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

 

Tears for Hong Kong

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Tears for Hong Kong

 

As much as ten years in jail

For the crime of peaceful protest

Hong Kong’s democracy has failed

Yet their spirits must be blessed

 

We remember Tiananmen Square

As if it happened yesterday

A display of courage rare

That spirit lives on to this day

 

The people rallied to their cause

They voiced their disapproval

Repeal all oppressive laws

Some called for their removal

 

The Party came to their decision

Without principled assistance

To prevent a deep division

They will punish all resistance

 

Yet the resistance will endure

Despite all oppressive measures

Of that much we can be sure

For their freedom is their treasure

 

A hundred years and more

We’ll remember Tiananmen Square

What they were fighting for

Is something we all share

 

 

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

 

Ukrainian Divide

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Ukrainian Divide

 

The fired minister* raises objections

He calls for reinstatement

And a new wartime election

Challenging the government

Dividing representation

Threatening to foment

 

We know it’s been a long time

Without the people’s confirmation

But dividing now would be a crime

Creating chaos and destabilization

 

Ukraine has stood the test

Under massive military pressure

It’s not time to reinvest

In someone clearly lesser

 

You have problems with Zelensky

But he has handled it with zeal

What Putin wants and needs

Is an election he could steal

 

You are winning in this war

When no one thought you had a chance

It’s just not time to shut the door

Put your head down and advance

 

* Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov

 

Trouble in Paradise

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Trouble in Paradise

 

A major quake in Indonesia

A hurricane hits Hawaii

Are we suffering amnesia?

Don’t we remember the lie?

 

The warming is not real

It’s just a normal fluctuation

Mother Nature will self-heal

We’re protected in this nation

 

And yet the Midwest is reeling

With catastrophic floods

All the world is feeling

We’ll be buried in the mud

 

Yesterday it was Columbia

Today its Indonesia and Hawaii

Everywhere it is hunting us

Can’t you hear the mountains cry?

 

It is the age of catastrophe

From Paradise to Cemetery Road

We see the forest but not the trees

As the winds begin to blow

 

We’re building walls against the people

While we’ve let the dangers in

Like a church without a steeple

Like a prayer that worships sin

 

Buckle down and get prepared

For every threat that nature brings

It could happen anywhere

And when it does it will sting

 

Closed (Hormuz Strait)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IRAN WAR

 

Closed

 

The Lincoln is abandoned *

The war still rages on

We’re down to muskets and cannons

Our fearlessness is gone

It’s a strange and deadly game

Where every turn seems wrong

The new military is dopin’

They are singing a new song

But the Strait is not open

And the war is getting long

 

We’re loud and we’re raging

We’re heading round the bend

Our ships and missiles aging

In a war that will not end

Our leaders are half mad

By now the whole world knows

It’s tragic and it’s sad

But that’s just how it goes

Everything is turning bad

And the Strait is still closed

 

It’s closed for the weekend

It’s closed another day

How long it’s closed depends

On what our leaders say

There is no way around

It might be closed til May

As our sense of outrage grows

And our hair is turning gray

But the Strait remains closed

And closed it will stay

 

* USS Lincoln

 

Assassination

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Assassination

 

The leader of a sovereign nation

Must follow certain rules

There can be no assassinations

Or assassination schools

 

For what comes around goes around

As every schoolboy knows

If you put someone on the ground

Soon enough you’ll come to blows

 

They shot the Ayatollah down

Without thinking of what follows

What goes around comes around

That saying is not hollow

 

So we cannot be surprised that

Assassination is now in play

You pull the tail of a sleeping cat

The cat will have a say

 

So our leader is endangered

By his own reckless act

Watch out for every stranger

May be an angry cat

 

This is why we have laws

That govern what we do

If you pull the shortest straw

Everyone is bound to lose

 

Columbian Quake

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CATASTROPHES

 

Columbian Quake

 

Our hearts go out to Bogota

For their suffering this day

Tears are flowing, emotions raw

Struck by a major quake

 

At times of these disasters

There are no politics

Our hearts become our masters

The aid must happen quick

 

All the world should unite

In doing what we’re able

A convergence in the fight

To make the stricken nation stable

 

Today it is Columbia

Tomorrow it may be Mexico

Maybe Cuba or Bolivia

Where it strike we cannot know

 

We know it will happen somewhere

Be it near or be it far

And we will always be there

For it will strike where we are

 

We cannot waste our time and resource

On such foolish things as war

Someday we will change course

And that will open many doors

 

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