Bush & Company

A journalist in Baghdad threw
A very symbolistic shoe,
A missile hurtling through the air
That missed our W by a hair,

Then swiftly hurled one more size 10
To emphasize his point again,
Though Mr. Bush was equal to
The onslaught of that second shoe.

Some may believe that it was luck
That George averted that one, too.
I tend to think that our lame duck
Has always known just how to duck;

Some knew before his job was done
Stuff would be thrown at Poppy's son.

General Eric Shinseki (ret.) has been named secretary of the Cabinet
post of Veterans Affairs.

The general, once somewhat disgraced,
Who spoke his conscience when he faced
The Congress, hoping they'd accede:
400,000 troops we'll need
To keep peace in postwar Iraq;

Because of that, he got the sack.
That is to say, old Rummy fired
The general who has since been hired
(Proven right since he retired)
So many vets to oversee,

Though once scorned by the powers that be.
Ah! Just and exquisite irony!

One piece of post-election news
Is Karl Rove and Karen Hughes
Are going to rewrite history
By fixing George's legacy.

It shouldn't be too hard to do,
Because before their job is through,
They'll just pick someone else to blame

For anything that they can't spin,

Then make a tenure filled with shame
Seem like the kind it should have been.

Outgoing President Bush, the present steward of our land, plans a sweeping anti-environment farewell.

Where danger threatens soil and air,
Water, wildlife in his care,
You'll find George W. Bush is there
To see that nothing's left to spare.

His mantra's bulldoze, mine and drill
The land that's subject to his will;
He'll serve his corporate masters till
There's little left for him to kill.

Though leaving soon, he's at it still.

Three auto heads, each in his jet,
Whose companies are in such grievous debt,
Dallying before the talks began,
Flew to D C without a plan.

Some say they should have gone by train
Or even by commercial plane,
Attache cases stuffed with schemes
Devised by able corporate teams,

Worthy of such distinguished brass,
Too good for traveling business class.

That old lame duck vice president,
Who's set so perilous a precedent
Of power unparalleled till now,
Believing in the status quo,

Who doesn't know how to let go,
Will maybe just refuse to go,
At best show some unwillingness
To turn his job over to Joe.

Who knows the infamous veep's intent?
Yet if a transfer's made somehow,
Seemingly smooth and effortless,
That's something we may never know.

Is the Mack really back now? Is he himself again? Has his insufferable campaign purged him of his poisonous ambition? His gracious election-night phone call to the president-elect and humble concession speech to the public suggest that.

Meantime, the once lauded, feted and indulged Sarah Palin, whose self-serving vice-presidential effort has fallen into some disrepute as she's accused by the former McCain cmpaign of causing the senator's defeat, may yet bounce back. Although denying it, she may appoint herself to a vacant Alaskan US Senate seat..

How you gonna get her back o Juneau
Now that she's seen DC?

The Republican Party, the one that doesn't believe in government, in utter disarray, is seeking its ideology, new clarity and a credible identity now that Karl Rove's plan for permanent GOP power has been dashed.

The last 10-and-1/2 weeks of the Bush administrtation looks to be very busy---with Congress out of session until early January, allowing the president substantial discretion---plotting extensive new Federal regulations weakening government rules that protect both environment and consumer. Approximately 90 such regulations are planned. Among these final acts as president, Mr. Bush will issue executive orders for mining for uranium in the Grand Canyon area, which will make the Colorado River, providing drinking water to Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Diego, Los Angeles and other cities, radio active. An important food source, the Imperial Valley in California, irrigated by the Colorado, will be affected, too. Millions of tons of additional carbon dioxide will also be released into the atmosphere with the rule that limits such emissions overturned, seriously worsening global warming. Said John Walke of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Americns will be forced ". . .to choke on dirtier air for years to come, unless Congress or the new administration reverses these eleventh-hour abuses." John Podesta, of the Center for American Progress and co-chair of the Obama transition team, assured that the Bush orders to drill and mine in Utah could be repealed without Congressional action.

As ever, Bush and company are rushing to serve corporate demands rather than the welfare of the people. One would think that this outgoing president would want at least his last acts to be of benefit, not detriment, to his country.

