protection racket

Manipulating markets on a lark,
Trump tells himself he'd mastered minting cash.
Investors who've been left out, in the dark
now hold portfolios that might be trash.
Safe haven that the world had come to trust
to hold more value when the Markets fell,
with gross uncertainty, is going bust;
Trump's shot the US Treasuries to Hell.
Relief's available to those who'll kneel,
and promise to obey his every whim.
He'll carve out holes for microchips, and steel...
as long as a percentage flows to him.
That "swamp" that Trump had promised he would "drain"
has spread to inundate his febrile brain.

Gray Tribe

A new day dawned, Luigi took his shot
and fled the crime-scene on a city bike.
The media were quick to miss the plot
as if downtrodden proles would never strike.
A man falls dead; none can repair the loss
He leaves a world uprooted and bereft.
For life, like health, who can compute the cost?
A human value's not pure 'Right' or 'Left'.
Two parties, each indebted to the few,
instead of working for the public cause,
do only what insurers want them to,
pretending that they're just enforcing laws.
As we embark another gilded age,
a bandit-hero vents the people's rage.

gordian knot

The Kremlin caucus lost, Joe Biden won.
November must confirm what's been made plain;
This speaker crosses lines to get things done,
and top of his agenda is Ukraine.
His MAGA colleagues live to pump their base,
as if our needs were met by making noise.
But Johnson's looking past November's race;
he'd rather send our bullets than our boys.
The billions Putin didn't spend in arms,
and maintenance of relics of the past,
he lavished buying quislings near and far.
But allies bought, are not the friends who last.
The Arsenal that backs democracies
though dilatory, still coughs up the fees.

useful idiots

Mike Johnson has defied the Kremlin's tools
who'd stuck our lethal aid bill in a ditch
For now, it's Putin's shills who look the fools;
this Speaker isn't Greene's complacent bitch.
As mud solidifies, treads won't get stuck.
With modern armored rolling up the plain,
the antiquated Russian tanks are fucked;
they're wholly obsolete now in Ukraine.
While Greene and Boebert parrot Putin's lies,
all sane observers know what it's about.
To undercut our allies isn't wise;
professor Snyder's called these quislings out.
Zelenskyy's prospects volt-face on a dime;
this season Putin's blitzkrieg's out of time.

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.

tool

Mike Johnson sold his soul long years ago;
Three Russian oligarchs saw fit he's paid
to vote however winds in Moscow blow,
and never send Zekenskyy urgent aid.
Republicans once served a noble cause:
an end to bondage! All men must be free!
More recently, they're not big fans of laws
that benefit somebody who's not"me".
While Putin's projects dominate the Hill,
our nation's business isn't getting done.
Agenda written by a Kremlin shill
set back what progress Biden has begun.
When politicians look abroad for bucks,
it's hard to feign surprise that we're so fucked.

hypocrites and traitors

The treason Putin purchased in Ukraine
impaired defense, but failed to throw the war.
Abroad, his rubles bought him greater gain;
and TrumptyDumpty proved his eager whore.
A world ablaze, the Speaker doesn't care;
Trump'd laid his stubby hands on Johnson's head.
While unctuous traces linger in his hair
he won't betray the manger where he's fed.
Where piety and lucre so collude,
compassion for the living's shoved aside.
A million who'd have lived, had they had food
don't prick his conscience as they've starved, and died.
The Kremlin Caucus help their master kill
and piously profess to serve God's will.

low-class

Eight Justices demurred to criticize
a criminal among them on the bench.
Emoluments discretely on the side
taint all the nine with one pervasive stench.
The Thomases craved life-long to belong
and Reagan's party opened wide a door.
Dismissing questions of what's "right" or"wrong"
proferring wealth, it sought an eager whore.
Our Framers did their best to insulate
our highest court from politics, and Class.
But never dreamt an ethos of Class-hate
would saddle us with such a venal ass.
"[O]n good behaviour" rather than "for life"
requires we ask: "Who's bought the judge's wife?"

Supreme Arrogance

Chief justice Roberts chooses to be blind
as SCOTUS blunders off the moral cliff.
So confidant the voters wouldn't mind
that Thomas swims in unreported gifts.
Pacific jaunts that eldest justice took,
where Krakatoa's new volcanoes grow
are nowhere on his tax-accountant's books;
emoluments from "dear friend" TrammelCrow.
Jane Roberts also profits on the side
when litigants desire her husband's ear.
No penalty's incurred for laws defied
when perpetrators know they have no peer.
"[O]n good behaviour" rather than "for life"
requires we ask: "who's bought the judge's wife?"

