The Fix

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Fix

 

The fix is in

Only it ain’t the Democrats

Say what you will

Democrats don’t fix elections

Republicans do

Trump Republicans are committed to it

They’ve dedicated time and resources

To taking over local election boards

It’s always the one who cries foul the loudest

Who is most guilty of the crime

 

Three months before hand

We know what’s coming

Trump Republicans will claim victory

Regardless of the vote count

Their operatives will refuse to certify results

Trump wants the win

He wants his vindication

He wants his vengeance

He wants his retribution

Even more than victory at the polls

 

He wants a civil war

He wants to take the White House by force

He wants his minions to do it for him

You say you don’t believe me?

Wait three months and see

Or take action now to make sure

It doesn’t happen

 

Manchurian Candidate

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Manchurian Candidate

 

“I don’t really care what happens to

Ukraine.”  J.D. Vance

 

The man has no backbone

No conviction or restraint

In his grand quest for power

A man of principle he ain’t

 

He once stood for justice

And the American way

But the man he once was

Is not the man he is today

 

He has sold his very soul

For a chance at that ring

He would eat a lump of coal

He would do anything

 

He would kiss the man’s boot

If there is something to gain

It took him less than a second

To sacrifice Ukraine

 

He will bow to the Don

The Don bows to the Vlad

As for our democracy

The prognosis is bad

 

American King

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

American King

 

He can do anything he wants to do

He can lock her up

He can make lies true

He’s the master and we’re the slaves

He could have his name engraved

On the Statue of Liberty

On the Emancipation Proclamation

On the constitution of the nation

 

America! Of thee I sing!

All hail the American King!

 

I never thought I’d see the day

When we’d sacrifice our rights

When we’d throw it all away

And sail into an endless night

We’ve place him on a throne

So now we stand alone

We pray for his benevolence

For we’ve lost our independence

 

America! Of thee I sing!

All hail the American King!

 

The Love Letters

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Love Letters

 

Remember those charming love letters

That our (former) president loved so much

Written with boundless affection

With a gentle and giving touch

 

All of you who have spoken ill

Of the man in the Oval Office

Who have blasted your obscenities

From the beds of moving trucks

If we lived under Kim Jong-un

You would find yourself imprisoned

Incapacitated or worse

Condemned to reeducation

Under the cloud of the leader’s curse

 

Remember the brotherly romance

Of our then president and the Vlad

The animosity that we showed him

Made our leader extremely sad

 

All of you who have expressed doubts

About the sanctity of our elections

If we lived under Putin’s rule

Your votes would be cast out

You children would be sent to fight

For the conquest of Ukraine

Your freedom would be compromised

Beyond all recognition

You would find yourself against a wall

In a compromised position

 

Be grateful for what we have

Be careful not to lose it

If democracy is not your bag

We can end it if you choose it

 

America Found

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

America Found (the Awakening)

 

We have lost our way before

We are not a perfect nation

We regarded the protectors of the land

As something less than human

As beasts to be exterminated

Or tamed and put in cages

It took centuries to awaken

To know the error of our ways

But we have awakened

To set forth a better day

 

We enslaved generations of blacks

We denied their basic humanity

We put them in chains

When they demanded their freedom

We hunted them down like rabid dogs

We whipped and hobbled them

We killed and raped them

It took centuries to awaken

To accept the truth that we betrayed

But we have awakened

To a more enlightened way

 

We have fought unprovoked wars

Unjust wars of mass destruction

We have followed poor leaders

We have embraced corporate greed

We have turned the clock backwards

We have stripped away rights

We have sanctioned child labor

We have done evil things

In our God’s holy name

But we have always awakened

In the spirit of righteous shame

 

Trump on Trial

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Trump on Trial

 

Mister Trump is on trial

For the very least of his crimes

Hush money for a porn star

Out of sight, out of mind

 

He defrauded the nation

He flat out lied to us all

But hush money for sex

Could be his downfall

 

What about insurrection?

I hear some of you say

What about Russia?

What about pay-to-play?

 

All of that may be true

But we push it all away

It is all about sex

How much did he pay?

