Category Archives: POLITICS

THE PROMISE OF YOUTH


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This is what you say:
What experience do you have?
This is what they hear:
You will never get a job.
This is what they think:
How can I get experience 
if no one hires without it?


This is what you say:
What income and collateral have you?
This is what they hear:
I cannot get a small-business loan.
This is what they think:
No one will hire me and I cannot 
start a business of my own.


This is what you say:
Your college loans are over-due.
This is what they hear:
We are going to ruin you.
This is what they think:
I cannot get a job or a loan.
Guess I must move back home.


Failure never felt so certain
to the young Americans
who believed with such purpose
that it would be possible to get ahead.
Now, too many live in dread.
And way too many
wish they were dead.


Is this the America we want?
Is this the America we were promised?
What folly has greed wrought?
What tax system created this rot ?
That only those with wealth
can exercise their rights
to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.


Youth have eyes open wide,
open to all that seems new.
The aged close their tired eyes
hoping nothing at all will change.
But, the aged and their folly shall pass.
America’s promise shall be renewed,
as sure as day follows night.


Vote as if the lives of the young 
depend upon you doing what is right.
Because, their lives depend upon you.
They most assuredly do.


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BACK TO THE GYM

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Most of us have been away from the gym too long.

Our freedom-loving muscles have grown slack.

We had not fully recognized the slack.

Others noted the weakness

of our democratic body.

We went about our day aware that each act

became more difficult, more strenuous.

Success became less assured, more tenuous. 

While we grew soft, life grew hard.

We could no longer lift our children above our heads.

Their safety could not be assured;

not only on the playground monkey bars,

but behind their desk, or sitting in church pews.

Even our voices became more feeble

as we stopped the exercise of free speech,

and bemoaned the simple act 

of marching down the street.

But others watched and saw our weakness grow.

Knew we were no longer paying attention

to our former strength and ignoring our work-outs,

while we flaunted more the medals on our chests

and the trophies on our shelves.

We no longer recalled how we earned those awards.

We forgot the daily struggle at life’s gymnasium

to keep the muscles of self-governance

strong enough  to take on new challenges and ideas.

Our weakness made us run from, instead of with,

others racing along the path to freedom.

We envied their success, our own no longer moving

us forward and ahead.

The only way the weak can win is by holding others back.

The truly strong can win by running hard and long.

We all looked away from those who cheat

to claim a win they do not deserve.

It feels too close to every nerve

now weakened within each lax muscle; 

a republic struggling just to stay upright.

Religion becomes the panacea of anxious nights.

We can only hope our muscle-memory

of freedoms gained in the past

is strong enough to make our democracy last.

Back to the gym. Walk the streets. Shout the speech

that you recall in memory grown weak.

Build back the muscle needed to wield your voting power.

Now is the hour 

to get back to the gym.

Be strong and carry on!

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BALANCE OF POWER

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Nature restores balance

upset by human hands

on air and sea and land.

Government becomes unbalanced

when leaders fail to understand

no government can serve us

when controlled by a single man.

No single party can control

a seamless governance of the whole.

Power unbalanced is doomed to fail.

History and Nature tell the tale.

Diversity is the golden rule of life,

counteracting hidden strife

as it strives to interact and share

what keeps the planet alive and fair,

what makes us glad to be alive.

Cooperation is not just wise.

It is the seed of all that grows.

It is the only means Nature knows

to grow the wheat and the rose,

to water the farmland and dry the bog,

to cool summer heat and fire winter’s log,

to spread seeds on the breeze of dawn

and weight the wind blowing too strong.

We have run away from Nature far too long.

We have forgotten to listen to Nature’s song.


We have been singing a discordant tune

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to instruments so loud, the song is ruined.

But Nature always restores balance.

It is the base note of Nature’s parlance.

Take off your shoes and walk in the grass.

Feel the freedom you feared lost in the past.

Turn your face into the wind and hold tight.

Feel the freedom you feared lost beyond your sight.

Wade in puddles catching raindrops on your tongue.

Feel the freedom you feared lost and with hands wrung.

We fear we have no way to save our nation.

But Nature gives us a new generation

every spring and through every season

Nature restores our world and our reason.

Balance of Power is the song of the hour.

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MAGA CIRCUS

MAGA CIRCUS

The clown leads the circus parade

Following the elephant ahead,

Carrying shovels to clean up the way,

And invite us under the tent.

The clown interrupts each display

Of circus performers’ great feats.

The clown make us laugh to distraction

And keeps us in our seats.

The clown is what we best recall,

For memories are short.

We may not remember what we see.

But, we remember how hard we laughed.

The circus is not a school to teach.

The circus is a business to empty our pockets

Until it once more moves on.

The circus is not a church where we pray.

But a place we feel it is okay to play.

When the tent stakes are pulled and the circus train pulls away

All that remains is an empty field

Trod into mud on rainy days.

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MY FELLOW AMERICANS

MY FELLOW AMERICANS

I hold my tongue.

It takes strength I do not have.

Whimpers escape

On shattered breaths,

In silent screams.

The fight worries my soul,

Battle weary and choking,

On words held tight inside.

Once the scream begins

I doubt I could stop.

I wait for your speech.

I yearn for your promise

To stop the authoritarian

Who has taken over our house,

Emptied its vaults,

Stolen its wealth,

Sold its power

To the highest bidders.

So, I write. That I can do

While I wait for you.

To me, this nothing new.

Do you believe me now?

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WE THE PEOPLE

The people’s house is no more.

Oh, the structure still stands,

It’s East Wing destroyed.

It rose garden paved over.

Its grounds defaced.

