The Race: GOP Presidential Debate #10

The racers are now rounding the curve

With minds focused on a finish line.

Not a lot has occurred since

Their last go around: debate number nine.

Wiping off the dust from his ego,

Jeb Bush drops from the race.

Despite his overwhelming efforts,

The guy just can't keep up with the pace.

Kasich scoots along hoping

That somehow he'll get a burst of speed.

Carson couldn't sprint if he tried;

He's always lost in the mad stampede.

Trump, Rubio, and Cruz stay ahead,

Each one hoping the others will trip.

Name calling becomes their tactic.

Cheating, or merely gamesmanship?

Trump calls Cruz a basket case

And liar; however, Cruz fights back.

He and Rubio unite--sort of--

Against Donald Trump, who's under attack.

Running madly, Cruz yells out

"Religious liberty!" which in summation

Amounts to being a sneaky way

To justify discrimination.

Rubio, son of immigrant parents,

Smugly pretends he knows what's best

For immigrants. While his family’s been lucky,

He COULDN'T care LESS about the rest.

Trump surprisingly keeps advancing

With a vague gait that borders on scary.

Don’t even try to ask for specifics--

That's NOT in his vocabulary.

Huffing and puffing the racers move onward,

Barely able to catch their breath.

Cruz calls Trump a closet liberal,

Which to Cruz is worse than death.

Until they've run their final lap

We won't know how this all plays out.

Running a race in politics
Is crazy--and THAT'S without a doubt.

(2-26-16) By Bob B 

Make America WHAT Again?

The crowds cheered while the candidate beamed,

Drunk with increasing popularity.

For inexplicable reasons they managed

To overlook his occasional vulgarity.

In primaries and caucuses,

He viciously tromped on his competition,

Which stumped every pundit and critic

And baffled each astounded logician.

Though stern and surly, the cunning man

Possessed the gift of idle chatter.

But to the raucous, banner-waving,

Forgiving mobs that didn't matter.

He proudly repeated his campaign slogan:

"Let's make America great again!"--

The subtext of which really said,

"Let's make America HATE again!"

When golden guile parades as truth

And gullible crowds kowtow, just watch:

Compassion and justice take a dive

And hope for humanity drops a notch.

(2-24-16) By Bob B

Deadly Weekend

On ONE weekend in February,

Here in the mighty USA,

Eighty people were killed in shootings--

Eighty lives were whisked away!

Some of the incidents were mass shootings,

Including one in Kalamazoo

Where SIX people were shot to death!

Why is there no hullabaloo?

That’s not even the complete picture:

On the same weekend, from what we can tell,

Along with the eighty people killed,

One hundred fifty were wounded as well.

Has this become the new normal--

Gun violence to such a degree?

Is that what our founding fathers

Envisioned for this land of the free?

(2-23-16) By Bob B

How They Must Love Their Wars!

Why do we quadruple spending

On U.S.-NATO forces near

Russia's borders, which only evokes

Cold war memories of yesteryear?

Such posturing and saber rattling

To prevent Russia from "pulling a fast one"

Makes a renewed cold war

More dangerous than the last one.

The move also undermines

Ongoing negotiations

Between the United States and Russia

And hurts diplomatic relations.

It's crazy that in this volatile world

Our hawkish leaders continue to pour

Money and resources into arrangements

That could easily lead us to war.

(2-23-16) By Bob B

Giving Nastiness New Meaning: GOP Presidential Debate #9

Six GOP presidential wannabes

Battled it out on the stage last night.

Needless to say, feathers were flying

In what resembled a real cock fight.

Debate number nine had to be

The most contentious debate of them all.

The refinement level was much less civil

And more on the verge of Neanderthal.

Trump and Bush didn't hold back

On spewing their vitriol against each other.

Bush really lost it when

Trump criticized George, his brother.

Cruz and Trump went back and forth,

Letting their insults amplify.

Trump couldn’t resist calling

Cruz a liar and a "nasty guy."

Rubio learned since the previous debate

To stop his robotic repetitions.

He still spat out his talking points,

Trying too hard to prove his ambitions.

Kasich reminded his fellow debaters

To keep their calm, or else beware.

And what did Carson have to say?

He's always so vague; was he even there?

All six felt that the current president

Shouldn't replace Justice Scalia--

That the next president, the voice of the people,

Should make that decision. But mamma mia!

The PEOPLE elected President Obama!

That's a matter for him to decide.

Of course with the current state of Congress,

It's going to be a bumpy ride.

