Ridicule

Convention holds no terror this time 'round;
we won't reprise knifefights of '68.
Trump/Vance has peaked; their polls trend starkly down.
And Harris keeps sweet options on her plate.
Mark Kelly'd have to cede a Senate seat
and Arizona might not keep that Blue...
Shapiro brings a swing-state to the meet,
but would big donors leap to back a Jew...
Tim Walz brings lines from Warren's resume,
and so emerged the strongest of the pack.
He's coached a winning team, and run a State.
Schoolteachers aren't easy to distract.
Republicans, who'd banked on Biden's gaffes,
have no response when Walz and Harris laugh.

values

Joe Biden's ego doesn't run this show;

when Nancy phones, he jumps to take her calls.
Momentous choices: to fight on, or go,
seem easier involving fewer balls.
Abruptly, Trump's the old man left on stage
unable to complete a cogent thought,
beyond attacking someone else's age.
His donors wonder what it is they've bought.
Accelerationists, who'd love a crash
presuming Paradise awaits ahead
make common cause with those who worship cash,
and some convinced their gods would want us dead.
One party, in the hands of such adults
confronts a monster, knit from motley cults.

Roevember

Joe Biden served his term, and stepped away;
campaigning'd never been what he does best.
He'll raise the funds that underwrite the fray;
another's gonna have to do the rest.
Abruptly, Trump's the old man in this race;
he has no answer to the Harris youth.
While he can only titillate his base,
she gets to run on policy, and truth.
Time's running fast, to name a running-mate
who'll bring some delegates, but get along.
ideally, flipping a contested state
and welding back the party, doubly strong.
"a time for boldness" as Joe's writer's wrote
upending expectations for this vote.

Kremlin tools

The Kremlin Caucus holds Zelenskyy's funds
against Americans' explicit will.
Bizarrely proud that nothing's getting done,
in Washington's two Houses on one Hill.
Joe Biden'd rather claim a half than all,
if winning'd mean he'd make an enemy
But Speaker Johnson isn't playing ball;
his masters spurn collegiality.
Ukrainians defy the empire's might;
a million Davids groping for a stone.
Defending home and hearth, and clearly right
They'll they kill the Roschisti--at needs--alone.
A president who aims to compromise
confronts obstruction, calumny, and lies.

crunch time

The Czarist empire Gorbachev renounced
still beckons Putin when he dreams at night.
Ukrainians see plainly they'd be trounced
if they can't count on NATO in the fight.
The"European Project" that's quashed war
three generations (leaving Balkans out)
can't go on doing what it's done before
should old allegiances forswear their clout.
But solidarity against the Bear
who'd eat the smaller neighbors, one by one,
is growing firm as if out of thin air
to lend Ukrainians resolve, and guns.
If Biden'd just concede that Putin lies,
he might do something more than compromise.

revisiting yalta

Joe Biden didn't want to draw 'red lines'
in Ukraine like Obama'd done before
in Syria, but tripped his own landmines,
enticing Putin to wage halfway war.
Monroe'd been wrong to stake a hemisphere
once we'd cast off Brittania's sea-girt throne.
As hegemon among our smaller peers,
it's not our place to chart their course alone.
The Baltics read the threat, and rush in aid
as if Ukraine'd joined NATO long before,
before the Russians stage another raid
in what they coyly still won't name a"war".
The seaside kingdom Putin's namesake staked
is just the first this Czar-manqué would take.

Couple of Joes

Joe Manchin stopped Joe Biden's program cold
reflecting how his biggest donors feel.
Two Joes stood up, but one of them looks bold;
the other's way too quick to cut a deal.
For Biden, compromise is statecraft's soul;
no bedrock undergirds him that won't bend.
But Manchin's adamant; he stands for Coal.
His vote's not one on which we can depend.
To flip the Senate would have taken more;
a 50/50 split breaks for the rich.
While Biden haggles with this small-town whore,
our fair republic's heading for the ditch.
As midterms loom, McConnell's feeling good;
he's bought a Manchin in prime neighborhood.

unforceful

"A time for boldness!" sounds good on the stump;
Joe Biden's writers craft a handsome phrase.
And--for our part--we meant to move past Trump;
four years was too much chaos, and malaise.
Still, boldness isn't Biden's stock in trade
He works hard being just 'one of the guys'.
When plans and policies have to be made,
there's nothing on which he won't compromise.
Liz Warren had laid out what must be done;
in text, and verse, she offered us her plan.
A year's gone by, and Joe's barely begun;
To do this job, she'd be the better man.
The calendar leaves not a lot of room;
too much remains undone, as midterms loom.

owned

Corruption was Liz Warren's trademark theme
But Biden staked this season in the sun.
The darling of the never-Trump machine
is unperturbed that nothing's getting done.
Save Warren--bankers underwrite them all
and Carried Interest loophole serves their cause.
Two parties--nominal--both in their thrall
are never gonna fix these stupid laws.
No Independent voice can seize that mic;
the oligarchs know who's not in their debt.
We're "free to choose" among the few they like
but votes are null and void, outside that set.
"A time for boldness" sounds good on the stump
but not enough has changed since we ditched Trump.