Sarah, Sarah, don't you get it?
Pittsburgh never will forget it.
The Phillies aren't the ones you mean---
The Pirates are the team you mean!

Ms. Palin has her own campaign
Apart from Senator McCain;
Since it seems sure that he can't win,
Sarah's game plan can begin

By showing that she's not like him,
Her mentor's cherished goals to shelve
And head straight for 2012.
After a certain interim,

She'll take those voters for a ride
Who don't know she's unqualified.

Ms. Palin has her own campaign
Apart from Senator McCain;
Since it seems sure that he can't win,
Sarah's game plan can begin

By showing that she's not like him,
Her mentor's cherished goals to shelve
And head straight for 2012.
After a certain interim,

She'll take those voters for a ride
Who don't know she's unqualified.

Would the maverick McCain of old, who eight years ago was annihilated by Lee Atwater-inspired smear tactics, have dreamed that he would employ similar tactics in his next presidential campaign? Has he changed that much or is he simply revealing a side of himself heretofore hidden?

Terrellita Maverick, member emeritus of the board of the San Antonio chapter, The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, takes exception to her family name (which became a word that Webster's defines as a dissenter, one " . . . who takes an independent stand apart from his associates") being used to describe Senator John McCain. He is, writes John Schwartz, quoting her in the October 5 Sunday Times, ". . .in no way a maverick. . ." Samuel Augustus Maverick in the 1800s was a Texas rancher who broke the mold by not branding his cattle and subsequent Mavericks have been well-known liberals. Mr. Schwartz goes on to quote Ms. Maverick as saying that her entire family cringes at Mr. McCain's many mentions of himself as a maverick, despairing. "Oh, my God, he said it again." In fact, the senator's running mate terms both herself and Mr. McCain as "a team of mavericks."

Whereas Sarah Palin may simply be continuing to be herself, John McCain has ruined his reputation as a true maverick to become the worst kind of politician, one he has criticized others for being and which he said he would never be. If he doesn't win this election, he will have made an utter fool of himself for nothing

This is, my friends, just where it's at:
Ms. Palin's talking through her hat;

Soon she may toss John on the shelf
And run next time for prez herself.

Meanwhile, John's people, jumping ship,
Alarmed by lack of leadership,

May join Ms. Sarah as a tool
That makes John still a bigger fool.

Scott McLellan's tell-all book, WHAT HAPPENED (Public Affairs) May, 2008, created an uneasy stir in the DC loop. A venting of spleen, Scott both criticizes and defends his old friend and former boss, President George W. Bush and at the same time, attempts to explain his own part in administration shenanigans.

The powers that be were oh, so sad
To have been so unfairly had
By one of them, their very own.
Who would have thought the faithful Scott
Would put them in so tight a spot?
Who would have dreamed, who could have known?

Yet Scott said once he'd seen the light,
His conscience made him do what's right
(Albeit with a touch of spite)
As well as show he was contrite.

John Dean remarked Scott soon would know
Who is his friend and who his foe.

Our best-known whistleblower continues to implore potential whistleblowers to come forward.

So many documents lie hidden
That tell of deeds better forbidden;
Some know, like Daniel Ellsberg, facts,
About deceits and heinous acts.

Is there another brave beanspiller
Who'll tell the truth? This war's a killer.
It seems clear that we sorely need
Someone to follow Ellsberg's lead.

Governor Sarah Palin, GOP vice-presidential nominee, dominates a campaign that could be called the Palin/McCain campaign ( as she herself on September 18, 2008, described it).

Easy liars, McCain and Palin are caught on an almost daily basis by resourceful media investigators in lie after lie, blunder and turnabout. Some of those lies are on trivial matters, insignificant per se, but sharply indicative of the candidates' characters and of how they would likely govern if elected. (Is it possible that the senator is suffering from something more serious than forgetfulness and confusion or is it understandably due to campaign stress and fatigue?)

Mr. McCain's feeble grasp of economics and the current financial crises and Palin's condoning of vicious and aggressive wildlife practices in her state of Alaska are among the most alarming factors in their candidacies. Senator McCain has never been strong on environmental issues and he seemingly goes along with the Palin policies.

