Trump

OH SNAP!

Shutting down

the government

has meant

that each 

and every

constituent

receiving an

entitlement

of nutrition

assistance 

supplement

may soon find

these subsidies

absent 

to pay

for groceries.

The Hunger Games

frames 

our situation

of food 

and health care

politicization.

Multiplication

of division

within

our own

communities

disables 

opportunities

for progress.

The mess

that Trump

and Congress

tend to inflict

to maintain

conflict

keeps us

tricked

into believing

it’s the price

we pay

to have 

representational

say, 

with the hope 

that this 

will conclude

any day

now.

But how

will those

who need

to feed

their own

manage

without

the advantage

the wealthy

maintain?

Once 

the pain

ensues,

then Trump

will choose

to pull 

back.

This attack

and retreat

before full

defeat

is the Trump-

MAGA trap

we’re in.

But who

will snap

from all

this crap?

And when

will Congress

snap out 

of it?

Wearing Fatigues

At home,

a hodgepodge, 

protected

by camouflage,

in cities

well in plain

sight.

Abroad,

there might 

be a

possibility

of peace,

finally,

initially

guarded

internationally,

with peace-keeping

forces,

which forces

the question:

why all the tension

created at home,

while seeking

peace

in the Middle

East?

Of course,

if the Nobel

were given

for being

American

as well,

well,

you can

imagine

how different

we’d be.

Exhausting

everything

is the thing

if what 

you have 

to bring

to the table

is nothing

but grievance

and grift.

The  gift

of the office

of the presidency,

aside from

White House

residency,

is precisely

the ability

to boss.

It should

be to

lead,

but this guy’s

greed

has lead him 

to merely

avoid loss.

His secret sauce

is to exhaust

or wait 

for fatigue

to set in.

He takes

the win

with considerable

spin

while tearing

down norms

with that

shit-eating

grin.

The arsonist-

fire fighter-

chaos-igniter,

waits 

for the weary

to have clearly

no energy

left.

He alone

can fix it

after

he alone 

did nix

it

or created

a problem

for a solution.

Wearing down

his enemies

is how 

he sees

success.

All that power

to make people

cower

or praise

his days

as POTUS.

He makes

everyone

tired

and mired

in dread

as he stays

ahead

of the game.

The phenomenon

intrigues us

and really

fatigues us,

which keeps 

this POTUS

doing thus.

The camouflage

wearing

is so

obvious;

he’s making

us

a jungle.

Eyes On the Prize

Well,

even if 

the Nobel’s

the sell,

let’s make

a deal

that’s finally

real.

No one denies

his eyes

on that prize

as a motivator

to broker

a peace

deal.

I feel 

potential relief

and cautious

belief

that the bad

guys

who strong

arm 

and justify

real harm

may begin

to end

this two-year

war.

The exchange

of each prisoner

for each hostage

remain

is the main-

stay of the 

first part 

of the deal.

The real

test for peace

in the mideast

will be in

the rest

of the 20-

point plan.

For each

Palestinian

and Israeli,

this war

has been

torture

for 2 years

daily,

while the

world

has watched

in horror,

appalled,

until the bad

guys called

for a peace plan.

I think 

of Ireland.

It seemed

unbelievable.

So too,

Palestine

and Israel.

It’s certainly

possible,

when the bad

guys

prioritize

peace,

with their

eyes 

on the prize.

Carr Alarm

The noise

around

silencing speech

may reach

a tipping

point.

The joint

astonishment

and grief

may be

brief

as the next

one to fall

will call

our attention.

While there’s

no comparison

between the firing

of a comedian,

or two,

and the firing

of a gun,

we can’t run

from this

crisis.

Opinion

has been

the dominion

of the comedian,

even mocking

the politician.

It’s free speech

in action

and a cultural

tradition.

But the addition

of retribution

to our polity-

once

the contribution

only

of the most

violently

disturbed-

comes from

the top guy,

perpetually

perturbed.

The Federal

Communications

Commision

is now

on a mission

to stifle.

Instead of

a rifle,

or other

violence,

the way

to silence

criticisms

is to fire

the guys

whose

wittisms

are bothersome

to some;

or maybe

just

to one.

Carr’s action-

Kimmel’s subtraction-

in reaction

to the comic’s

wit,

is every bit

a lack of

grit

and merely

a fit

of alarm

of the president

who sees

speech

as harm

and uses

it

to harm others.

Is this retribution

or fear?

Who can hear

over the alarm

over the act

of commission?

DC Comic Con

It’s a marvel

to behold

what’s about

to unfold

in DC.

Crime is down

in the capital

town,

despite

what the 

spiteful

prez says.

He’ll pretend

to defend

all that is

sacred

when really

it’s hatred

he  preserves

and unleashes.

He releases

The Guard

when the going

gets hard-

only

for him.

Funny

how  despite

his bluster,

he couldn’t 

muster

The National

Guard

—it was too

hard—

during

his insurrection.

Now his protection

against

being a joke

is deflection

and crackdown

wherever it’s 

woke

in his projection.

LA

and DC,

and soon each

city

will start to see

and pay 

dearly

for this beloved

embodiment

of antiestablishment:

the president

who regards

the presidency

as a joke

of expediency

to be ever more

greedy

and powerful

because he

can.

Love Island

The Epstein isle,

now a classified

file

of those

attached 

to the vile

pedofile,

can even

revile

the most

MAGA.

The saga

has a 

lifespan

that began

years ago

and you 

know who

was a fan.

The Donald

fondled

whoever

he wanted

and taunted

throughout

his life.

But the current 

strife

within his

coalition

is based 

on the position

he put 

himself in 

in order 

to secure

the win.

Is the cover up

worse 

than the crime

this time?

Stay tuned

for the reality

show’s

finale.

