140x140
Describing the Trump regime in 140 short verses
The goal is that each should summarize a single idea about Trump’s tyrrany, not his personal attributes, in ways that are memorable and nuanced and nearly poetic. The last line should be a single, simple declarative; as many as possible should be positive!
Some don’t stand any test of time.
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1
January’s immigrant ban is a vile order
Syrian refugees are already extremely vetted
The order serves up
Intentional cruelty
2
America
So long the world’s best experiment in the mess that is democracy
Now dons the heavy chains of autocracy
The world loses
3
A plutocratic dictator
Runs a country for his financial benefit
Treats opponents with disdain and cruelty
Our life under Trump
4
So many parallels with the rise of Hitler’s Reich
Right hand man Bannon, self-avowed Leninist. Wants an apocalypse.
Terrified yet?
5
The news of everyday (1):
Trump lashes out
At someone who dared cross him.
The insecure tyrant in the White House.
6
The news of everyday (2):
A Trump benefits from some business deal
Partners seize the moment;
Congress will not block.
Emolument.
7
The news of everyday (3):
Trump and his spokesperson lie a dozen times.
“Alternative facts”?
No. Just lies.
8
The news of everyday (4):
The fight
How can we stay well enough to fight
Yet not so well that we forget to fight?
9
She was warned
She was given an explanation.
Nevertheless, she persisted.
We must all persist. We must resist.
10
What Trump cares about:
Immigrants
Family, dynasty, money
Fame, fame, fame
Nothing else
Not me, not you, not America, not the world
11
This we must believe
A time will soon come when
We can look back at Trump
As the man who tried to divide us
Who tried to destroy us
And failed.
12/
Husbands kill more than terrorists
Boyfriends kill more than terrorists
Toddlers with guns kill more than terrorists
What to do?
13
The good that Trump has revealed
The millions who now stir and stand and proclaim
For freedom, for our weakest, for each other.
14
The evil that Trump has revealed
Fear of other
Willingness to prey on the weak
Sinister voices among us
15
The hollow core in our culture
deleted
16
Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God
Did Trump forget?
17/
Mussolini, Franco, Putin
Pinochet, Noriega
Salazar, Botha
Trump
Another name in a long list of thugs.
18/a
We are but our reputations
In 100 years
Historians will look back on this time
And name Trump as a destroyer
A tyrant, a liar, a thief.
18/b
We live on through our reputations
In 100 years
I will be forgotten but
Forever the name of Trump will evoke shame.
19, sent as #3 on 16th Feb 2017
Trump brays he wants to make us more safe
fanning fear of others
Instead
We now awake in fear
Of him
20
America rises
From the ceaseless striving of the dispossessed.
Forging a future in freedom
Send us more huddled masses.
21
In America each year
More Muslims are killed by white extremist terrorists
Than Muslim terrorists kill others here
It stands clear
Who to fear
22
Resisting Trump’s tyranny
Is tiring
Take a breath, take a break
Millions must hold together in this fight
We shall overcome
23
Registering those whose religions are to be despised:
Jews in Nazi Germany
Muslims in Trump’s vision of America
Yellow star, data entry
Tyranny
24
Make American science great again (1)
Fund great schools
Pay great teachers well
Believe strong data
Encourage open dialog
25
Make American science great again (2)
Bring the greatest scientists here
Let them do great work
Hold them up as examples
How America is great
26
Not the bald eagle
We are the phoenix
We will emerge stronger and fly farther
Into clear new skies from
Trump’s fiery chaos
27
The people who need healthcare most are sick
Or will be
The most sick cannot work
Tying health care to work and income
Is an idea itself sick
28
Trump’s deep, hidden bonds to Russia
Suggest dark, hidden motives
Trump is craven, venal
Follow the money
29 (sent out as #1)
Flynn lies to cover up Russian ties
Conway lies to cover up Flynn’s lies
We know where this ends
The fish rots from the head
30 (sent out as #2)
A few terrifying weeks into the regime
Perhaps the Kremlin now sees what they have bought
What they have wrought
An unguided missile.
