Let’s honor the day we gave birth
To a nation like none then on earth
Many would say
That’s still true today
Though this year has tested our worth.
A brash, boastful brander named Trump
Thought he’d do quite well on the stump
His past he admired:
Pageants, deals and “You’re fired”
He’d easily trounce Jeb (lazy lump!)
His campaign excited the masses
Who think that the feds are all asses
He heaped endless scorn
On all foreign-born
While giving bigots fulsome passes.
His passion, as Yeats had foreseen,
Ran to the worst and obscene
McCain, a true hero
To Trump is but zero
Just money, not valor, is green.
His coiffure absurd but well-kempt
His rallies cascades of contempt
With words out of kilter
And tweets without filter
One wishes he felt more verklempt∗
Trump saw that his opponent was lame
Her platform just more of the same
Deploring each skeptic
With words narcoleptic
Ne’er was she or her party to blame.
Did Kremlin help out? Can’t yet tell
But Manafort’s clients sure smell
Spies managed to see
Inside DNC
Which managed a campaign from hell.
Trump somehow won – still a mystery
The least-prepared man in our history
The voters have spoken:
“The system is broken,
It’s not run by good folks like me.”
Inaugural speech – doom and gloom
The U.S., said Trump, now’s a tomb
Firing bile from his cannon
Stoked by Miller and Bannon
Killing pacts he’d never exhume.
Inaugural crowds were “immense”
When photos proved this was nonsense
He blamed doctored pix
And media tricks
To make 44’s seem more dense.
The transition, he pledged, would be faster
Turned out to be a disaster
The ethical rules
Written by and for fools
Were swept aside by the new master.
He swiftly attacked our allies
While praising those we should despise
Mine jobs his Grail
Restoring them will fail
They’re simply more pies in his skies.
Trump’s nominees shucked and they jived
Background they lacked, they contrived
Some beribboned brass
Did have some class
Most others are merit-deprived.
In PR, Trump’s one of a kind
Tweets whatever comes into his mind
Rejects logic and facts
Relying on flacks
To clean up the mess left behind.
“Fake news” is his mantra du jour
Only Fox News is honest and pure
Truth is a victim
Of every Trump dictum
For Donald, facts have no allure.
ACA ― enemy number one
Yet “repeal and replace” can’t get done
Aides’ briefings Trump’s spurned
“It’s complex,” he’s learned
Reality‘s not so much fun.
His White House leaks like a sieve
As insiders have truth to give
On Comey and Flynn.
Trump helps Putin win,
Giving hard-won intel the shiv.
Any Mar-a-Lago member or guest
Can hear as the fate of the West
Is discussed over dinner
Trump’s pride the sole winner
Boasters don’t keep cards close to chest?
Awesome power he gives to his kin
No policy chops, but they’ll win
In struggles to come
No matter how dumb
As Trump’s suck-ups they’re in like Flynn.
What honorable person would join
Folks who one’s reputation purloin
No wonder top ranks
Are empty – “No thanks
I’d rather earn honesty’s coin.”
For Trump, the buck won’t stop with him
He’s passed it to General Jim
If he has insomnia
He’ll just blame Melania
His White House – a narcissist’s whim.
*Yiddish for speechless due to strong emotions
Peter H. Schuck is the author of ‘One Nation Undecided: Clear Thinking About Five Hard Issues That Divide Us.’
