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. 

 

Neo Nazis in Nashville

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Neo Nazis in Nashville

 

Nashville is a city of music

A city of diversity

A city that embraces art and artists

A city that opens her arms to

To troubadours and vagabonds

Who want a better life

A city that welcomes the dreamers

And the dream

 

The city of music must hang

Her head in shame

As neo-Nazi white supremacists

Boldly march her streets

With chants of blatant bigotry

With chants of racial prejudice

Jews will not replace us!

Make America white again!

 

Will the city leaders find the courage

To denounce them one and all

Will the public office holders condemn

Them in bold and certain terms

Or will the nation’s patriots be

Forced to take reciprocal action

Boycott Nashville!

Boycott the city of music

Until she recognizes the truth and

Value of her diversity

Overcome (for MLK)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Overcome 

 

The sickness and the sorrow

Invades my soul this day

Of all the things I know

No one reveals the way

I don’t know where I’m going

I don’t know where I’m from

And yet I still believe

We shall overcome

 

I walked a lonely mile

With Bobby and the King

I marched into the setting sun

When he sang Let Freedom Ring!

There’s nothing left of them

But the instrument I strum

And yet I still have faith

We shall overcome

 

We overcame the monarch

We overcame the Klan

We overcame the royalists

Who fought the Rights of Man

I hear the soldiers crying out

The pounding of the drums

We will not turn and run this day

We shall overcome

 

I bathed in sacred waters

I reached a distant shore

When hunger stood before me

I knocked upon the door

She said I have no whiskey

But I’ve got a little rum

I shed a tear of joy and said

We shall overcome

 

The Storming of the People's House

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Storming of the People’s House

 

The people of Paris stormed the Bastille

14 July 1789 to overthrow a despotic

government. A monarchy, an aristocracy,

hereditary succession, a royal king.

 

In Washington the people stormed congress

6 January 2021 to overthrow an elected

president, to install a monarchy, hereditary

succession, an aristocratic king. 

 

The storming of the Bastille toppled the

king, introduced the guillotine and begat

the Reign of Terror, a river of blood that

swallowed its leader: Maximilien

Robespierre.

 

The storming of the people’s house fell

short of its goal, dozens of instigators

captured and jailed while its leader went

free, opening the door to a period of

uncertainty and the promise of revenge.

 

The storming of the Bastille was a turning

point in history; one by one the monarchs

fell, replaced by elected governments,

representative democracies that shined

from Europe to across the sea. 

 

The storming of the people’s house is an

unfinished story: a defense of democracy

or its tragic fall? A period of unrest or a

reign of terror? For better or for worse,

let the people decide. 

 

The Russian Party of America

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Russian Party (RPA)

 

The Russian Party of America

Is on the front line in the war

Putin is the high commander

Trump is holding the door

 

The Speaker of the House

Is hardly worth his weight

He’s lost all of his authority

To control his party’s fate

 

The party of Ronald Reagan

Would not recognize itself

Instead of trust but verify

They’ll send us straight to hell

 

Soon the leader of our nation

Could owe allegiance to another

Like the child of another mother

We would be Putin’s little brother

 

In a world that’s lost its balance

When on balance we depend

We risk losing our democracy

From which we’ll never make amends

 

Serving Putin

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Serving Putin

 

We are not fooled

You are not the party of peace

You have always found money

To finance your wars of choice

You’ve even cooked the books

To hide your military spending

You have not suddenly found a conscience

You have not suddenly seen the light

You have not tired of endless wars

You’ve not grown weary of the fight

 

Your party has a new master now

He has transformed you into fools

You bow before his majesty

You cater to his rules

If he says jump you say how high?

