The Secret State

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

The Secret State

 

You put him in power

To get rid of the fat

The useless abusers

Not the harmless bureaucrats

They said they would rid you

Of the secret, deep state

The unelected elites

That control the nation’s fate

 

Now look who’s in charge

Every minute and hour

They’ve taken up residence

In the executive tower

They make the decisions

They pull all the strings

They sound the alarms

Just to see if they ring

We had no deep state

But now that we do

They’ll tear down democracy

The joke is on you

 

Social Security?

Medicare and Medicaid?

Just wait til you see

The plans that they’ve laid

Environmental protection?

Who cares about that?

Get rid of it all

They’ll just call it fat

Educating the poor?

The ones who can’t pay

Throw it out with the trash

And call it a day

Freedom of speech?

The right to exist?

They’ll answer to that

With a hammer and fist

 

Is this what you wanted?

Nobody cares

In the politics of war

Everything’s fair

 

Venezuelan Refugees

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: MASS DEPORTATION

 

Venezuelan Refugees

 

Sending refugees to prison in El Salvador

A level of depravity rarely seen

Even in the lowest dream

Like jailing people for being poor

What else would we do?

Are there any limitations?

Have we become a heartless nation?

 

We have lost our moral grounding

It is pitiful and yet it’s true

Our cruelty is astounding

Some would say it’s nothing new

 

They are fleeing from oppression

As we encouraged them to do

We would teach them all a lesson

But we failed to see it through

Now we tell them you’re not welcome here

You’re not welcome anywhere

We condemn you to a life of fear

Though we know it is not fair

 

This is not the old America

The one you knew and loved

This is the hateful nation

The hawk without the dove

 

(Trump administration ships Venezuelan

refugees to prison in El Salvador.)

 

Revenge and Retribution

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Revenge and Retribution

 

Have you no shame?

Your pledge of retribution

Beyond a simple blame

Shames the institution

That upholds the rule of law

A solemn vow of fairness

A crude and ugly flaw

An absence of awareness

So heartless and so raw

You take the final straw

 

You, sir, are a disgrace

Beyond all comprehension

An actor out of place

Far too dark to mention

A man without a heart

A fool without a soul

You’re tearing us apart

Destroyer is your role

You are a piece of art

Destruction is your goal

 

We don’t know what you think

Are you really such a tool?

We fear a missing link

Or are you simply cruel?

Do you want to be remembered

As the worst who ever ruled?

The one and only member

The one who bears the name

The last of burning embers

The man who has no shame

 

The Ugly & the Grotesque

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

The Ugly & the Grotesque *

 

In the name of our president

The ugly and the grotesque

Will vie for the president’s favor

Daddy loves me best!

 

One operates in prejudice

The other deals in greed

If either has his way

The common folks will bleed

 

It’s not a pretty picture

No matter where you turn

Without a moral compass

The people will get burned

 

Neither has a beating heart

Both want to lead the band

Masters of the wicked arts

The finest in the land

 

With these two on the playing field

No one can be assured

The power that they wield depends

On who has the final word

 

* Bannon and Musk

 

Democracy is Dead

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Democracy is Dead

 

Democracy is by and by

Racing swiftly to the grave

Its founding always was a lie

The people were enslaved

 

Where were you on that solemn day

When the dream was put to bed?

Did you hear our vaunted leaders say

Democracy is dead?

 

Did it catch you by surprise?

Did you think it was enshrined?

