HOUSE SPEAKER UPDATE

 

How’s the new House Speaker doing?
He’s gotten the dysfunctional House Republicans
Out of the headlines for a day
But the need for budget action
Is little more than two weeks away
 
Meanwhile, Netanyahu
Is nearing his end
And seems determine to take his nation
With him into oblivion
 
Initially Hamas was the only evil
But by grossly overreacting
Bibi has eroded much sympathy for Israel

HUCKSTER KIDS IN COURT

 

The Orange Huckster’s kids
Are scheduled to testify
In the New York fraud case
They are unlikely to outright lie
 
But will Ivanka, Eric, and Don Junior
Indicate the obvious
Which is that mentally Dad
Is a criminal ignoramus?

AMERICAN TV AND THE MIDDLE EAST

 

The Middle East muddle
Has become CNN’s mud puddle
It’s top talking heads
Seemed to have established
Permanent residency
In lands bordering
The eastern Mediterranean Sea
 
Meanwhile, MSNBC
Is more focused on domestic politics
And Fox mostly sticks to equating
Joe Biden and the apocalypse

SO LONG, MIKE

 

Mike Pence called it quits
No more Presidential aspiration
He was a bit too ecclesiastical
For much of the population
 
Maybe not destined
For the Presidency
But by thwarting the Orange Huckster’s
Attempt to subvert the law
And reduce democracy to zero
He earned the status
Of a true American hero

GAZA END GAME?

 

What’s the end game in Gaza?
No one, including Israel, likely knows
But one thing that is likely
Is that the more brutal is Israel
The less likely a peace
Will be lasting and real
 
Grudges are held for a very long time
In the Middle East
Generations even centuries
Rendering battle more attractive than peace

MASS SHOOTINGS

 

Guns should be limited and licensed
Pure and simple
The Second Amendment
Stands in the way?
Then repeal that 18th Century
Anachronistic impediment

FINALLY

 

Finally, the House has a Speaker
Fella from Louisiana
Does that mean
The end of drama?
 
Not very likely
The clown car is still packed
And ready for action
Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert
Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Greene
Leading the crowd itching for disruption
And battling for attention

DOMINOES START TO TOPPLE

 

The dominoes might be starting to topple
Against the Orange Huckster
Mark Meadows is in cooperation
With the DOJ investigation
And in the Georgia case
A third attorney indictee
Has copped a plea
 
Will more of the Huckster’s former entourage
Be coming forward?
There’s still a passel in the Georgia case
Who might want to jump on the bandwagon
To ensure they don’t miss the race
And have to spend time in an unpleasant place

AN UNCERTAIN WORLD

 

House Republicans
Are now behind closed doors
On a painful journey
Preparing for a vote, or votes
Or maybe even more votes
Just to settle upon a Speaker possibility
 
Meanwhile, in the Middle East
Humanitarian efforts and hostilities
Vie for the headlines
The only almost certainty is that
Peace is not among the possibilities

ANOTHER WEEK OF INACTION?

 

After a weekend of watching
Football and baseball on TV
Are House Republicans ready for work
Or are they still on a don’t-give-a-damn spree?
 
Among a legislator’s guiding principles
Should be responsibility
MAGA Republicans, however
Are motivated more by a general hostility

BIBI, THINK AHEAD

 

Is Netanyahu’s
Indiscriminate use of force
Sowing the seeds
For decades of hostilities
And generations of evil deeds?
 
Meanwhile,
Are House Republicans
Spending the weekend in serious consultations
Or are they engaged in planning
Further procrastinations?

QUITTER

 

What a disappointment
Jim let us down
He quit after only
The third voting round
Now who becomes
The number one MAGA clown?
 
Meanwhile, a third defendant
In the Georgia election case
Has copped a plea
Is there no loyalty
To the Odious Orange Ace
Who’s beginning to lose co-conspirators
At an accelerating pace?

SLOW DOWN, JOE

 

President Joe raced through
An Oval Office Address
Talking faster than
A fleeing antelope under duress
 
Maybe he was anxious
To get back to the entertaining drama
Of the House Republican caucus
And its chaotic Speaker dilemma

HE’S NOT A LOSER

 

Jim No Quit Jordan
Is insisting on a third vote
And maybe a fourth, fifth, or sixth
He’s determined to be Speaker
Like the Orange Huckster
He won’t admit to being a loser

HANG TIGHT, JIM

 

Jim the Wrecking Crew Jordan
Isn’t backing down
He’s twisting arms, making threats
To get the Speaker’s crown
 
Hang tight, Jim
You’re what MAGAs desire
A fabricating extremist
To aid the Huckster’s return to power
 
Meanwhile, Bibi Netanyahu
Is playing hardball
But is his massive retaliation strategy
Wise for Israel over the long haul?

FOX TO THE RESCUE

 

Sean Hannity king-maker?
That appears to be the case
He’s trying to rally support
For Jim Jordan and the MAGA base
 
So Fox is participating
In partisan political activity
Is that the proper role
For Fourth Estate neutrality?
 
Meanwhile, the Orange Huckster
Has been issued a gag order
Fat chance that this
Will curtail his pompous bluster

THE WAY OUT?

