№ 602.1: EXTRA! Separation Of Powers À La Trump

Trump Invokes Emergency Arms Sales Authority to Counter Iran

Decision to speed delivery of 22 deals worth $8 billion; opponents decry administration’s move 

WASHINGTON—The Trump administration on Friday invoked a rarely used provision of American arms control laws to sidestep Congress and authorize billions of dollars in weapons sales to Middle East allies, angering U.S. lawmakers who characterized the decision as an abuse of power.

MYWAY, May 25

This “rule of law” shit. . .
What the fuck's that about?
The way to do things
is personal clout.
My dad and Roy Cohn
both taught me and thought
there are no rules
that cannot be bought
out or ignored
or gotten round
if you bluster enough
a way can be found.

Eagles are regal.
Eagles are TRUMPs.
Rules are for seagulls
who eat trash at dumps.
Loser winged rats.
bird democrats.
(With a small “d”,
fuck democracy.)

№ 602: Donald And Donald, Donald And Donald

Trump Walks Out on Pelosi, Schumer

President rules out infrastructure deal while investigations continue; lawmakers of both parties expect legislation to move ahead

WASHINGTON—President Trump said he wouldn’t work with Democrats while investigations of him continue and abruptly ended a meeting with the party’s leaders Wednesday, casting fresh doubt on a divided Washington’s ability to complete big-ticket legislation in the next 18 months.

TRUMPLAND, May 23

Everything I have ever done,
I have done on my own.
Clearly, I don't need anyone.
I'm taking my ball and going home.

When I was a babe, just a newborn,
I said, “Ma, leave me alone!
Filling my diapie is the best fun.
I'm taking my ball and going home!”

Later in school I made my own rules.
I knew what I was doin'.
If some teacher or kid did not like what I did,
I took my ball and went home.

Then as a teen, I might have been mean
due to testosterone.
When some little flirt would not lift her skirt,
I did it myself and went “home”.

I excelled at college sharing the knowledge
for which my big brain is known.
After four years impressing my “peers”,
I took my degree and went home.

There was a war which I found bor-ing!
but I had some spurs on a bone.
My daddy concocted a note with a doctor,
and the draft board told me, “Go home.”

In Manhattan, I built many businesses.
(Daddy Fred gave me a loan.)
I was god-awful — even unlawful —
and felt completely at home.

I did deals to get rich as a son of a bitch
and learned lotsa stuff off Roy Cohn,
who, by the way, taught me to say,
“Do it my way or go home.”

Speaking of Roy, I was not his goy-boy.
In those things he left me alone.
To this very day I say, “He wasn't gay.
And anyway, my balls were my own.”

With every wife, I married for life.
(Unless she turned into a crone.)
When they got old, I heard they were told,
“Mr. Trump is sending you home.”

I lived in a tower, had plenty of power. . .
but I wanted a throne.
Though hesitant, I became president
making the White House my home.

I do not fancy dealing with Nancy
and hate it when Chuck starts to drone.
And both of 'em stall on building my wall,
so I'm taking my ball. . .going home.

There will come the day my gravestone will say,
“He was not a John Gotti clone.
He caused a panic, being Satanic,
'til the devil welcomed him home.”

№ 601: The Devil's Hand Made Tail In GOP

Do Christians view The Handmaid's Tale 
as an instruction manual?
As true as apocalypses
foretold in Daniel*?
Do they think Dems Babaloney magicians,
hell-bent on infringing their buying munitions,
replacing sacred and holy traditions 
with secular, liberal Satanic positions?
For if they do, it would be a shame
and would give Christian religion a very bad name.
Which one could say — had one the nerve —
would be something exceeding well-earned and deserved.
(Though, to be fair — maybe waffle a smidgen —
the same can be said of every religion.)
————————————
*Also see: New World Encyclopedia

№ 600: Airy Stars Tittle Contemplating A Busted Homo Sapien

WHATSITALLABOUTALFIE, May 21

In those long ago days when we lived in the trees

before taking to two feet, unbending our knees,

before we thought really deep thoughts

creating conflicts between “wants” and “oughts”,

when we were conceiving what we call morality

to prove ourselves worthy of immortality,

thereby giving rise to our present modality

which, in part, overrides our prior brutality,

which allowed us to do what made us feel good

and never consider whether we should.

