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"Serial Hopemongers"
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Tributes by Jeph Johnson
The nightly news is so obscene;
everyone's different American dream.
The billionaires sleep all alone
in otherwise empty mansions of gold.
While our poor wander the streets and freeze;
their only prayer is saying "please."
And the shrinking middle class,
who barely survived the '08 crash
Cannot save, retire or stay afloat
when too many are packed in a sinking lifeboat.
If we take time off to go to the polls
our ever-increasing debt to them grows.
Those who profit from this greed
fight unfairly those in need,
Rigging elections and buying votes.
Donkeys and Elephants are sheep and goats.
M.L.K. dreamt everyone equal.
Lennon sang “power to the people”,
Both imagined a world without
that which divides, delusions and doubt.
’Murica believes (while the rest wait)
that greed brings joy, when it really brings hate.
The ruling rich in their regal gowns
gerrymander surrounding towns
So those without can worship those
parading themselves in gaudy new clothes.
This reality show is far from real,
yet televised in high-definition detail
Where’s our revolution? We furrow our brow
and wonder if we’re the crazy ones now!
Our nation can’t be "great again"
with vague soundbites that sound insane
Vile insults pollute our Mother Earth.
Is the love of money all we are worth?
Our immigrants can’t stake a claim
when we offer jobs in exchange for shame!
And the rest we’ll imprison by a wall?
Is there a future left to believe in at all?
We “look to our hearts” to find the source,
but without a leader to chart the course
All our amber waves of grain
will soon be harvested in vain.
