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.

epistemic closure II

Biologists can't win the arguments
what isn't in his Book, he just denies
your logic gets you nowhere with Mike Pence
his inner demons tell him they're all lies
contemptuous of theories and facts
serenely certain he basks in the Light
he'd dictate just how everybody acts
there's no discussion when you're always Right
with Donald's autocratic tendencies
they make a scary pair of demagogues
they'd bring the nation to its bended knees
and Civil Rights would be thrown to the dogs
for want of Bernie, Biden's gotta do
to keep a world from running down the loo

meet the new boss...

Joe Biden'd really rather not campaign;
a scripted coronation's more his style.
So many Senate votes he can't explain
he's got no policy--but sure can smile!
Jay Inslee offered reasoned policy
but voters never warmed up to this man
beholden to no fossil industry.
Liz Warren's well-equipped; and brings a plan!
But donors like the status quo just fine.
And innovation just gives them the trots.
what's yours is mine, they know, and "mine is mine".
And too few voters can connect the dots.
In retrospect, one shouldn't find it strange
the few who wield real power, balk at CHANGE.

Smiling Joe

Joe Biden thinks this contest's done and signed
his handlers coach him: "smile, and go along!
'Though Sanders growls, you mustn't pay him mind"
few voters really know which one is wrong.
Liz Warren's dropped; she couldn't stay the course
so claim  her issues now are all your own!
It's critical you get her to endorse;
Trump's NoiseMachine's too big to fight alone.
Conflating poverty with being Black
expecting Democrats do as they're told
oblivious to what his campaign lacks
the only voters he persuades are old.
Liz Warren found scant traction for her plan
the party bosses want an old, White man.

cult of personality

Smug Dunning-Kruger poster-child writ big,
Trump sneers contempt at what he doesn't grasp.
Idolators adore their gilded pig;
their tongues wash worshipfully his pink ass.
No law's so sacred he won't violate
no sin's so heinous he would not commit.
Convinced his endless flatulence smells great,
Behind their ears, they daub his latest shit.
Americans botched these experiments
demonstrably unfitted to self-rule.
A party that could lose to Trump and Pence
is crewed and helmed by  imbeciles and fools.
Our Founding Fathers spinning in their graves
must pray for Bernie pulling out a 'save'.

values

Mike Bloomberg brings Big Money to the fight
like Boromir, aspiring to the Ring.
Self-reassuring that he knows what's right
But sages fear he'd make himself a king.
"Unreasonable Search" was policy
and thousands were arrested without cause
their reputations tattered recklessly
when he empowered cops to break our laws.
Jean Jacques Rousseau extolled equality
A principle the French cannot forget
without which, very few are ever free
unproven axiom, but a good bet.
False prophets chastise Bernie for his rage
But Class War's the big issue in our Age

spin

The media hand Buttigieg a "win"
for coming second at New Hampshire's polls
forsaking journalism; to ply spin
Orwellian corruption of their role.
'Though Sanders--who came first--deserves the bump
that's unacknowledged in the bogus news.
They're rather throw the whole campaign to Trump
than give full citizenship rights to Jews.
And Klobuchar, who flubbed her own mid-west
is hailed like in some other world, she'd won.
As if one fourth, one third, made her the best
ignoring what her stronger rivals'd done.
Democracy's the wrong word for our mess
when we can't trust the ethics of "our" Press

debacle

The media were eager to give Pete
the win in Iowa, 'though questions mount.
Portraying him the leading man to beat--
if you'd just turn a blind eye to the count.
Plurality deem Bernie is the man
who'd serve the People as our head of state.
While many look to Warren and her plan
to make us--incrementally--more great.
But mayor Pete was quick to crow he'd "won"
before the count was in and verified,
when canvassing was only halfway done
as if he'd got his story from inside.
Debacle supercedes catastrophe
until we overthrow this DNC.

irrecoverable

The seat McConnell stole can't be redressed
if institutions are to stay intact.
Although a court of nine might be deemed best,
temptation's strong to see this one get packed.
Let Sanders nominate a judge (or ten)!
Pat Leahy's Senate would applaud and sign.
The Roberts Court's been short a few good men
to keep the neo-fascist wing in line...
But eight years hence, the tide could swing around
a new administration might riposte
to seat another dozen unfit clowns.
Decorum on the High Court would be toast.
No scholar would contend this was what's meant
when Senators are asked to give consent.

FauxLeft

Mike Bloomberg scores a 'D' on CivilRights;
unreasonable search was fine by him!
Our constitution wasn't worth a fight
when dissidents were booked at Popo's whim.
But now he's seen Joe Biden drop the pace,
and leaps to stake that lane out as his own.
Big bankers want a champion in this race
and Trump can't carry all their hopes alone.
Like Garnet Coleman warned, four years ago,
the DNC won't let the People choose
an honest socialist when there's more dough
behind a guy who writes his own puff news.
The "factions" that our Founding Fathers feared
risk our republic's soul, this coming year.

change?

