On a Friday in spring what better than branching out – we had jokes at the beginning of the week, might as well end the week with a(n imitation) Dr. Seuss tale. Uplifting it shall be, just as the branches lift themselves into the light. Happy spring, everyone!
To be read in the Dr. Seuss cadence!
In a land where the states are united, they claim,
In a sky-scraping tower adorned with his name,
Lived a terrible, horrible, devious chump,
The bright orange miscreant known as the Trump.
This Trump he was mean, such a mean little man,
With the tiniest heart and two tinier hands,
And a thin set of lips etched in permanent curl,
And a sneer and a scowl and contempt for the world.
He looked down from his perch, and he grinned ear to ear,
And he thought, “I could steal the election this year!
It’d be rather simple, it’s so easily won,
I’ll just make them believe that their best days are done!
Yes, I’ll make them believe that it’s all gone to Hell,
And I’ll be the Messiah, and their souls they will sell.
And I’ll use lots of words disconnected from truth,
But I’ll say them with style, so they won’t ask for proof.
I’ll toss out vague platitudes, phrases, and such.
They’re so used to fake news that it won’t matter much!
They won’t question the how, the what, why, or when,
I will make their America great once again!”
The Trump told them to fear, they should fear he would say,
“They’ve all come for your jobs, they’ll all take them away.
You should fear every Muslim and Mexican too,
Every brown, black, and tan one, everyone who votes blue.”
And he fooled all the Christians, he fooled them indeed,
He just trotted out Jesus, that’s all Jesus-folk need.
And celebrity preachers, they all crowned him as king,
Tripping over themselves just to kiss the Trump’s ring.
And he spoke only lies, just as if they were true,
Until they believed that the lies were true too.
He repeated and Tweeted, and he blustered and spit,
And he misled and fibbed—and he just made up shit.
And the media laughed, but they printed each line,
Thinking “He’ll never win, in the end we’ll be fine.”
So they chased every headline, bold-typed every claim,
‘Till the fake news and real news, they looked just the same.
And the scared folks who listened, they devoured each word,
Yes, they ate it all up, every word that they heard,
Fearing their status was under attack,
Trusting the Trump to take their America back.
From the gays and from ISIS, he’d take it all back,
Take it back from the Democrats, fat cats, and blacks.
So hook, line, and sinker they all took the bait,
All of his lies about making America great.
Now the Pant-suited One she was smart and prepared,
She was brilliant and steady, but none of them cared.
They cared not to see all the work that she’d done,
Or the fact that the Trump had not yet done Thing One.
They could only shout “Emails!”, yes “Emails!” they’d shout,
Because Fox News had told them—and Fox News had clout.
And the Pant-suited One, she was slandered no end,
And lies became truths she could never defend.
And the Trump watched it all go according to plan—
A strong woman eclipsed by an insecure man.
And November the 8th arrived, finally it came,
Like a slow-moving storm, but it came just the same.
And Tuesday became Wednesday, as those days will do,
And the night turned to morning, and the nightmare came true,
With millions of non-voters still in their beds,
Yes, the Trump, he had done it, just like he had said.
And the Trumpers they trumped, how they trumped when he won,
All the racists and bigots, deplorable ones,
They crawled out from the woodwork, came out to raise Hell,
They came out to be hateful and hurtful as well.
With slurs and with road signs, with spray paint and Tweets,
With death threats to neighbors and taunts on the street.
And the grossest of grossness they hurled on their peers,
While the Trump, he said zilch—for the first time in years.
But he Tweeted at Hamilton, he Tweeted the Times,
And he trolled Alec Baldwin a few hundred times,
And he pouted a pout like a petulant kid,
Thinking this is what Presidents actually did,
Thinking he could still be a perpetual jerk,
Terrified to learn he had to actually work,
Work for every American, not just for a few,
Not just for the white ones—there was much more to do.
He now worked for the Muslims and Mexicans too,
For the brown, black, and tan ones, and the ones who vote blue.
They were all now his bosses, now they all had a say,
And those nasty pant-suited ones were still here to stay.
And the Trump, he soon realized that he didn’t win,
He had gotten the prize—and the prize now had him.
And it turned out the Trump was a little too late,
For America was already more than quite great,
Not because of the sameness, the opposite’s true,
It’s greatness far more than just red, white, and blue,
It’s straight, gay, and female—it’s Gentile and Jew,
It’s Transgender and Christian and Atheist too.
It’s Asians, Caucasians of all different kinds,
The disabled and abled, the deaf and the blind,
It’s immigrants, Muslims, and brave refugees,
It’s Liberals with bleeding hearts fixed to their sleeves.
And we are all staying, we’re staying right here,
And we’ll be the great bane of the Trump for four years.
And we’ll be twice as loud as the loudness of hate,
Be the greatness that makes our America great.
And the Trump’s loudest boasts, they won’t ever obscure:
Nearly three million more of us—voted for her.
