The Great Extortionist

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: FREE SPEECH

 

The Great Extortionist

 

The corporate world has taken its stand

To oblige the wannabe dictator

Now it’s up to every woman and man

To put them through the grater

 

CBS fired their late-night host

At the urging of our president

A shot heard loud from coast to coast

We knew exactly what it meant

 

ABC was quick to can their man

On the shallow side of pretense

They’re sure that we will understand

The bottom line is their defense

 

Now B & J is going down

Yielding to the rightwing pressure

Soon there will be none around

For our entertainment pleasure

 

This is how our grand republic ends

With a constant push and shove

On the next election we’ll depend

With some help from the stars above

 

(Jimmy Kimmel fired and reinstated.)

 

Pravda

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

 

Pravda

 

We have become what we despise

The media is bought and sold

We embrace the golden leader’s lies

Our sense of decency grows cold

 

We are the shining silver tower

Money is the voice that speaks

We are the ones who worship power

The ship of state has sprung a leak

 

We do not miss our freedom here

We sent it on a ship to sea

We hold our leader very dear

And that alone’s enough for me

 

There is one truth for everyone

They hand it to us every day

We have the right to own a gun

The other rights we gave away

 

From this time forward we are one

One voice, one vote, one truth

We praise the glory of the sun

Who needs a voting booth?

 

McCarthy Lives

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: FREE SPEECH

 

McCarthy Lives

 

Because we have forgotten

We are condemned to live the past

A time when government turned rotten

All citizens should be aghast

 

It was known as the Great Red Scare

The Bill of Rights was suspended

Speak out boldly if you dare

The right to speak has been amended

 

Are you now or have you ever

Been a member of the party not in power?

Then your rights are hereby severed

As of this day this very hour

 

When we’re afraid to speak our minds

For fear of dire consequences

Then our democracy is blind

Building walls and erecting fences

 

They’re building prisons for us now

In the name of law and order

Don’t know when, don’t know how

But they will drag us to the border

 

America the Free

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

America the Free

 

This is not the Philippines

Where Duterte had his reign

We know what independence means

We will not be restrained

 

This is not Beijing

Where they have an iron fist

Where freedom has no meaning

Where they keep an enemies list

 

This is not the Kremlin

Where Putin is their king

Where dissenters are imprisoned

Where elections are a sting

 

This is not Pyongyang

In service to dear leader

When Lady Liberty rang

They replied they didn’t need her

 

This is the land of liberty

America the free

Where individuality

Belongs to you and me

 

This is the land of light

No man above the law

Where fundamental rights

Are not considered flaws

 

Where everyone is free

To speak as they will speak

To be what they would be

To seek what they would seek

 

 

Rights of All

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY

 

Rights of All

 

Our rights are not a property

They can’t be bought or sold

I’ll claim them as a part of me

Until the heavens fold

 

Those rights belong to everyone

Who lives on planet earth

Until the setting of the sun

By virtue of their birth

 

The age of freedom will not end

By anyone’s decree

No matter what you may intend

We will not bend the knee

 

Our students have a right to speak

Without intimidation

Rich or poor, strong or weak

In a democratic nation

 

You want us to be silent now

No protests, no resistance

But some things we do not know how

Our freedom is insistent