People Are Asking...

Is something going on between Trump

And the Russians and rubles they pump

Into his accounts?

Are these amounts

Sums made in payments or lump?

People are asking…

How much did Trump put away

Of the money he made students pay

To attend his sham uni

For fees that weren't puny?

How many victims fell prey?

People are asking…

He brags about how much he earns,

But where are the man's tax returns?

Requests are denied.

What's there to hide?

Who doesn't have some concerns?

People are asking…

It's so hard for Trump to resist;

Let's see: whom has he missed

In insulting and blaming

And verbally maiming?

Who will be next on his list?

People are asking…

And asking…

(7-31-16) By Bob B

Sacrifice

At the Democratic National Convention
A Muslim father did more than stun

The American audience when he spoke

Of the great sacrifice of his son.

Muslim-American Humayun Khan

Was killed by a bomb in Iraq when

The U.S. Army captain took

Heroic efforts to protect his men.

The father, Khizr Khan, denounced

Trump's xenophobic solution

For fighting terrorists and asked if Trump

Had ever read the Constitution.

The father pulled out the document

And held it up--in case Trump might need it--

And said that Trump could borrow his copy

If the candidate would read it.

"You have sacrificed nothing," he added.

To think about it makes me shiver.

What DID Trump have to sacrifice

As he sold people down the river?

(7-30-16) By Bob B

Now THAT Was a Convention!

The DNC*: Now THAT was a convention!

After some controversy at the start,

Things settled down as speakers appeared

And showed a side of America with heart.

Cory Booker spoke of a "Nation of Love."

But Michelle Obama was a shining light.

A real class act and a hard one to follow,

Mrs. Obama reset the night.

Senator Warren spared no words

In describing Trump and his pessimistic ways.

We mustn't be a hate-filled country.

She offered a cure for the Trump malaise.

Representative Keith Ellison,

A Minnesotan message sender,

Reminded us that NOT voting

Is NOT a protest; it's a surrender.

Senator Bernie Sanders came out

Upon the stage to thunderous applause

And vowed to help the American people

Continue to fight for each worthy cause.

Bill Clinton spoke of the years

That Hillary has spent making lives better.

As a change maker, she will fight

For ALL people--if we let her.

Survivors of shootings and families of the fallen

Appeared on the stage to share a word.

Despite their pain, they talked of healing,

And LOVE was the message most often heard.

The incredible Joe Biden gave

One of the best speeches of all.

The audience was so enraptured that you

Could hear a pin drop in the hall.

He said it's not good to bet against America;

It's by the power of example that we lead.

Trump sows division for his own gain;

Is that the kind of leader that we need?

Michael Bloomberg said he knows a con

When he sees one: Trump, of course.

VP candidate Tim Kaine

Might turn out to be a dark horse.

President Obama's marvelous speech

Was a high spot of the entire convention.

Witty and intelligent, he’s a master speaker,

Which I hardly need to mention?

"Reject cynicism and fear," he said.

He kept his address on an uplifting note.

When the audience booed Donald Trump,

He merely responded, "Don't boo. Vote!"

Hillary ended the historic event

With a powerful speech on day number four.

She will be an impressive contender.

It's not a matter of EITHER OR.

It's clear who can lead us into the future.

If we really care, it's an easy decision.

Here's ONE who will build BRIDGES, not WALLS;

Who'll break down barriers; who has a vision.

Trump's response to the DNC speeches?

In his immature fashion, with no chagrin,

He says he wants to hit some speakers

"So hard that their heads will spin."

The DNC and the RNC--

The two as different as night and day.

The two candidates equally different.

But I'm with HER all the way!

(7-29-16) By Bob B

*Democratic National Convention

Bizarre Reactions to the DNC

Rudy Giuliani is throwing a tantrum:

He thinks that the DNC*

Is anti-police, and so he's ranting

In typical hyperbole.

If he listened and paid attention

And shut his mouth for a while,

He'd realize how wrong he was

And maybe contain his bile.

Trump, the consummate opportunist,

Sees a chance to woo

Disappointed Bernie supporters--

The ones who are tried and true--

To vote for him--for Trump, that is--

Because they're feeling distraught.

They might be disappointed, but

CRAZY they are NOT!

On opening night Michelle Obama

Gave an impassioned address

And mentioned living in a house built by slaves.

Controversial? Yes.

