Showing posts with label American Democracy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American Democracy. Show all posts

Thursday, December 19, 2024

The Christopher Wray Lament

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS


Lament of Christopher Wray

 

The woeful reign of Christopher Wray

Marked by caution and weak delay

He paused when he should have hit the gas

He procrastinated and finished last

 

Even now he lacks the courage to stay

Instead of resistance he slowly fades

Nobody knows and nobody cares

Whether what he did was wise or fair

 

When it all came down he took a pass

When they hang his flag it will be half mast

He was so uncertain he pleased no one

He cashed his check and now he’s done

 

So here’s to you Mister Christopher Wray

You had your chance now go away

You might have had a huge impact

But you deferred and that’s a fact

 

(FBI Director resigns in advance of Trump.)

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

ABC Bends the Knee

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: JOURNALISM


ABC Bends the Knee

 

George Stephanopoulos misspoke

He took a step over the line

But if the Court was not a joke

What he said would be just fine

 

Freedom of the press is on the run

The warning is in place

The Bill of Rights is largely done

They will toss it in your face

 

The talking heads are bowing down

Leave your courage at the desk

A new journalism is in town

In propaganda we invest

 

The pundits and the powers

Are all bending at the knees

They’re all sacrifice and cower

They’re trying hard to please

 

We are a nation in retreat

We will toss away our rights

We’re telling everyone we meet

That this is not the time to fight

 

But if you’re having second thoughts

If you don’t like how it goes down

There’s still a battle to be fought

Find the guts to stand your ground

 

(ABC pays Trump millions to

settle a defamation suit.)

 

Thursday, December 12, 2024

The Crusader

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS


The Crusader (Pete Hegseth)

 

Those who do not know their history

Are most often condemned to repeat

They very worst of our worst atrocities

The Crusades ended in defeat

 

The Crusaders killed with utter pleasure

Annihilation was their only plan

They led massacres at their leisure

Killing children, woman and man

 

They believed their sword was blessed

Because they wore the Crusader’s cross

All sins forgiven when confessed

They never thought about the cost

 

In innocent lives and human suffering

In generations sworn to hate

All to grasp that illusive ring

To stake claim to their eternal fate

 

Now some would like a new Crusade

For another century of blood

Exchange the bullet for the blade

Watch the stream become a flood

 

(Trump’s choice for Defense Secretary

is a champion of the crusades.)

 

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Buying the Presidency

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Buying the Presidency

 

With the blessings of the Court Supreme

That lifted limits on contributions

Elon Musk has bought the White House

Along with all its institutions

(which he may ban from existence)

 

He pumped a fortune into propaganda

Without restrictions on content

He won a seat at the table of power

Now we’ll discovery his intent

(we can be sure it isn’t pretty)

 

Will the president sit him down

And attempt to put him in his place?

We’ll find out about his ego

Will he tell him to his face?

(and what a face it is)

 

I’m the richest man on earth, he’ll say

And I’d hate to tell you twice

If I want rice for dinner

By God, we’re having rice

(he brought his own chef)

 

You may think you have the power

But there’s not much you can do

If you’d like a talk with Vladimir

My office will approve

(and so the story goes)

 

(Musk puts up 750 million to elect Trump)

 


Thursday, December 05, 2024

The Hand of Vengeance

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY


The Hand of Vengeance

 

Kash Patel is the hand of vengeance

J. Edgar Hoover reincarnate

He will serve at the president’s pleasure

Wo to those who arouse his hate

 

He has sworn to have his vengeance

Against all and every enemy of state

Members of the opposing parties

Journalists for Politico and Slate

 

J. Edgar was an American disgrace

Subversion was within his powers

His enemies vanished without a trace

It was our nation’s darkest hours

 

Patel is cast from the same mold

His reach extends far and wide

His gaze is dark and his hand is cold

He will stand at the president’s side

 

The people must rise to answer back

To safeguard our Bill of Rights

Our republic is coming under attack

We will never give up the fight

 

(Patel to be named FBI Director)

Sunday, December 01, 2024

The Irony

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: MAGA


The Irony

 

The irony of Make America Great Again

Is that they hate America

They hate everything America stands for:

 

Democracy

Rule of law

Institutions of civil society

Peaceful transfer of power

Free and fair elections

The right to vote

The right to protest

The advancement of freedom

A nation of immigrants

To welcome with open arms

No one is above the law

 

You can say they were duped

You can say they knew not…

But this time it was clear as fresh water

This time they absolutely knew

They understood and embraced it

To the principles of the nation

To the founders and defenders

To the keepers of the dream

They delivered a straight message:

F*** you!