You couldn’t see through all the lies

All the planets realigned

 

We warned you it could fall

Without a strong defense

We were up against the wall

We warned you what it meant

 

So now we are consigned

To a life under the gun

We’ll have to toe the line

The oligarchs have won

 

Broken Promise

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP & PUTIN

 

Broken Promise

 

He promised to end the war

With fairness, honor and dignity

Instead his clumsy White House roar

Called for surrender without indemnity

 

If you don’t intend to keep your word

Let it be behind closed doors

For now all the world has heard

Your betrayal on the war

 

You are a Putin underling

You answer to his orders

When he snaps his fingers you must sing

Expand the Russian borders

 

You’ve broken this and every other

Promise that you’ve made

For you are Putin’s little brother

The best of plans you’ve laid

 

To redraw the world’s geography

The Russian American empires

To write a new biography

To set the world on fire

 

The whole of Europe is alarmed

They will not let this pass

They will not yield to Putin’s charm

Or bow down to the American …

Canada Strikes Back

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRADE WARS

 

Canada Strikes Back

 

Our president has made it clear

Our neighbors are our adversaries

It’s Vladimir Putin he holds dear

The entire free world is wary

 

As he wages war on our good neighbors

He thinks they have no cards to play

All our allies are out of favor

He thinks there is no price to pay

 

But that which burns goes both ways

The markets are heading down

We’re not the only ones who play

What comes will go around

 

The same for all our former friends

When hit they will strike back

Our balanced trade is at an end

For resolve they do not lack

 

So if we want to play that game

We’ll find that all will lose

To you that fouled belongs the blame

We all must pay our dues

 

(Trudeau announces counter measures

to US tariffs.)

 

The Blood

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

 

The Blood

 

You called yourself a champion

To the cause of global peace

But the only thing you have accomplished

Is to embolden the beast *

 

You control the air defenses

That block the bombs of war

You may be good at walls and fences

But it’s not working any more

 

Look down upon your bloody hands

The bloody hands of war

While you make your play for foreign lands

You’re creating World War Four *

 

You’ve set the stage for Vladimir

To build his bloody empire

Our former friends are filled with fear

For a world you’ve set on fire

 

How dare you claim diplomacy

When you’ve set the stage for war

But what you get is what you’ll see

You’re bloody to the core

 

* The beast of war.

* The Cold War was WW III.

 

The Imperial President

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

The Imperial President

 

He wants it all

There is nothing too great

And nothing too small

To dissuade him of wanting

Control of it all

 

He wants Manhattan

He wants Brooklyn too

He wants a hotel in Moscow

To see him through

 

He wants all of Canada

He wants Greenland too

If you think he’s joking

He wants a piece of you

 

He will not be stopped

By any laws of man

He owns the Supremes

To carry out his plan

 

He has warned his enemies

Just get out of his way

If you have a problem

He’ll deport you today

 

Flirting with the Swastika

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Flirting with the Swastika

 

You don’t dance with the devil

If you don’t like the heat

You don’t ask for a chair

If you don’t want a seat

 

You don’t joke about the war

Unless you know what for

You don’t curse the house you live in

Unless you’re out the door

 

You don’t wish upon a star

If you do not have a wish

You don’t travel very far

If you only want to fish

 

You don’t sing with the fascists

Unless you’re in the fascist fold

You don’t flirt with a swastika

To pretend that you’re bold

 

Some things just aren’t funny

And some things do not rhyme

You don’t take dirty money

If you only want the time

 

Zelensky Stands

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Zelensky Stands

 

Our president disgraced himself        

In the vaunted Oval Office

Before the eyes of the world

In full view of the people

A display of cowardly rudeness

For everyone to see

 

Every American who stands against Zelensky

Stands against the sacred vow

Every nation that stands against Ukraine

Stands against freedom and democracy

Every nation that stands with our president

Stands against justice and the rule of law

 

We don’t need to know what Vladimir Putin

Holds over our president

What we have seen in the glaring light

Of public outrage and embarrassment

Is more than sufficient

 

Zelensky is a champion of liberty

Standing up to a powerful despot

That our president chooses to stand

With the despot against democracy

With the dictator against freedom

With the mass murderer against

The defender of Ukrainian sovereignty

Is beyond the bounds of human dignity

 

Every American should be embarrassed

Every European should feel betrayed

Every citizen of the free world

Should be forewarned

 

America is on the wrong side of justice

America is on the wrong side of history

America is on the wrong side of decency

 

As America falls

Zelensky stands

The Shakedown

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

The Shakedown

 

We expect you to sit idly by while

We negotiate your existence

 

You want weapons?

