The Fourth Estate (Kenya)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

The Fourth Estate (Kenya)

 

When Kenya closed the fourth estate

It opened up the doors

It killed the right to demonstrate

And invited bloody war

 

When the people have no eyes and ears

The police will have their way

The people would be right to fear

A cause to bow and pray

 

Without the freedom of the press

The republic is in doubt

Those in power will oppress

To push good people out

 

The flow of honest information

Is essential to democracy

If you want a democratic nation

And not a cruel autocracy

 

There are those who would do anything

To keep their hold on power

But freedom is a force that sings

To break down a tyrant’s tower

 

 

Russian Spies in Argentina

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

 

Russian Spies in Argentina

 

The Russians are in Buenos Aires

Recruiting agents of disinformation

Paid for loyalty with the latest spyware

Through political media organizations

 

Don’t think it’s just a one and done

We have the same here in the states

Tulsi Gabbard and Tucker Carlson

Mother Russia holds their fates

 

Their tentacles reach everywhere

From the local news to the internet

Disinformation “free and fair”

Bought and paid for without regret

 

Ever wonder why they love Iran?

Vladimir Putin is their ally

When Putin drums they sing his song

If you’ve got morals don’t apply

 

But Argentina is fighting back

They won’t be played by Kremlin spies

All republics are under attack

From Russia’s hacks and spies

 

(Argentina uncovers spy network)

 

 

 

Son of Nixon

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY

 

Son of Nixon

 

I am not a crook he said

Yet it ended in disgrace

Take another look he said

My time was out of place

 

Had I the votes today he says

The courts would bow before me

I’d always get my way he says

The senate would restore me

 

I worked with Chairman Mao

I worked with Brezhnev too

If I was president now

I’ll tell you what I’d do

 

I’d take control of everything

All branches at my call

Declare myself the people’s king

My house would never fall

 

As for the curse of Watergate

It would not have come to light

The false news and the deep state

It’s all a pack of lies

Around the World

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Around the World

 

The war in Gaza rages

The war in Yemen holds

The wars progress in stages

The Ukrainians will not fold

 

The tariff wars intensify

Across the global stage

Our leaders taking foreign bribes

The Saudis are in play

 

Everywhere we plant a seed

The future is in doubt

Autocracies grow like weeds

Democracy is out

 

The war is raging everywhere

Our rights are on the run

Those in power do not care

The reckoning has begun

 

The warming is the greatest threat

To all that live on earth

We’ve just begun to pay the debt

How much is the planet worth?

 

Canadian Pride

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CANADA

 

Canadian Pride

 

Our Canadian friends have won the day

With an assertion of Canadian pride

Once again they will show us a better way

More compassionate and more dignified

 

Our president gave them no respect

With constant threats of annexation

We wonder what he’ll think of next

That will arouse their indignation

 

The love well their independence

They do not wish to be consumed

They wonder where their friends went

With all these threats of doom and gloom

 

The Canadian Liberal Party rises

From the depths of obscuration

They chose the leader who was wisest

In defending the Canadian nation

 

Though the future is in question

Their proud nation will not fold

There will be no lame concessions

That are less than free and bold

 

(P.M. Mark Carney wins full term.)

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

 

The Shadow of Istanbul

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

The Shadow of Istanbul

 

What happens in Turkey does not stay in Turkey

 

Its shadow of darkness spreads

like a chilling wave over the land

and across the sea injecting poison

into the body politick even in the

land of the free

 

What happens in Istanbul does not stay in Istanbul

 

It foreshadows the nightmares to come

as the gathering force of protest and

resistance builds in towns and cities

across the nation

 

How long will the president endure the

indignity of dissent?

 

He has imposed the Alien Enemies Act*

to deport residents to foreign prisons

 

How long before he declares martial law

to nullify the right to assemble in protest?

 

He has ordered mass deportation without

regard to due process of law

 

How long before he orders the mass

detention of law-abiding protestors?

 

They are holding show trials in Istanbul

to see how far they can go

 

Are there enough prisons to imprison dissent?

 

There are if we count El Salvador

 

What happens in Turkey does not stay in Turkey

 

By tomorrow it will be here

 

* Alien Enemies Act of 1798

Democracy in Turkey

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL DEMOCRACY

 

Erdogan’s Betrayal

 

As if to prove his power

As if to prove his infallibility

As if to test the limits of his lawlessness

Erdogan ordered the detention

Of his rival before the next election

The mayor of Istanbul

An enemy of state

 

The mayor of Istanbul is not

An enemy of state

He is an enemy of Erdogan

He is an enemy of the dictator

He is a friend to democracy

He is a victim of oppression

He is a candidate for change

 

His name is Ekram Imamoglu

He is the reason for massive protest

In open defiance of Erdogan’s law

You can take away their rights

You can take away their freedom

But you cannot take their voices

You can beat them down

You can push them back

But they will rise again

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

 

Appeasement

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Appeasement

 

Neville Chamberlain appeased the Reich

Before the Reich invaded Poland

Our leader knows it is not right

But he’ll give Zelensky no land

 