31
Rep. Paul Ryan on Trump / Russia:
No investigation
Until we’ve more information
He’s adding a link to the loop of lies
32
Trump scorns allies, and friends
China, Mexico
Women, BMW, Boeing
The press, our own spies
But only kisses for Putin
Non-disparagement agreement
33
Trump and Conway
Hawking Ivanka’s baubles on TV
Ye have made the house which is the people’s house
Into a den of thieves
34
Coal miners know
Coal’s not coming back
The future is solar
The problem to solve is
Income and dignity for former miners
35 (sent as #4 on 16th Feb)
He liked the leaks hurting Hillary
He hates the leaks hurting him
Same recipe
Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
36
Trump’s latest presser
77 minutes
Lying, ranting, whining and blaming
He thinks he’s winning?
Delusional
37
The rising tide of hate crimes
Burning mosques
Defaced synagogues
Murdered Asians
Trump isn’t blowing dogwhistles. He’s inciting.
38
Yesterday’s insane presser
You see a ranting, mad king in wide-eyed decline
Trumpfans see a strongman smiting his foes
Stalemate
39 (sent as #8)
Calling the press “the enemy of the people”:
Stalin. Mao. Hitler. Nixon. Trump.
Four weeks in, and the temperature’s rising.
40 (sent as #6)
Having a cold meant
I could not write verses
My cold’s grip weakens
The tyrant’s grip tightens
41 (#7)
A landscape Trump might paint
An ashen, dead river; scorched trees
A sky pink with pollution
Stilled life
42
Proposed laws
Prevent undesirable protests
Allow vehicular assaults against protesters
Ban media from events
Will we be muzzled?
43
2009: Trump’s empire collapsed
2010: Russian loans to the rescue
2016: Russia interferes in the election
2017: Rosneft shares set aside ...
Now: Payback
44
Obamacare must go
It shows governments can do good
It requires the rich to help the poor
Better to die with “access to care”
Than be healed.
45
Did he really not see
Being a mobster CEO was no preparation
For becoming “leader of the free world”
And America’s top public servant?
46
Dean is right:
When the White House asks the FBI
To cease an investigation on its Russian ties
That’s what’s called: “a cover-up”
47
Silence
Each time a white thug kills
Asians, blacks or muslims
Burns a mosque, threatens jews
Silence
This is not an accident
48
What Russia wants:
America less involved in Nato
A fractured Europe
Markets for its oil
Buying Trump is cheaper than war.
49, as #12
40 years ago
The Bay Area’s air
Was a filthy, purplish haze
Not dope, pollution
Today it is clear.
Keep the EPA strong.
50
When Trump says
A legal path to citizenship for undocumenteds
I sense a snare, a lure.
What big arms you have!
The stronger to capture you!
51
Cutting USAId
Sends clear messages
Our values shall not include kindness.
Charity is for others.
Ask China instead.
52
Let it be ordered
The mentally ill shall have their lethal weapons
No, it won’t make America great, or safe.
But boy the gun sales!
53
When Trump says: The lying press. Fake news
I will translate for you
Der Lugenpresse
In Goebbel’s original.
54, #13
Sessions joins Flynn on the list of Trump insiders
Lying about secret meetings with Russian leaders
This time, it’s not a surprise.
55
I think if I lied under oath
I’d be in jail, and rightly so.
But for Trump’s AG
Lying about Russia
Nothing to see here, move along
56
Trump last year:
No one from his campaign met Russians
The count, so far, is seven people.
That count doesn’t include him.
Yet.
57
Wiretaps in Trump’s offices
Would require court order
Anticipating specific actions
To undermine the USA.
Trump should be panicking.
58
The wire “tapp” story shows
He ignores government agencies
He believes Breitbart
and the voices raging in his own head
59
The man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
Lie-la-lie, lie-la-lie ...
Trumpsong.
