Cassidy

Trump paid for lawyers to coordinate
the testimony House Committees heard.
They coached each witness to prevaricate;
we'd be great fools to take them at their word,
Such bullshit hadn't echoed in those Halls
since Reagan shipped the Mullahs lethal toys.
'Til Cassidy stepped up and showed some balls,
we'd trusted governance to good old boys.
Democracy requires the public know
when those in highest office turn to crime.
There's leniency for those who fess up, though
the last to testify will serve most time.
To keep omerta once one colleague's sung
is gonna get the bitter-enders hung.

fake news

The propaganda Putin's patsies print
with passing years, meets less responsive ears.
through Medvedev, he scammed another stint
But few would want him back for four more years.
Most Russians with the means, gave up and fled
like Lenin, fuming in his Finnish home.
Those who remained have somehow wound up dead.
This empire's run by Vlad, and Vlad alone.
The sanctions Trumpski was installed to lift
outlived him, and might even get enhanced.
Joe Biden hasn't offered such a gift,
This Petro-Baron may have lost his chance.
Joe Goebbel's methods come as no surprise;
there's power to be gained, purveying lies.

polypharmacy

Before the Lasix masked his swollen throat,
Trump's let us glimpse his Orange totem toad.
The dexamethasone that made him bloat
did nothing to reduce his viral load.
Like Typhoid Mary's famous peach ice cream,
his rallies pump contagion through the crowd.
Without a mask, they're in your face to scream;
it's weirdly intimate, and way too loud.

The cure he's touting doesn't yet exist; 

he's selling snake-oil to the credulous.

In character, he doesn't give a shit

what outcome may befall the rest of us.

The clown who boasts he'll never touch a drink

is running on more drugs than you may think.

 

Ginsburg's seat

When Graham dared us hold him to his word
he gambled no one there was still awake.
But video attests each word we'd heard
and no one's still disposed to trust that snake.
Mitt Romney's not the man to helm this boat;

he has no spine (although he looks the part).
Mitch owns his soul, and he'll show up to vote

although he moans it isn't right, at heart.
Judge Barrett has opined one oughtn't flip
the power balance on our highest court

until we vote--but now her power-trip

persuades her that this process should be short.
The third leg of tripartite government

will never bear the weight if it gets bent.

incredible!

Trump Junior boasts his daddy fights for God.
Against exactly whom, he doesn't say.
If He's omniscient, some must think it odd
that He'd rely on Trumps in any way.
When facts don't fit, they just extemporize
and swear a lot of oaths they'll never keep.
Their enterprise is graft, and fraud, and lies;
their shoes look pricey, but their honor's cheap.
If He's omniscient, problems multiply
beyond what mortal minds can understand.
You'd need a miracle to justify
preferring such a coward to a man.
To rally "Christians" to corruption's cause
they'd violate a universe of laws.

BunkerBoy

The insurrection that might justify
Deploying US troops on our own land,
is just a figment of Trump's craven mind;
It's not the People who are out of hand.
Roy Cohn had sternly charged him in his youth,
before Sean Hannity'd staked out Trump's ear:
"You'll find no profit in the gospel truth;
To fleece the gullible, cultivate fear!"
Each soldier's duty is to disregard
an order that he understands ain't right.
Each proud militiaman in their State Guard
must weigh the casus belli ere he'll fight.
Our nation's poised again for Civil War.

What's less than clear is what it would be for.

untold

Sean Hannity prefers we never know
What Michael Cohen did to earn his fee;
to make an inconvenient woman go
away seems standard for his "Client Three".
A year's elapsed, the story's long grown cold
Sean's bought off anyone who's dared to dig
up stories he prefers remain untold
Confirming our suspicions; he's a pig.
No Secretary in Trump's Cabinet
can wield the influence Trump grants to Sean.
Whose peccadillos we're told to forget
the journalists get axed who will not fawn.
The cover-ups of cover-ups of crimes
keep Trumpty playing frantically for time.

blather

Trump never has a thought he doesn't voice
no filter guards the floodgate of his lips.
Compulsively, as if he has no choice
he keeps his handlers mortified of slips.
Trump's cultists cite this as "sincerity"
a candid glimpse of what's behind his eyes.
But Trumpty's gaze is riveted on "me"
he sells himself his own self-serving lies.
Some few may switch, now that recession's clear
discounting rhetoric to weigh Trump's deeds.
Americans united in our fear
may--temporarily--defeat dumb greed.
If we survive this orange clown  absurd
we'll need a president who weighs her words.

immured

The walls close in; we're forced to isolate
a new corona virus stalks the stage.
Until we find the means to vaccinate
we're forced to find amusement in our cage.
Without museums, restaurants and bars
we fax, and teleconference, and text
but hooking up  in cyberspace is hard;
without the face-to-face, we're starved for sex.
Trump didn't think we ought to mobilize;
the threat he feared was to the price of stocks.
But even those who want to trust his lies
are losing family to this new pox.
'Though Dickenson might not have deemed it bad,
such isolation's driving most folks mad.

rudderless

Steve Bannon buffs Trump's ego with his lips
because he knows contagion's spread by hands
so certain we need the Apocalypse
he roots for this pandemic to expand.
"Fourth Turning" in his mind cannot be ducked
no other pathway forward could suffice
'though billions of our brothers would be fucked
Steve figure's he'll survive, so it's all nice.
Rasputin to a pewling Tsarevich
he knows how to make Trumpty-Dump react
ignoring anyone who isn't rich
Don still eats propaganda up like facts.
Reactive, where we need someone to lead
Trump furnishes the bed where Nazis breed.