Will the debaters realize

That nastiness has implications?

It makes more Americans wonder

About the wannabes' qualifications.

(2-14-16) By Bob B

What a Place! (Part I)

Once upon a time, they say,

There was a country--not far away--

Where a man raised his hand

And said, "I want to rule this land."
He thought to himself, "Competence

And truthfulness make no sense.

To rule this country, all you need

To do in order to succeed

Is to rally the people--make them excited--

Don't let them know your ideas are blighted.

When they ask for specifics, repeat

That once you're the leader, you'll be concrete.

Fill their heads with jingoistic blather.

To fill them with fear, try to gather

Together ways to increase their distrust.

And show your pretended disdain and disgust.

No need to sound erudite;

Just keep pushing them more to the right."
People fell into the man's trap.

He said, "I've got 'em right in my lap!

I will make all their heads spin.

With ME the people know we will WIN.

Effete competitors fear me for sure,

Jealous that they don't have my allure.

My reputation and fame are HUGE!

Whoever doesn't agree is a stooge."

He loved it at rallies when people would boo

And hassle and rough up anyone who

Didn't agree with him. Thus, the scene

Became chaotic and downright mean.

"I promise," he said, "without a doubt,

We will be great if we kick people out,

And GREATER if we--let me be clear--

Keep certain people from coming here."

His followers cheered and shouted "Hurrah!"

As the speaker continued to fill them with awe.

"If everyone had a gun," he'd cry,

"A LOT fewer people would die!

And since terrorists are a cancer,

To stop them, torture's the only answer."

"Yay!" yelled the people, waving their signs

Within the hall and outside in lines.

Much resembling a contagious disease,

The fervor spread, not by degrees,

But by an unusual rush and a flurry,

Which caused many critics to worry.

"How could this happen here?" they wondered.

"What's gone amiss? How have we blundered?"

The world watched as this powerful man

Accumulated fan after fan.

People everywhere couldn't believe

What he still might have up his sleeve?

Did he make it to the top?

Did his promises win or flop?

Did he truly make his land greater?

The sequel will answer those questions later.

(2-10-16) By Bob B

The Not-a-Good-Night-for-Marco RAP: GOP Debate #8

The recent GOP candidate debate--

A rollicking, frolicking encounter number eight--

Showed poor Marco Rubio at his worst,

Sounding robotic and over-rehearsed.

Repeating three times his stump speech spiel

And revealing to the audience his Achilles' heel,

He proved he's good at memorizing speeches,

But he also proved how limited his reach is.

Dodging questions is a clever approach,

But maybe he needs to find a better coach.

A very calm Trump had few attackers,

Except for Jeb Bush and his "donor backers."

Trump might be a whiz on all that's budgetary,

But when he condones torture, he gets a little scary.

Christie spent a lot of energy attacking

Rubio's experience and how much of it he's lacking.

Carson was as Carson as Carson could be.

Who still takes that guy seriously?

Cruz is always crafty, but tell me, every time he

Talks, what IS it that makes him sound so slimy?

Bush tried hard to show that he was tough.

What? Does he think he's a diamond in the rough?

Kasich was the most positive one of all.

That could sadly contribute to his fall.

Today it seems that nasty takes you far.

Nice shows weakness--a performance under par.

How many more debates do they need

To show they've got what it takes to succeed?

It’s hard to imagine what they’ve left unsaid.

But Rubio is in WAY over his head.

(2-7-16) By Bob B

The Enemy

Our enemy's sly and insidious.

To recognize it is hard.

It's always lying in wait

To catch us off our guard.

It doesn't announce its presence.

With fanfare and bold display.

Its surreptitious maneuvers

Easily lead astray.

What or who it is

Usually eludes us.

Its ensnaring grasp

Usually includes us.

How to rout it out?

We haven't as of yet.

IGNORANCE is our enemy

And also our greatest threat.

(2-2-16) By Bob B

It's All About the Children

When at least ONE child is happy,

We should be delighted.

But NOT wanting happiness for all

Would be rather shortsighted.

If even ONE child is in pain,

How could we find peace

Until we've found a way to make

All children's suffering cease?

Can we positively state

That in our major decisions,

The welfare of children everywhere

Accords with our visions?

When we see that suffering occurs,

Let's not avert our eyes.

Denial won't solve abuse or hunger

Or stop the young ones' cries.

Ignoring the needs of the world's children

Takes a heavy toll.

If wanting to help all kids is a pipe dream,

At least it's a worthy goal.

(2-1-16) By Bob B