Or maybe

there’ll be

a sequel.

Few,

if any,

will equal

Epstein

in all of his

pure evil,

but guilt

by association

in this

constellation

could be

a revelation

of consequence.

In this instance,

the dissonance

as Trump

tries to distance

himself from

evidence

revealed

long ago,

that they

partied

together

(birds of a feather),

at least

somewhat,

from what

we know.

But clearly

there’s more

that would

be revealed

if these

classified

documents

became

unsealed.

He’s concealed

his perversions

of laws and norms

and forms

tales—

ok, lies—

on a whim.

Will Epstein’s

ghost

harm him

the most?

I’m curious

to know

what reality

will show.

This might

be the most

watched episode

yet.

ICEcapades

Before

the lure

of a military 

parade,

Trump unleashed

an escapade

of Immigration

and Customs

Enforcement.

Without endorsement

from 

Governor Newsom,

the ICE raids

then 

had shades

of authoritarianism 

when,

without state’s request,

at the behest

of the Trump administration,

The National Guard

was deployed

so ICE could raid

where immigrants

have been 

long employed.

The showdown

in downtown

LA 

with marines

on their way,

had it’s day

in court

yesterday.

Gavin won

round one.

But we know

how Trump

likes to play.

He’ll ask

for a stay

and go

all the way

to the Supreme 

Court.

While that

was unfolding

Kristi Noem

was holding

a  presser

on Homeland

Security.

Feigning purity

of purpose

against 

the “Socialist”

governor

and mayor,

the California

senior Senator

posed a question-

or tried to.

Abruptly

and aggressively,

he was whisked

away,

manhandled

and cuffed,

as Noem

bluffed

her way

around

and through

this new

way

of silencing

opposition.

Such escapades:

ICE raids,

and parades

of military,

while roughing

up a dignitary,

and anybody

deemed

a foe

can quickly

grow

worse.

Five months

in

to this administration,

look where 

we are.

Is this the tip

of the ICEberg?

Right Guard

In that arid,

extra dry

city

of angels,

a legal

and  peaceful

demonstration

met recrimination

by  the criminal

White House.

Sure,

it’s no secret

that any rally

in blue Cali

makes Trump

go bat-bleep crazy.

He picks ICE
to make 

all immigrants

pay a price

which won’t

suffice.

Fake video

seems

to show

the protests

becoming

violent.

It’s the pretext

for

the pretend

savior

to call

the National

Guard.

The guy

who ignored

the pleas

for order

restored

at The Capitol

at the 1/6

insurrection,

has decided

that at 

his direction,

LA

needs

the National Guard

to prove

how right

he is.

But the right

guard

is not hard

to see

particularly

as the citizenry

is mobilized

to demonstrate

for democracy.

The whole 

immigration

situation

needs 

an overhaul.

But not at all

what we’ve 

seen thus far

by this 

White House

reality star.

What’s next?

Will the new

LA Law

be 

martial law

or some straw

man

argument

against

any immigrant

regardless

of how innocent?

There’s more

in store,

you can 

be sure.

It’s enough

to make

you sweat.

Our perspiration

is his

satiation,

and he’ll go

to the nth

degree

as he

disregards

constitutional 

rights,

much less, 

humanity.

Habeas Corpus Kristi

So 

Homeland Security

Director, Kristi,

didn’t know

that habeas

corpus

is for

all of us.

It is not

Trump’s 

decision

to imprison

or deport

anyone 

he chooses.

But Kristi

refuses

to acknowledge

(did she learn

this in college?)

that we are

a constitutional

democracy.

While some

heard 

defiance,

others heard

reliance

on

the  Constitution

as the enabler

of the singularity

of authority

of the presidency.

The controversy

isn’t really

about understanding

habeas corpus.

It’s the torturous

logic 

of torture

and detention

when the pretention 

of 

executive order

that suggests

the border

of emergency.

From enhanced

interrogation

to undoing

immigration,

by 

denying

due process,

the crisis

excuse

for justified

use

is nothing

less than

constitutional

abuse.

Fast and loose

with interpretation

or not 

understanding

the definition

of habeas 

corpus,

Krsiti Noem,

Director of Home-

land

Security,

defined

the meaning

of this

presidency:

Because

he says

so.

A Classless Society

A decade ago, 

when Trump

made a go

at politics,

the heretics

rose

to close

the deal

to reveal

the fault 

lines

beneath us.

It’s been

everyone

else’s fault

since then;

never

a mia

culpa.

A witch hunt,

political stunt,

or cries

of lies

no matter

how it defies,

now

no surprise;

Nonetheless appalling.

The most 

galling

is no longer

name 

calling.

It’s to be

expected.

Protected 

speech,

unless you 

teach

or learn

about

oppression,

is a matter

of opinion.

The dominion

over everything

that power

and money

can possibly

bring

is ushering

in

autocracy

in a now

crass

and classless

society.

I don’t

mean

the kind

that Bernie

and A.O.C.

have 

in mind,

but the 

cheap 

and tasteless,

undignified,

rapacious,

Trump

brand

that his

command

has forced

us to

withstand.

Checking

privilege 

and elitism

is unfolding

into quite

a schism

suggesting

that the

evolution

of civilization

has been

a hoax,

folks.

Proof

that money

can’t by

class,

the ass

in chief,

like a thief,

takes

whatever

he wants.

His taunts,

now dangerous,

and increasingly

outrageous,

threatening

to deport

citizens

after the precedents

of sending

legal residents

to Salvadoran

and Libyan

prisons.

The callousness

of this classlessness

as with everything

else he says 

and does

does

harm 

to all of us.

Our classless

society

with faux

piety,

now run

as an

oligarchy

with remnants

of democracy,

can’t wait

for half

to discover

decency.

This is an

emergency.

This class

is pass/

fail.