Shockingly, in Alaska, not only are wolves, moose, bears, polar bears, caribou and others cruelly hunted, but wild Dell sheep, as well.

Surprisingly, according to Marybeth Holleman of Friends of Animals, only 14% of Alaskans hunt.

Sarah's goal is very plain;
A GOP administration
Must concentrate on conservation:
Shoot wolves down from an aeroplane,
Ensuring that as many moose
As possible stay on the loose
(So no Alaskan with a gun
Forfeits his accustomed fun);

It's great she saves those mooses, though
The skins of seals fetch lots of dough.
Both parts and hides are valued, too,
Of brown bear and of caribou.
Likewise, she would scrap all protection
(Before or after the election)
That's now in place so as to spare
Not one endangered polar bear.

Well, it's quite clear from their campaign
Contenders Palin and McCain
For wildlife have so much disdain,
Their policies so inhumne,

That they could in their tenure bring
An end to every wild thing.

John Edwards is cornered in demeaning circumstances.

Just what kind of fool are you?
A popular politician, too,
Who forfeited the best you had;
Because you thought it safe to lie,

Everything has gone awry.
To make things right, though you may try,
There's very little you can do.
The chances, Johnny, are you're through.

An Election Eve Message From the GOP:

Back in 2008, President Sarah Palin received her first 3 A.M. phone call.

Startled awake from sweet dreams of freshly slaughtered Bullwinkle burgers and Anwar melting into a sea of black gold, the former beauty queen reached first for her shotgun and then for the telephone.

It was Karl Rove.

Less than five-months later, moments after President-elect McCain had passed away while taking his Oath of Office, Sarah Palin was sworn in as our 44th President, at the age 0f 44.

She added three bold Amendments to the U.S. Constitution: the Unconditional Abolition of Abortion; the Unconditional Abolition of Gay Marriage & Gay Sex and the Unconditional Abolition of the Teaching of Evolution & Science in Schools.

She also eliminated the Endangered Species Act, which paved the way for oil exploration in all 50 states, mining in the Grand Canyon, and hunting in the National Parks & Wildlife Sanctuaries.

With the Privatization of Social Security and the banning of all Federal Assistance programs, the U.S. Government was able to remove the tax burden for millionaires and corporations, across this great nation.

In a gutsy effort to accelerate the Rapture, Commander-in-Chief Palin launched a full-scale nuclear attack simultaneously against Russia and China, ushering in World War III on Christmas Eve, 2009.

With all these accomplishments to her credit, President Sarah Palin stands poised to answer the call for four more years.

As she prepares to enter the Thunderdome with Militant Opposition Leader Hillary Rodham Clinton, let us pray to God Almighty that it is President Palin who emerges victorious.

That they were pawns, both Pat and Jess,
The House is seeking to address;
Chair Henry Waxman keeps on trying
To learn exactly who was lying,

Who made those soldiers out to be
War heroes falsely, knowingly:
The stories provcd to be a con
To benefit the Pentagon.

Despite Hank's pains, officials all
Display steadfast lack of recall.
Regrettably, forgetful stances
Are standard in such circumstances.

In Congress was an empty seat
Where Karl the Rovester should have sat
So that a subcommittee could
Probe yet another Rove deceit.

Karl said that he would only chat---
No oath, no transcript, that was that;
From valid charges of contempt
He actually might be exempt!

For Karl's life to stay so rosy
Is up to House Speaker Pelosi,
Though ultimately, it depends
On George's willingness to bend.

We know how it will likely end.
It"s good to have prestigious friends,
Right, Karl?

Mr. McCain, you're in a spot---
To cozy up to Bush or not---
Although unwise to seem the same
As one with such a tainted name,

You still need every Bush supporter,
The sooner the better, time's growing shorter;
And who should be your running mate,
Someone to swing a crucial state?

I bet you'd almost rather quit
Than partner with the hated Mitt;
Almost, not quite, and Mitt would do it;
All things considered, you might do it.

