Bush butchered the language
more than we suspected.
Under his rhetorical reign
bi-partisan became positive
and ideology became bad, i.e.
blind prejudice was superior
to a coherent set of beliefs.

The biblical equivalent of
bi-partisan is “an eye for an eye.”
In Obama’s stimulus package it’s
“we’ll cut taxes on your friends,
and hope they use it wisely, so
we can pay our friends to build
useful infrastructure.”

Let’s hope Barack appointed
visionary ideologists rather than
blind, unreasoning ideologues.
He selected some powerful,
but eclectic people. It would be
terrible if they chose up sides
instead of forming a team.

Blind, prejudiced, unreasoning allegiance
is the dictionary definition of “partisan.”
We didn’t vote for twice as much of that.
We voted to change “free” to “fair” in trade and
markets;” to find something besides tax cuts
for business as the solution to every problem;
to restore respect for our country in the world.

Obama’s idea of change seems to focus
on bi-partisan support. He rules out “pork”
in his economic stimulus program, but lards it
with Republican-style tax cuts. He substitutes
loss of income with no guarantee of results
for a fixed expenditure with assured economic
benefits, in the short and long run.

Congress should remind the new president
that they won too, limit the spending
to infrastructure, and forget all the tax cuts.
They can win the support of members
by inviting pork – just list all the projects.
New roads, buildings and stuff can be good
even if they’re named for someone.

Someone please remind the man
that liberals won control of congress.
He doesn’t have to woo the right.
by giving business tax relief.

If Republicans won’t support
real stimulation, it still should pass,
but by starting with bi-partisan swill
Obama just feeds GOP greed.

Some laud Obama’s pragmatism.
I don’t. I feel misled — betrayed.
I was promised change,
underscored with “yes we can.”

A ship that veers off course needs
a new direction, but the chosen cabinet
seems more likely to provide no more
than steady hands at the wheel.

The only deviation from moderation
is the choice of Rick Warren
for an inaugural speech (with head bowed).
He invokes fear of religious terror.

Perhaps Barack will change his mind
about the California bigot.
That’s the one thing he’s been doing
consistently since the campaign.

Barack inspired us for a while.
His election brought us
unabashed joy.
But once he won decisively
he forgot about
“yes we can,” and switched
to “sure we will.”

His eclectic cabinet has a bit
for everyone except those
expecting something new.
And now to guarantee
we all get the message,
he gave his inaugural prayer
to an unforgiving zealot.

Our first black president
has already overcome
any doubts about being ready
for the highest office in the land.
He know exactly what to do –
build a bigger coalition
to assure his reelection.

Barack calls gay marriage “a social issue.”
He’s wrong. It’s a religious matter.
Some people want the law to deny rights
to neighbors their faith says are sinful.

One marriage has no impact on another.
Each is an assumption of responsibilities
entitling partners to privileges granted them
by civil laws, but withheld from single people.

Abortion is another right some religious folks
want limited because their personal faith
considers it is a sin. Barack calls it “social,”
but many consider it personal and private.

Faith-based definitions of when a fetus
becomes a “person” don’t justify enslaving
women. The interests of society shouldn’t
arise until the baby can live outside the womb.

Obama invited a bigot
to turn on the spigot
at his inauguration.

Doesn’t he realize
that his new friend relies
on the same ancient oration

to deny legal rights to gays
that his predecessors say
give slavery justification?

In his final days Bush hunkers down
to protect taxpayer funds. He insists
on conditioning money for auto makers
on a car czar and a tangle of rules.

This differs from the Wall street rescue.
That sailed through ‘cause he couldn’t
put his buddies’ banks in peril. Now the
only risk is three million workers’ jobs.

Unfortunately, he forgot GOP senators
might enjoy winning favor with transplant
constituents while denying one last
empty victory to their erstwhile leader.

As my shortness of breath lasts longer,
doctors line up hypotheses like bottles
at a carnival, toss test after test at them,
but never win the giant stuffed panda.

After 18 months of failing to hit my
symptoms with any of the usual causes,
they tell me the heart can retain iron,
making it too rigid to pump properly.

If that diagnosis is correct, I’m sorry
the affliction arrived so late in life.
I might have risen higher in business
had my heart hardened years ago.

Campaign promises glitter like leaves,
and while voters enjoy the fall colors,
they expect fruit as rewards, not beauty.

Winners might be patient, but losers
will cry “I told you so,” at any delay
in delivery on even forgotten pledges.

