Some may think the administration is
preoccupied with the election, but while
the nation is distracted by the campaign
they dutifully take care of business.
The Interior Department dropped a bid
to collect unpaid oil and gas royalties
because they didn’t want to waste money
pursuing cases that couldn’t be won.
Of course the states have been winning
or settling similar suits, but they […]

Bush created an Iraqi army and police force
to “stand up so we can stand down.�
Unfortunately we lost many of the guns,
that we bought for them.
Like the rest of the president’s plans
this one falls a bit short.

Rove told Republican candidates
to ignore the war in their campaigns,
but so many clamored for a new direction,
they precipitated change.
Bush redefined “stay the course�
to mean “constant adjustment of tactics
to meet conditions on the ground,�
but asserted our goal is still victory.
With that precedent, when an obstinate
prime minister al-Maliki asks us to leave
the president can redefine “winning�
to mean […]

Michael J. Fox let his symptoms show
to help elect senators who favor stem cell research,
but a conservative commentator claimed he is
“either off his medication or acting” during the ad.
There may be legitimate reasons for opposing
such research, but even Rush Limbaugh
should know suggesting a disease
isn’t really serious is not one of them.

The state department spokesman
who admitted the U.S. showed
“arrogance and stupidity� in Iraq,
later said “I seriously misspoke.�
It’s too bad we have to ask
forgiveness for telling the truth.

Rumsfeld says Khalilzad and Casey
are working on projections
of when we can pass on pieces
of responsibility to the Iraqis.
Of course it’s not a timetable.
That’s good ‘cause Rummy added:
“there’s no doubt in my mind but that
some of these projections we won’t make…
once we meet the projection we may
have to go back and do it again.�

The green tree turned flashy red,
then faded leaves blew away before fall winds,
revealing errant branches allowed to sag
so friends could pick the fruit,
and the absence of a trunk.

Republicans brag their new law
permitting the president to define torture
and create new rules for trials
will help defeat terrorists.
They neglect to add: Bush can put
any American in that group.

Wal-Mart workers walk out of a store
to oppose rapacious rules designed to
make them quit. That won’t work,
but if shoppers would follow suit,
they could help our whole economy.

Republicans slipped a law
into a port security bill that
prohibits banks transferring
funds for on-line gambling.
Bush signed it without fanfare.
That’s what it deserves. It
contains the usual loopholes
that Bush’s cohorts use to
take away their friends’ cake,
but let them eat it anyway.

Everyone but Bush and Rove
thinks Democrats will win the House,
and maybe the Senate,
but it’s hard to ignore those pros.
Do they predict victory because
of money, organization, secret polls?
More likely their boldness springs
from inside knowledge of the
programming dexterity of Diebold.

The Washington Post
says Bush frequently uses
“unacceptable.�
That could make the word
his presidency’s trademark.
How appropriate.

“O, I am iamb,� she said pridefully.
In groups of five I stood at Shakespeare’s will.
To speak of love, of greed, of jealousy,
Consuming fires so wild that men would kill.
My lilt, my gait is easy to espy.
A pulse so steady livens any text,
And leads the reader’s mind and ear and eye.
My rhythm’s gallop ne’er leaves one […]

Bush avoids admitting mistakes
by redefining past generalities:
“Stay the course means
keep doing what you’re doing.
My attitude is, don’t do what you’re doing
if it’s not working — change.
“Stay the course also means,
don’t leave before the job is done.
We’re going to get the job done in Iraq.�
He’ll tell us what he means by “job�
when he finally […]

Years ago John McCain rode a bus
and talked straight, but that wasn’t enough
to beat George Bush, so he started down
the slippery slope toward buddy-hood.
He finally arrived. With Bush-like twisting
of facts into fantasy he blamed both Clintons
for North Korea building a nuclear bomb
and testing it, six years after they left office.
Of course that event wasn’t Bush’s […]

Colossus No More
She cruises from New York Harbor
plastered to the side of a U-Haul van
docked one night in the drive next door.
A stern Lady with face of lurid blue
stares through my kitchen window.
She wears a spiked crown
suitable for goring huddled masses.
In place of a lamp beaming welcome
her arm wields a torch-turned-cudgel.
She’s on the brink of […]

Listening to political advertising
lets candidates buy votes.
Most of it is misleading, negative,
and leaves out the key fact: party affiliation.
In today’s legislative bodies
few individuals have power ―
mostly leaders of the majority party.
Ignore the ads, decide which party is best for you
and vote accordingly, or flip a coin.
That gives everyone a 50-50 chance
instead of giving the advantage
to […]

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee,
said Thursday, Iraq is “drifting sideways.� Warner added,
“In two or three months if this…level of violence
is not under control, I think it’s a responsibility of our government
to determine: Is there a change of course we should take?�
Republicans have said the Democrats don’t have a plan for Iraq.
We […]

Pages warned each other to stay away
from congressman Foley for eleven years,
but the Speaker couldn’t see anything wrong.
Reporters flush fresh facts daily
with little apparent effort,
but the Speaker found nothing serious.
Republicans need a fall guy,
but they won’t dump J. Dennis Hastert.
It would look like accountability.

This year’s emails were just “too friendly� ―
the bad stuff is three-years-old, but unknown
until this week. Ex-pages knew about those,
but didn’t want to incur the wrath of Congress.
If Republicans also knew, maybe they wanted
to preserve Foley until after the election when
Jeb could appoint a successor. If Democrats
knew maybe they agreed to keep it quiet […]