You’ll have to pay

You want a future?

You’ll have no say

 

We want your mineral resources

Or we’ll send you to the dogs

 

You want a nation?

Get out of the way

You want your freedom?

You’ll need our okay

 

We will give you what you need

If you give us what we want

 

This is our game

Would you like to play?

We have no shame

It ends today.

 

The Opposite of Truth

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP

 

The Opposite of Truth

 

It is one thing to deceive

To deny and obscure the truth

It is another to proclaim the opposite

To describe the elderly as youth

To state the hero of the story

Of Lincoln’s assassination

Was really John Wilkes Booth

 

The confederacy fought for freedom

The union fought for slaves

Those who stood were cowards

And those who ran were brave

Global warming is a fallacy

It is really the Big Freeze

Caused by wind and solar

We can solve it with ease

 

Zelensky is a tyrant

Who wanted this brutal war

Vladimir Putin is a hero

Who pays tribute to the poor

White people are oppressed

Black people live in ease

There’s no such thing as covid

Or any other strange disease

 

Triumvirate of Fear

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

 

Triumvirate of Fear

 

Russia invaded a peaceful nation

Without the slightest cause

They didn’t bother with invocation

Of international laws

 

Putin tipped the old world order

With an act of aggressive war

A violation of sovereign borders

The monster at the door

 

We answered Ukraine’s desperate call

For help in time of need

Now we’ll witness Ukraine’s fall

As Putin take the lead

 

We cannot be the least surprised

We saw this horror coming

We warned the people far and wide

We witnessed the great dumbing

 

Putin, Trump and Elon Musk

A triumvirate of fear

The blood will flow from dawn to dusk

Their intentions are quite clear

 

Tech Kings

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

Tech Kings

 

Zuckerberg wants the money

Elon wants the power

Bezos wants monopoly

It’s the Trump and techno hour

 

King Donald on his throne

Looking smart and looking pretty

While Elon waves his magic wand

Creating chaos in the cities

 

They will not yield to anyone

Do not get in their way

If you want a piece of the action

How much do you have to pay?

 

The tech kings are in charge now

They control the flow of information

They tell us what to think and say

The world is their creation

 

They’d like us all to settle in

And not kick up a fuss

If you become a problem

They’ll put you on a bus

 

You’ll end up in Guantanamo

For a fully paid vacation

They’ll bend your mind to reason

Til you join the techno nation

 

Vindication of a Madman

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

 

Vindication of a Madman

 

It was vengeance drove the man insane

It was rage that boiled his blood

All efforts to calm him were in vain

Like sinking in a pit of toxic mud

 

He called out for the heads of all

He would sever them one by one

He saw their courage and let them fall

He would hold them under the gun

 

When his henchmen moved too slowly

He put each of them in chains

It enraged him more just knowing

They dared go against the grain

 

He struck out blindly in all directions

No one dared stand in his way

They were all agents of some infection

They would not outlive the day

 

His whole life now is dark and dreary

All his friends are out the door

All this vengeance made him weary

All this madness made him sore

 

Evolution of World Order

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: MAGA

 

Evolution of World Order

 

We are no longer the leader of the free world

We are the leader of the autocrats

We form a front of imperial powers

We desire to expand our territory

We are willing to use force (if necessary)

We will show no preference in trade

We will gradually withdraw from NATO

We will treat Europe as an adversary

We will absorb our northern neighbor

We will take control of Panama

We will take control of Greenland

We will hold Mexico in trust

 

It is a new world order

With America as its king

An America with borders

Of thee I sing

 

We welcome those with money

All the rest can serve as slaves

Those who dare defy us

We’ll haunt you to your graves

 

It is a new world order

The one we’ve wanted all along

Filled with chaos and disorder

Let us sing the MAGA song