Mexico appeased our president

Before he launched his trade war

A tariff where all the money went

Slamming shut an open door

 

I understand the need to please

The big bully on the border

But that’s no reason to appease

It just fuels his cruel disorder

 

Our good neighbors understand

He is not a man of common sense

He only cares about his brand

His sense of fairness bent

 

Appeasing him will do no good

It will only make his fire burn

All who’ve known him understood

This man will never learn

 

Germany Rises

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Germany Rises

 

Do not be fooled by the headline

The neo-Nazis were beat down

The German people were not blind

They turned their state around

 

They withstood the avalanche

Of propaganda well financed

Limb for limb and branch for branch

The German people would not dance

 

For they have seen this act before

They know exactly where it leads

A world of hardship and of war

They refused to plant the seeds

 

Now it is time to move ahead

Put up the walls of our defense

The republic is not dead

Our best intentions are not spent

 

Rise up now and spread the word

Hope and freedom are at stake

All good people, have you heard?

Time to rise and stay awake

 

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

An American in Munich

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

An American in Munich

 

He is not loud and brash

Like the despots he admires

He has no zealotry or flash

He pretends to put out fires

 

But he hides an evil motive

Beneath his tortured rationale

He promotes an ugly votive

To raise his fascist nationale

 

He appeal for lack of reason

To the enemies from within

In Munich it’s known as treason

As if we don’t know where they’ve been

 

The despots are his allies

He has no sympathy for friends

He doesn’t hear the warning cries

That our alliance is at an end

 

We know he does not care

Where Europe goes from here

It’s clear he does not share

What Europe holds most dear

 

(JD Vance lectures Munich officials

on accepting the far-right parties.)

 

Tesla Falls

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

Tesla Falls (Ode to Elon)

 

Sales of Tesla fall in France

The end of a green romance

The same holds true in Denmark

Where sales have lost their spark

They’ve lost their wonder in Berlin

In the Netherlands they cannot win

Tesla falls across the sphere

Wherever they can see and hear

The end of Tesla drawing near

They’ve seen it and they fear

 

They do not welcome autocrats

Who flaunt their rabid power

Those billionaires and greedy cats

Who build their faulty towers

The oligarchs and fascist pigs

Who flaunt their Nazi loyalties

Who celebrate at fascist gigs

As if they’re fascist royalty

 

So take your piles of dirty cash

And toss them down a hole

They’ve tired of your act at last

A man who lacks a soul

 

A Slow Descent

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

A Slow Descent

 

Democracy does not die easy

It begins by forgiving acts of betrayal

It begins by selling influence

It begins by casting doubt

It begins by creating a great divide

The US against the THEM

It proceeds by a thousand cuts

Each one a compromise

A demeaning of the others

A rewriting of history

It begins by convincing people

That elections are unnecessary

That the ruling class knows best

That the richest of the rich

Are the smartest of the smart

The fairest of the fair

The wisest of the wise

We have begun that slow descent

Into rule by aristocracy

The end of our democracy

Unless we wake up

 

The Oligarchs

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Oligarchs

 

The oligarchs are taking over

Let the people stand aside

The wheel of power grinding slower

The nation must abide

 

The oligarchs are everywhere

Every branch is in their hands

They own the water and the air

Maybe now we’ll understand

 

When we failed to limit money

As they bought our politicians

They all thought it kind of funny

When they fed us superstitions

 

They bought the way we worship

They bought the news we get

Just listen to their news clips

The propaganda field is set

 

The oligarchs are taking hold

Of every means to power

The takeover is crass and bold

They own the media towers

 

Don’t say we didn’t warn you

We informed you loud and clear

Our democracy will mourn you

As they magnify our fears

 

Global Challenge

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Global Challenge

 

We have lost Venezuela

The Bolivarian promise is dead

Nicolas Maduro doesn’t care

As long as his treasure chest is fed

It will require many years

To unbreed what he has bred

To take the long road back again

To where Hugo Chavez led

 

 

We are challenged in Columbia

From Brazil to Ecuador

Throughout the world the battle rages

For the workers and the poor

A fight for dignity and wages

Just to even up the score

A battle for the ages

To fight back El Dictador

 

The oligarchs and billionaires

The monopolies and corporations

Are undermining governments

Taking over sovereign nations

In a fight that’s never-ending

The goal remains the same

Defending our democracies

In more than just a name

Farewell Trudeau

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Farewell Trudeau

 

Farewell Trudeau we loved you well

You served in stark contrast

To our own American leaders

You were a true iconoclast

 

You are a victim of global discontent

Like our own Mister Biden

An elderly man of principle

You were wise to confide in

 

You stood up for the dispossessed

You battled for the poor

But the global housing crisis

Combined with prices in the stores

 

To mark the end of your tenure

A time of turmoil and upheaval

A time of natural catastrophes

The rise of greed and evil

 

We remember how you managed Trump

With diplomacy and finesse

It was a delicate balancing act

You managed among the best

 

Now they say it’s time for you to go

No one seems to disagree

But your nation may well miss you

When they look back on your legacy