Support for Tea Party Declines

New polls indicate that public support for the Tea Party has dropped dramatically, even in Republican strongholds.  

The Tea Party once was so hip

But their stature’s now starting to slip.

Their rants and their raves

Made too many waves;

On the public they’re losing their grip.

Barney Frank Retires

           

Adapted from photograph
by Bryce Vickmar for NYT

Let’s bid adieu to Barney Frank

The right wing’s bête noire,

The congressman who knows the most

‘Bout banker’s pranks by far.

Fat cats are celebrating now

They’re drinking at the bar.

But they should not relax too much

No matter who they are,

‘Cause Barney’s sworn to give them hell

And fight them from afar.  

The Abyss

A world-wide credit squeeze seems inevitable as banks in Europe pull back on loans due to the on-going financial crisis.  

The banks are pulling back all over Europe.

Will we ever see them right again?

They’re at the end of their financial rope

and money’s not available to lend.

Throughout the world alarms and tocsins rang -

Economies are stalked by sturm und drang.

Newt Responds to his Endorsement.

The great Manchester Union Leader,

She’s for me now, just when I need her.

I trust you'll surely heed her

Words of wisdom, gentle Reader:
I'm the best Barack defeater!
Vote for Mitt and he’ll mislead or

Fool you - he's a special pleader
From the left - he'd be conceder
on election night.  So read her
well and trust your Union Leader.  

The Day After

     By the big white gravy ladle

Sits the plate of sliced-up turkey

Yesterday’s Thanksgiving turkey

Steaming on the silver platter,

platter that's been used forever- 

Grandpa's mother's silver platter-

Golden drumsticks rising skyward

Boldly carved by Uncle Willis

Served along with acorn squash and 

Massive mounds of mashed potatoes

Holding little lakes of gravy,

Grandma’s favorite oyster dressing,

Onions, brocc’li, mushroom stuffing -

Mom’s Shitake mushroom stuffing,

Mushroom stuffing that’s to die for -

Beans of green sautéed with shallots,

Cranb’ry sauce and bread with butter,

Cheddar cheese and pies of apple,

Quince or pumpkin, followed by some

coffee, scotch or port.

      Now the turkey’s cut to pieces,

White and dark meat’s on the platter,

laid out neatly on the platter,

Oyster dressing's nearly finished,

pies are sitting on the sideboard

Stuffing’s in the Rubbermaid and

Boiling on the stove’s the carcass -

turkey soup that’s now in progress.

Almost everyone agrees that

Yet to come’s the greatest treasure:

Soup or sandwich, what’s left over

Constitutes the highest pleasure. 

Thanksgiving

gunmetal clouds

inside light

and family  

Grover at the Helm

The Super Committee’s not so super -

it failed to reach a deal.

We know a certain pressure group or

lobby made of steel

that forced Republicans to pledge

that they would not raise taxes.

Grover Norquist’s on the leading edge

of this dark lobby -  he hatches

gruesome plans to “Starve The Beast”,

and rend the safety net

while leaving those who have the least,

the most unfortunate,

to fend alone for food and shelter.

At Grover's every word

Republicans run helter-skelter

as if he were their lord.

If you're not with him, it's all over -
the GOP's now run by Grover. 

Where's Mitt?

Why don't we see much of Mitt?

It seems he will never submit

To televised questions

That lead to suggestions

That he’s flipped and he’s flopped quite a bit.

Breakthrough on the Super Committee (Not)

With time running out on the Super Committee, which is charged with finding $1.2 trillion in budgetary savings by November 24, attention's been focused on a plan put forth by Republican committee member Pat Toomey, which reflects the first instance of Committee Republicans proposing increases in tax revenue.   

     The GOP’s put forth a plan

That they believe is better than

The Dem’s idea to tax the rich.

Some tax breaks they’ll be glad to ditch

But in exchange, they’ve built in healthy

Rate reductions for the wealthy.

Their plan, they say, will “bring in billions

And help reduce our debt of trillions.

We’re showing flexibility

So here’s an opportunity
To come together and agree -

Both Democrats and GOP."

     The Democrats aren’t buying it.

They think it’s just a load of shit –

The numbers don’t add up, they say,

Their plan is just another way

To sneak in tax cuts for the rich,

A simple case of bait-and-switch.

"We compromised and called their bluff

But then they told us just to stuff

It, ‘cause we put in tax increases

And that just frightens the bejesus
Out of them.  So it's a scam,
It's not a breakthrough but a sham.
Their plan for us would just engender

Our complete abject surrender."

     So once again it's deja vu.
How many times can we go through
This gambling with the nation's welfare
Staked on tax cuts or our healthcare?
It's not unlike a live grenade
That's passed along a fire brigade
That can't extinguish any blazes -
And then it blows up in our faces!

Newt's Advice

Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich earned between $1.6 and $1.8 million during his tenure as a consultant for the giant mortgage company Freddie Mac, according to a report from Bloomberg News.  

Candidate Newt gave some advice

To the bank called Freddie Mac

He told them he said, you shouldn’t give loans

To folks who can’t pay them back.

Now this advice was worth more than a million

‘cause Newt’s not just any old hack.

O Freddie Mac, O Freddie Mac

Would you like some advice from me?

I could have told you just what he said

But I’d charge a much lower fee.

They wanted me as historian

Newt did his best to explain.

I offer novel strategic advice

To companies that have much to gain

From the nuanced and brilliant analyses

That come from my giant brain.

O Freddie Mac, O Freddie Mac

Would you like some advice from me?

My brain’s not so big, but still it works well

And I’d charge a much lower fee.

Now Newt’s got some credit at Tiffany’s

That amounts to a half mil or so.