It is no longer democracy’s safe space.

No woman, nor child yet protected.

Hidden files of pedophilia and rape

Keep Republican representatives

Of the people away.

No chance to obstruct

as we fearfully watch all we love destruct.

Money directed from its appropriated place

Into the pockets of the man in disgrace,

Who crowns himself king,

And demands all kiss his ring.

Our right to rule ourselves now firmly displaced

By cruelty and hate,

absent a single moment of grace.

There are no longer two sides.

None of us are left with any pride.

We the people now have no place.

Unless we stand together to fight

The destruction of freedoms that are our constitutional right.

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MOURNING PRAYER

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Wake up.

Sit at the table.

Open the MacBook.

Click on the key.

Open Pages.

Take a deep breath.

What new horror?

Unlock the jaw.

Try to forget.

Relax the fingers.

Swallow the sigh.

Move the cursor.

Try not to cry.

Who was stolen overnight?

Who was charged?

What new non-crime planted?

What court noted what lies?

With what order do they not comply?

What illegal moves have they made?

When will law once again rule the day?

Discover anger and fear drops away.

There is beauty outside.

There is love everywhere.

Take a deep breath.

Breathe slow and deep.

Beg the silent watchers to wake.

Do not despair.

This has become my mourning prayer.

As a lawyer, I am in deep mourning over the DOJ and SCOTUS breech with Constitutional law, precedent and ethics. The law is king in the United States. No man is above it. Apparently, leaders of this current republican-controlled administration believe they are our now our “supreme leaders”. Speaker Johnson keeps the House of Representatives on vacation for another week, and refuses to swear in an elected official to protect the release of files naming powerful pedophiles and rapists. A private army in masks, with no names, kidnap citizens and non-citizens and disappear them. This is evil done in our name. Seven million speak out. But, most do not. They go about their day, perhaps complaining about high prices. As if that is what the true issue is. When hate and destruction attempt to rule over all of us. The White House is being deconstructed both physically and morally. Pray with me, even if you lack the will to fight with me.

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IT IS ALWAYS IN THE NUMBERS

Reports indicate attendance at NO KINGS events is somewhere between 5.2-8.2 billion persons. It is possibly much larger than any assumed count. For example. If one counts those registered with organizations who counted attendees, one simply gets a flat number of those who bothered to join through the organization. I registered and reported my attendance. By the time I attended three more persons joined me. They remain uncounted officially. I am sure this is true for families and friends of most attendees.

In the past, for individual rallies, law enforcement using drones mapped the crowd and made estimates using “so many persons per square inch” of their photos to create crowd attendance figures. While major big cities may have done so, mine did not. Local news did not. nor did Law enforcement in my locality. I am certain this happened in much of small town America. So when these numbers are posted, assume they are sorely undercounted. 

Nevertheless, no matter the total count, the wide extent of events across the country in red and blue states and cities, in small hamlets, on rural roadway intersections, outside nursing homes and senior care facilities is significant. And, such small groups are likely not part of the count. Yet, the fact they showed such resilience and disgust for what is happening and took to the streets gives us cause to hope we can face down fascism and remove those traitors to our core American beliefs and to our Constitution from office; from School Board, Board of Health, City and County commissioners, mayors and city council, to Congress and the White House. 

Local politics is sometime hard to unravel, especially for races where platitudes replace true positions and no party affiliation is required. We have tools those who came before us did not have, the internet and email addresses. Ask candidates for specific position statements. If they do not answer or provide gibberish, there is your answer. Be an informed voter. Help register new voters. Help motivate and take voters to the polls. We must now march to the polls as we marched through the streets. As Winston Churchill said, “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. It is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Now, the hard work begins. Please remember the joy you felt on No Kings Day and let it propel you to even greater efforts. We now know for certain, what we believed. We are not alone.

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DECONSTRUCTION

Columbus, Ohio 10-18-2025

The streets were lined for blocks on end.

Signs reminded all who rejoiced to attend

Why they walked and talked and smiled and waved

At passing cars who braved delays

While drivers honked horns and shouted out

“Vote him out and make it a rout!”

Costumed critters danced to our delight

Knowing their freedom would give him a fright.

Deconstruct the lies we have been told.

Deconstruct the narrative being sold.

Deconstruct the bullie’s hold.

Deconstruct institutional mold.

Gather in peace the young and the old.

Stronger are you, more wise, more bold.

Deconstruct so we can rebuild

What he has destroyed with his minions’ lack of skill.

We know how to do this, and more.

We have done it many times before.

Columbus, Ohio 10-18-2025
Columbus, Ohio 10-18-2025
Columbus, Ohio 10-18-2025
Columbus, Ohio 10-18-2025
Columbus, Ohio 10-18-2025
Columbus, Ohio 10-18-2025
Columbus, Ohio 10-18-2025

My thanks to my friends in Clintonville area of Columbus who helped me attend this moment of patriots’ challenge to the con men robbing the USA of its power, wealth, ideals and humanity. The lack of media coverage was appalling. The misrepresentation of attendance numbers cannot be challenged when media fails to provide images of the gatherings. A local station covered it AFTER it was over and crowds had dispersed. Another stated hundreds attended when it was actually thousands. We are here. We are resisting. We are going nowhere until the despotism and kidnapping of people and the Supreme Court, universities, news organizations, social media outlets, medical and public health Institutions… even our very language and the meaning of words and phrases has been brought to an end and freedom restored.

We shall not be silenced.

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IN THEIR STEPS

We walk with heroes

On paths of love for freedom.

Let us walk in peace.

Henry David Thoreau Poems > My poetic side

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