60
Like minor mobsters in a movie
They fall and die
Russian insiders on the Trump trail
Rubbed out
61
They came here to love America
To build it and to build their dreams
And we welcomed them.
Trump flicks them away like trash.
62
New! MuslimBanLite (™)
Newly filtered!
Nearly 10% less blockage
But all the bitter taste of freshly stirred hatred
61
Health care for all.
It’s not candy for moochers.
It’s investing
In the health and vitality of the people.
Is that too hard to grasp?
62
I wondered
Has anyone hurt a brand worse than Travis at Uber?
Of course.
Trump destroying the USA’s reputation as a leader in freedom.
63
I fear for the earth.
When climate change deniers show a graph
They hide the soaring level of C02.
Here’s the data: it’s so much worse.
64
RepubliCare: 17-word summary.
Tax cuts for the wealthy; health care cuts for the poor, for women and the mentally ill.
It makes me sick.
65
Destroying
healthcare, diplomacy, honesty,
Reputations, leadership.
A leader who wrecks and does not build anew
66
You’re fired
Not for incompetence,
But because you’re a competent AG
Expected to investigate Trumpcrimes.
67
Trump pounces with precision
Fires AG Bharara
To protect sexual predators
His friends at Fox
68
Trumpcare would boot
24 million from health insurance
In Catholic Ryan’s prayers
Millions must suffer on earth
69
Selective
White House likes the CBO estimates on federal savings from TrumpCare
Dislikes the CBO estimates on millions losing healthcare
70
Now on sale.
300 Trump brands approved in China
They’ve sold $400M of real estate to China
You can’t buy that kind of influence.
*You* can’t.
71
Trump’s budget
Cuts, food and winter heat for the poor
And health research
Much more for weapons
Make America cruel, for gain.
72
Bannon’s a warmonger
Thinks we need one
Tillerson’s a-warmongerin’
Railing at Pyongyang
Trump’s offered a war budget
How could this end?
73
Cuts to meals on wheels
Cuts to medical care for the poor
Cuts to medical research
Bars on refugees
Trumpworld: cruelty
74
A mobster boss
Trusting nobody
Surrounds himself with family and stooges
A successful president
Has more allies than enemies
Trump hasn’t learned
75
A weak and anxious man
Excluding critics and criticism
To hear only the praise he craves
Sed honor virtutis praemium
(But esteem is the reward of virtue)
76
The leader of the free world
An idea reflecting deep commitment
To freedom, democracy,
And the power to back these up.
Dr. Merkel!
77
Bombastic thug, self-described successful CEO as government leader
Trump
Quiet, tough scientist as government leader
Merkel
78
The Manchurian Candidate
An old movie: (Chinese and) Russian agents
Maneuver to get a puppet elected US president
Now showing in Washington
79
Why I write these lines
To vent and
To distil ideas
As our fragile democracy
Passes into a crucible
Will the fire fuse or destroy?
80
And if the real Russian puppet
Is FBI Director Barr or McConnell
They’ll exonerate Trump,
Trump will pardon them.
Victory for Putin.
81
China’s to spend $400M on clean energy jobs
Investing in the future
Trump’s USA to get a few more years out of coal
Investing in the past
Make America gasp again
83
The old fashioned idea of security
Big walls, pulling up the drawbridge
A new idea of security
Big walls, keeping away
84
America made great again
Once more fights for refugees
For freedoms, for a clean future
For messy dissents
85
Our government:
Bars refugees fleeing horrors,
Breaks apart immigrant families,
Denies healthcare to the poor.
Cruelty is the new norm.
86
A grey day in London
Dark blood on pavement
Terror and murder
Cold rain falls
On a sad, calm city.
87
No tears for Ryan
His cruel “health” bill
(ahem, tax cut)
Failed
Just another toothless tiger
88
Trump’s defeat
Bannon thinks they should have won
And ended healthcare for all
On the warpath now
For Ryan’s head
89
The power behind:
A ruthless mastermind
Controls the actions
Of an incompetent but powerful ruler
Rasputin - Tsar Nicholas
Bannon - Donald Trump
90
Miners in helmets
Trump in fancy suit
Orders more coal, filthy air, global warming
The miners know what Trump does not.