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.

"The time has come" the walrus said "to talk"

John Bolton doesn't want to go to jail;
he told Fiona Hill to write notes down.
A trial would find he left a paper trail
disowning policies set by this clown.
John told the House he wouldn't testify--
unless they'd send subpoenas to coerce.
His loyalty's not wholly to one guy
who broke the Persian deal, and made it worse.
Now, Senators opine they ought to hear
first-hand what had transpired behind closed doors.
Though little Bolton says is wholly clear,
he's quite irate Iran's not yet at war.
The Senate--scared to actually try
a president--has yet to tell us why.

unconsidered opinion

The Kremlin plants fake stories on the Right

to poison dialogue among us Yanks.
They bait the Left as well, but get no bite;
the credulous are thin, among those ranks.
Mistrusting facts, Trump's base clings to his cult
like he's some Cyrus, doing God's behest.
The skepticism fitting an adult--
If not eradicated's--been suppressed.
A battle different than we've waged before
is not amenable to compromise;
if we're to win this asymmetric war

we'll need an antidote to arrant lies.

Democracy's a less-than stable boat
if citizens won't read, and think, and vote.

ad-hominem

The SwiftBoat libel Kerry failed to quash
was never prosecuted as a crime.
This cycle, all eyes focus on Amash;
Perchance the better man could win this time?
John Yoo inpugns a hero's loyalty
as if he didn't hold those values dear
that should define this "Land of Liberty".
And Vindman's suspect 'cause he's not born here.
Impeachment turns on votes, as much as laws,
as Publius warned in our nation's youth
Trump's violation's blatant, clause by clause...
but Hannity's contemptuous of Truth.
Ad-hominem attacks hold center stage
while half our voters sneer and disengage.

profiles in courage

Yovanovich stepped up to sing her song
about our ethos recently laid low.
How Trump woos the far Right, but got it wrong
to base our policy on quid pro quo.
Pompeo thought a fellow WestPoint grad
would join in or--at least--would temporize
But Taylor's quick to say what's bad is bad
and to condemn the master of such lies.
Trump's never made a friend. But enemies
proliferate wherever he's made deals.
And agents of our big spy agencies
are mostly deaf to his corrupt appeal.
While diplomats condemn both Trump and Pence
a thousand others slip them evidence.

loyalist

Pompeo tolerates his boss' lies
in violation of his WestPoint oath.
No moral compass they won't compromise
impinges on the bliss of one, or both.
McConnell holds the Constitution cheap;
he's hitched his cart to Trump's and won't let go.
Accustomed to swear oaths he'll never keep
as long as nothing stops the flow of dough.
No abolitionist could have foreseen
their party'd shed all principle to turn
into this parody of greed obscene
uncaring if our whole republic'd burn.
The Checks and Balances so finely wrought
must fail when all our servants have been bought.

false flag

The Persian War that Netanyahu needs
would launch from Washington; he'd leave no trace.
Let Trumpty take the credit for the deed!
One strike could throw the key Knesset race.
His buddy Mr. BoneSaw mustn't know
who struck ARAMCO's oil refinery.
He's pre-convinced the Mullahs are his foe
and wouldn't catch the sort of treachery.
The arms the Houthis think came from Iran
with paperwork attesting it's for them
may not originate in Teheran;
return address is West Jerusalem.
Like Bibi used Dick Cheney once before
salvation for Likud needs us at war.

privileged loser

Trump countermands McGahn, says there're no bounds
on what the FBI investigates.
The Senate gets to hear what can be found
before Brett Kavanaugh can learn his fate.
Anita Hill strode forth, and said aloud
the man Bush nominated was obscene.
She got ignored, but held her head up, proud
of speaking truth to the OldMan machine.
Four women, this time 'round, cannot forget
the beer-slick frat floors and the way he stunk.
They risk opprobrium confronting Brett
to spare our High Court from this snarling drunk.
McConnell draws his head back in the mud
one more Trump nominee looks like a dud.

our son of a bitch

Obama urged Mubarak to just go
Egyptians long for freedom, same as us.
But Clinton feared to lay a strongman low
and threw Mohammed Morsi 'neath the bus.
el-Sisi butchers Muslims in the square,
but Saudis back him as a force for good
as if barbarity were somehow fair
when they're confronted with the Brotherhood.
A Clinton never fails to compromise
when wealthy donors want to bend a rule;
Riyadh's not challenged on its grossest lies
when policy's enacted by their tool.
Our empty hymns to Liberty fall flat
when we embrace convenient autocrats.

Truth is not truth

The stream of consciousness through Donald's mind
portrayed in fragments in his hasty tweets
defies historians who'd hope to find
beneath the smoke, a trace of fire, or heat.
If one would speculate, there's just a hint
of what's the truth that motivates this liar.
That stream of consciousness' yellow tint
betrays what makes his basest synapse fire.
Reptilian drives for warmth, or mate, or meal
extend no further than his progeny.
Each one-night-stand's an unrelated deal
and nothing adds up to a policy.
His starlight promises, each dawn forgets;
Trump's lawyers hope to prove that it's Tourette's.