 

Saturday, November 23, 2024

Tulsi Gabbard

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS


Tulsi (Fox in the Henhouse)

 

The fox is guarding the henhouse

The hens are running scared

The cat has cornered the mouse

Betray her if you dare

 

She is on Putin’s payroll

We’ve long known it is so

She delivers Russian talking points

On all the rightwing shows

 

Now Tulsi holds the keys

To all our secrets and our plans

Our weapons and our strategies

And where we’ll make a stand

 

If that doesn’t give you pause

You’ve lost all sense of reason

What she will do despite our laws

Will tempt a charge of treason

 

I do hope that I am wrong

But I fear that I am right

She will sing a Russian song

And she will fight the Russian fight

 

(Tulsi Gabbard announced as

Trumps choice for Director of

National Intelligence.)

 

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Putin's Gamble

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PUTIN


Putin’s Gamble

 

What he could not accomplish

on the battlefields of Ukraine

He has accomplished on the

stage of American politics

 

Where he could not succeed

in France or the Netherlands

He has triumphed in the vast

open plains and the industrial

Midwest and the deep southern

forests of America

 

He gambled it all

on the wickedly flawed

American electoral laws

 

He gambled it all

on a conman from Queens

with his propaganda machine

 

The whole world will attest

Putin won the west

and with it he won Ukraine

 

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Days of Change

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN HISTORY

 

 DAYS OF CHANGE

The assassinations of JFK, MLK & Bobby

Each event a nation mourned

Each event a hidden element celebrated

We wondered who benefited

Who struck a deal with the devil

Days of sorrow

Days of change

 

The killing of the kids at Kent State

The killings at Jackson State

Shit got real fast

We knew how they hated us

We did not know how much

Days of sorrow

Days of change

 

The resignation of LBJ

Now we knew we could bring change

We could stop an evil war

Bring peace to the killing fields

A new era of hope and wonder

That’s when they killed Bobby

Days of sorrow

Days of change

 

The resignation of Richard Nixon

The man who embraced China

The man who elevated dictators

The man who won 49 states

The man who hired burglars

And kept a long enemies list

Resigned in disgrace

Days of wonder

Days of change

 

The morning the twin towers fell

An act of unconscionable violence

The death of thousands

A declaration of vengeance

The global war on terror

Iraq and Afghanistan

Days of sorrow

Days of change

 

The reelection of Donald Trump…


Jack Random is the author of eight novels (including Pawns to Players and Wasichu), three collections of short stories, two volumes of plays, ten volumes of political essays (Jazzman Chronicles) and six books of poetry (including Life Songs and Lost in Her Soul).  His most recent works are Poemics Americana and Poemics International (Crow Dog Press).

Saturday, November 09, 2024

The Next Phase (Resistance)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY


The Next Phase (Resist)

 

We approach a turning point

A transition in the struggle

An acceleration in our efforts

Or a fundamental change

A continuation of the battle

Or the start of a new phase

 

What applies in America

Applies equally in Ukraine

As we await the election

We prepare for a change

If it is not as we have hoped

If the unthinkable comes to pass

We begin the resistance

A phase that will last

 

In the battle for democracy

We will take it to the streets

If they strike us down like cattle

We will march to a different beat

We will march in silent protest

We will refuse to move on

We will test the limits of their brutality

We will fold back if necessary

Into the shadows of resistance

And we will resist

 

In the battle for Ukraine

If the unthinkable comes to pass

The Russians and their allies

Become the hated occupiers

Ukraine becomes the resistance

How long can the occupation hold?

