Fewer Boots

I think Obama’s got it right,

Or guessed as well as anyone,

About how long and much to fight

A war that’s—ten years old—outrun

The nation’s patience and reserves.  

Afghanistan is on our nerves.

Scaring People to Life

No more, on packs of cigarettes,
Just words about how they can kill.
To graphically display their threats
The FDA plans sheer ill will                        
Against tobacco’s industry—
Instead of messages, art work.
A smoking tracheotomy
Beneath the chin of some poor jerk,
For instance, ought to make one shrink
And not leave room for kids to think.

What's God Got To Do With It

When NBC omitted God
While airing our Allegiance Pledge
I petulantly found it odd
So many viewers felt on edge.
In Resurrection School, no less,
We pledged a sort of godlessness.

Charlie Wilson's Post War

I’m sorry Charlie Wilson died,
The wild Texas congressman
Who, anti-Soviet rebels plied,
(They then became the Taliban)
With Stinger missiles, ground-to-air,
That sowed Red chopper crews’ despair.

Let Morals Take a Back Seat

The Saudi mufti’s fatwa rules
That Saudi women cannot drive.
Such two-sex mobile closeness fuels
Lewd thoughts, he thinks, that might deprive
The lords and masters back at home
If unescorted wives so roam.

Do Not as Others Do

O Canada, Our gracious neighbor land,
Civility,
We thought your sons command.