Bill O'Reilly was offended by what

Mrs. Obama had said.

Slaves helped build the White House, he says,

But THEY were very well fed.

(7-28-16) By Bob B

*Democratic National Convention

The Insecurity of Security

In our world of computers along with

Hackers and scammers, be prepared

To discover that e-mail messages you wrote

And thought were private have been "shared."

You have a right to your own opinions,

But don't think that your code can't be cracked.

You'll be doing lots of damage control

Once your e-mail account has been hacked.

(7-25-16) By Bob B

The RNC: Largely Fact Free

The recent Republican National Convention

Was a grueling four-day event,

With its MAIN focus on how bad things are,

Violent immigrants, and discontent.

After an exploited grieving mother

Confused facts on Benghazi nonstop,

Giuliani gave his blustery

Speech that was pretty much over the top.

Trump introduced his wife, Melania,

Whose speech appeared to underscore

Words uttered by Michelle Obama

In a speech that we had heard before.

Ryan and others talked about giving

Our vets the help that they deserve.

(Then why do Republicans keep opposing

Bills to help veterans? They've got nerve.)

Christie incited mob mentality

In "trying" Clinton with his obnoxious rant,

Blaming Hillary with his trumped up "facts"

While the crowd blabbered its Lock-Her-Up chant.

In a typical Ben Carson manner,

Carson found a line and crossed it

When linking Hillary with Lucifer.

That poor man has really lost it!

Walker's speech reminded us

Why he left the race long ago.

Rubio offered a taped address;

He wasn't even at the show.

When Cruz refused to endorse D.T.,

The audience flew into a rage.

And after he said, "Vote your conscience,"

They booed the smirking man off the stage.

Judges upholding the Constitution:

That is Mike Pence's passion--

Which means judges that interpret laws

In Mike Pence's right-wing fashion.

Of course, some billionaires had to speak,

And Trump's kids praised their dad.

To them he's the greatest pop in the world

And not at all a pompous cad.

Finally, Trump got his turn

To give his lengthy campaign address,

Making it sound as though America

Is nothing but a complete mess.

According to him we can't afford

Political correctness any longer.

"Buh-lieve me," he said. He'll bring

Law and order and make us stronger.

He's going to do everything QUICKLY.

In fact, he told us that he has ways

To solve many of America's problems

Within his first one hundred days!

Currying favor of evangelicals,

He told us all to start "buh-lieving"--

That politicking from the pulpit

Is a goal worth achieving.

The funniest line is his speech occurred

When he tried to legitimize

The whole event by saying that

At his convention there'd be no lies!

Needless to say, I'm happy it's over.

Obviously, I'm not a fan.

The past thirteen months have shown me

That THIS is a scary man.

(7-22-16) By Bob B

The "P" Word--Parts I & II

Part I

So Melania Trump PLAGIARIZED

Parts of Michelle Obama's speech.

Must her own, original address

Be totally out of reach?

If Donald Trump subscribes to the theory

That plagiarism doesn't matter, he

Now will have to come out and say

That imitation's the best form of flattery.

(7-19-16) By Bob B

Part II

Although Mrs. Trump had elicited

Help for writing her convention address,

When asked earlier, she claimed she had written

Most of what she was going to express.

Taking parts of an earlier speech

By Michelle Obama to plagiarize

Might fool many, but you cannot pull

The wool over everyone's eyes.

The Trumps have provided a few excuses.

Trump's not seeking tit for tat

And claims he wants to avoid a witch hunt.

But his Party is so GOOD at that!

(7-20-16) By Bob B

Following Facebook

Social Media has changed our lives

In ways both good and bad.

Will it stick around or is it

Just a temporary fad?

Know people's current location.

Even see what they had for dinner!

Find out election results:

Who's the loser? Who's the winner?

Keep abreast of births and deaths,

Weddings and celebrations.

Send your condolences,

Comments or congratulations.

Read up on current trends;

Catch the latest breaking news.

Share a joke or witty saying;

Find out people's political views.

Watch a video clip or listen

To a friend's brand-new song.

Post your favorite recipe.

(Hey, with that you can't go wrong.)

Read a poem or view people's

Photo albums on their wall.

Sift through scores of unchecked "facts."

Yes, Facebook has it all.

Sometimes there is TMI;

Sometimes there is not enough.

Sometimes there is powerful info;

Sometimes there's a lot of fluff.