 

Some day we may know

The full scope of his crimes

But that day must wait

It’s a very long line

 

Remember Kent State

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN HISTORY

Remember Kent State

 

Back in the year 1970

(most of you don’t remember)

The National Guard in the state of Ohio

Shot four students dead

They were not violent

They were not breaking the law

They were shot dead for being there

Shot dead for caring

Shot dead for the war machine

In Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam

 

We knew they hated us

We didn’t know they’d kill us

After Kent State we knew

We’d never forget the bloodstained path

The tears of innocence

The end of an era of hope

 

More than any other event of the decade

Kent State divided the nation

Kent State burned itself into our psyche

It spawned a generation of distrust

A distrust of government and authority

Passed down the years to today

 

If you love this nation

If you love its principles and ideals

If you want America to endure

Then remember Kent State

Remember Jackson State

Remember the age of protest

Remember the disenchantment

And make sure it never happens again

The Nixon Rule

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

The Nixon Rule

 

“When the president does it, that means

it is not illegal.” Richard Nixon

 

Are we prepared for what follows?

 

If the president is granted blanket immunity

for official acts even beyond his term as

president, what is to stop the next president

from purging the body politic of enemies and

adversaries alike?

 

If the next president is the man of Mar-a-Lago,

the purge will be immediate and revenge

will be ruthless.

 

The Department of Justice will be the president’s

personal hit squad, formulating a hit list and

taking all who oppose him out by all means

necessary, legal and illegal.

 

The Proud Boys could be deputized to the

dirty work of punishing demonstrators and

standing guard over voting precincts.

 

Truth Social could be declared the official

state media and all other media could be

sued out of existence by draconian bans on

slandering our dear leader.

 

There is no end to the damage our dear

leader could do to our democracy.

 

It is easy to lose democracy.

It is hard to get it back. 

 

Foundations of Law

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

Foundations of Law

 

Justice is the foundation of law

If it is not the law becomes tyranny

Or rather an instrument of tyranny

Belonging to a tyrant

 

When the Supreme Court entertains

the notion of assassination for political

purpose as legal and beyond reproach

we are in grave danger

 

The attorneys for the United States are

too modest in their questioning

They should ask: if the president believes

in his heart and soul that certain justices

of the Supreme Court pose an imminent and

existential threat to American democracy

and the rule of law, could he order their

assassination as an official act without fear

of legal recourse?

 

Case closed. 

 

The Unbiased

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

 

The Unbiased

 

Are you now or have you ever been

a member of the MAGA army?

Are you now or have you ever been

a Joe Biden sympathizer?

 

If there is anyone in this nation

who has not made up their mind

about the two gentlemen representing

their respective parties in the coming

presidential election who are they?

Where have they been for the last

half century and beyond?

 

Have you ever watched a television show?

Have you ever read a newspaper?

Have you ever voted in an election?

Have you ever considered voting?

Have you every pledged allegiance

to the flag of the United States of America?

Have you ever considered what that means?

Do you believe in the rule of law?

Do you believe in democracy?

Do you know what that is?

 

If there is anyone in this fair land

who can answer no to all these questions

their lack of bias speaks of ignorance

or an astounding level of disinterest

 

In either case they should not sit

in judgment on anyone in any case

whatsoever

(Note: Jury selection for Trump's NY trial begins.)

The Irony

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Irony

 

A change in the Oval Office promises

To bring a purge of the government

A purge of the FBI

A purge of the people’s house

A purge of the electorate

A purge of American citizenship

Just like the Red Scare of the fifties

 

The irony is:

This time the Reds will be doing the purge

This time the litmus test requires

An alliance to the Beast of the East

A betrayal of NATO

The abandonment of Ukraine

 

They call it America first

But it is Russia calling the shots

They call national patriotism

But it is loyalty to an adversary

They call it the voice of the people

But the people fall silent

In shock and awe

 

What have we done?

How can we make amends?

 

It is far easier to lose a democracy

Than it is to gain it back

 

The Great Disturbance

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICA

The Great Disturbance

 

There is a great disturbance across the land

One side believes one man is our salvation

The other believes with all their hearts

That man will destroy the nation

 

Is there any chance we can come together

When our convictions are so apart?

It’s as if we were raised in different lands

One of the mind and one of the heart

 

We feel the heat and call it cold

Some say summer, others spring

We are divided young and old

We don’t agree on anything

 

Yet we were raised on common ground

We must find that ground again

The nation that our fathers found

Is blowing in the wind

 

Let’s find a way to understand

To bridge the great divide

Let freedom ring across the land

No matter what your side