(This poem could be sung to the melody of "A Lot of Livin' to Do" by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams.)

There are books that fill all my cases.
Some are old, some flashy and new.
All those books leave no empty spaces.
I've got a lot of reading to do.

There are lots of topics to choose from.
There is fiction; there's non-fiction, too.
Lots of books that I get my views from.
I've got a lot of reading to do.

All those books are reading adventures,
And they lift me up when I'm blue.
I like to call them reading thirst quenchers.
I've got a lot of reading to do.

There's so much to read,
So much to learn, so much to know.
Read a book and you will grow!

I love to read books over and over--
A practice that I'd never eschew.
My stack's as high as the White Cliffs of Dover.
I've got a lot of reading to do.

Yes, reading MUST be called my main passion.
Can't live without it. What about you?
May it never go out of fashion.
I've got a lot of reading,
Lots and lots of reading,
I've got a lot of reading to do.

-by Bob B (8-16-22)

(This poem could be sung to the melody of "Michelle" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.)

D.T., you'll see:
Though you fool your minions with your lies,
You don't fool me.
D.T., je sais…
Je sais qui vous êtes vraiment…je sais…
Je sais vraiment.
Say, what the hell were you thinking
When you took all those docs?
You think that simple locks
Will protect top secret docs from getting out of your hands?

D.T., I'll say
You aren't fit to run this country; no,
I say no way.
There are folks out there who want you
To be their shining star.
They don't see who you are.
Or if they do, they might see through your guise, and they dare
Not to care.

You HAVE to know that you aren't guilt free.
But does that faze you? No.
You just put on your show.
To get your way you have to play the martyr each day.

D.T., you'll see.
Fess up to your wrongs and be a man.
Yes, be a man.
I say accountability's a word that you have to learn,
Dear D.T.

D.T., you'll see:
Though you fool your minions with your lies,
You don't fool me.

-by Bob B (8-14-22)

(This poem could be sung to the tune of the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine.")

In the land where we now live
Lives a man who wants to be
Free to do whate'er he wants
With complete impunity.
He was once a president
Who thought he was king, you see.
His M.O. was to scrape by
With complete impunity.

No one here can be above the law,
Be above the law, be above the law.
No one here can be above the law,
Be above the law, be above the law.

And the people of the land--
At least most of them--said, "Aha!
Let us all reiterate…

"No one here can be above the law,
Be above the law, be above the law.
No one here can be above the law,
Be above the law, be above the law."

People all should ask themselves,
Should a criminal like this go free?
He should not keep getting by
With complete impunity.

No one here can be above the law,
Be above the law, be above the law.
No one here can be above the law,
Be above the law, be above the law.

-by Bob B (8-11-22)

I heard a knock upon the door.
“A knock so late at night?”
I felt a strong presentiment
That something wasn’t right.

Toward the door I inched my way
And stood with bated breath.
I opened it, and there I stood--
Face to face with Death.

He said, “Don’t let me bother you.
It isn’t TOO late, is it?
I was in the neighborhood
And thought I’d pay a visit.”

“Death, be gone! I am not ready
For eternal sleep.”
And quoting Frost, I told him I had
“Promises to keep.”

“Once you’re gone, that won’t matter,”
He said. “And furthermore,
The only thing that matters is
What’s happened heretofore.”  

“That’s not true,” I told him. “There is
Always much to do.
Karmic causes and effects
Bring constant revenue.

“By revenue I do not mean
Individual worth;
I mean how our actions help
To benefit dear Earth.”

“Poor thing,” said Death. “Everything
Must pass. Don’t you see?
All that you have done dissolves
Once you come with me.”

“Oh, you are so wrong,” I countered.
“Every worthy action
Has a positive effect--
If only just a fraction--

“And those effects live on and on.
And, no, they do not die.
There’s more to accomplish here,
So, therefore, pass me by.”

And so Death turned to walk away
And gave me a reprieve.
I guess he wasn’t so dead set
On forcing me to leave.

Maybe he’ll find someone ready
To go, with spirits beaming.
Or else he’ll try to drag away
Someone kicking and screaming.

-by Bob B (8-8-22)

Many speakers of English avoid
Using the F-word. That's okay.
But I am concerned; therefore, it's
A word I'm not afraid to say.

