Hateful campaigns polarize
The public; salacious scandals abound;
Demagogues stir up the voters;
Vicious rumors are passed around;

Threats are made if one's opponent
Wins the race; fake news spreads;
Internal strife within the parties
Has the members at loggerheads;

Security leaks flow from the top;
Vitriolic accusations
Denigrate opponents; we hear
Of more and more allegations;

Threats are levied at the free press;
The masses suspect the educated;
Verbal assaults on the judiciary
Are brazen and unsubstantiated;

Fears of election fraud are raised;
Hypocrisy knows no end;
Little attention is paid to the truth
As people don't care whom they offend;

Candidates "pump the popular passions";
Hush money's paid; stories don't jibe
As lawmakers find themselves
Susceptible to paying a bribe.

It sounds like politics and elections
In America from what we've seen
Happening in the past few years
Leading up to twenty eighteen.

But this was also America
In the year 1800.  Since such
Chaos occurred back then as well,
It shows we haven't changed that much.

-by Bob B (3-30-18)