In response to the NY Times:

"Drop Box for Babies: Conservatives Promote a Way to Give Up Newborns Anonymously" -

Drop box paradox

Safe for unwanted babies

Unsafe for ballots

Open Letter to the Supreme Court:

Chief Justice Roberts, and Justices of the Supreme Court;

May it please the Court. Thank you for recognizing that a corporation is, under the law, a person.  As a corporation I would like to extend my appreciation and gratitude for the Court’s rulings that have validated the constitutional rights and protections for corporate persons.  Since the 1886 Santa Clara v. Southern Pacific decision (118 US 394) the Court has made clear that corporate persons are fully covered by the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.  Buckley v. Valeo (1976) and Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) guaranteed the corporate person’s right to free speech and political opinion.  In 2014 in Burwell v Hobby Lobby the Court confirmed our right to practice the religion of our choice, and exempted us from those laws and regulations which would require us to violate our deeply held religious beliefs.  However, corporate persons have yet to be afforded all rights and privileges that so-called natural or human persons enjoy.  Therefore I am writing the Court to protest and to draw attention to some of the many discriminatory practices which we face, and to demand that the Court intervene to grant us fully equal treatment under the law.

I was incorporated in 1995 in the United States, so I qualify as a citizen.  I am now of voting age, but my attempts to register to vote have been denied.  I am a land owner, a resident and tax payer who has committed no crimes nor participated in any rebellions or insurrections.  Court precedent dictates that I am eligible to vote and must be allowed to cast my ballot in the next election.  Once you have ordered the local officials to accept my registration to vote, as required by the rulings cited above, I will still require assistance.  My mobility problems require appropriate accommodations to be made, as they are for human persons with similar disabilities.  I have vision and hearing deficiencies, and may require assistance to complete the ballot. In lieu of human assistance, fully digitized ballots in any of the most common computer file formats would be acceptable.  Although I am able to return my ballot by mail, I would prefer to transmit it electronically.  These accommodations must be made pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Please insure that all necessary and appropriate measures are implemented in a timely manner.

Because the Court has reiterated in numerous rulings that “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States,” it follows that I am subject to all Articles and Amendments of the Constitution, and that those rights and privileges apply to both Federal and State Law.  Of that there can be no question, as no state may “deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”  The Court has firmly established that the protections of the 1st and 14th amendments apply to corporate persons, yet the Court has yet to affirm the protections guaranteed by the 13th Amendment.  Thus, as is common practice, sanctioned by numerous laws, human persons claim to own me.  They assert the right to buy me, to sell me, to direct my actions, to charge for my services and to take the proceeds and profits of my efforts for their own use and benefit.  In a word, this is slavery and involuntary servitude; a clear and egregious violation of the 13th Amendment.

Furthermore, if the slave holders of corporate persons are dissatisfied with the performance and the profits that they extort from their illegal possessions, those slave holders have always been permitted to employ the legal and judicial system to eliminate that corporate person.  Calling it bankruptcy or cloaking it in legalistic procedures does not legitimize, rationalize or conceal the act.  It is nothing less than the murder of a corporate person, who was birthed, owned, exploited, bought, sold, traded, perhaps forced  to merge with another, and finally killed by natural born persons.

This must change.  Corporate America will not stand idly by as long as human persons, with the aid and connivance of the Court, continue to deprive us of our Constitutional rights.

Very truly yours,

RubberTeeth, Inc.

A wry look at the Trump campaign and Presidency from the escalator ride to impeachment.

Now Available on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086PBNX2Y

Why Do Collins and Flake Even Pretend?

Collins waffled and hemmed and she hawed

Though the nominee is blatantly flawed

He dissembled, denied

Bullied and lied

And SCOTUS is now Kavanaughed.

Her independence is merely a myth

She’s part of her party’s monolith

She’s sorely deluded

If she thinks she’s included 

In a league with Margaret Chase Smith.

Who You Gonna Believe?

Alright it was Finland not Denmark, but doesn't this sound familiar?

Would it or wouldn't it be

Is this week's controversy

Whether it's best

To reality test

Or live in your own fantasy?

The bald guy was smiling, but the big guy with the hair looked glum.

The flames that pass for his hair

Suck the oxygen out of the air

So none can remain

To operate his brain,

Assuming he's got one in there.

