Poems, poets, poetry, writing, poetry challenges
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The election was a test of our Democracy.
Now we’ll see what’s going to be.
This we already knew –
America is not Red or Blue….
It is Home of the Brave and the Land of the Free.
Americans voted, their voices were heard and there was change in the political landscape; now what will that change bring.
I haven’t written a limerick in a long time. I had been writing political limericks during and soon after the 2016 election, but I was overwhelmed by the change in the political climate and the events that came with it. I couldn’t keep up with it. And, I felt that it might even be dangerous to continue. You never know who is reading them and keeping score.
Being a sports fan can be tough. Sports has live drama unfolding before your eyes and the emotional relationship between fans and their team is amped up geometrically by that dynamic. “Fan” is from “fanatic.”
I am a sports fan. Not fanatical about my pro sports teams. Certifiable about my CLEMSON TIGERS. Ask my Ohio State friends. But this is about baseball and this years playoffs.
I can’t remember the last time that I jumped out of bed in the middle of the night and wrote a limerick, but then again, I can’t remember what I had for lunch yesterday. I am rapidly approaching one of the “milestone” markers on the Road Of Life. It has given cause for a little reflection and not the type that involves a mirror which I find myself now avoiding more and more.
Happy Holidays. To all my Christian friends – Happy Easter. And to all my Jewish friends – Happy Passover. Tonight the Jewish people celebrate their escape from slavery in Egypt. Like all Jewish holidays, Passover has holiday specific symbolic food. Matzo, unleavened bread, is the focal point of the Passover food and it takes great cooking skill to turn this edible cardboard into something palatable. But making it easier to go in does not make it easier to go out…..
A United States Supreme Court Justice is appointed for life to make legal decisions regarding the constitutionality of the laws of our nation on all levels. A Supreme Court Justice is the watch guard of the ideals on which this great nation was founded. There is a responsibility to both those ideals and We The People. Those Justices have the most real power in this country as their decisions can effect hundreds of millions of people. They are Judges. They are not politicians. Their motivation is right and wrong and a promoting a higher good if it is within the parameters set by the Constitution. Their motivation is not greed or special interest. Now all that is being challenged by the politicians whose only motivation is greed and special interest. And that led to this…
Round One of the Healthcare Fight is over. Lots of ducking and weaving, no solid blows landed. It may appear that the ACA came out of it unscathed, but remember, that was just Round One which is all about feeling out your opponent (or in Trump’s case, feeling up your opponent – sorry couldn’t resist, the metaphor just hung it out there.)
The recurring theme of the Trump Presidency has been, “What do we know?” We know that Trump is the lying scumbag that he basically told us he was during the campaign. It may be the only thing he didn’t lie about. He was caught on camera and tape. He just tossed it aside as insignificant as long as those easily persuaded by his hate and fear rhetoric and false promises of being a populist leader took the bait. Once he hooked them, reeled them in and won the election, America began what has been a difficult, painful process of trying to discover “What do we know?” His tweets are from The Twilight Zone. He is running a carny sideshow out of the White House. The Russian connection is real. But with regard to the extent, purpose and people involved there is still a lot of “What do we know?” still to be asked. And it is going to have a much louder voice that gains volume from the growing number of Republicans who still believe it is their sworn duty to serve the public and know that Trump does not. They know that the Republican Party is going to die a painful death if they don’t fix this fast….And that led to this……
Trump had a pre-election core of supporters who are white and part of a middle class that is experiencing a decline in their standard of living. They are disillusioned and frustrated by this and feel that the last eight years of government has failed them. Donald Trump represented a chance for them get back what they feel they have lost or have had taken from them. He used proven methods to appeal to their emotions. He was counting on the fact that when emotion runs high, IQ runs low and he could incite them to drop their IQ’s to a level low enough where they would overlook that he is unashamed and unapologetic for being a scumbag and vote for him. It appears that he also feels that if they were dumb enough to vote for him, they deserved what he had in store for them.