You don't have to read my postings.

No, that would not offend me.

However, if you choose to block them,

I'd prefer that you unfriend me.

(7-19-16) By Bob B

The Struggle of Robert E.

In rural Georgia lived a loving

Man known as Robert Eads.

People with a heart as big as his

Are more of what this world needs.

Life has in store for us

A future we can never foretell.

As loving and kind as a person is,

That doesn't mean that all will go well.

In 1996, Robert

Found out he had ovarian cancer.

Ovarian? How could that be? you ask.

He was transgender--a simple answer.

Experiencing abdominal pain,

Robert knew he needed assistance.

But because of his gender identity,

The sick man met with careless resistance.

As Robert grew sicker and sought treatment,

More than a dozen doctors would meet him.

But fearing he'd make their practice look bad,

Those same doctors refused to treat him!

Shirking their responsibility,

Those doctors sealed Robert's fate.

By the time he found one who would help him,

The cancer had spread; it was too late.

A year of aggressive medical treatment,

Gave him time with those he'd befriended,

And time with family, until the day

In '99, when his life ended.

Robert had never understood

How people could be so cruel, and yet

He bore no hatred and took each day

As it came without blame or regret.

How he had loved his girlfriend, Lola--

A transgender woman and love of his life!

If he were still alive today,

I'm sure that they'd be husband and wife.

In Robert's memory, a pine tree was planted.

His ashes were scattered at the base of the tree.

How often in life people must struggle

To be the person that they must be!

(7-17-16) By Bob B

Honor, My Foot!

This year Qandeel Balach

Was strangled by none other

Than a family member:

Her very uptight brother.

The young woman died--

As reported in the news--

Because she defied traditions

And maintained liberal views.

Having received death threats,

She didn't hesitate

To say she wanted to flee.

Sadly, now it's too late.

Her death was an "honor killing."

In Pakistan they say

That such killings occur

Almost every day.

The killers are often a relative.

Based on an ancient decree,

The family can forgive them,

And so they usually walk free.

Pakistani women

Live in a country that lacks

The will to stop such murders

And grisly acid attacks.

"Honor killings" they call them!

They more resemble insanity.

The absurd practice brings

Dishonor to humanity.

(7-16-16) By Bob B

Toppling the Walls of Jericho

It's frightening when in America

Trump's extremism becomes the norm.

For months we have watched as the man's

Demagoguery has taken form.

"It can't happen here," people have thought.

But how naïve we are! It's true:

Destructive storms of intolerance churn

And crash upon us from out of the blue.

The Party of Trump has taken over.

Yielding sheep have entered the fold.

They, along with many others,

Are waiting to be auctioned or sold.

Not only has Trump erected walls

Within America, but he's also trying

To persuade us to build a wall around us.

What he is doing is horrifying.

Demonstrators have raised their voices

And railed against the Trumpian scheme,

Underscoring the need to know

That this is NOT just a bad dream.

Strive to protect the soul of democracy;

Let the trumpets of reason blow.

Let the sounds of peaceful protest

Topple the walls of Jericho.

(7-15-16) By Bob B

E-mails, Schme-mails

House Republicans, eager to see

Clinton embroiled in a damaging scandal,

Found the FBI's findings

On her e-mails too hard to handle.

Trey Gowdy, the ghost of Congress,

With tactics matching his pasty look,

Is obsessed with manufacturing

A way to prove that Clinton's a crook.

This obsession with Clinton's server,

This paranoia, this mad fixation,

This desperate grasping at straws all have

The goal of character defamation.

Much ado about nothing, really.

A storm in a teacup. A giant yawn.

Let's get down to real issues.

E-mails, shme-mails. Let's move on!

(7-12-16) By Bob B

The Violence Must Stop!

Five policemen were killed in Dallas--

Ruthlessly shot by an angry vet.

We mourn the loss and denounce the killings.

At the same time, let's not forget

That other lives were also lost

In situations, which, of course,

Were also senseless and carried out

By cops who shouldn't have been on the force.

It's not a matter of taking sides.

Many families and friends are grieving.

Not to acknowledge the multi-faceted

Issues of violence is self-deceiving.

All of this killing has to stop!

You'd have to be heartless to get behind it.

Together we must take a stand

Against violence wherever we find it.

