Month: June 2017

 

It seems news is fragile, keeps breaking all day
We follow the fragments till they fade away
But some are persistent, around they do stay
We’ll update on four of these fragments today

Trump Care for the wealthy just got a reprieve
Mitch sent all his Senators homeward on leave
The battle’s not over; not done, I believe
McConnell has plenty more there up his sleeve

The travel ban, Muslim ban, started tonight
But Trump’s definition of “family” was tight
Decreeing grand parents and kids had no right
Acquiring a visa: a new SCOTUS fight

The Senate Judiciary it now appears
Their investigation on Russia it’s clear
Is aimed at discrediting Mueller, we fear
It gets more intense as conclusions draw near

Evidence surfaced about Michael Flynn
Attempting to access from Russia within
The Emails hack-stolen from Clinton’s own bin
If that’s not collusion, I don’t know what is

Some other distractions we label as news
Like Trump tweets, disgusting, attacking into
Ms. Mika Brzezinski, her Morning Joe views
There is plenty more but that’s all that I choose

1/29/17

 

I feel like discussing a personal note
Although in the news there’s a lot going on
Demonstrations continue in spite of no vote
On the health-care debacle that’s not dead and gone

In the bill’s iterations one constant remains
Tax cut’s for the wealthy, the bill’s actual goal
Just one place to finance it: cut Medicaid
And that’s the conundrum a huge coverage hole

Be that as it may, my discussion tonight’s
On family and neighbors and friends that we know
Though many, like you, do not lean toward the right
We’ve a few who are way to the right, it is so

These people trust Trump, what he says, where he goes
And all the main channels report just fake news
But really these people are lovely to know
As neighbors and relatives, best I could choose

It’s my own conundrum these seeming extremes
It makes me then wonder just how this could be
To be so attractive yet not in my stream
They, then, must be thinking the same things of me

6/28/17

 

Distinction today was the Trump-Care defeat
Will all the Trump’s forces and all the Trump’s men
Be willing to put it together again?
I doubt it. I think it has finally been beat

But that doesn’t mean that McConnell won’t try
He’ll threaten and sweeten and make little tweaks
We’ll witness the process stretch out over weeks
But ultimately it will quietly die

The reasons are obvious: it really stinks
But far more important are what you have done
The phone calls, the sit-ins, the protests you’ve run
Which you will keep doing until this bill sinks

So where are the statesmen the ones with some guts
Who’ll reach ‘cross the isle in the drafting of laws
And work to improve ACA’s major flaws
So the people would win with no ifs, ands, or buts

6/27/17

 

It’s down to the wire, the health-care bill vote
With Heller and Collins courageously NO
Among the more moderate, Portman’s of note
Egged on by Gov. Kasich to also vote NO

McConnell is wily and has lots of dough
Some three-thirty billion to sway Senate minds
A half-dozen hold outs on which way to go
Mitch threatens and sweetens to bring them in line

The CBO score doesn’t help Mitch at all
Fifteen million lose coverage the first year alone
And co-pays and premiums climb; they don’t fall
While Medicaid cuts, for the wealthy a boon

The ACA system could much be improved
With bipartisan efforts to mend major flaws
But this Senate bill would cost lives if approved
Tell your Senators not to allow it to ever be law

6/26/17

 

What happens when you read Trump’s tweets of obvious untruths?
Do you just shake your head as though what else can we expect?
It’s Trump just being normal Trump just tweeting forth his views
Hey, speech is free, no law it must be true or circumspect

No law, indeed, tradition sets the norms of how we act
It is the fragile crust atop our many mixed emotions
That lubricates all human discourse based on trust in fact
And on respect and decency. These aren’t just casual notions

So, now we have a President whose office he oft sullies
He lies most pathologically, treats foes with disrespect
He denigrates our Press and institutions which he bullies
It’s not the norm we of our current President expect

We need be careful not to normalize Trump’s wrongful ways
And set behavior bars so low that they become the norm
Where future Presidents infer to act this way’s okay
Then tweet him back your disapproval; let him know your scorn