When I watched game shows growing up, the losers always went home with “a lovely parting gift.” I can picture Trump and Bannon signing off on the budget and laughing. That budget could be called “a lovely parting gift” for the old, the sick and the poor, while advancing all their Swamp Buddies to the Bonus Rounds, where they play for the real money.
Low approval ratings. That’s a surprise that President Trump didn’t see coming. How could he after he had such an impressive victory and crushed his opponent in the election, facts about the popular vote notwithstanding? Now his Unreality TV Presidency may be in jeopardy of being cancelled because the people who did not vote in the election and the educated middle class white women who did not want Hillary Clinton to be the first woman President are realizing what a terrible mistake they made. It was these two groups that turned the election and, hopefully, they will have the power to correct the mistake. Trump seems to have forgotten where babies come from and what the most powerful force on Earth is. You don’t mess with Mother Nature without severe consequences, which in this case will save America….And it led to this…..
The Consumer Protection Agency is about to become a thing of the past. Consumer Protection is in direct conflict with corporate profits. Safety, shmafety. They’ll take away a woman’s right to choose because abortion is murder, but we’ll kill the kids after they’re born by removing child safety from food, clothing, and toys. No hypocrisy there. Maybe if the Republicans can find a way to make money off of Planned Parenthood….just thinking out loud…And it led to this….
The President and his Republican henchmen in Congress are trying to keep their promise to repeal and replace Obamacare. They have run into a little snag – their constituents have realized that when they do, they are going to get screwed. And those facing re-election in 2018 are not liking the backlash which is telling them that they are vulnerable to losing their jobs and having to go back to the same real world as their constituents and deal with the consequences that the repeal will have on their own ability to have affordable healthcare for themselves. Nothing like a little equality to get them to rethink the whole thing….And that led to this….
I think that President Trump believed that being the President of The United States was going to be the same thing as being the CEO of his Trump businesses. In the business world that he lives in, there are more deals made on the golf course than in the board room and I believe he truly thinks that will work for him now that he is President. Negotiate a nuclear arms treaty in the snack bar over lunch after the front nine, work out a trade agreement in the men’s locker room while trading “locker room” jokes. It doesn’t quite work like that. In fact, his golfing has been the subject of intense scrutiny regarding how seriously he takes his new job. If he doesn’t get his game together real soon, he may find that America will be taking a Mulligan on the last election.
I am no expert on parenting. I have thirty five years of experience and I know that it is a continuous education, they will always be your babies and John Lennon couldn’t have been any more right – ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE. If you approach parenthood with an open mind and an open heart, God Willing, the kids will be just fine. Of course they need to be protected from danger, educated and taught to be self reliant and taught to be respectful of their fellow man. Clearly, the Republican Congress needs a refresher course in parenting and they need to treat this country and their constituents as their children. But this is not a political post even though I couldn’t help myself with that last remark. Hopefully, this little limerick may go along way towards helping new parents just starting out and everyone else trying to cope with the dirty diapers now running this country…for now.
Trump alleged that President Obama had a wiretap placed in Trump Tower. He has offered no proof. Just when you think that the White House can’t sink any lower, they always find a way. How long can this go on? I am beginning to think that the GOP is setting him up. They have what they wanted, the Presidency and a majority in both houses of Congress. Once they are done using him as a diversion and get their “rich get richer, poor get poorer” legislative agenda completed, they are going to toss him to the curb. I hope they enjoy their power while they have it, because we still live in a Democracy and in four years we’ll do it again and flip everything back. And all that led to this….
On February 15, I wrote a post called “A First Of What I Expect To Be Many ‘Russia-gate’ Limericks.”
I was right. It was the first of many. And the plot has thickened considerably since February 15th. Flynn resigned, Sessions recused himself from any investigation due to his lying during his confirmation hearings. Sessions said he “forgot” and “misspoke.” Investigations are going forward and that means that Trump is breaking out the Roy Cohn/Steve Bannon playbook (which is eerily similar to the Hitler/Goebbels playbook.)