 

House Democrats are making noise
About cooperating on selecting a Speaker
Will Republicans pursue the possibility
Or is bipartisanship for them a show-stopper?
 
Certainly it’s a no-go
For the MAGA extremists of the party
That crowd believes
Only they perceive truth correctly

VISIT TO GAZA

 

Now might be a good time
To visit Gaza
Everybody’s leaving
So rate deals might be a bonanza
 
See the Mediterranean
Breathe the desert air
Just don’t let the scorpions
Get in your hair

ABSENCE OF NUANCE

 

There is an absence of nuance
In news coverage of current events
Yes, Hamas is evil personified
But Israel’s Netanyahu
Is certainly not peace-loving deified
 
He’s a hard-liner
Internally and externally
My way or the highway
Is his governing philosophy
 
Meanwhile,
Jim Jordan is the latest Republican
To receive a House Speaker nomination
It’s hard to image
A worst selection
 
An unprincipled partisan fabricator
Jordan is revealing
Of how much the party of
Lincoln, Eisenhower, Reagan is reeling

REPUBLICANS CONTINUE SINKING

 

Frontrunner Steve Scalise
Has called it quits
No Speaker’s gavel for him
The acquisition process is the pits
 
If ever there was a moment
For a bipartisan solution
This would be it
But each party is consumed
By antipathy toward the other
And a lack of imagination

BREAK THE STATUS QUO

 

In the debilitating childish scrum
For Speaker of the House
Steve Scalise has a Republican majority
But apparently not enough
For ultimate victory
 
One solution is bipartisanship

By seeking support from Dems
Scalise could break the political mode
And thereby maybe put the political system
On a new, less bumpy road

SPEAKER SANTOS

 

George Santos could be
The compromise candidate for House Speaker
Who better to lead the Republican gaggle
Than a serial fabricator

TUBERVILLE NOT RELENTING

 

Senator Tuberville is a stubborn cuss
The world is crashing down
And he’s still making a fuss
About abortion stuff
 
How much longer is the Senate
Gonna put up with this tantrum?
Can’t the rules be suspended
Or is this an unsolvable problem?

ISRAEL AND HAMAS

 

How did Hamas
Logistically and operationally
Pull off such a major surprise
That was a great success initially?
 
And once Israel gets its act together
Will it be victorious
Or will this thing become long-tern
Like the Ukraine-Russia fracas?
 
As for the United States
Will the House Speaker kerfuffle
Affect the ability of America
To support Israel?

APOCALYPSE MAYBE?

 

Ukraine and Russia
Keep slaughtering away
New war in the Middle East
Government shutdown still looming
Republican Party in disarray
The Orange Huckster
Might be here to stay
 
But not to worry
Have a few drinks
And get yourself merry

WONDER MOUSE

 

The Odious Orange Huckster
Has endorsed James Daniel Jordan
For Speaker of the House
That’s Jim Jordan
The Ohio Wonder Mouse
 
To find a more polarizing figure
You’d have to cast a deep focus
Far into the ranks
Of the Rigged Election Caucus
 
Aid to Ukraine
Is for him a no-go
He’d much prefer a wall
Between America and Mexico

REPUBLICAN THEATRICS

 

Are Republicans capable
Of selecting a Speaker
Or will the House
Slide into a morass
Of vituperative bicker?
 
Breaking news:
The Orange Huckster allegedly
Spilled the beans
About nuclear sub capabilities
To an Australian billionaire
Enjoying Mar-a-Lago festivities
 
No big deal
Secrets are actually
Made to be revealed
Lock her up
Only applied to Hillary

SPEAKER JIM JORDAN

 

Jim Jordan wants to be House Speaker
Would that be in the nation’s best interest
A polarizing fabricating figure
Overseeing the legislative process?
 
Republicans haven’t made a wise decision
For many moons
Can they change course
Or will they continue catering to buffoons?

SAYONARA KEVIN

 

Kevin got fired
The first House Speaker
Voted into oblivion
Thanks to eight Republicans
Mostly of the far-right persuasion
 
House Republicans responded
By scheduling a week to recuperate
As the next budget deadline
Approaches the plate

LATE NIGHT TO THE RESCUE

 

Colbert, Fallon, Kimmel
And also Seth
Back on TV tonight
Maybe they will return the world
To what is right
 
Meanwhile, the Orange Huckster
Put on a show in a New York jurisdiction
Where he’s being civilly tried
For property values inflation
 
He attacked the judge
The New York Attorney General
The federal Department of Justice
With rage that was primeval
 
And meanwhile again
Matt Gaetz
Has charged into action
Filing a motion to vacate
Kevin’s House Speaker occupation

MISSING IN ACTION

 

Two figures were largely missing
From the government closure kerfuffle
Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene
The two MAGA ladies striving
To be the right-wing queen
 
Ms. Boebert’s absence
Is understandable
She was probably busy
Groping the unmentionable
 
Marjorie’s absence
Was more professionally related
As an ally of Kevin
But also as a far-right MAGA
She was in the uncomfortable middle of
The power struggle saga