Iraq, Iran, oil versus green,
The Left, the Right and in between;
It's tricky pleasing everyone;
The truth is, it just can't be done.

Yes, it's becoming painfully plain---
Your turnabouts may be in vain.
Yes, you've devised a tough campaign---
Rough days ahead, Senator McCain.

...An edgy Bush, a cool Brown
Faced the press in Londontown,
When Gordon made himself agree,
Like Tony Blair back in 03,

With George's thoughts about Iran
And oil, Iraq, Afghanistan:
While like his predecessor Blair,
This Brit, alas, lacks Tony's flair.

Like George's visit in 03,
Protestors shouted in the street,
Though Downing's garden out in back
Escaped the boots of Bush's men

That crushed some pretty plants back then
And helicopters it's been said
Churned up both lawn and flower bed
That were so picturesque and neat

At Buckingham back in 03.
But, at least, the greenery
At Downing Street's proud number ten
Was spared what happened in 03:

(Some say the story was a scam
To smear the name of Uncle Sam.)

[Could this be happening to America's principal torturer, named with 11 others as a war criminal? He is, after all, living on a property where slaves were once infamously tortured.]

Upon this cursed and tainted land,
The fine historic Rumsfeld home
Harbors the memory of crimes
Committed here in earlier times,

Where restless souls soundlessly roam,
Ghosts silently accusing and
In nightly rituals confused,
As present and past are somehow fused,

Victims, tormentors become as one
In visions and in nightmarish dreams.
For him unpunished still, it seems
An eerie judgment has begun.

I'll give up golf, the president said,
August nineteen, two thousand and three
(Then all the world will have to know
Of my compassion for the dead);

A sacrifice I'll gladly make,
A sober offering for their sake,
Because so many troops were slain,
But not as if it was iu vain.

He still could down a few soft drinks
A distance from those emerald links,
Away out there at hole nineteen
And share some laughs with cronies, though

It's documented he was seen
Driving hard from tee to green,
One autumn day, October thirteen,
Year of our Lord, two thousand and three;

And still more troops are being slain,
While George maintains it's not in vain.

(Vladimir Putin, Russian prime minister-designate, is to be named to that office May 7, 2008. Under an altered system, the prime minister will wield more power than the president)

The Russians have a new p.m.,
A patriarch to govern them
Or likelier, to rule by fear
All those regarded not his peer,

While in a stylish world apart,
The progeny of famous men
Enjoy those benefits that start
With that same power seen yet again.

The round repeats, history has shown,
In every age, in mny a land
And such a nation could be known
As one that parallels our own.

How can George be so content
When he's caused so much discontent?
Has he a firm conviction still
His facilitating skill
Will bring about mutual goodwill
In Palestine and Israel?
Perhaps the Rovester's hatched a scheme
To rescue George's failed regime.

George says his surge spells sure success---
Does that explain his cheerfulness
Or is it simply someone else
Will have to straighten out the mess?

Five years before anniversary five,
Four thousand troops were still alive,

Who might have been. . .Who might have done. . .
Cruelly, their lives had just begun;

But George says it's all right, because
His war is just;---a noble cause.

(President Bush threw out the traditional first pitch on March 30 at Washington's new stadium, Nationals Park)

We'd like to like our president,
A president who's competent,
Circumspect,humane, sincere,
One we could count on and revere.

George pitched the ball across the plate,
His friendly grin and easy gait
Made him seem like that sort of guy,
American like apple pie,

The president of all our dreams;
Why can't George be the way he seems?

The question is, who'll take the blame

For George's lethal losing game,

If his doomed war goes still more sour

While our commander's still in power

And dozens more lives have been lost

(For just which cause and at what cost?)

Will it be some Petraeus flaw

That makes us finally withdraw

Or maybe our Iraq undoing

Will be Ambassador Crocker's doing;

But maybe it's one out of three---

Petraeus? Crocker? Maliki?

He's got to scapegoat some poor sap

(Already primed to take the wrap?)

Forget that---hold onto your hats---

He could just blame the Democrats!

OR

People die, he'll say, in war,

You know we've told you that before;

Then holding up the victory sign,

He'll tell us everything is fine.

