Three nights running, demonstrations
By the thousands, Democrats
Peacefully throughout the nation
Giving vent to their frustrations
Trump did win. A sad, sad fact
Some might ask, what is the purpose
Next election’s years away
Demonstrating seems so useless
Does expose them to abuses
Whose opinion will it sway?
What they demonstrate to me
That Trump’s power must be stemmed
Not by our passivity
But by our activities
Now’s the time to be with them
11/12/16
Here in one of two twin Bubbles
We all think consistently
Suffering each other’s troubles
Finding strength in unity
We get our news
Filtered by views
Views of us all
Our loves, our hates
Childhood dictates
What we recall
Some of us live near the surface
Where the bubble’s Twin we see
But we close our eyes on purpose
Their’s are views we don’t agree
But bubbles burst
Seeming at first
Calamity
But in the end
It will defend
Democracy
11/11/16
Two things: 1. My grandson, Michael, wrote an excellent rebuttal to my poelitic: Musings, which I have added to the Musings post. You can read it by visiting this blog site and select the Musings post. 2. I recommend two recent articles: a poignant response to Trump’s win by Teacherken (Daily Kos), and by Garrison Keillor (also published in the Daily Kos)
In facing distasteful results, generally
We question: What’s next, what is yet to be done?
We’ve witnessed no real change in Trump since he’s won
And really unsettling problems we see
As we’ve noted earlier, Trump was allied
With Vladimir Putin who helped spawn this wreckage
Now Trump will be privy to CIA knowledge
Pertaining to Russia, our plans and our spies
A second concern deals with Trump’s sprawling empire
With holdings in Russia and elsewhere as well
All placed in a “blind” trust and managed, do tell,
By Donald’s own children. What wrong could transpire?
We’re deeply concerned to what Trump might resort
The actions he promised, our values ignored
We must demonstrate and use words as our swords
And in Congress to block ugly bills that report
However, Trump spoke to our middle-class mess
Wall Street and big money, the Glass-Steagall Act
And social security, keep it in tact
The high cost of college and drugs he’d address
He spoke infrastructure, of jobs at long last
And child care and trade deals, all there on his plate
Republicans mostly view these with distaste
They’ll need Dem. agreement in order to pass
11/10/16
My grandson, Michael, a deep thinker and poet among many other talents, wrote an excellent rebuttal to Musings, which I’ve added here below my poem.
I’ve read the post mortems and recriminations
The what-ifs and if-only’s, where’d we go wrong
Our blindness encompassed near half of the nation
Whose vote for the Trump was emotionally strong
Some voted for Trump ’cause he’s white and he’s male
To be governed by black or female was too much
His language, their language, his nature they hail
This time they WILL vote, make a difference as such
Sure, working-class people felt left out, unheard
They feel that the Democrats think of them last
But under those feelings without forming words
Anxiety dwells; things are changing too fast
We humans are culturally slow making changes
It’s part of our heritage, thousands of years
Technology’s pace keeps our lives rearranging
The future to many is something to fear
Technology’s fostering globalization
Allowing outsourcing of jobs overseas
Robotics replacing jobs throughout the nation
Just turn the clock back, turn it back please, please, please!
So how will the Democrats handle such sorrow
To bring disaffected back into the tent
And help them prepare for the jobs of tomorrow
So that they’ll help elect the next Dem. President
11/9/16
Musings Rebuttal
Michael J Cohen
Respectfully I read your words
Your own post-mortem of the day
Opinion second does it need
Our shell-shocked body politic
Your explanation is too grand.
For decades now, old factories
And with them jobs moved o’erseas
Those transformations aren’t new
They’ve happened since the seventies
Moreover we respond to change
Not just one way but with a range
Why some adapt while others fail
Revolt, or feel as though passed by?
Our natures not essentially
Conservative, reaction’ry.
And women’s rights, too, isn’t new
A struggle long, I do agree
This battle ‘gainst misogyny
Besides while many women stood, with Hillary,
Trump had support from women too
So this election’s something else.
The narrative is other than
“Revenge against Technology”
“Economy”
“Anxiety”
This Brave New World’s been with us now
For well over a century
He spoke to folks that felt left out
Their lives he viscerally recognized
In ways that other politicians
Hadn’t fully realized
Somehow this playboy billionaire
Became their uncouth Common Man –
A vessel for their aspiration
Promising the restoration
Of a misremembered nation
Purged of Others, save their own
A demagogue – who knew no bounds
Whose manic noxious exhalations
Reeked to me of bigotry
And mockery
And puerile lies
I weep to see the land I love
It’s people too, although it’s hard
Give half its vote, and be deceived
While half the country feels bereaved
We now who did not vote for him
As though their ballots cast us out
We feel that we were left behind.
