Category: Uncategorized

 

Kristof, of the Times wrote an op-ed today
That caught my attention as being unique
He wrote about Good News, his outlook’s not bleak
The world’s gotten better in meaningful ways

He writes about leprosy, scourge to detest
In three years ‘twill likely be gone from the Earth
Too, since 1990 world medical work
Saved hundreds of millions of children from death

Each day many thousands from poverty rise
And daily, by thousands, clean water they get
And thousands join on an electrical net
Most everyone knows how to read and to write

Hot wars are the answers to failures in talks
Increasingly they have become obsolete
War deaths are dramatically down from their peaks
Throughout the last century: govs. ruled by hawks

So if you’re discouraged by news of the day
Think back to the traumas of those yesteryears
Of hot wars, pandemics, most living in fear
We’re much better off on this 4th Holiday

7/2/17

 

Ms. Maddow interpreted Trump’s choice of adjectives
Mainly when tweeting against adversaries
As something unique, largely using superlatives
Grossly abhorrent, the meanings they carry

All politicians, she notes, seek attention
They often achieve it by off-the-wall statements
But Trump uses language that others won’t mention
Crude, lewd and despicable meets his intents

It’s not just to punish his latest detractor
He captures attention like moths to a flame
His penchant for doing this is second nature
Diverting news coverage where he’s being blamed

Since Trump only values the Trump family
When tweeting his nastiness full publicly
The fact that he sullies the Presidency
He displays no concern most emphatically

So how does one handle the news of the day
Where news of importance needs Press Corps attention
Then Trump throws a stink-grenade into the fray
Diverting the Press from events in contention

My answer is simple, it really would work
Whenever Trump’s diatribes partake of dirt
The Press should ignore it; it comes from a jerk
This lack of attention will Trump the most hurt

7/1/17

 

Trump’s latest on healthcare, since Mitch hasn’t won
Is kill the Obama Care, repeal it now
And worry replacing it later some how
The millions who’d lose it would be thirty one

Trump’s upcoming meeting with Putin’s in sight
With flattery weapons he’ll get what he wants
From Trump, whose non prep for this meeting Trump flaunts
But other news dominates thoughts for tonight

It’s voter suppression that’s back in the news
Election Integrity, Trump’s been promoting
By looking for three million aliens voting
This new Trump commission wants data on you

Trump’s seeking excuses to thwart voter turnout
Vote fraud is a problem that doesn’t exist
Republican claims that it really persists
Are demonstrably massively false there’s no doubt

Trump’s efforts toward problems that truly aren’t there
Stand out in stark contrast with what Russia’ doing:
Gross hacking continues; elections they’re screwing
While Trump’s doing nothing to counter the bear

6/30/17

 

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