The Windsors

Prince Harry's coming clean; he's quit the cult
that killed his mother and besmirched her name.
The Family's got no place for an adult
who can't be leashed with wealth, nor gagged with shame.
The Palace Press retorts with candy floss;
watch George and Charlotte chew the moppet roles!
Let peasants, grieving for the late Queen's loss
take comfort thinking someone's in control.
The Tories deem this contretemps a hoot!
distracting shoppers from their BREXIT mire.
As PM after PM gets the boot,
the cost of living's mounting ever higher.
While France dispensed with monarchs long ago,
most Brits still tune in to this stupid show.

Tsar manqué

The Russian empire Putin meant to leave
as monument to his excessive pride,
died on the road, two days' march short of Kyiv;
The generals who swore they'd do it, lied.
Ukrainians remember Swedes, and Poles,
and Mongols staking out what wasn't theirs.
A people's right at home to wield control,
is not a thing for someone else's heirs.
The puppet Manafort worked to install
wrote off Sevastopol for paltry beans.
A bag of rubles bought a willing thrall;
it's all "diplomacy by other means".
Destroying what he claims by right to own,
for Russians' sake he must be overthrown.

the royal writ

Eight legs lent Sleipnir traction on the snow;

it wouldn't do for Odin to get stuck.
The Roman fashion, building cobbled roads,
would need a labor force that gave a fuck.
Heroic architecture's rare, of course,
Reliant as it is on taxing funds.
No king could build such things of he were Norse;
what one boat's crew can't do, did not get done.
The Book of Judges shills for monarchy
to tax, and underwrite as may seem good.
Portraying tribal life as anarchy,
where individuals did as they would.
Each libertarian needs all-wheel-drive
where workers don't contribute to the hive.

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.

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.

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.

Dirty Joe

Joe Manchin raised his daughter to look strong
and profit from connections when she can.
Contemptuous that nepotism's wrong;
In all their kin, you'll find no honest man.
As senate chair, he's proud to wield control

of what we'll tax, and what we'll subsidize

Predictably, his answer's always "coal!"

And anyone who'd catch him cheating, lies!

The scrutiny he'd studied to avert

when he loomed big in West Virginia's pool

flares bright, now all the planet's on alert;

he'll face the spotlight, if he means to rule.
The millions Heather Bresch took home in pay
highlight more questions that won't go away.

vicious circle

James Fallows warned, our wars will never end
as long as senators exempt their sons.
Mis-named department, once used to defend,

now fears its budget shrinks with conflicts won.

Tax-dollars circulate through lobbyists

to buy the senators who authorize

consigning more lives to the war-god's fist.

Lord Ares gets his cut each time one dies.

As K-Street glitters with retired Brass

we make sure Congress buys the latest arms.
Their motives are peculiar to their class;

society at large absorbs the harm.

Ike heard the death-throes of our government

in those colluding to sell armaments.

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.

Now what?

Joe Biden's handlers won't let him explain

what higher vision he would implement.
No programs featured in his charm-campaign
to be the oldest-ever president.
To flip the Senate, prospect's looking dim;
no legislation's likely to get through.
The status-quo's been mighty good to him
He won't say what he will or will not do.

Jo Jorgensen got Joe across the line,

like Nader gave us Bush, instead of Gore.
Each vote she took from Biden cost Trump nine;

the crucial margin in the final score.

That Trumpty-Dumpty's fallen, we rejoice

but few are more than tepid with this choice.

Two wings, one bird

The Sanders faithful pencil in his name
disdaining any hint of compromise.
Where major parties look too much the same,
they're not endorsing either of these guys.
Two parties serving Bankers' venal dreams
are unresponsive to the People's voice.
So faithful to the Few who wield the means
the ballot lists both names, but no real choice.
Duoarchy simplifies a complex space;
most issues tacitly go unaddressed.
Few voters find a champion in this race
who'll advocate the course they're sure is best.
That "nothing's gonna change", as Biden's preached
portends democracy's beyond our reach.