The Nixon Rule

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

The Nixon Rule

 

“When the president does it, that means

it is not illegal.” Richard Nixon

 

Are we prepared for what follows?

 

If the president is granted blanket immunity

for official acts even beyond his term as

president, what is to stop the next president

from purging the body politic of enemies and

adversaries alike?

 

If the next president is the man of Mar-a-Lago,

the purge will be immediate and revenge

will be ruthless.

 

The Department of Justice will be the president’s

personal hit squad, formulating a hit list and

taking all who oppose him out by all means

necessary, legal and illegal.

 

The Proud Boys could be deputized to the

dirty work of punishing demonstrators and

standing guard over voting precincts.

 

Truth Social could be declared the official

state media and all other media could be

sued out of existence by draconian bans on

slandering our dear leader.

 

There is no end to the damage our dear

leader could do to our democracy.

 

It is easy to lose democracy.

It is hard to get it back. 

 

Justice Denied

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

Justice Delayed

 

For those who consider him a fool

He knows how the game is played

Maybe he faked his way through school

But justice denied is justice delayed

 

There are many ways to push back time

His lawyers know how it’s done

A thousand documents at deadline

This is how their cause is won

 

They don’t have to escape the blame

They don’t have to win on the law

They just have to delay the game

It’s a monster made out of straw

 

You’d think we would have learned

Our patience and nerves are frayed

Play their game and you might get burned

For justice denied is justice delayed

 

Don’t look now, it’s turned around

We’re on the other side

Looking in and wondering how

Justice delayed is justice denied

 

The Greatness of the Don

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Greatness of the Don

 

No one but the Don

Could have proven with such certainty

The abject failure of public education

 

No one but the Don

The Don and only the Don

Could have demonstrated the failure

Of representative democracy

 

No one but the Don

A genius in his own mind

Could have proven beyond doubt

The ignorance of the masses

 

We may point the finger of blame

At a myriad of random factors

A convergence of the planets

An alignment of the stars

The flaws of a two-party system

The folly of the Electoral College

The corruption of the body politick

A spell of mass delusion

Yet the truth remains:

No one but the Don could have

Brought the message home

 

The choice we now face is whether

To confirm the greatness of the Don

Or return to the greatness of America:

The ideal, the hope, the dream

 

Dictator Lite

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Dictator Lite

 

Tell the people out there

You don’t want to be a dictator.

I do! I do! But only for a day!

Build the wall! Drill baby drill!

 

Tell the people you’ll try to be fair.

I will. I will. But don’t get in my way!

Finish the wall! Chill baby chill!

 

Are you in your right mind?

I am. I am. But not to stay!

If I have the power there’s a price to pay!

They tell me that’s ridiculous

That it doesn’t work that way

But I’m saying it does

Dictator for a day!

Drill baby drill! Would you like to play?

 

I can turn it off and I can turn it on!

If you’re not with the ticket, baby,

Get lost! You’re gone!

I’ll be your worst nightmare!

I’ll be tough and strong!

You’ve gotta love it baby

Or you don’t belong!

Sunset in America

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Sunset in America

 

Pledge loyalty to the tyrant

Bow down before the king

Farewell to our republic

What horrors he will bring

 

We had a choice to take him down

He gave a dozen warnings

Can you hear the trumpet sound?

Our great nation is in mourning

 

It is sunset in America

The light has gone away

Lady Liberty is dead and gone

We bow our heads and pray

 

Will we ever have a chance

To undo what we have done?

If the tyrant has his way

We will live under the gun

 

Will you bow down to the king?

Will you sing his endless praise?

When he demands your loyalty

Will you bow or will you raise?

 

Destroyer of Democracy

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Destroyer of Democracy *

 

Destroyer of democracy thy name is Trump

Like a junkyard dog that lives in a dump

You bark at everyone you see

You tell yourself they’re just like me

 

You look in the mirror and call out Scum!

You see yourself in every bum

You saw the news and said It’s true!

But that’s not something I would do

It must be someone else instead

Let’s turn the whole thing on its head

 

I am the King of all I see!