We couldn't leave for any less

Than a United States success.

See, everything has turned out great,

Because Iraq's a sovereign state!

Fabled "scribbling bachelor" James

Could have invented Valerie Plame,

Who, thrust into unasked-for fame,

Joins the roster of Jamesian names;

Though not the same as counterpart,

Well-meant but contriving Adela Chart

Or Miriam Rooth, the "tragic muse,"

(Who could have made the evening news).

Not Fanny Knocker, once so plain,

A knockout when she reached her prime,

Nor potboiler novelist Greville Fane,

Obliged to write for financial gain;

Nor Fleda Vetch, who loved in vain---

Her good intentions so humane,

Was thereby doomed from love to part

And ended with a shattered heart.

Val, pawn in an egregious plot,

A made-up character was not,

Who goes down in the annals of time,

No creature brilliantly begot

Of the storyteller's art;

Unvindicated she and who's

The victim (fated to remain?)

Of a so far, still unpunished crime.

One can't help wondering who's to blame

For tarnishing the family name.

From duty as from boyish scrapes

Young Bush enjoys countless escapes,

Because his father bails him out---

Could that be what it's all about?

In business deals nobody tops him;

Conflict of interest never stops him;

A son whose ethics ape his own---

(So early on the seeds were sown!)

Yet who by any norm exceeds

By far the patriarch's misdeeds;

A father who won't criticize

Has tears of pride still in his eyes.

How many breaches are allowed?

How can a father stay so proud?

Stupid, don't you know it's not

The surge that's working, but a lot

Of bread being spent on tribal chiefs

To pay off their militiamen

So they in turn will turn their back

On all our enemies in Iraq?

If only they'd done that before,

It would have saved some blood and gore,

Anxiety and grief; what's more,

It might have made a shorter war;

Oh, yeah? Those Bushies mean to stay

And stay forever and a day;

They'll find some rationale again

And guess who'll be the ones to pay?

How nicely those rivals contest,

While being put to that QA test;

Each one, Mitt and Mike Huckabee,

Fred Thompson, Rudy and McCain,

Strives mightily to disagree,

Determined to make sure it's plain

He stands out and he tops the rest,

Is unequivocally the best

(And can't desist from taking lots

Of civilized, if venomous, shots ).

Their barbs, though sharp, are all the while,

Accompanied by a gracious smile.

"The surge is working!" cries McCain,

While adding that "mistakes were made";

As do most other GOPs

Who hope to be the nominee,

With tact and ambiguity,

He tries each special group to please.

From being too plain they must refrain---

The cowards clearly are afraid:

So fearful of assigning blame,

They hardly mention Bush's name.

I can't help thinking, what if all

The candidates could be Ron Paul.

Then there's Kucinich and Gravel---

More honest men who, come what may,

Regardless of the consequence,

State bluntly what they have to say;

And while I can't always agree,

I can respect their honesty,

Yet can't do more than wish them well,

Because they have no chance in Hell.

Sad---overall, they make more sense

Than many would-be presidents.

But, it’s not real news, you explain in vain to a dwindling trickle of Republican friends, on a steady IV drip of Hannity, Gibson and Hume—now available without a prescription on Fox News. But these fair and balanced viewers wouldn’t want their news any other way. Would you like a little quid with your pro quo, Mr. Giuliani?

To be sure, the cum laude graduates of the Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch College of Clowns & Buffoons keep the audience entertained as they juggle facts, tweak red noses of half-truths and bitch-slap one another with rubber mallets of propaganda—all while riding unicycles of opinion.

The News Corp. cable network peddling We Distort, You Decide has been earning its exclusive interviews with Junior Bush, Dick Cheney and Condi Rice ever since the right-wing think tanks first found their parrots an echo chamber.

Inside the GOP circus tent fueled by elephant effluvia, Fox & Friends perform their daily high-wire act, as Michelle Malkin text-messages Michael Savage with the news: WMDs have been found in Iraq!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, viewers can feel their breath quicken.

Face it, Malkin, you self-appointed liberal-media-bias-girl: Fox isn’t fooling anyone who doesn’t want to be fooled.