Goodbye Democracy

By Bud Koenemund

(With apologies to Margaret Wise Brown)

Dedicated to those who would not look past their own wallet

In a great white house
There sits an orange man;
With an enemies list,
A Diet Coke, and bucket of chicken.

Oh, how he’ll brag, and spout, and lie –
A ManChild nothing short of bratty –
And set about doing the only job he has:
To destroy us from within for his Sugar Vladdy.

Goodbye NATO;
Goodbye Ukraine;
Goodbye Paris Climate Accord;
Welcome back acid rain.

Goodbye Supreme Court
And women’s rights, it seems;
So, too, LGBTQ protections;
Welcome Heritage Foundation’s religious wet dreams.

Goodbye to bodily autonomy;
Goodbye to abortion;
Goodbye to proper health care;
Welcome, once more, medical burden.

Goodbye to equal rights for People of Color;
Goodbye to those lost in mass deportations;
Goodbye to non-partisan government employees;
Welcome back those found guilty of insurrection.

Goodbye Social Security;
Goodbye Medicare;
Goodbye prescription drug caps,
And Obama’s Affordable Care.

Goodbye independent DoJ and FBI;
Goodbye Department of Education;
Goodbye school breakfast and lunch;
Welcome the dangers of deregulation.

Goodbye student debt relief;
Goodbye teaching history;
Goodbye to the truth,
And banned books they call “pornography.”

Goodbye to diversity;
Goodbye to voting rights;
Goodbye to clean energy;
Welcome to Mango Mussolini’s free speech blight.

Goodbye to overtime;
Hello to tariffs on every nation;
Goodbye to taxes for the rich;
While the middle class suffers inflation.

Goodbye Democracy;
You had a pretty good run;
Achieving so much good;
But, by ignorance, undone.

Antonin Scalia and the Right to Marry

  Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, apparently believes that no American – gay or straight – has the right to marry. Yes, you read that correctly – no one.

  As reported by David Badash of The New Civil Rights Movement, during a recent book signing in Washington, D.C., Scalia said, "for him, it is 'easy' to outlaw same-sex marriage."

  Interesting. A man who goes to work in a building bearing the motto, "Equal Justice Under Law," finds it "easy" to discriminate against American citizens.

  Scalia's pronouncement is especially troubling because several appeals regarding same-sex marriage rights are pending Supreme Court review.

  But, according to an article from The Huffington Post:

  Scalia calls himself a "textualist" (which is also labeled an originalist), meaning Scalia believes that if the exact words – text – do not appear in the Constitution, the right to it does not exist. In a Scalia world, there is no right to same-sex marriage.

  The fact is, marriage is never mentioned in the Constitution – not same-sex marriage; not heterosexual marriage; no marriage – not a single mention. This is, one would think, a fact of which Scalia is well aware.

  Obviously, if we follow Scalia's beliefs as a "textualist," this means no one – gay or straight – has the right to marriage in this country. If the exact words do not appear, "the right to it does not exist." Right?

  So, how do you go about blocking the right of someone else, when you yourself do not have that right? Or, if you argue that you have that right, how can you deny that right to others?

  Given his publicly stated beliefs regarding same-sex marriage, can we believe Scalia will fairly and impartially weigh the evidence of whichever – if any – case the Supreme Court hears?

  Or, may we assume, since his belief in discrimination toward these American citizens is so strong, he will recuse himself from ruling on any case relating to same-sex rights?

  Hypocrisy and discrimination, or recusal – take your pick, Justice Scalia.