You’ve become his lowly tools

 

But your master has a master too

His name is Vladimir

When he cries you all shed a tear

He tells you when and what to do

 

He’s losing on the battlefield

He is losing his great war

His last best chance at triumph is

To convince us it’s not worth fighting for

 

He has his American allies

Just like the Nazis did

When Trump tells us we can’t win

He’s bidding Putin’s bid

 

Backward March

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Backward March

 

The backward march to darker times

When white men held all power

Like digging a hole to make a climb

Or knocking down the tallest towers

 

The way of darkness claims the light

But the message is not divine

The evil doers proclaim the right

But their water does not change to wine

 

They lead us boldly to a certain past

When the order of things was clear

But the old days were not meant to last

Though some may hold them dear

 

We will endure these brutal days

When human rights were in retreat

Somehow someday we’ll find a way

To march to a forward beat

The Pledge (America)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Pledge (Equality for All)

 

America!

Never have you woven such a tale

A man so brazen and so craven

All tests of credibility would fail

 

America!

We have chosen crooked men before

The epically immoral and amoral

But never one so twisted to the core

 

America!

You will survive this horrible attack

There always has and will be traitors

But the people rise to fight it back

 

America!

Your history is one of moral compromise

Genocide and slavery and liberty denied

In time you’ve learned to be more wise

 

America!

Bow your head in mortal shame

We should have known he was a snake

Take a vow to never say his name

 

America!

We stand as one and fight for you

You are the greatest hope of humankind

We pray your cause is just and true

 

America!

We work so that your honor will not fall

For everyone who pledges to your flag

For liberty justice and equality for all

 

Birth of the Nation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Birth of the Nation

 

Two hundred forty-seven years ago

We founded a new nation

Rich in ideals and principles

Poor in integrity

Crippled with hypocrisy

 

For two hundred forty-seven years

We have advanced and retreated

Fought for a better world

Yielded to degradation

Fought for justice and equality

Fought for slavery and genocide

 

We have expanded the electorate

We have pulled it back again

We have enshrined justice for all

But withheld it for minorities

 

We were born with great promise

For all of humankind

To not know we have fallen short

One would have to be blind

 

The greatness of our nation

Is that we always push ahead

We acknowledge our shortcomings

We pay tribute to the dead

 

We may never find the answers

But we will always find a way

To improve the way things are

To ensure a better day

 

Going Down

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Going Down

 

Manchin and Sinema did their best

Holding back the best they could

With every reason from east to west

For not doing what they should

 

But when the election came around

The anti-democracy crowd went down

 

It’s not supposed to be this way

For the party of the working man

The candidates are supposed to say

This is where we make our stand

 

So when the election comes around

The anti-democracy crowd goes down

 

We won this time

We fought them back

We changed some minds

We’re back on track

But have no doubt they will return

The question is: what have we learned?

 

If they rise to fight again

Will democracy always win?

 

Supporting the Blue

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  POEMICS

Supporting the Blue

 

You do not support the blue

If you allow madmen and criminals

To possess weapons of war

Knowing the harm they will do

 

You do not support the blue

If your people attack agents of the FBI

Or turn a blind eye on those who do

Put your foot in another’s shoe

 

You do not support the blue

If you encourage violence on the streets

When it suits your purpose

To push your own political views

 

You do not support the blue

If your support depends on party

On the kind of cap they wear

Or whether they agree with you

 

You do not support the blue

When you become the mindless mob

That attacks the people’s house

And they will not support you

 

Need to Believe

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Need to Believe

 

“I want to believe.”  X Files

 

The key to understanding America

In the early twenty-first century

Is to realize our need to believe

That everything is fine

The march of progress is unstoppable

Our rights can never be taken

Our freedom is secure

The great warming is just a rumor

American greatness is beyond question

American democracy cannot die

And every generation will be greater

Than the last

 

We so need to believe the mythology

That we are willing to abandon reason

Eager to demonize science

Happy to discard medicine

Ever anxious to believe that a two-bit

Con man is our greatest hope

 

Americans have always been

Creatures of divine faith

Credulous to the ultimate extreme

Yet we have always shaken

The chains of gullibility

At times of historical need

 

Maybe this time is different

Maybe this time we’ll sleepwalk

Through the days of Armageddon

Or maybe we’ll awaken in time

To understand that only we

Can arrest the decree