Before someone rakes his fallen foliage
into ugly piles, Obama needs to produce
a pruned “to do list,” with target dates.

Despite complaints of missing items,
we’ll judge Barack on his new agenda,
that’s easier than researching our own.

In the free market country club,
being deemed “too big to fail”
insures a corporation against
the mistakes of poor managers.

No wonder those saved
by bucket-wielding taxpayers
avoid making needed loans
and acquire other banks.

Conservative and Liberal,
unlike words early man used
to describe groups of stars,
are creative, but inappropriate.

Republicans who cut taxes,
increase spending, wage wars,
claim deficits don’t matter,
call themselves Conservatives.

Democrats claim to be Liberals
while promoting welfare reform,
higher prices for imports,
conservation and more rules.

Perhaps it’s time we use
old time imagination and look
for similarities. Call one party
Serpents, the other Snakes.

It appears I will be wrong about Obama.
I misjudged the power of his rhetoric,
overrated the nation’s dormant racism.

I mistakenly accused the Democratic party
of missing the chance to win control
by limiting their choices for the nomination,

but I didn’t expect the economy to crater,
to get so bad voters would do anything
to guarantee a change in Washington.

I’m happy to eat crow. I want Obama to win,
but it would be so much nicer if it could
happen without me going broke first.

John McCain, a crotchety old man
obsessed with earmarks and the surge,
promises little beyond extending
Bush tax cuts, and continuing his war.

Obama offers inspiring lists of thoughtful,
nuanced programs that John easily festoons
with tall tales of calamitous consequences,
largely untrue, but easy to understand.

John balances his age with an attractive
Chatty Cathy while Barack tempers his
youth with a sage willing to share, share,
share his knowledge and experience.

It will be far easier and wiser for voters
to compare continuing the Iraq war to
a responsible withdrawal, than to choose
between these caricatures of candidates.

Our ever-vigilant congress,
failed to bail-out broken banks,
but found a way to save the bill
by larding it with tax cuts.

That will ensure Republican votes,
and let Democrats use urgency
to justify a token of gratitude
for their campaign contributors.

Of course there’s a chance our
stalwart Speaker will stand tall, stop
this scam, then wave to the stunned
crowd as she flies away on a pig.

The Ole Miss campus was giddy.
All the debaters were there.
Outsiders waved signs and screamed.
Insiders sat importantly and waited for the cue
to applaud.

Jim Lehrer asked leading questions,
begged them to talk to each other, but nobody followed.
McCain was alone on stage.
Barack respected the back of John’s head
no matter what he said.

Listening to commentators pundicate, and spinners recite,
I wondered where they’d been.
The debate I saw lulled one into reverence for past leaders.
Many were golfers who inspired this primary voter
to want a mulligan.

As McCain and Palin stumble
from fumble to sack to hail Mary pass,
the polls stay stuck.

Pundits search for the cause,
but find none. Ignoring Hillary’s not a red flag.
Race is just a red herring.

TV concludes the race is tight,
because voters aren’t paying attention yet,
so stay tuned — please stay tuned.

TV commentators seem shocked that
many states permit early voting.
They want citizens to wait for the
end of the campaign before deciding
so analysis of polls, commercials,
and potential gaffes in the debates
can influence the election result.

Anyone who watched Bush’s six year
4th of July parade, and hasn’t picked
a political party by now, might as well
flip a coin. Since neither candidate is
likely to change his party’s philosophy,
and either would recruit political regulars
for his team, everyone should vote party.

We can continue fighting wars and
boosting business with borrowed money,
or begin the difficult task of paying
as we go. Pundits know we could decide
that now, but if we did, we would stop
watching them and go back to more
intellectually stimulating reality TV.

Now that Democrats finally have
a brilliant and inspiring candidate,
they should start promoting voting
for the party instead of a person.

Republican philosophy clearly
caused our current problems, and
that wouldn’t change if McCain
replaced Bush in January.

And, just as an attractive VP
reinvigorated Republicans, the idea
of considering party first may reassure
Democrats who are afraid of the dark.

I still remember the commercials
about less paperwork for mortgages,
no proof of income required.

Greenspan heard them too, but he
implied the housing bubble was just
effervescence – a little local fizz.

Instead of asking the foxes to fix
the hen house door we should move
the hens to a better neighborhood.

Government shouldn’t bail out banks,
in the hope they will make needed loans,
they should make the loans directly.

Since they aren’t trained bankers,
they will probably save enough tax money
to finance the auto industry’s retooling.