To many that’s grossly excessive

When our economy’s growth is so slow.

But advice from Newt Gingrich doesn’t come cheap

So his bank account’s sure to grow.

O Freddie Mac, O Freddie Mac

Would you like some advice from me?

I’d counsel you just like he did

But I’d charge a much lower fee.

Newt's fees might seem a little peculiar

'cause his party hates Freddie Mac.

And now so does Newt, it appears,

since his retainer has finally gone slack.

But as for the money he took from them

he's not gonna give it back.  

O Freddie Mac, O Freddie Mac

Would you like some advice from me?

I’m more loyal than Newt - I've got your back,

And I charge a much lower fee.

The Torture Candidates

 In last Saturday's debate, Herman Cain and Michelle Bachmann stated that they would approve the use of waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques" on suspects suspected of terrorism.  Mitt Romney said nothing at the debate itself but his campaign later issued a statement stating that he did not consider waterboarding to be torture.  For more on this, see Frank Bruni's op-ed article.  

Bring back the waterboard they plead -

A splash of water on the face

Is not so bad and might succeed

In showing where a bomb’s in place. 

No way it’s torture, they object

It just enhances our requests

For information we collect

and use for terrorists’ arrests.

You’re wrong, Obama says to them,

It makes a man believe he’s drowned

And all authorities condemn

Its use as torture. We’ll be bound

By long-held precepts that have made

Our nation great; we’ll not descend

To practices our foes displayed

But keep our standards 'til the end.

Newt's Hour

Now is Newt’s time in the sun.

Though he’s not quite yet number one

It’s clear that his time has come.

He’s so darn good in debates,

He’s terrific with numbers and dates,

He’s one of the GOP’s greats.

The media he holds in disdain.

Their questions are simply inane.

They just can’t keep up with his brain

So he answers their queries with sneers

As if they were children, not peers,

While the right wing responds with their cheers.

He's a man of Olympian mien,
an intellectual machine
with the heart of a wolverine.

House Speaker he was in the past

But his reign was so filled with bombast

that his colleagues were often aghast.

His predisposition to whine

has often crossed over the line

and led to his stature's decline.

There's a problem for candidate Newt

and his family values repute -

turns out he's a horny old coot:

While Clinton he was attacking
his own sense of shame was lacking
'cause then he too was up-shacking

with a blonde he'd soon wed for life
as soon as he ditched his old wife -
his life with scandal's been rife.

But it's cheers on the right for old Newt
he's pudgy and cute and astute
and of course he's not Romney to boot.

Italy and the Euro Zone

The European debt crisis deepens as investor fears drove yields on Italian bonds above the 7% level.  


It’s Italy’s turn on the block

The yields on its bonds are a shock

Its too big to fail,

Too big to out-bail

The zone’s ‘tween a hard place and rock.

Perry Forgets

In last night's debate, Rick Perry was unable to remember the name of the Department of Energy, one of the Federal Departments he said he would abolish.  

When I get to be President Perry

There’s three bureaus I’m going to bury

There’s Commerce, that’s one

And there’s  Edu-ca-tion

And the third’s, I dunno,…EPAry?

Cain Raps Instructions to His Staff

Herman Cain's campaign is no longer answering questions about possible sexual improprieties allegedly occurring during his tenure as head of the National Restaurant Association.

Cain:

Y'all,  when they wanna know

somethin’ ‘bout them accusations,

those temptations, complications from 15

years ago - just say no, just lie low

don’t show ‘em no info' that’ll slow me up.

Those dough-faced Joes wanna mow me down,

 slow me down, blow me out of the water,

throw me out of the race, stow me somewhere

where I won’t be in their face,

it’s such a damn disgrace

they wanna take my place -

replace me ,displace me, erase me -

‘cause they can’t keep up the pace.

But I got more than one ace up my sleeve

just in case the goin’ gets rough

they’ll know soon enough who’s tough  –

I got lots of stuff on them, ya know –

so when they wanna know

just say no, just lie low

don’t show ‘em no info' that’ll slow me up.

Staff:

Stay on message, stay on message

Say 9-9-9 and we’ll be fine

Stay on message, stay on message

Say 9-9-9 and we’ll be fine…

Cain:

So I’m stayin’ on message

but I got a mess o’ rage in me

 ‘cause they’re  pressin’ me, messin’

with me, and you can guess what the press

is comin’ to, all that baggage

from the ‘90s was an age ago

some crazy girls tryin’ to wage

war on me with those out-sized lies,

 despising me, devising ways

 to keep me from the prize.

It’s all politicized

by those guys, Perry’s allies

in disguise, sneakin' around
and leakin' freakin' lies 

 from those girls who'd be speakin' out in public
(if I'd let 'em) 'bout them them accusations,
those temptations, complications from many years ago.

So just say no, just lie low

Don’t show ‘em no info' that’ll slow me up.

Staff:

Stay on message, stay on message

Say 9-9-9 and we’ll be fine

Stay on message, stay on message

Say 9-9-9 and we’ll be fine…

Cain:

If you’re in doubt,

you'll be fine if you just say 9-9-9

Over and out.  

Why Senator Lieberman Voted Against the Democrats' Jobs Bill

Our senator from Connecticut

Says jobs won’t rise until we cut

Our debt dramatically.

He says this so emphatically

He must not be aware

That nearly everywhere

They did it,

Employment skidded.

Herman Cain on Foreign Affairs

Herman Cain the other day

Said China’s on the way

To getting its own  A-

Bomb which they'll send away

to Cuba, a place that may

go Commie any day.

The Storm

early snow gathers on leaves
     and branches - my nerves crack
with the trees

my house snaps into darkness
and grows slowly cold