Coal is not coming back.
90b
Trump in fancy suit
Orders more coal, filthy air, global warming
Grit-faced miners know what Trump does not.
Coal is not coming back.
91
Ostriches don’t bury their heads.
BUT the US Energy Dept now pretends problems go away
If its scientists can’t say the evil words
Climate change!
92 (not relevant)
Now telcos and cablecos can gather and sell
all our search and web use info.
Unintended consequence:
To VPNs, everybody!
93
Trump burns US policy on climate change to ashes
China and others will lead the world in cleantech, electric cars and climate policy.
94
Perhaps next in our game of charades
Sounds like loose change in London
Fears God, and girls
Not at all Russian
A: 46 pence
95
Apparently soon: TrumpCare2.0
No coverage with pre-existing conditions.
That’s right: no care for those who need it.
Cruel, mean, nasty. Evil.
96
Trumpolitics
Gives Russia clout in the west
Gives China leadership in the east
Cedes leadership in the world
MAGA? Really?
97
Putin props up Assad
Trump cozies up with Putin
Blaming Assad’s war crimes on Obama
Is like a magician’s sleight: look over there!
98
Enjoying power
In Trump’s America
Christians support cruelty
Who would Jesus hurt?
99
What are promises worth?
A wall for Mexico to buy?
Healthcare for more people for less money?
100
We all know politicians lie and exaggerate
But Trump’s lies feel different
They formed a large-scale screen
A distraction
101
Trump’s Civil War ravings
May have been no mistake
But a brick in a southern wall
Red meat for racists.
102
The girl-groping thug
OKs politics in churches
Congress votes to strip
Healthcare from the poor.
American christianity.
103 (fragments)
Taking care from those who need it
Eroding firms’ ability to offer healthcare
You’d think they’d hide in shame
Instead, they drink & cheer
Why?
Flynn was in cahoots with Russia.
Flynn was lying about it.
Nonetheless, Trump hired him.
& okayed hiring a proven Russian stooge.
Then: I’m gonna be tough on immigration
Now: hawking green cards for $0.5M contributions to his family business
It all makes sense
Because if I were in illegal cahoots with Putin
And I could fire the
105
Sending Callista to the Vatican
Continues the pattern
Leaders who violate the tenets of their orgs.
DeVos, Price, Carson, Pruitt, more.
Why?
106
Like mad King Cnut frothing at the tides
Trump can’t turn back the tides of change
Climate change will be fought
By us and with us
All he does is embarrass us
107
When his orders came to join the military
His feet hurt, and bony spurs were found.
Now, as commander in chief
He’s just frightened of queers?
108
North Korea fires a missile
The healthcare debacle ends in chaos
The collusion investigation rolls on
Another week of so much winning
109
Beyond all our fears
A nazi murders an innocent woman
Thugs shout about ousting jews
Trump says, but there’s more sides to this
110
American mainstream christians
Tolerating nazis
We've seen this before.
111
The thugs chanting Blood And Soil
Would have been clearer
If they'd kept it in German
112
2017
Annus Horribilis
Buried in the cold hard ground
Freedoms sold to the highest bidder
Our country molded on Putin’s Russia
2018 will be worse
And then some year will be better
Freedom’s fires will roar again
Once more, Freedom reigns.
113
Grandma, Grandpa
Where were you
What did you do
When our country became
Indifferent and cruel?
114
Drip
Drip
Drip drip
Drip drip
A new normal
115
116
Surrounded by sycophants
Smug in certainty
Issues hate
117
Kurds betrayed, their lands taken
Iowa corn sales down
Treaties revoked
More missiles in Pyongyang
Climate warming
Putin always wins
118
A three year old
Alone, frightened
At the stand
To defend his refugee application
A three year old