Attack on Democracy

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: SUPREME COURT

 

Attack on Democracy

 

Seventy days before the election

And the Court is out of wack

They delivered a strained defection

That allows a bold attack

 

Our democracy is in danger

That much cannot be in doubt

Every day they make it plainer

That’s what they’re all about

 

The constitution makes it clear

The vote is governed by the states

As our election day draws near

Our officials must now wait

 

Vote-by-mail may be banished

If we don’t give up our rolls

Our rights will have vanished

Our republic without its soul

 

They will tell us who can vote

They will tell us who cannot

We’ll be sliding down that slope

That all dictators have wrought

 

 

Standing with Canada

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CANADA

 

Standing with Canada

 

Canada is our neighbor

She is not our enemy

We are not Canada’s savior

In Canada we believe

 

They are proud of their nation

Just as we are proud of ours

They are not under subjugation

They will not hide and cower

 

We stand with our neighbors

To the north and to the south

In trade and in shared labor

Our government should butt out

 

We would like cooperation

Not the bully on the block

Respect for every nation

Not the policies of shock

 

We extend our hand in friendship

We apologize for our leader

Someday maybe he’ll get a grip

And withdraw the tariff meter

 

Soon he’ll lose his leverage

We will take a different track

We will end this tariffs stage

And walk all his policies back

 

The Bubble (AI)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TECHNOLOGY

 

The Bubble

 

It happened in real estate

I remember it quite well

It’s much too much to contemplate

When the markets ring the bell

 

We’re invested in technology

Beyond the limits of a dream

We’ve banked on mass psychology

Much louder than a scream

 

We have rolled our assets over

A billion times or more

When the markets start to hover

There’s no more keeping score

 

When the bubble starts to burst

They’ll assure us all is sunny

But before it gets much worse

They will try to hide their money

 

We all know what happens next

They will ask us for a bailout

That’s the way it all connects

That is what it’s all about

 

They’re too big to be denied

They’re too big to place a bet

Before we reach the other side

We’ll all be buried in their debt

 

They will tell us it’s okay

That’s just the way it rolls

Here tomorrow, gone today

Until we’re deep inside the hole

 

Canadian Trade Deal

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CANADA

 

Canadian Trade Deal

 

Canada is not our friend

That’s just the way they treat us

We would rather break than bend

We’re worried they’ll defeat us

 

Trade talks are suspended

PM Carney says they’re done

Trump says he’s offended

He thinks he’s got them on the run

 

They are talking with two tongues

They share no sense of trust

They’ve reached the bottom rung

They only talk because they must

 

The Canadians are proud

Something we don’t understand

They won’t listen when we’re loud

They’ll dig in and make a stand

 

We began this war of trade

Thinking they would simply yield

As all hopes of fairness fade

It’s not a level playing field

 

You don’t treat your friends this way

That’s not how this should work

We’ve invited them to play

But they are dealing with a jerk

 

The Korea Problem

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Korea(s)

 

He chose the north over the south

Dictatorship over democracy

So our alliances are in doubt

From Ukraine to the China Sea

 

Our nation can’t be counted on

It seems we’ve lost our core

Our basic founding values gone

What are we fighting for?

 

He promised no more foolish wars

He promised great prosperity

Now we’re mired on a foreign shore

With a future of austerity

 

Putin, Kim and Bolsonaro

Hungary and Turkey

We’ve turned away from NATO

And threatened our democracy

 

Some betrayals cut too deep

They cannot be forgiven

We’re afraid to go to sleep

For fear our world may end

 

The Insurrection Redux

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

The Insurrection Redux

 

The insurrection has not ended

It has simply gone to hiding

If the people are offended

We soon will be deciding

 

The insurrection will be televised

There is no doubt on that

Our history will not be revised

To reflect the latest stat

 

The last one was rehearsal

For the one that’s yet to come

No blockage or dispersal

Come on out and get you some

 

The insurrection will be televised

In all its gloom and glory

We will all believe the lies

We are sticking to our story

 

If you don’t want an insurrection

You had better make it clear

For there will be some defections

As the day of dread draws near

 

The insurrection will be televised

From its inception to its end

We will watch it grow and die

And this message we will send:

 

Go home and take your violence

Go home and take your guns

We will not stand in silence

We will not turn and run

 

Big Tent Party

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

Big Tent Party

 

The Democrats are on the run

The “Big Tent” party has failed

It allowed a right-wing charlatan

To run the nation off the rails

 

If you really want a Big Tent

Don’t attack the progressive wing

If you wonder where the voters went

They felt the corporate sting

 

Hey Big Brother, have you heard?