FASCISM. There! I said it.
We've seen it rise; we've seen it fall.
Now it's as though fascism is
Getting a brand new overhaul.

Viktor Orbán of Hungary
Speaks of the impropriety
Of what to him is anathema:
A mixed-race society.

Keeping our countries "pure" is what
Orbán touts as a major goal.
Non-white immigrants only dilute
The race. Sound familiar? Jawohl!

Orbán's rhetoric jumps right out of
The **** playbook--right on track.
The press and academic freedom
Are also what he loves to attack.

And yet he's invited to Texas to speak
At CPAC,° where crowds on the Right
Give the man a standing ovation
And raise their voices in cheers of delight!

He talks about the replacement theory
And takes advantage of each opportunity
To viciously attack and malign
The LGBTQ community.

We also know that Donald Trump
Gladly put out the welcome mat
For Orbán to come and speak with him.
Of course, who is surprised about that?

In World War II we fought to stop
The rise of fascist dictatorships.
The movement again is a growing problem
With which we have to come to grips.

Stakeholders in democracy,
Be on guard or we will lose
The freedoms for which we fought for years
If we close our eyes and snooze.

-by Bob B (8-5-22)

°Conservative Political Action Conference

-R v. W and Kansas-

SCOTUS! Oh, my: what a sham!
And boy, are we in a jam!
The ruling it made
On Roe versus Wade
Sets us back fifty years. ****!

With their extremist mentality,
They THINK they're defending morality.
They merely show
What we all know:
That they're out of touch with reality.

The people of Kansas decided
That they will not be misguided.
Women won't lose
Their right to choose,
For reason and sense have presided.

-China-

China is rattling its saber
And hurling more threats at its neighbor.
Taiwan be free?
That just can't be:
A point China loves to belabor.

-Brittney Griner-

Brittney Griner has learned
How easy it is to get burned
In Putin's domain--
A scary terrain.
We all want Griner returned!

Let Russia be struck from your list
Of places to visit. The gist?
People's small actions
Are major infractions,
For justice there doesn't exist.

-by Bob B (8-4-22)

As loads of information emerge,
We see the tactics Trump was using
If he didn't win the election:
To STEAL it IF he thought he was losing.

Lawsuits Claiming Election Fraud:

First, he filed his frivolous lawsuits.
One by one, they were dismissed.
******* up charges don't hold water.
The evidence just didn't exist.

Fake Electors:

Then he resorted to fake electors--
Another carefully thought-out plot.
His fraudulent scammers would help him win.
At least, that is what he thought.

Using States to Overturn Votes:

Fake electors didn't work;
Therefore, Trump asked certain states
Not to certify the results.
That would have put us in dire straits.

He called many legislators
And asked them all to cancel votes.
Since they'd love to keep him in power,
He knew that would float their boats.

Using Congress to Overturn Votes:

So then Trump urged his sycophants
In Congress, "Please, do what you can
To help me win!" And some of them even
Tried to help the desperate man.

DOJ Interference:

Claiming widespread election fraud,
He asked Bill Barr to get to the heart of it,
But since there was no evidence,
The DOJ would have no part of it.

Using the Military:

Using his unscrupulous lawyers,
He tried to concoct another means
To keep his power. The military,
He thought, could seize the voting machines!

Sabotage on January 6:

That idea hit a brick wall.
Still lacking ethical sense,
He decided to pull off his scam
By putting pressure on Michael Pence.

On January 6 Trump's mobs
Stormed the Capitol, trying to
Sabotage the election process--
Basically, performing a coup.

As Trump watched the chaos on his TV,
For three hours no one could sway him
To call off the mobs. His major concern?
How could Michael Pence betray him?

And Now What?

A long, premeditated scheme
To steal an election is what occurred.
Criminal intent appears
To be so clear from all that we've heard.

If folks aren't held accountable,
Concerned people have the impression
That what transpired at the Capitol
Will end up being a training session--

A training session for coups in the future.
If that happens, it will devour
Our democratic system and end
America's peaceful transfer of power.

-by Bob B (7-31-22)

Acknowledgements: Many thanks to Ari M.