Bucked from the horse we thought we rode
To destiny, deferred…
My projections were wrong
Donald’s rural support was too strong
‘Though Democrats turned out in force
Their strength did not alter the course
The establishment lost
Hard to say just how much this will cost
Both abroad and the states
New uncertainty cast in their fates
Disappointed are we
But worst situations we’ve seen
And our country’s survived
Time of interest to be alive
11/08/16
“Que sera’ sera’
Whatever will be will be
The future’s not ours to see
Que sera’ sera’ ”
What I see, I see
The polls point to victory
That President Hillary
Is high probability
Donald did his best
With lies to engender fear
Spewing hatred to far and near
Almost winning this final test
Let’s now look beyond
Beyond the election night
Beyond the election fights
To strengthening fragile bonds
One nation are we
We’re open and tolerant
Warm welcoming immigrants
With full opportunities
We are rich, we’re poor
And everything in between
We’re each worthy human beings
Equality we stand for
When tyrants arrive
Touching people dissatisfied
Claiming answers with nought inside
We’ve shown they can’t long survive
What I see, I see
Our elections are free-for-alls
Candidates’ fortunes rise and fall
That’s the strength of democracy
11/7/16
It’s after elections that makes my brow furrow
‘Though problems could happen the seventh and eighth
A terror attack could occur on the marrow
Or poll nastiness by those of little faith
All of that will not alter election results
The Demos will win Senate and at the top
The House, maybe no, which will keep many dolts
Who will prey after Clinton, her programs to stop
My concern, post election, is centered on Putin
Unlikely it is that the Russians will quit
With Wikileaks and Donald Trump theirs for certain
They’re sure to continue their hacks and their hits
It appears Clinton’s term as our new President
Will be plagued by releases of unfounded “news”
To disrupt and discredit will be their intent
As a gift from the Kremlin to alter our views
11/6/16
Last June I posted “The Art of Tough” which was about a book of the same name written by Barbara Boxer. This poem draws on the same theme as it applies to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
We’ve seen accusations, we’ve heard epithets
With negative rhetoric flung forth and back
These last days the campaigns are more intense yet
A wonder that, pressured so, neither has cracked
However, a difference there is in demeanor
In how they react to the barbs they receive
Where one shrugs them off while the other grows meaner
One’s tough, and one talks tough and tries to deceive
Don Trump goes off script at the least provocation
He calls it a foul when he hears his own voice
Making nasty remarks in adds aired to the nation
By Hillary, showing that Trump’s the wrong choice
The stuff thrown at Clinton is hard to believe
From Putin, from Trump, even our FBI
Concoctions so gross all designed to deceive
“Lock her up! Lock her up!” his supporters all cry
This rolls off of Clinton, a keeper of cool
She’s been in the trenches. She’s got the right stuff
While Trump’s a get-back-er and acts like a fool
It’s clear Clinton’s mastered the art of the tough
11/5/16
I find it disturbing and even unnerving
The FBI’s role in this race
They’ve sullied their image and done themselves damage
Respect may take years to replace
A cabal of agents from Manhattan region
Are leaking pronouncements untrue
Their goal is to pillory candidate Hillary
Favoring Trump as they do
These are reprehensible and indefensible
Acts by the FBI
In spite of this faction and all of its actions
Still Clinton will win bye and bye
11/3/16
Republican “homers” I’m loathe to observe
Are those whose allegiances back and forth roam
They’re voting for Donald and then they reverse
Then later reverse again “coming back home”
One wonders what rationale sanctions these moves
It’s clearly not fitness to be President
They learned early on lack thereof to be true
So what’s lying there ‘neath their skull resident?
It’s simple: self interest became their end all
They choose, if it’s safe or not voting for him
Based only on polls, did they rise did they fall
Ignoring the consequence should Donald win
The Donald’s a con man; it’s deep in his brain
Two archetypes exist to him outside himself
His gullible base whom he largely disdains
For buying his rhetoric, since he has wealth
And those who oppose him, the other archetype
Are evil and ignorant, worthy of hate
To be taken down both by insult and hype
Republican ‘homers’ will suffer both fates
11/2/16