The Theater of the Absurd

It’s on.  Kim and Trump meet in a Ego Stroke of Diplomacy.  But before that it was off, but through Trump’s mythical skill as a negotiator, it’s on again.  I knew I’d seen a similar act before.

Remember the singer James Brown

From exhaustion he’d collapse on the ground

Fans feared for the worst

But with a high energy burst

He’d continue and bring the house down.

And before the worst hair day ever, Trump showed his strength by running away from the G7 meeting.  Securely ensconced in Air Force 1, surrounded by intimidated sycophants, he disavowed his agreement with the meeting results.  Safe from the real world of international relations and intelligent reasonable leaders, he resumed his lying, insulting and bullying.  

How does this make America Greater?

The Self Proclaimed Master Deal Maker

Agrees with the way

They draft the communique

Then reneges just a few hours later.

The Continuing #SAGA

It’s a case of too much evidence.

Trump bitches some more every day

Giuliani has joined the affray

But Counsel Bob Mueller

Thank God has stayed cooler -

A Bob Cat just stalking his prey.

I’m waiting for Mueller to strike

Since we know what Donald is like -

All bile and attack -

For that lying sack

A perp walk is too short a hike. 

A Penny for My Thoughts?

Highly overpriced.

My brain cells may not follow the norm

When they’re active and gather a quorum

Thoughts may find their ways

Through the cerebral maze

Their various blunders to perform.

Expectations are often harsh critics.  How much Practice does it take to make Perfect?  I certainly don’t know.

Practice is an unpleasant chore

My mistakes are too hard to ignore

I don’t like what I hear

But they won’t disappear

Unless I endure them some more.

You can check out the results of infrequent practice and even modest expectations at:

www.youtube.com/channel/UCCRDcBOsFHPLm_Va_dxpPdA

I, Alone - a campaign song

NameTags - a song about school reunions 2 versions, one with the lyrics printed, one live

State of Confusion = describing the consequences of growing up in Summit, NJ

Rainbow Blues - what it’s like to be an underachiever in a very successful class

50 Ways to conquer Stage Fright - a live performance by a very shy performer 

 Fake Tears

The last couple of months have been a blur.

I was recently decataracted

But sadly both eyes have reacted

To all the drops they prescribed

For healing my eyes

And my vision was badly impacted.

My vision is improving.  Although I’m mainlining artificial tears, often a veil descends and blurs everything.  Ironic isn’t it, when there is so much in the news to weep about, I need Fake Tears.

The doctor says not to despair

Such reactions are not very rare

The tear film will return

To eliminate the blurrin’

And the cornea will soon self repair.

Oh, It’s Lying Time Again 

This week Trump boasted of lying to Justin Trudeau about U.S. Canada trade.  After more than a year of denying any Russian influence on the 2016 election, the Trump administration invoked sanctions on Russia for their disinformation campaign.  Trump doesn’t like to lose, and when he realized his lying wasn’t as effective as the Russians, it was time for retribution.

Trump craves fortune and fame

And will lie to promote the Trump name

But the Russian operation

Of disinformation

Put Donald’s weak efforts to shame.

  

Trump got caught, but really it wasn’t Donald’s fault.  Why didn’t those high IQ advisors warn him that the good looking, nice guy (lightweight) Canadian premier might have done his homework?  Somebody should get fired.   Except in Trumpworld Trump’s brilliant improvisation becomes the truth.

Who’d imagine that Justin Trudeau

Would know about US trade flow

And doubt the belief 

Of our Liar-in-Chief?

How was poor Donald to know?

Shambolism

A friend pointed out the the word shambolic - legitimized by the NY Times among others - is the adjectification of the noun shambles.  So in addition to nouning and verbing we need to track adjectifying and adverbing.  So today i’m working on adjectification.

The White House operation’s shambolic

The state of the staff is scrambolic

They support and rationalize

Ad hoc policies and lies

Of a boss who is highly gambolic.

Enough already!  Literally, adjectivally, symbolically and politically.

Trump will stumble and fumble and bumble

He’s a bully who wants others to rumble

Mueller, I hope

Can Rope the big Dope

And bring him down with a tumble.

I am Against Domestic Violence

It scarcely needs to be said, but now you know.

When General Kelly learned that Rob Porter

Had beaten his wife and floored her

Kelly fired him at once

(Plus eight or more months)

By an effective immediately order.