What pleasures we had in not thinking twice

about what we were doing not being nice.

This new cogitation caused a massive upheaval.

Theologians term this “the problem of Evil”.

Which, unless I have misunderstood,

might be termed, as well, “the problem of Good”.

“Evil” succeeds. “Good” meekly smiles and,

late or soon, gets thrown off the island.

“Evil”, to me, is how things really are.

In contrast “Good” seems entirely bizarre.

On the one hand, Mother Teresa. (Who I can't understand.)

Then on the other one, you have Ayn Rand.

One's a bestseller, the other's been sainted.

In heaven, I wonder, are they acquainted?

At afternoon tea with the rest of the ladies

do they gloat over enemies burning in Hades?

While stars supernova and galaxies whirl

what do they say to the rest of the girls?

Do they ever speak of our human dis-ease?

Do they question the wisdom of leaving the trees?

№ 599: Making America Dust Again

Massive Bethlehem Steel headquarters in Pennsylvania demolished in seconds: ‘It breaks my heart’ (Paywall)

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
MAY 19, 2019
BETHLEHEM, PA.

Sixteen thousand tons of Bethlehem Steel collapsed in a matter of seconds Sunday as a demolition crew imploded Martin Tower, the defunct steel maker's former world headquarters.

Crowds gathered to watch the demolition of the area's tallest building, a 21-story monolith that opened at the height of Bethlehem Steel's power and profitability but had stood vacant for a dozen years after America's second-largest steel maker went out of business.

The implosion, which took 16 seconds, created a thick plume of dust that lingered for several minutes.

Tyler Kent, whose father worked at Bethlehem Steel for 46 years and raised 11 children, said his “heart stopped” as he watched the building fall. His father and other relatives took pride in working at the industrial behemoth that armed the U.S. military and helped shape skylines across the country.

“To see it come down brought a tear to my eye. I didn't think it was going to affect me emotionally like it did, but I just can't imagine it's gone. It's so sad,” said Kent, who could see the tower from his house.

RUSTVILLE, May 20

(with a nod to T. S. Eliot)

The jobs were long gone
now the headquarters too
is reduced to a pile of rubble.
Steel, glass, concrete
are no more substantial
than an Internet bubble.

Follow men who are hollow men,
that is the way the world has to end
with BOTH a bang and a whimper.
A sad simple fact made sadder and simpler.

№ 598.1: EXTRA! The Tenderfoot Lender — Bone Spurred

Deutsche Bank staff saw suspicious Trump and Kushner activity – report 

Several financial moves by legal entities controlled by Donald Trump and Jared Kushner between 2016 and 2017 triggered suspicious activity alerts inside Deutsche Bank, a major lender to the Trump family, according to a report in the New York Times.

Suspicious activity reports were prepared for filing with the US treasury for investigation as possible federal financial crimes. According to the Times, bank executives overruled the employees and did not alert the government.

KLEPTOCRACY CITY, May 20

Add Donald to Deutsch Bank
plus Russian “unknowns”,
what do you get —
a GAME OF LOANS:
laundering cash
for Vlad's oligarchs.
(Where, when we need you,
are you Karl Marx?)
Instead of due diligence,
doing their fullest,
Trump's Deutsch Bank pallies
played Sergeant Schultz. 

Email subscribers click here.

[updated 5/20/2019 5:20 p.m.]

№ 598: Shackled À Mon Goût Non Dispute Tandem

PERSONAL SPACE, May 19

Many smart people love Jell-O and liver.

Thinking of either gives me the shivers.

With either, or both, I would be loathe

to put half a teaspoon into my mouth.

On what, you may ask, is this bias based?

I'd say it's that I have very good taste.