(7-11-16) By Bob B

El Corrido de "El Chapo" (The Ballad of "El Chapo")

If you know the tale of El Chapo,

You know then what will befall

Even the person who's known as

The most famous drug lord of all.

Exporting more drugs to America

Than anyone else in the past,

El Chapo lived like a king

On the millions of bucks he amassed.

You didn't mess with El Chapo.

Woe betide you if you did!

Not only would you suffer,

So would your spouse or your kid.

Back in the 90s El Chapo

Found himself in a scrape

And landed in a Mexican prison,

But he found a way to escape.

A protracted stay in the slammer

For him was not in the cards:

He bought his way to freedom

By bribing the prison guards.

For thirteen years El Chapo

Evaded capture and hid.

He kept up his shady dealings

While trying to stay off the grid.

Authorities in Chicago

Gave this man on the run

Notoriety as Public

Enemy Number One.

In 2015 the drug lord

Was back in prison again.

This time he fled through a tunnel

Dug by some of his men.

One day marines closed in.

They thought they'd caught their man.

El Chapo held a child

In his arms as he ran.

Soon El Chapo got sloppy.

No one could catch him, he thought.

Alas, the marines tracked him down.

Back to a cell he was brought.

The Americans wanted him badly.

Through extradition they

Hoped he would be an example

To show that crime doesn't pay.

Now awaiting his trial,

He sits in a federal jail.

There's no way El Chapo

Is going to get out on bail.

So, say good-bye, El Chapo,

As you sadly wipe your tears.

We hope you like your new home;

You're going to be there for years.

Yes, say good-bye, El Chapo,

To your Sinaloa Cartel.

A maximum security prison

Will be your new citadel.

-by Bob B (7-9-16; 2-4-18)

Another Tragedy

In a small central Californian town

On a summer afternoon in July,

A tragedy occurred, which forces

All of us to ask ourselves, "WHY?"

A three-year-old child, who with her mother

Was visiting family friends, is dead.

The girl, playing with a gun that she'd found,

Put a bullet through her head.

What a tragedy waiting to happen!

The gun was NOT equipped with a lock!

It lay in a bedroom somewhere, loaded.

What would it say if it could talk?

"I have bullets and I have a trigger;

I'll share the blame for the suffering you see here.

But you made me; not I you.

If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here."

The gun was registered to a friend

Of one of the women living there.

Of all involved, who'll be held

Responsible for this sad affair?

How can such a tragedy happen?

Your guess is as good as anyone's.

We do know one thing: there are people

Who should not be in possession of guns.

(7-7-16) By Bob B

More Than Just Prayers

How many members of Congress are there

Who have blood on their hands--

Who receive cash from the NRA

And then obey its demands?

Back in the 1990s there was

A study by the CDC*

On what the effect of all our guns

On public health might be.

The NRA--objecting, of course,

To any regulations--

Sent lobbyists to legislators

To have some "conversations."

What a surprise! The CDC's

Budget was suddenly slashed

By a few million, and consequently,

The research program was trashed.

When dealing with special interest groups,

We've been too Pollyannish.

Challenge the NRA and then

Watch your funding vanish.

These "compassionate" members of Congress

Want to honor the dead

And NOT pass pertinent laws that might

Save some lives instead.

They want us to PRAY for victims of violence;

That's their insidious distraction.

Solving the problem of gun violence

Requires not prayers, but action!

(7-3-16) By Bob B

The top 20 Congressional lifetime recipients of cash from the NRA (1998 to 2016)**:

Sen. Roy Blunt (R) MO

Rep. Don Young (R) AK

Rep. Steve Chabot (R) OH

Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R) VA

Rep. Pete Sessions (R) TX

Sen. John Thune (R) SD

Rep. Mike Simpson (R) ID

Rep. Robert Aderholt (R) AL

Rep. Hal Rogers (R) KY

Rep. John Kline (R) MN

Rep. Sanford Bishop (D) GA

Rep. Ken Calvert (R) CA

Rep. Greg Walden (R) OR

Rep. Sam Graves (R) MO

Rep. Paul Ryan (R) WI

Sen. Richard Burr (R) NC

Sen. David Vitter (R) LA

Rep. Ed Whitfield (R) KY

Rep. Tim Murphy (R) PA

Rep. Joe Barton (R) TX

*Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

**From THE NATION, Vol. 303, Numbers 1&2, July 4/11, 2016