The spirit of independence lives

The resistance will not fold

Forever and a day

We will resist

 

Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan

The occupation will fail

 

Forever and a day

We will resist

 

Thursday, November 07, 2024

The Day that Shook the World

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS


The Day that Shook the World

 

We should have seen it coming

The writing was on the wall

The day that shook the world

May be the day that we fall

 

Europe stands on edge

Ukraine is on the line

NATO is forming contingencies

For a world that is realigned

 

Vladimir Putin wears a smile

That will last until tomorrow

The dictators are in ecstasy

The free world is in sorrow

 

A new age has begun

Filled with worry and despair

The autocrats are in power

And corporations do not care

 

About the warming of the planet

About protecting human rights

About the fall of a republic

We watch it vanish from our sight

 

Wednesday, November 06, 2024

Mourning in America

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY


Mourning in America

 

The majority* of Americans

Have made their feeling clear

The rest of us are mourning

For the nation we hold dear

 

We cannot deny the mandate

Unlike the opposing side

We’ve lost our democratic state

Now we’re forced to take a ride

 

Down the autocratic lane

Where brutes and tyrants live

So begins the tyrant’s reign

That history will not forgive

 

It is mourning in America

And all around the world

The once proud democracy

Into the void was hurled

 

We will not give up hope

We’ll rise to fight again

We’re facing a daunting slope

With a deep desire to win

 

* Plurality

Monday, November 04, 2024

Erosion of Democracy

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY


Erosion of Democracy

 

We do not lose democracy overnight

It erodes gradually over years

We watch it happen without a fight

It does not arouse our deepest fears

 

They strip away our voting rights

They degrade our vote with gerrymander

They push our protests out of sight

They diminish our side with candor

 

The wealthy buy our fourth estate

They take control of our information

They beat us down and call it great

Say goodbye to our once great nation

 

Our corporate mobsters have the power

Awarded by the Court Supreme

Some will applaud the final hours

The death of the American dream

 

Will we rise from our deep despair?

To gain back what we have lost

There are far too many who do not care

Bend the knee to our new boss

 

Sunday, November 03, 2024

The Unseen Hand (of Oppression)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY


The Unseen Hand

 

The unseen hand of intimidation

Belongs to the brute of the Kremlin

His presence felt in most every nation

Like a force of voting gremlins

 

They promote stories with clever lies

The truth is altered and deformed

They provide their guilty alibies

They invade like a closing storm

 

From Austria to the Slavic states

From Wisconsin to the Hague

The unseen hand has found its place

Like the scourge of a Russian plague

 

Democracy is on the run

Most everywhere we turn

We cannot rest until it’s done

Let the flames of freedom burn

 

Do not give in, do not despair

The alarm has been sounded

We are rallying the free and fair

On the principles that were founded

 

In ancient Greece and modern Rome

The bricks of our foundation

Democracy has found a home

In the best of civilized nations

 

Saturday, November 02, 2024

The Common Good

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY


The Common Good

 

There is something deeply disturbing

About the state of our democracy

When so many of our citizens

Are tempted to autocracy

 

We will never have to vote again

That is exactly what he said

Our democracy has flown away

Say goodnight and go to bed

 

In the morning when we wake up

Our once great country tis of thee

Is no longer of and by the people

And the people are no longer free

 

We had a long and storied run

But the wealthy spoiled the pot

The filthy rich took all the power

And let the republic rot

 

We neglected it for far too long

We let the wealthy have their way

Now that they’ve bought all branches

We will no longer have a say

 

It is for the common good they say

And for the benefit of very few

It is far too late to make a change

There is nothing more we can do

 

Thursday, October 31, 2024

The World Awaits

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS


The World Awaits

 

With bated breath the world awaits

The end of our republic?

The christening of a new age?

The rendering of fate

 

The raging propaganda wars

Everywhere across the globe

Misinformation in full force

Attacking the frontal lobe

 

We do not know what to believe

Our eyes and ears mislead us

The information we receive

Is what they choose to feed us

 

But people have a seventh sense

We carry it deep inside

It is our last and best defense

A human override

 

There are evil forces everywhere

We will fight them back again

As long as people know and care

The evil will not win

 

Monday, October 28, 2024

Contamination of the Press

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY


Contamination of the Press

 

Look hard and long, it’s plain to see

The press ain’t what it used to be

A shadow of its former self

A dusty volume on the shelf

 

We’ve seen the power of the press

When Richard Nixon did his best

To undermine our free and fair

In the days when papers cared

 

In a story that toppled towers

They did not hide, they did not cower

They exposed his dirt and crooked deeds

And let it run where it would lead

 

Today they let it all go down

The truth is nowhere to be found

Who cares about democracy?

We’ll profit from autocracy

 

So let it all unfold

The truth will not be told

Not today and not tomorrow

When all is gloom and sorrow

 

(Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post

declines to endorse for president.)