Pelosi's trained a lifetime for this role
presiding with a gavel in her claw.
A visionless tactician in control
finds partisan advantage in the Law.
The "Right" reviles her for what she is not;
Progressives know she doesn't have their back.
But she makes any chair Trump sits in hot,
and brings a certain verve to each attack.
Still, fixing our republic's out of range
she won't do what big donors don't endorse
a Sanders or a Warren would want change
and Wall Street wouldn't get to plot that course.
Impeachment may give spectacle and fun
but these are Nancy's last days in the sun.

Betsy Herring

Liz Warren trod her own Damascus road
before she took to heart Progressives' cause.
This Harvard expert in bankruptcy code
took inspiration from the dryest laws.
The daughter of Republicans pure-bred
keeps family ties, but spurns much that they'll do.
The blossom on this rootstock that's so Red
if not cerulean, is deeply Blue.
Some can't forgive her failure to endorse
the Sanders bid, when Bernie stood alone.
But I'll let Bernie choose his friends, of course
I won't tell Bernie whom he must disown.
A second term's no cinch for Trump to steal
when he's contending with a convert's zeal.

crises

Two stents restore blood's flow where it was scant
and Bernie's heart continues its tick-tock.
But episodes like this mean people can't
dismiss discussions of the running clock.
The orange geriatric pompous jerk
--incumbent and presumptive nominee--
may argue he's he fittest for the work
albeit with no credibility.
Two old White men won't turn all voters' crank
full half of whom sat out, last time around.
Liz Warren has two Xs in the bank
and now seems poised to tear the system down.
To disenfranchise based on sex must stop;
this might just be a woman's turn on top.

What Happened

post-mortem, Clinton mulls her failed campaigns
if only Bernie'd called a sooner halt!
Page after tiresome page, her book complains
that everyone but Hillary's at fault.
The deal cut with Obama came to naught
and him so suave and gracious really hurts.
The many SuperDelegates she'd bought
all failed to serve her up her just deserts.
The policies she dared not advocate
set Sanders' Independent crowds afire
she offered only pablum 'til too late
and Bannon won it low, while she went higher.
Dry talking points could never make us feel
we crave a Roosevelt, and a New Deal

CHANGE!

the status quo has served the Clintons well
they've joined the Ruling Class' moneyed ranks
no matter it's a marriage made in Hell
they've hitched their wagon to the biggest banks
Piketty warned us of this downward slope
as capital's ingathered to the Few
as Bernie fades, so fades the People's hope
that we may share the nation's bounty, too
real wages don't reflect the market's gain
that bankers divy in the bonus pool
while Bill assures us that he feels our pain
his wife serves Wallstreet as its faithful tool
some cheered; a woman fin'lly got her turn
but this one truly never felt the Bern        

power brokers

'though Clinton bore the old dynastic name
a voice lamenting in the wilderness
refused to front for donors in the game
and pulled no circus stunts to lure the press
her husband'd taught her to triangulate
as if all voters laid on one straight line
but bartering half-measures for their hate
seemed 'bout as likely as water-to-wine
the DNC just jammed it down our throat
a weaker candidate 'cause it's her turn
presuming Independents would still vote
despite their sleight of hand to quench the Bern
the Democrats contrived a way to lose
against a fascist few would ever choose

process of elimination

bizarrely, Trump's his party's nominee
the donors' favorites left the voters cold
his language skills are rudimentary
but still, he's in, when all the others fold
the bid his rivals thought was just a bluff
has bigly demonstrated what he's got
he's found an audience who like it rough
and anti-Semitism makes them hot
in such a contest, Hillary looked sage
adult who's seen such tantrums all before
who'll bring back Kissinger to the world stage
but only cultivate  a little war
this moderate Republican in heels
excluded Bernie and his new NewDeal

compromise

the menu's set, the outcome's still unsure
confronted with a hawk, or with an ass
fired up, but thinking leaders must be pure
millennials might stay away en masse
her penchant to back strongmen leaves them cold
but then, the fascist might do what he's said
if only Bernie Sanders wern't so old...
'though Jill Stein's heart's alright, they doubt her head
no perfect candidate has ever run
each bears a flaw--or more--to open eyes
intrinsic since our system's first begun
republics work because we compromise
our civic pageants ev'ry year or two
smell equally of sausage and the loo

compromise

unreasonable search was commonplace
when Bloomberg ran the City of New York
but some yearned for a Dark Horse in this race
if not pro-Life, at least a budget hawk
when no one in the Clown Car made the grade
and DNC decreed it's Clinton's turn
Republicans admitted they're afraid
the nation might be ripe to feel the Bern
the hour is late, the menu's firmly set
no option here's attractive to all eyes
but no one's stepping up who's not in yet
republics work because we compromise
the senator from WallStreet is a Hawk
but Hell's to pay if Bernie's backers balk

short menu II

a nasty man has done a nasty job
debasing rhetoric in this campaign
he's mobilized a xenophobic mob
to our great nation's everlasting shame
a dozen rivals failed to knock him down
this pompous Weeble with the Bozo hair
repeated bankruptcies can't stop the clown
who crows of genius where there's nothing there
the DNC announced it's Clinton's turn
and rammed her through the process, come what may
a generation that embraced the Bern
regard the coming contest with dismay
confronted with such choices, they may balk
the senator from WallStreet seems a Hawk