And that includes democracy!

I’m not the man they say I am

And if I am who gives a damn!

 

* Trump calls out Biden

 

Shame of the Nation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Shame of the Nation

 

To the shame of this great nation

And the electoral college scheme

We elected a golden-haired buffoon

With the power to end the dream

 

We now stand on the very threshold

Of a brutal authoritarian regime

All because we were confused

Between the party and the team

 

And so we voted for an ego

Who thought he was a mighty king

To the cause of his almightiness

Without pause he would do anything

 

Yes we voted for a senseless monster

And we might vote for him again

Just to witness his unhinged revenge

In the event that he should win

 

Say goodbye to our democracy

Say farewell to all our laws

As everything must now conform

To his divine and vicious cause

 

Ineligible

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP

Ineligible

 

It is insufficient that he openly

sympathized with white supremacists

 

It is insufficient that he neglected a

global pandemic

 

It is insufficient that he stood with

the international enemies of democracy

 

It is insufficient that he pressured a

foreign leader to serve his political cause

 

It is insufficient that he served a foreign

adversary in degrading our allies

 

It is insufficient that his only legislative

accomplishment was a tax break for the

corporate elite

 

It is insufficient that he profited

from holding high office

 

But when he called for, organized and

incited insurrection he became ineligible

for the presidency

 

Redemption

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP

Redemption

 

They say he is redeemed

He was a man of sin

But he has bowed before the lord

He is not who he has been

He has yielded to temptation

But now he stays the course

But you cannot have redemption

Without remorse

 

He acknowledges his sins

But that was in the past

Would he do it all again?

How long would it last?

He pleads for his redemption

Now that justice is on course

But you cannot have redemption

Without remorse

 

He is obsessed with vengeance

His mind is filled with grief

He is willing to show sorrow

But it defies belief

The threat of years in prison

Is a powerfully moving force

And you cannot have redemption

Without remorse

 

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

 

Thirty-Seven Counts

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Thirty-seven Counts

 

Thirty-seven counts of federal crime

Not a single one is treason

Many counts of misconduct

Many more of malfeasance

 

When will he be brought to bear

For inciting a mob to violence

For organizing a coup d’état

The highest of all offense

 

He made a fool of government

He used us to make money

Some laughed at his buffoonery

But it was never really funny

 

Now he must go to trial

To stand before judge and jury

If they want to convict him

They’d better do it in a hurry

 

Thirty-seven counts of negligence

Thirty-seven counts of losing

Counts of hiding evidence

Does he still find it so amusing?

 

Talkover at CNN

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP DAZE

The Talkover at CNN

 

The big bully doesn’t have conversations

He runs over you like a bulldozer

Like the bully that he is

And if you dare try to stand up to him

If you dare try to get a word in

He calls you nasty names

He holds you in contempt

And places you beneath his majesty

 

He has his narrative of fantasy

He sticks to his talking points

Everyone who disagrees with him

Everyone who interrupts his flow

His constant flow of sacred words

His golden jewels of wisdom

Is on the take of the elite

Under the influence of haters

Drunk on the manna of media madness

 

He alone can set you free

He alone can end the madness

He alone can restore dignity

He alone can lead the world to peace

He alone can give women want they want

He alone can make America great again

He alone can put people in their place

He alone is the genie of all genies

You know it, I know it

Everybody knows it!

 

The insurrection never happened

January 6 was a walk in the park

America has gone to hell

The Proud Boys are heroes

Stand back and stand by!

He’s got a job to finish:

Ending democracy in America

 

Mar-a-Lago Burning

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

Mar-a-Lago Burning

 

The rope is lowered ‘round the neck

The wheels of justice turning

The dealer playing out the deck

That’s Mar-a-Lago burning

 

He thought that he would never pay

For instigating revolution

He did the deed, he got away

Too late for a solution

He didn’t think, he didn’t know

The time has come to let it go

Nobody cares about the past

That ship has left the port

The next election’s coming fast

We don’t have time for court

 

But justice strikes like thunder

The tide is finally turning

At last the guilty will go under

That’s Mar-a-Lago burning