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.

ronin

As Kochs retire, Pompeo's value wanes
he brings no insight, no great expertise.
As talent's fired, and only dross remains
it's less impressive that he aims to please.
In Kansas, it's enough to know a Koch;
the contracts others fought for came with bows.
He knew which bloated egos one must stroke,
when everything depends on whom one knows.
But now, his patrons face mortality;
he'll have to earn a living on his own.
The market's soft for empty flattery,
and Washington's a cold town, all alone.
What Kochs had groomed, a Trump may fire, instead
unless that silver tongue gives awesome head.

"Chairman Un" (sic)

Pompeo flubs addressing Chairman Kim
How's his first name the same as his old man's?
This Harvard lawyer's more than slightly dim,
but Kochs--at least--remain his ardent fans.
Machinists fabricating aircraft doors
need more experience, and less degrees.
But now he's getting us into new wars,
there's still no evidence of that JD.
To graduate West Point, first in his class
perhaps he seemed more clever in his youth.
But presently, he seems an arrant ass,
and fails consistently to speak the truth.
Of all the candidates from which to choose,
Trump picked a sycophant who reads no news.

Churn II

Rex Tillerson looked every inch the part,
and Condoleeza Rice thought he'd excel.
But Trump resents an underling who's smart;
each wished his counterpart would go to Hell.
The two brought scant credentials to their roles;
an engineer's an awkward fit at State
an insecure boss, grasping for control
were prone to clash, and not de-escalate.
Mike Pompeo's a creature of Charles Koch,
a Kansas fabricator of 'plane doors.
To head our diplomats, he'd be a joke;
he's heavily invested in more wars.
New cast can't rescue ratings for this show,
but bets are down on who's the next to go.

Rexit

Rex Tillerson's been cut, he's free to speak
about dysfunction on  the top-most shelf
a president who can't seem not to leak
has nobody to blame, if not himself.
Mike Pompeo's a creature of Charles Koch
without the gravitas of Condi's man.
for want of gag-reflex, he'll never choke
or titter at his boss' spray-can tan.
The least effective Secretary yet
has gutted the bureaucracy at State
but Pompeo's a worse-than-even bet
to make America a lot less great.
Trump's butler's watched as hundreds come, and go.
The competent ones shun this sordid show.

unbalanced

Trump's cabinet cants sharply to the Right
as Europeans take that term to mean
the citizen can't make much of a fight
confronted with the State's Police Machine
the libertarians should be aghast
as Pompeo surveils them in their beds
dystopic visions of the fascist past
dance uninvited in their sleepless heads
Karl Rove's alliance suffered more than dents
it needs to be rebuilt from the drive-train
impeachment looms from those who think Mike Pence
if not the man they want, at least is sane
foundations must be planned and leveled well
if our republic's not to slip toward Hell