They’re leaving you behind

They aren’t afraid of “scary” words

The people make up their own minds

 

They like what the candidates represent

They like what they have to say

A party that falls short of Big Tent

Can only get in the way

 

Expand your way of thinking

There’s a mountain we must climb

The old party has been sinking

For a very, very long time

 

You’ve been losing all the races

We have lost our peace of mind

It is time to greet new faces

Of a new and fresher kind

 

We need a new unification

Of all parties in opposition

To save this faltering nation

With a new, enlightened mission

 

The Purge

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY

 

The Purge

 

Florida pioneered purging the voter rolls

Without it Bush* would have lost

From there the question only grows

This topsy turvy world was tossed

 

They found a way to cull the vote

Using names from a felons list

That they were minorities is of note

If they were white they would have missed

 

The history of the world was altered

By that historic election fact

Our democratic system faltered

We haven’t found our way back

 

There are many ways to beat the system

Our democracy is endangered

There are times when we missed them

The threats could not be plainer

 

When it comes to cheating let’s be clear

It’s nearly always the GOP

With the next election drawing near

We can’t afford to let it be

 

All people should be united

In our belief in democracy

Do not let it be decided

By those smelling of hypocrisy

 

* George W. Bush

 

The Drought

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

The Drought

 

Lakes Powell and Mead are running dry

The Colorado is endangered

We know the simple reasons why

The strange is getting stranger

 

A victim of global climate change

A winter dry as bones

The ecosystem rearranged

The riverbeds of stone

 

Seven states are wondering

Just when their share runs out

The truth will leave a lasting sting

The warming’s not in doubt

 

Desalination is the only way

The west will survive the drought

Our world has gone so far astray

In time we’ll figure out

 

We had a chance to stem the tide

But now it’s far too late

We’re in it for a rocky ride

Hard times will be our fate

 

Some may wish to ride it out

The chips fall where they may

But one more year of stifling drought

And all will feel the pain  

No!

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: THE RESISTANCE

 

No! 

 

We don’t want you wicked ICE

We don’t want your data centers

Let me give you some advice

Put an end to these adventures

 

You don’t know what you’re doing

You don’t know what you’ve done

You’re flailing and you’re suing

And the backlash has begun

 

We don’t want your dirty prisons

We don’t want your careless cuts

There’s a trail of daft decisions

The decree is open shut

 

We don’t want your lame-brained wars

We don’t want your crypto schemes

We don’t want drilling off our shores

We don’t share your racist dream

 

We don’t want to rig the vote

We don’t want soldiers on the streets

We don’t want to rock the boat

But we won’t march to your beat

 

It is time for you to go

We’ve grown tired of your act

You have lost your golden glow

Cue the curtain, fade to black

 

World on Fire

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

World on Fire

 

The world’s on fire because of us

Because of what we’ve done

In our leaders we’ve lost trust

The whole planet’s on the run

 

Think of what we’ve handed down

From the generations past

Our way of life has been unwound

The damage done is vast

 

We have left a world on fire

Catastrophes and drought

A world balanced on a tight wire

Without a clear way out

 

We wish we had it all again

I swear we’d do things differently

These are the doings of lesser men

The ones who worshiped greed

 

They didn’t care what harm they did

They plotted and they planned

They answered to the highest bid

They built their castles grand

 

Soon they’ll answer for their lapse

Their callousness and greed

They’ll hear the bells toll and the taps

They’ll find a place of need

 

 

The Smithsonian

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUE HISTORY

 

The Smithsonian

 

To tell us what is false and true

You have to know your history

Racial bias is nothing new

Your motive is not a mystery

 

We built fortunes on our slaves

It’s a matter of solemn fact

Home of the free, land of the brave

With the exception of the blacks

 

God wasn’t always on our side

When we marked a westward trail

A little matter of genocide

While we built the golden rails

 

We imprisoned the Japanese

For the country of their origin

We abused and used the Chinese

For the color of their skin

 

We fought wars for faulty reasons

So many innocents have died

We’ve seen presidents commit treason

But the law was not applied

 

Now you’d like a different story

One of heroes and wonderment

Tales of courage and of glory

Not what was but what was “meant”

 

(Trump wants the Smithsonian to

label “false” or “misleading” displays.)

 

 

Berlin Pride

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: INTOLERANCE

 

Berlin Pride

 

Berlin is no stranger

To an extremist point of view

The Germans recognize the danger

As few other nations do

 

When a man attacked a rally

That celebrated pride

They did not wait for a tally

Of those on the other side

 

Intolerance is wrong

No matter how it is painted

A nation only of the “strong”

We know well how it is tainted

 

Berlin will remain on guard

For acts of terror from the right

They have seen the racial card

In a most horrific light

 

It’s a reminder to us all

That the darkness lies in wait

Sometimes it is a wall

Sometimes we see it too late

 

For hate will find a home

Where it is allowed to grow

In Jerusalem or Rome

East Berlin and Chicago know

 

The Red Scare

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

Red Scare

 

A socialist is a communist

The analogy is not fair

You don’t need to be a psychologist

To recognize the red scare

 

They tried it back in the fifties

At that time it worked real well

They tried it again in the sixties

Once again it rang a bell

 

That’s how we got the McCarthy scourge

That’s how we got Tricky Dick

At worst it is a patriot’s dirge

At best it’s a dirty trick

 

If you want to be afraid

Be afraid of the fear mongers

Until your debt is paid

The opposition will grow stronger

 

They’re swimming against the tide

They are summoning the past

Let’s take it all in stride

Their decline is steep and fast

 

Hey buddy have you heard?

We are not afraid of words

Take your tricks and go away

Find another part to play