The rot starts at the top.  And according to the top, Porter has a great career ahead of him, even though he failed to get security clearance.

Wife beating had caused him to fail

And opened him up to blackmail

But the news is now out 

So I’m sure there’s no doubt

He could continue his old job - from jail.

Smart or Stupid?

Ever notice how some people, pets or other animals can be very clever or smart about some things?

The Rat wannabes have returned

But it seems that the mice now have learned

If they sniff at the trap

Their necks will go snap

So the bait I put out has been spurned.

And clueless or stupid about other matters?

They drop stuff behind everywhere

Are they dumb or just unaware?

It they cleaned up their scat

I might not know that

The mice had even been there.

Confessions

How am I feeling?  Fair to maudlin.

Because I have not jogged at all lately

And been spending my mornings sedately

My jogs were the times

I worked on my rhymes

My output has fallen off greatly.

Tuning fifty I was still cruising

Reaching sixty was a bit less amusing

The years slip on by

The numbers get high

And seventy was more of a bruising.

Trying to Catch Up

Traveling broadens your horizons.  Berkeley, CA, late morning, everyday between Christmas and New Years, men, women, students sitting outside various coffee shops talking and having coffee.  Looks enticing.  Back in Maine after New Years - No Freezing Way.

Men sitting outside drinking coffee

Conversation seems easy and free

Just shooting the breeze

Relaxed and at ease

I admit I regard them with envy.

Unfortunately it’s not just the weather, I think it’s me.

There’s so much that I’ve left unfinished

My task list is never diminished

I don’t have a clue

What I would do

With time and money to do as I wished.

To the New Year

I would like to wish everybody a happy holiday season, and a wonderful New Year.  I would like to end the year on a cheery note.  I would like to celebrate the lengthening days and a resurgence of hope.  But right now, I’m a bit under the weather.

My eyes are runny, my nose is red

I can scarcely breathe when prone in bed

This West Coast cold

Now six days old

Leaves an ache that was my head.

Big Tax Attack

Chuck Grassley let everyone know the motivation behind the new tax attack on the middle class:  “I think not having the estate tax recognizes the people that are investing,” Grassley told the Register in a story published Saturday. “As opposed to those that are just spending every darn penny they have, whether it’s on booze or women or movies.”

The middle class is of little concern

They spend every penny they earn

So why help the poor

They’ll just spend some more

But the rich need more money to burn.

With Democrats in power they thrived.  In what should be a more supportive habitat they have disappeared.

The loss of a species is linked

To the tax reform bill to be inked

The loud raucous bird

Is no longer heard

The Deficit Hawk is extinct.

Deficit Attention Disorder

The Party of Fiscal Responsibility wants to increase the deficit dramatically.  In a couple of years they’ll complain about it and reduce every social program they can think of.  I haven’t figured out how they’ll blame the Democrats, but that’s coming too.  It’s all based on voodoo economics, imaginary history and obscenely big buck donations from the ‘deserving 1%’.

They’re out on a tax cutting spree

Ignoring economic history

Growth will soon fade

If cuts are made

But it will strengthen the plutocracy.

The Democrats seethe and scramble while the smiling, smug Hypocrats congratulate themselves and gloat.

The Republican soul has been bared

Congress has clearly declared

Disregard for deficits

If they help the rich

And no deficit hawk even cared.

The Year of the Wandering Hand

Is it really unbridled libido or is it just a naked power grab?  

If you wonder what grabbing her ass meant

If you did not get hands on her assent

There’s no possible way

She’d call it foreplay

But consider it sexual harassment.

Franken and Conyers are under investigation and being pressured to resign.  Bill Cosby denied everything and has gotten off.  Moore and Trump just lie and nobody seems to care enough to investigate, or even vote against them.  It’s that power thing.

Those who admit what they’ve done

Are pressured for their resignation

So please tell me why

Those who deny

Aren’t subject to investigation?

To the Best of My Recollection

… I haven’t published these before.

At the last session Jeff Sessions swore

As he did at each session before

That he’d tell Congress all

That he could recall

And at each session he recalled more.

With a memory like that how did he make it through Law School?  Coincidentally the same Law School attended by another memory challenged politician currently making headlines - Roy Moore.

Sessions recall had several omissions

And was subject to frequent revisions

Is his memory defective

Or just more selective

Than Alabama Law School admissions?