Homo Economicus

James Madison deemed war was obsolete;
clean economic suasion would prevail.
King George's navy dealt him brusque defeat;
the best ideas--if premature--still fail.
Joe Biden thinks it's worth another try
to free Ukraine without committing men.
But Putin seized Crimea on the sly
and means to call the self-same play again.
The petro-dollars Putin needs to pay
the out-sized military that supports
bulldozing anyone who's in his way
might stall for years in European court.
A better world, where "losses" are mere cash
needs governments more sober, and less rash.

unprincipled

Joe Manchin holds his president in thrall
and he--in turn's--enthralled to Old King Coal.
'Til Biden's "time for boldness" grows some balls
The other Joe's the Joe who's in control.
Obama'd brought him on to soothe the nerves
of mandarins afraid that CHANGE might come
Content with one more empty show of verve;
as long as all his plans would die, undone.
McConnell's useful fool's content to block
all progress 'til the midterms roll around.
Presuming that just running out the clock
will stash such pipe-dreams six feet in the ground.
For decades, Manchin's threatened he might switch
but still, he's loath to be McConnell's bitch.

impediment

Joe Manchin holds his party by the throat;
without him, Democrats can't claim control.
Regardless how them out-of-staters vote
his personal portfolio's all Coal.
More Green alternatives are all around
and many are already in the field.
Like coal, Joes best when six feet underground
'Til then, he'll dance, but never sign a deal.
This Dickens-era fuel we subsidize
sequesters Carbon since the Earth was young.
Joe Biden--in the name of "compromise"
shows no intent to do what must be done.
The midterms loom, the balance could swing back
still, Biden shows no stomach for attack.

pidyon shvuyim

Across Afghanistan swirls the debate:
"How much would Biden pay to cap this mess?"
without a hostage left to face his fate,
like Gary Powers sweating for the Press.
Ask Gorbachev; he's lived this in his turn;
the Pashtuns mean to rule Pashtunistan.
The infidel can go to Hell and burn;
their loyalty's to Allah, and their clan.
Marines would risk Courts Martial to bring home
a brother whether he's alive or dead.
As loyal as the Pashtuns to their own
they've sworn their oaths, and meant each word they've said.
What Biden pays sub-rosa, you won't hear
it's not worth one more soldier over there.

Joe/Joe

Joe Biden cedes the filibuster fight
To Manchin without firing a first shot.
In West Virginia, "Democrats" lean Right,
forgetting unions won them all they've got.
The 40-hour work-week, Medicare,
and NewDeal policies on countless things,
drove back the squalor, shedding new light where
mine owners owned their lives, and ruled like kings.
Unspoken goes the threat that Joe might switch;
McConnell'd gloat to claim him as his own!
From modest roots to corporations' bitch,
Joe's never thought a thought to call his own.
The Chair of Energy's in debt to Coal
and quite enjoys this feeling of control.

Better

The senator who'd preached austerity
like Herbert Hoover arguing with Keynes,
belatedly, embraces sanity,
and government that feels a nation's pains.
Joe'd never been the brightest in his class,
and sometimes failed to credit others' words.
But he looks brilliant after such an ass
whose lies were often patently absurd.
His cabinet boasts experts in their fields,
'though most are cozy with the way things are.
Don't look to Biden for a new NewDeal;
He'll contemplate some  CHANGE--but not too far.

Liz Warren's acolytes contribute plans
intent on raising up a better man.

Sedition

Eleven senators think they can choose
which bits of constitution they'll obey.
Seditious scoundrels rally to Ted Cruz;
no moral principles get in the way.
Untroubled by the lack of evidence
they peddle both uncertainty and doubt.
Their fealty's complete to Trump and Pence
as if those losers hadn't been thrown out.

Eleven senators moved to secede

in 1861 to keep their slaves

from getting what all citizens would need

preferring that they shut up and behave.

Joe Biden's got a world to fix next week;

Pelosi mustn't seat this Quisling clique.

Timid

Bill Clinton ditched the GreatSociety;
pursuing banker donors on WallStreet.
Deregulation turned the pirates free
and Trump made their ascendancy complete.
Joe Biden wants this trend to hang on "hold"
This isn't how we played it in his youth!

But nothing in his nature tends towards bold;

he won't offend big donors with the truth.

Obama won't let CHANGE be pushed aside;

we can't be satisfied with ways of yore.
Proclivity to smile and let it ride

would melt the poles and lead to civil war.

An age that needs another FDR
finds Joe concerned that we would go too far.

middling

The competence team Biden brings to bear

is welcome after four years of clown-show.
Each comes with evidence they truly care
We can't endure for long at status quo.

The fervor Bernie brought is in retreat
Joe isn't comfortable with change, per se.
But somehow, he's encompassed Trump's defeat
without enunciating a new way.
Austerians will preach a tightened belt
to a make a mis-spent budget somehow do.
This world in crisis needs a Roosevelt

to claw back power from the moneyed few.
Bold leadership would be too much to ask
At least they seem to understand their task.

lowered expectation

Trump's desperate to show he wields control
igniting brushfires everywhere he can.
Joe Biden starts next year deep in a hole
the budget's blown before he's laid a plan.
Two Georgia run-offs hold the nation rapt
If Mitch holds there, Joe Biden's goose is plucked
The House may legislate, but there it's trapped
like greenhouse gases, and the planet's fucked.
The landmines Ike emplaced for JFK
from Bay of Pigs, to ground troops in Saigon..
are dwarfed by a whole world in disarray
And no one's sure we've seen the last of Don.
Don't look for boldness from Joe Biden's crew

but maybe they're the best that we can do.

last days

Obrien now confesses; Biden won
although he quails to contradict his boss.
The People spoke; one more election's done.
And TrumptyDumpty's fallen for a loss.
Before the year is out, he'll face he ax
for manifesting such temerity.
Trump's woefully intolerant of facts
that don't fit his bespoke reality.
Trump's legal budget's looking pretty short
for all the cases pending scant months hence.
He's spending 2021 in court
and urges donors to pay his defence.
Come January, Biden's up at bat
but first, we must defeat a cornered rat.