values voters

like cancers, Trumps grow on society
instead of mothers' milk, they pump out bile
resources others pay for, they want free
rapacity's their signature lifestyle
they'll steal from anyone outside their tribe
the only social group where they belong
devout Hegelians, they don't subscribe
to any universal sense of "wrong"
"It takes a village" Hillary expressed
her static vision of communal life
but Donald boasts that only he knows best
dictating terms to each successive wife
Roy Cohn laughs last, he took the lad to school
and left the world this antisocial tool

values voters

like cancers, Trumps grow on society
instead of mothers' milk, they pump out bile
resources others pay for, they want free
rapacity's their signature lifestyle
they'll steal from anyone outside their tribe
the only social group where they belong
devout Hegelians, they don't subscribe
to any universal sense of "wrong"
"It takes a village" Hillary expressed
her static vision of communal life
but Donald boasts that only he knows best
dictating terms to each successive wife
Roy Cohn laughs last, he took the lad to school
and left the world this antisocial tool

realpolitik

for Hegel, genocide defines a "win"
where none survives, there's no one to accuse
life's victors can't be too concerned with sin
where stakes are lethal if they were to lose
morality's the refuge of the weak
who'd bind the strong in self-imposed restraint
perversely finding virtue in the meek
misrepresenting martyrs to be saints
a feral world's the prize for one who's strong
as innocent as Nature sketched by Hobbes
unless if fails, no violence is wrong
and justice is administered by mobs
no higher goal than keeping death deferred
permits no meaning in this life absurd

realpolitik

four decades on, the DirtyWar still bleeds
where Kissinger slapped down his cynic's bet
way past what any statecraft strictly needs
endorsing that grim butcher Pinochet
the disappeareds' blood cries out from the earth
accusing those who waxed fat on the crimes
their black-swathed mothers still wait to be heard
'though dwindling with the onward march of Time
like Hegel's, Kissinger's ethics belong
on history's slag-heap, a worthless mess
denying that an action's "right" or "wrong"
set's monsters free to rule the wilderness
no sycophant of Henry's got the right
to plunge the world back into such a night         

situational

for Hegel, that which prospers must be right
and scolding those in power does no good
the only argument that counts is might
one'd be a fool to lose sleep over "should"
no ethics are invariant with time
no merits count against something that works
aesthetics are a hill he spurns to climb
and he'll crown any winners 'though they're jerks
what Nixon did--in his eyes--can't be bad
except the slimy bastard did get caught
a president impeached was what was sad
because one prosecutor can't be bought
now Hillary would bring Kissinger back
to play the moral compass that she lacks

rudderless

when Kissinger formed policies of State
no whiff of virtue shaped the calculus
conflating war with peace and love with hate
when such deceit could buy an edge for us
our national repute was built on lies
the world knew there was nothing we held dear
but people were convinced that to seem wise
we had to cultivate an age of fear
his protege defers to one who's strong
she orbits him in each phase of her life
as deaf as Hegel to absolute wrong
as sure that there's a profit where there's strife
no moral compass keeps her steady helm
when she thinks she deserves to rule the realm

charlatanism III

Charlatanism III

for Hegel, despotism's the ideal
one mind to set the nation on its course
and with the power of the royal seal

impose a rule of justice based on force

at liberty, once Kant was safely dead
to claim to bear the standard of pure thought
while turning what the man said on its head
and bringing all philosophy to naught
king Fred'rick bought a toady for his school
who'd swear his most outrageous whim was just
'cause only one of merit could dare rule
a polity so German and august
contemptuous of making himself clear
he served up what his patron chose to hear

more charlatanism

for Hegel, despotism's the ideal
one mind to tell the nation what to do
as if to show a system to be real
were tantamount to proving it were true
at liberty, once Kant was safely dead
to claim to bear the standard of pure thought
while turning what the man said on its head
and bringing all philosophy to naught
his slaves as free to serve as he to reign

each fill their best potentials in this life

thus everyone is spared the toil and strain

of trading static tyranny for strife
contemptuous of making himself clear
he served up what his patron chose to hear

Charlatanism

for Hegel, despotism's the ideal
one mind to tell the nation what to do
as if to show a system to be real
were tantamount to proving it were true
at liberty, once Kant was safely dead
to claim to bear the standard of pure thought
while turning what the man said on its head
and bringing all philosophy to naught
king Fred'rick bought a toady for his school
who'd swear his most outrageous whim was just
'cause only one of merit could dare rule
a polity so German and august
contemptuous of making himself clear
he served up what his patron chose to hear