Written by H. Blair, a teacher in Bellevue, WA; edited by R. Green and A.Vizinho
Make America Sane Again.
And here is the last of the Fruehlingslieder…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHmzzu4FAnM
Patricia A. Wollner
What a sad wonderful thing to wake up to this morning.
Deb Meyer
Excellent, how can we get this to Stephen Colbert?
Steve Blair
Excellent.
Lee
Excellent combination of text and images.
friderikeheuer@gmail.com
And then I was set this in reply – MUST add.
But the Pant-suited One still suffered the fate
of the Establishment Class that couldn’t relate,
to the poor, to the left, or to the Midwest,
as her lobbyist ties she could not divest.
Wall Street and K Street were her bread and butter,
while PA and Michigan were ignored and shuttered.
The “Stronger Together” just didn’t resonate
to those who see clearly — America’s not great;
nor was it ever, if we take a close look
by reading page one of a history book.
It is genocide, poverty, warfare, and slavery
that makes up our legacy — not freedom and bravery.
Now we hem and we haw, but the truth we still shun,
as we all sadly know, that
Bernie would have won.
Tricia
:>)
Martha Ullman West
Love it, all of it, thank you so much, and a happy Saturday to you.
friderikeheuer@gmail.com
This response came in from Mark Rolofson (I always appreciate thoughtful and invested input, even if I don’t agree with all points) :
There is no doubt that Donald Trump is a terrible devious chump, but he isn’t the only elephant in the room. He’s just the most blatantly obvious one. Trump isn’t the disease. He is the symptom of a broken corrupt two party system, a corrupt corporate media, a neoliberal economic agenda & endless wars.
This is a clever poem & I can agree with much of it. It is what I disagree with that troubles me, because I believe that many Democrats really haven’t learned very important lessons from their loss in 2016. I have strong doubts the Democratic Party is the answer to fix the problems with America & our reckless foreign policy, that didn’t begin under Trump.
So why did Trump win & who is to blame? Certainly not Wikileaks or Russia for exposing the truth in authentic emails that exposed a very corrupt political establishment that colluded with the media & rigged the primary process to defeat Bernie Sanders.
First, blame the DNC for cheating Bernie Sanders & nominating a very corrupt neoliberal establishment candidate with a neoconservative foreign policy – the pant-suited one.
Secondly, blame Hillary Clinton. The pant-suited one didn’t simply fail the convey her experience & smart ideas as Trump slandered her. Trump really didn’t slander her. He just pointed out her corruption. She is corrupt as hell, a liar & a vicious war hawk that I call the Angel Of Death. She was seen by the public, not for her current position, but her long track record that contradicted it. It was a huge mistake that she called Trump’s supporters deplorable. Certainly not all of his supporters were racist & bigots. Many of them would have voted for Bernie & voted for Obama (who failed to deliver to the disenfranchised workers of the Rust Belt). The Clintons were known for unfettered free trade deals that cost American workers millions of jobs & mass incarceration that created the world’s largest prison population. Hillary was infamous for advocating for war against Iraq & Libya, that have created failed states of carnage. She was ready to repeat that mistake in Syria.
Thirdly, blame the mainstream media that gave Trump much more coverage than any candidate. Coverage that captured his outrageous remarks, but failed to vet his businesses & many conflicts of interests.
Fourth, blame election fraud from electronic voting machines & the massive voter suppression / purging known as Interstate Crosscheck. Interstate Crosscheck was used in 30 Republican states & bounced 7 million, mostly minority voters off the voter rolls, simply because they had similar first & last names. Hillary should have contested the results but did not. It was Jill Stein who demanded a recall in three states. A recall effort that was shut down by Trump’s lawyers in Michigan & Pennsylvania.
So why did Hillary concede so easily? Perhaps because there was cheating on both sides according to election integrity activists. In the Democratic Primary, there was massive election fraud & voter purging that cheated Bernie in 16-20 states. A topic that our lamestream media has ignored, but there is much documentation & reporting on it by alternative media & election integrity organizations.
There is no doubt that Trump is a dangerous fascist wannabe dictator. He hoodwinked his supporters when he said he would drain the swamp. He isn’t moving us away from illegal regime change wars, but leading us into more carnage with ruthless allies like Saudi Arabia & Israel. The one good hope about Trump was de-escalating tensions with Russia. Something that now appears less likely after bombing Syria & thanks to Kremlingate in Washington. The Deep State has got Trump by the balls & he is now their front puppet for a longstanding US foreign policy. The US is the largest & most ruthless empire in history. If you don’t believe me then just study history since the Spanish American War. Our military is larger than the next 7 largest militaries in the world combined.
America is great in many ways, including our public lands & our diverse population. There are also many injustices & atrocities committed both at home & abroad. There is much that needs to change if we are to ever be truly great. We should resist Trump, but that is not simply enough. We must also fight against unbridled corporate power, a corrupt two party system & an out of control deep state (aka: the military industrial congressional complex joined by a diabolical intelligence / surveillance state).