Seven weeks. Wow. From Inauguration Day until today, everyday has seen controversy and confrontation from the White House which has provided the Republican Congress with a smoke screen while they pass legislation for their ultra-conservative agenda which promotes their “rich get richer, poor get poorer” ideology. And that led to this… a limerick look at the lowlights so far.
I have been resisting and protesting Donald Trump the best way I know how – by using my limericks to bring attention to the Un-American and Un-Democratic things that he says and does. He likes to call things “sad.” What’s sad is that we have a President intent on blowing smoke up America’s ass. As a Baby Boomer who saw how people standing up against bigotry and discrimination and then the Viet Nam War were able to bring about change, I feel it is my patriotic duty to use my voice now when I see bigotry and hate making a revival and a President who will take this country into war. But believe me, I wish my voice was being used for what God gave it to me to do with it – make people laugh and smile. Hopefully, I have been able to do both while getting my points across.
For the first time since his inauguration, President Trump stood in front of Congress and a live television audience and looked and sounded presidential. It was encouraging for the short time that it lasted. The speech drew applause as he said the right things about rebuilding the country. The widow of the fallen Navy Seal was an emotional high point, though critics questioned Trump exploiting her.
On Friday, President Trump addressed the CPAC Conference. In his speech, he stepped up his attack on the media and did a lot of chest thumping. After calling the media and “fake news” as enemies of the people, he vowed to deliver on all of his promises. A New York Times commentary was titled “Trump’s Blistering Speech at CPAC Follows Bannon’s Blueprint.” That is very scary, especially because it appears that Bannon is following the blueprint of the most evil person that ever lived. I shudder when I think about it…..and it led to this…..
Women will save America. That’s our only chance and they will come through. Women leaders will emerge and Democracy will work the way that it is supposed to, when it affects positive change where the greatest good is shared by the greatest number of people. Trump made a big mistake by turning his back on the women who put him in the office. He believes that the educated middle class women that voted for him support him, which is not the case. They voted against Hillary because they saw her as a “business as usual” scumbag politician. They closed their eyes, they held their noses and they voted for a business man who was exposed as an unusually vicious and unashamed scumbag.
The Trump Administration is ready to take another shot at an immigration ban. The “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” approach to business has worked for him and with no regard for the collateral damage that comes with the “if at first you don’t succeed” part (or comprehension of the scope of damage a government will cause versus a casino going belly up), Trump plows on with his anti-immigration policies and immigrant discrimination. He also took the time, or didn’t take the time until he could avoid it no longer, to denounce the rise of anti-Semitism and heinous anti-Semitic hate crimes, which are terrorist acts and need to be treated as such.
“Shame, Fame, Shmame – what’s the difference?
I was watching news commentary about V.P. Pence’s trip to Europe and his message to NATO. The Vice President had a different message for NATO than what they had been hearing from President Trump when he was campaigning. The question came up as to whom we should believe when Trump says one thing and someone speaking on his behalf says another thing. The commentator suggested that this may be the Trump administration using the old business strategy of “good cop, bad cop” and he remarked that Trump may be a bad actor and type cast the bad cop, but he is good at it…..He’s as good as Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada…..And it led to this………
The above link is to a Twitter post by former Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich. The post is a conversation between him and a former GOP congressman –
“I spoke w/ my friend, a former GOP congressman, who’s as worried as I am about Trump’s mental state & potential ties to Russian operatives.”
What then follows is a script of the dialogue. The former GOP congressman asserts that the Republicans are waiting for him to implode, but before he does, they are using his reality television behavior and White House circus as a smoke screen so they can ram through as much of their agenda as they can without that becoming a focal point of the media who is now hanging on Trump’s every word and act. After I read the script….it led to this….
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