Month: April 2017

 

 

A day or two ago I wrote of Kim Jong Un
”Twas that he wouldn’t test his nuke back then
I thought that tensions would subside, be done
But I was wrong
Our fate is up to two unstable men

It now appears to be a game of bluff
The time for peaceful settlement is past
Each side is demonstrating just how tough
And willing then for war; the world’s aghast

Kim Jong, if he suspects preemptive strikes
Of which Trump talks about within his tweets
He’s likely to take measures not so nice
While Trump’s unwilling to pursue a peace

As I write this there’s great uncertainty
What to expect tomorrow’s world will be

4/18/17

 

For many people today is most holy
A time of rebirth and of rededication
A time to appreciate all that uniquely
Is ours as bequeathed to us by this great nation

And, too,Mother Earth in her wondrous bounty
From which we all came and to which we’ll return
Smug in our homes in some middle-class county
We take these for granted, so rarely discerned

But responsibilities poke everywhere
By virtue of everything that we receive
The first: know what’s happening, become aware
Then take up positions for what you believe

Know why you believe what you do, what you don’t
Then start being active, politically so
You can make a difference, more clout than vote
A way to pay back for the nurture we know

4/16/17

 

Jeff Sessions, Dep. Justice, our General Attorney
Is doing his damnedest to deport illegals
Hispanics especially and also blacks
His aim’s to be rid of them, send them all back
He won’t let them stay here; they’re such nasty people
He’ll fracture their families and send moms on journeys

Jeff Sessions, Dep. Justice is brimming with hate
For those whose skin color is other than white
No matter how long or how straight they’ve behaved
Like good US citizens, they won’t be saved
His goon squad will capture them mid day, mid night
With Trump and Jeff Sessions we’re now a police state

4/15/17

 

A power play is under way toward the North Koreans
To try to stop their testing of a military nuke
Trump’s ploy is to imply preemptive action would be seen
If Kim ignores Trump’s threats as well as China’s strong rebuke

It’s known that Kim has many cannons reachable to Seoul
That he in order short could bring the city down to rubble
It’s also thought that Kim’s unstable; hard to know his goals
And such a threat from Trump could thereby trigger lots of trouble

As I have said before, Kim may be ruthless but not daft
He sees his nukes as his security; no way will he give in
His threat to use them should he be attacked
Has kept the US profile low. A war no one could win

Since Kim must also know that should he open an attack
With all his cannons firing at Seoul
The US would demolish Kim’s regime, responding back
This would be counter to Kim’s basic goals

My feeling is that Kim will stall on this next test
By saying they’ll decide the where and when
And Trump will let this ride, pursuing other quests
And China will apply more pressure then

 

It’s law, our fighting forces under civil rule must be
Except for Trump just military men make all decisions
No civil input into operations largely military
The Army’s good at executing well their given missions

We learned today Trump gave his generals all authority
That they pursue our wars whatever way that they see fit
Engagement Rules Trump also changed with no publicity
He made it far more likely to kill women and their kids

Trump’s military men are smart and up on all the news
It’s natural for them to choose no matter what’s the question
A military answer, no civilian point of view
But then, again I trust them more than Trump, it’s fair to mention

4/13/17

 

A new reality is setting in; we’ve seen the start
The st art of Trump the President?
His campaign views, which he once took to heart
Are being swept aside, Trump’s new approach hell bent

NATO now is up, the EU’s up and Russia now is down
All because of images Trump saw of babies dying
In their fathers’ arms; and tomahawks were flown
I wonder what new images will send more missiles flying

Consistency, coherency, transparency of policy
In how we interact with other nations
Is fundamental to our own security
Trump’s actions leave me void of expectations

4/12/17

 

I’m coming back to tomahawks, my stance on them keeps changing
Although in my opinion the attacks of gas were senseless
At first I didn’t think Assad was dumb enough to do this
Since sarin gas attacks to Putin would be quite embarrassing

Also, I felt the mood post strike for us would be unfavorable
I found attacking Syria and ISIS most confusing
Since Syria was also giving ISIS quite a bruising
That our position in all this would soon become untenable

But then that Sec. State Tillerson was now opposed to Assad
Was an improvement relative to his position prior
Meanwhile nothing else has happened making things more dire
And Tillerson’s in Russia where most angels fear to trod

O’Donnell’s TV show tonight had featured Malcolm Nance
A former agent, CIA, to whom I pay attention
He had a different take on this that’s worthy here of mention
That Putin is behind all this to test the U.S, stance

He said that Putin had to know Assad had sarin gas
And, also, there was no good rationale for the attack
It all was Putin’s test to see if Trump would answer back
And I expect Sec. Tillerson to be handed back his ass

1/11/17

 

Of late, I’ve witnessed trends I find disturbing
They have to do with Constitutionality
And how, when it’s convenient to ignore
That document that is our nation’s core
To think of it as legal niceties
To set aside for politics prevailing

I saw it first when Mitch McConnell chose
To totally ignore Obama’s choice to be
The SCOTUS next, which wasn’t meant
By Senate’s right to offer its consent
Republicans, thus, stole the SCOTUS seat
The Senate’s long tradition thereby closed

Again, we see this flaunting of our laws
Specifically the clause: “emoluments”
Where Trump did not divest his holdings foreign
Conflicting interests Trump ignores with scorn
Republicans, politically hell bent,
Permit these violations, for their cause

The latest act of war that Trump okayed
Against Iran for provocations vast
‘Though lauded by both Reps. and Dems.; Trump’s stance
Was not approved by Congress in advance
No AUMF document was passed
Respect for Constitution’s law unpaid

When those in power honor with their lips
Our Constitution as the basic source
And strength of our democracy
But when convenient, hypocritically
Ignore the law, pursuant of their course,
This attitude leads to dictatorship

4/10/17

 

Several thousand years ago
The Jews of Egypt crossed the Sea of Reeds
Escaping then from slavery to free
And ever since we celebrate each year our passage

We, each of us, must cross this sea
From being subject to another’s will
To discipline, deciding for one’s self
Not easy to be free. Not easy to be free.

Especially true this is of politics
That nasty word

Are we the slaves of channel news
Whatever brand we somehow choose
Of hearing only what we want to hear according to our labels?
If you are this, you must think that

How often do we question what we think?
Portfolios, we have of right opinions
Based upon our chosen labels
Why do some good people choose to disagree?
Do we know why?

The age of knowledge is upon us
Data everywhere
Each fact surrounded by its countervailing fakes
How do we know which fact is true
And does it really matter?

But what is true
We always do enslave ourselves

On this Passover day
Let us remove the shackles from our minds
And cross the sea from slavery to free

4/10/17

 

 

A threshold has been crossed
That sets the stage for many future years
McConnell led the way, tradition tossed
Our highest court politicized, I fear

It started when a vacancy occurred
The President, a year in office still
Obama’s choice, Mitch swore would not be heard
The Senate balked, that seat stayed unfulfilled

Now Trump as President chose as he might
To fill the SCOTUS vacancy at last
For Dems his choice was too far to the right
And less than sixty votes for him were cast

By Senate rules this meant he didn’t win
More moderate a choice Trump had to choose
But Mitch McConnell changed the rules there in
It meant Trump’s candidate then didn’t lose

A Senate precedent was newly set
Unless a single Party has control
Of both the Senate and as President
No SCOTUS candidate will fill that role

A Party’s candidate, though quite extreme
Needs one and fifty votes to win consent
Then looking down the years at what this means
The Court will then evolve as bias bent

4/8/17.