Yes, We Could Have

So-called Progressive Politicians are just as lame as their Conserve nothing friends across the aisle

 Sure, we can twist facts and omit at-odds details, just like our esteemed colleagues across the aisle

We too, can cunningly bump our poll numbers by reading other’s stirring speeches after tragic events

Yes we can, act like we held fast to our beliefs, after we compromised them up front and in secret

Know that we, as well, smilingly inflate potential savings and deliberately underestimate true costs

We, also, hype pitiful sops to the commoners as we find new ways to coddle our rich supporters

We find it possible to express our strong ecological concern even as we continue relaxing regulations

We speak earnestly of change while, behind the scenes, we simply carry on with business as usual

We trumpet wasted budget-busting giveaways to both sides as truly patriotic bipartisan compromises

We glibly promised jobs in clean energy but continued subsidizing ethanol and all types of fossil fuels

Hey, we too wear lapel pin flags and piously mouth God Bless America just as often as the Right

Turns out our donor base is also Big Money Movers and Shakers and not really just the little guys

And by god, our bristling, increased arms budgets prove that we are not even Soft On Defense

Yes we can! – Falsely pimp even whoppingly fat tax cuts for the rich as a victory for the working man

You bet we posture for the polls: Right up there with the best of their empty political fashion models

Just like them, we, too, are all lawyers: Masters of obfuscation, doublespeak and the fine print

We are able to ignore decaying infrastructure and failed kids just as well as our patriotic opponents

We can heap scorn upon the ruling financiers, even as we subsidize their remaining Too Big To Fail

Sure, we patronize phony corporate college and pro sports, just like previous lame administrations

See us worship schools never mentioning that students wont find the jobs needed to repay their loans

You’ll hear us rapidly co-opting their newly-minted Traditional family values™ to our own selfish ends

Yes we can, still subsidize corn sugar creating the diabetes that you can believe we overpay to treat

We can place the exceptionist wreath upon our citizens in front of the world, just like conservatives

We actually could have reformed healthcare but political expediency warped that effort into disaster

Watch as we, as well, recast unaudited earmark spending as shovel-ready, job-creating investments

WE could have sold off our pickups and SUVs, gone back to school and even lost some weight, too

We might have demanded they stop spending more on arms than the whole world put together

We could have admitted we pay much more but get far less from the worlds finest healthcare system

Yes we can, loudly demand deficit reduction, but without any real benefit cuts and no new taxes

Yes, we might not have hired illegales if we didn’t save so much in taxes, wages and benes doing so

We can talk of good nutrition as we permit expensive, patented GMOs to pervert our organic crops

Yes, we could have gone deeper than their soundbites and pondered a bit beyond their catchphrases

We might not have taken out liar loans, forgone some vacations and even saved a bit for retirement

Yes, up to our necks in the tarpits of Washngton we can still talk of change you should still believe in

Yes, we could actually have realized that things were far too gone to repair in like a year or so

Yes, we could have realized that consumerism, finance and real estate can’t anchor our kid’s futures

We might have even faced up to the tough reality of a bleak, gray, post-Gipper Morning In America