6/25/17

 

 

As many of you know by now, Defense was once my field
‘Twas mi litar y analytics of the Russian nations
Central to their strategies were Intel operations
Techniques well known for centuries, in practice they are skilled

Deception, propaganda and, of course, espionage
Time honored tactics of a nation’s Intel arsenal
As technology improves, it now is possible
That these techniques be done in cyber, also sabotage

Our cybernetic infrastructure, vast, ubiquitous
Is mostly unprotected from attacks from foreign foes
Like: stealing information, sabotaging voter rolls
Or crippling the internet, or deeds more serious

Right now our President decided to ignore this threat
As well as Putin’s kompromat attacking our elections
Continued dearth of punishment, which seems Trump’s predilection
Will more embolden Putin. We just ain’t seen nothin’ yet

6/24/17

We called our Senators! Have you?

Putin’s Meddling

The Post bylined an article revealing the extent
Of Russian interference in our voting, hacking in
Directed by Vlad Putin whose nefarious intents
Were of Clinton, denigration and of Trump to help him win

The CIA last Autumn was aware of these attacks
And they briefed Obama fully who then briefed top Senate brass
Keep it hidden they decided, lest the voting goes off track
Labeled as a “rigged election”, which, in fact it really was

One and twenty States were targets, voter registration names
Only one was penetrated, which was found and fixed okay
But the Russians were successful hacking, spreading news that’s fake
They got everything they wanted; they’re still probing us today

Our cyber capabilities exceed the Russian’s best
It’s what we lack that bothers me and that’s our country’s will
The President’s done not a thing to thwart this Russian threat
So Putin’s free to meddle more with our elections still

6/23/17

 

The Senate’s Trump-Care version was revealed at last today
It, up to now’s been under wraps; that’s Mitch McConnell’s ploy
He plans a vote next Thursday; have the House vote right away
The bill to be law-of-the-land before July the fourth

The bill proposes subsidies, the mandate to replace
This has not worked when tried before; it led to spiral death
State’s policies, the health essentials, need not be embraced
The costs go up while coverage drops; can’t pass the odor test

Perhaps, the most important flaw of this bill’s many flaws
Withdrawing near a trillion dollars out of Medicaid
To lower taxes on the wealthy. Why? Because, because …
Results: the loss of millions who just can’t afford to pay

Three fourths a billion people now of Medicaid partake
One half the country’s births are under Medicaid support
A cut of these proportions, Medicaid will them forsake
The handicap, the elderly, the children and the poor

This measure truly is unique in one important way
It is a lose-lose proposition for Republicans
We’re it to make it into law, the Reps would rue the day
And if it doesn’t pass the Reps are back where they began

For Democrats this bill must fail, it’s so draconian
Obama care is working, ‘though improvements it does need
If this bill fails, the Reps may yet become less partisan
And jointly draft the bill Trump promised stumping and in tweets

Both Reps and Dems should fight this bill, their future’s on the line
Now is the time to call, to write your Senator: vote NO!
A second chance we may not have; this is the place, the time
So, action take, it’s make or break; don’t let this bill pass GO!

6/22/17

 

In Georgia Ossoff didn’t win, I’m sure you know by now
The pundits have their reasons, twenty-twenty looking back
A referendum on the White House this would be somehow
But local politics are local; that’s a simple fact

Ms. Handel, former Sec. of State of Georgia, is well known
A popular Republican as is her District Six
It wasn’t Trump’s name on the ballot; it seems overblown
To claim a referendum vote on Trump was in the mix

So Democrats take heart in the election’s tallied votes
Jon Ossoff really did quite well at forty eight percent
A twenty point improvement over prior times, take note
In all three other state contests it’s how the voting went

The lesson for the Democrats, my humble point of view,
Is, although Trump’s debacle may be worth ten points or so,
The candidates must concentrate on local needs and news
The bread and butter issues; it’s the only way to go

6/21/17

 

The title of the latest poem should be:

“Laughing Out Loud”

Sabba Rabba