mugabe mistrusts everyone he'd hired,
who'd hang him for his crimes, if they but knew.
T'was Tsangirai contrived the twilight deal,
to spare his country further ill-repute.
No precedent for those inclined to steal,
but this one case, he would not prosecute.
Mugabe's dead, Zimbabwe does not grieve
too busy rooting out his den  of thieves.

hapless

Another vote, another Boris flop;
he's got no mandate in this Parliament.
Perhaps we'll use his coiffure as the mop
to scour this ordure out of government.
The prospect for the future's looking dire;
investors hate the prospect of new walls.
But no one looks to Corbyn to inspire;
he can't capitalize as BoJo falls.
Eight hundred years, the Magna Carta's meant
that Whitehall must respond to common folk.
But David Cameron's fool-government
has promulgated this uncommon joke.
A shattered government in disarray
can't find a way to let the UK STAY.

the next revolution

Now, Carrie Lam implies she's just the glove
concealing Moscow's fist that moves her mouth.
Authority's imposed by those above,
while on the street, the markets have gone South.
In '97, Hong Kong money fled
to Canada, where passports could be bought
by those who were unwilling to go Red,
regardless what Mao's Little Red Book taught.
The Communists now look to Chairman Xi
who long ago discarded Marx' books.
As long a some enjoy prosperity
mainlanders like the State to stay unshook.
The hopes that Tiananmen Square's legions heard
won't be forgotten, 'though they get deferred.

fault-lines

The Pakistani budget can't support
a clash with India, 'though there's due cause.
So Khan must remonstrate to the World Court;
Kashmiris have rights too, within their laws.
Narendra Modi's playing to his base,
who dream of repartitioning the Land
along religious lines, and lines of race;
ex-Yugoslavians would understand.
The Thirty-years war scorched a continent,
and earned both churches scorn in Gandhi's eyes.
But now, his heirs in Delhi's government
have shown themselves no better civilized.
Two nuclear-armed states, like none before
seem hell-bent on one last religious war.