One Hundred Days of Obama in Poetry

There will be a litany of post-mortems written on President Barack Obama’s first one hundred days in office. Many of these pieces will be in opposition to the changes he has initiated.

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So what makes my critique of President Obama different from the rest? Quite simply my critique will be done through poetry. Since January 20th, I have written nearly twenty poems inspired by President Obama or by the collective reaction of our nation to him. Most of the poems are critical of Obama’s policies while others are critical of ourselves for believing the things we wanted to hear. I thought I would share three of these poems with you. The first is titled, “Ten Page Footnote.” It is inspired by the Department of Homeland Security’s recent report, Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment. You know the one that accused our returning veterans of being potential terrorists.

Ten Page Footnote

Who is the greatest threat to our national security? Al Qaeda? Hezbollah? No silly, we’re not at war with Islam Mexican drug lords? You crack me up They’re just budding entrepreneurs The greatest threat to our homeland Is our returning military veterans, of course Hide the children There are angry white males Coming to a neighborhood near you Behind the face of every soldier Is the heir apparent to Timothy McVeigh Waiting to be recruited by right-wingers Appalled by the election of an African-American President And ready to take action So if you see a corporal watching Fox News Or a private first class with a “Don’t Tread On Me” bumper sticker Then do your patriotic duty and contact Your local branch of the Department of Homeland Security at once And we will have our crack team Operation Red Herring on the case Oh wait You meant no offense It wasn’t intended for public consumption Intended or not it was pretty hard to swallow So you now regret that footnote A ten page footnote That cost millions of our tax money To have wrote Your only regret is that we now know What you really think about The men and women who volunteer To serve our nation Only for you to thank them with damnation The next poem is titled, “Take a Bow.” I think it is fairly self-explanatory.

Take a Bow

Mr. President, for thee the children sing As you kneel before the Saudi king Mr. President, with your overture to Iran An American journalist stands trial in Tehran Mr. President, when a missile was launched by North Korea You told Japan, “See ya.” Mr. President, your talk in Turkey Turned America’s shining beacon murky Mr. President, three cheers, three cheers Attacked by pirates for the first time in 200 years Mr. President, when you are told to get on your knees Do you ask, “Can I have another please?” Mr. President, you’re changing America and how So on behalf of all of us take a bow For all my cynicism I cannot deny that President Obama currently has an approval rating of 68%. That’s two out of every three Americans. Then again when Obama is more likely to be asked questions about which dog he is going to pick for his children than about the consequences of his economic policies for our children is it any wonder? But we must take a certain amount of responsibility for this state of affairs. Perhaps we have elected the President that we deserve. With that I will leave you with this poem titled, “All Barack & No Bite.”

All Barack & No Bite

Here’s our brand new dog Look at all the tricks it can do Sit, Barack, sit Good dog Barack, roll over for the Russians Good dog Barack, lie down for Iran That’s a good Obama Barack, now shake hands with Mr. Chavez Good dog Barack, don’t take the money and toss it out the window again What did I say about digging a hole for yourself? Bad dog Now, tell the whole world that you’re sorry Good dog Here’s a treat Barack, look at the mess you made on Wall Street We constantly have to clean up after you We might need to keep you on a shorter leash But you look so cute with that shiny Teflon coat, oh yes you do You’re going to win that talent show again, oh yes you are You’re going to get America to vote for you again, oh yes you can Oh yes you can Aaron Goldstein was a card carrying member of the socialist New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP). Since 09/11, Aaron has reconsidered his ideological inclinations and has become a Republican. Aaron lives and works in Boston.

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