Tonight’s Debate

The world’s best negotiator refuses to go face to face with a debate moderator.  What if he had to negotiate with someone with real power, like Angela Merkel?

He claims he has fire in his belly

But the tough guy’s legs turned to jelly

And he withdrew

As soon as he knew

That he’d have to face Megyn Kelly.

Without the headliner what will the show be like?

At tonight’s republican forum

They’ll be one ego short of a quorum

Without Trump onstage

Will others channel his rage

Or will they act with a bit of decorum?

But We’re Younger than Tina and Mick

Recent e mails from my high school reunion crowd have contained gentle reminders that we are not quite as healthy as we were when we graduated.

We grow a bit older each day

In our own individual way

Bad knees or bad backs

Wheezing lungs, heart attacks

Uh, …. I forgot what I was planning to say.

The problems I’m having are eye and ear related, most of which don’t show.

My eyebrows are growing like weeds

Sometimes their exuberance leads

To stray hairs in my eye

And they also supply

More decoration than my forehead needs.

 Ego vs. Ego

Right now the two leading Republican Presidential Hopefuls are fighting for the right end of the right wing.  In a couple of weeks one of them will lose in the Iowa caucuses, then comes New Hampshire, then …  May the losing continue.

They’re crazy, they’re wacko, they’re crackers

Yet they’ve stirred up too many backers

Even if they lose

(Don Trump and Ted Cruz)

They’ll be platform committee hijackers.

Will Trump, self proclaimed world’s greatest winner, vaporize if he doesn’t win?

Trump is wealthy and he loves to strut

He’s a winner at everything, but

He’s angry as hell

That’s his pitch in a nutshell

And inside that nutshell’s a nut.

Canadian born Cruz lost one of his only friends, Trump,  when he started polling well in Iowa.

Iowa voters are now in the news

And Cruz is there paying his dues

They like his views

And somebody mused

The caucuses are Cruz’s to lose.

This Land is Your Land

Western cattlemen raise their cattle on federal land, not always paying the nominal fee.  Somehow they think it’s unfair that they have to pay at all, that they can’t start fires and shoot wildlife when they think it might help their business.  So they grabbed their guns, invaded and and now occupy a federal facility.  This Land is My Land

A highly armed disgruntled band

Of ranchers is making a stand

In a Federal preserve

‘Cause they think they deserve

To exploit the government’s land.

They want to ‘take back’ the land from the US, because the ‘founders’ had a different idea of how the land should be used.  Yep!  Those dead founders, who can’t speak for themselves and who stole the land fair and square from the Paiutes.  This Land was Made for You and Me.

The rules that govern land use

The ranchers call federal abuse

Of the ‘founders intent’;

A weak argument,

Aren’t the founders really Paiutes?

I Swear It’s an Art

When curses are often repeated

Their impact is vastly depleted

But If not abused

And effectively used

They sometimes should not be deleted. 

Atlantic magazine recently published a piece on the art of swearing.  

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/01/a-strategic-guide-to-swearing/419106/

Cursing well is a delicate balance

Too much and you're looked at askance

But if it's judicious

It adds emphasis

Giving weight and impact to your stance.

If you don’t believe ME read the damn article yourself.

When your world's gone to hell in a bucket

Recent studies show this little nugget

The people who swore 

Could tolerate more

It might help to yell out (Nantucket), (Insert expletive of choice).

Countdown to November

The GOP candidates all seem to be racing to the extreme right.  Is there a chance any of them will fall off the end?

Moguls pay big bucks to elect them

And then they expect to direct them

Many who give

Are conservative

And dominate one end of the spectrum.

Even without donor pressure there is an incentive to move toward the extreme.

It's a dilemma all candidates face

In primaries they whip up their base

Then maintain that zeal

Yet broaden their appeal

If they get to the national race.

This marks the second anniversary of RubberTeeth.  I hope you have been enjoying it.  Happy new year.