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.

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.

in the long run

James Hanson warns one must keep honest books
end subsidies for ev'ry power stream
each kilowatt costs way more than it looks
we can't pretend that coal makes only steam
extractive industries made the few rich
their costs were sloughed as externalities
our planet's now careening towards the ditch
we dug in the delusion waste was free
and fission plants could turn out even worse
'til we can safely store atomic waste
if starship earth becomes our glowing hearse
we'll rue at leisure what we wrought in haste
what's not sustainable's never ok
we burn our children's tomorrows today