America

This election is a fight about identity. 
It’s about who we are.
It’s about who we aspire to be.

Obama leads among women.

Obama leads among Latinos.
Obama leads among African-Americans.
Romney leads white men.

Republicans vow to “Take back our country.”

They never say from whom.
We can guess.

Issues of race, power, and privilege—

front and center.

The nation has changed.

We are a nation of racial and ethnic minorities.

The world has changed.

We can assert, but not dictate.

Obama embodies the America of now.

Obama is right choice.

Romney will repeal health care, give tax cuts to the wealthy, turn Medicare into a voucher program, rescind equal rights for women, African Americans, immigrants, gays and other minorities, and with Supreme Court appointments, turn this country so far right we will never recover.

 

Romney is the Right’s choice.  Obama is the right choice.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

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This picture is from http://www.addictinginfo.org, a website with a lot of good info about the election.

Insight

Mitt Romney will lose in November.

His political epitaph will read:

What a tangled web he did weave

When he constantly forgot

What he last pretended to believe.

Sometimes the poetry gods smile on me and I get a ready-made poem.  This poem came from the 30-word rant column without any attribution.  Thank you, anonymous contributor.  

 © 2012 Catherine Giordano

This picture is from tumblr

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Obama Up

Energetic,
aggressive,
Obama
went after his challenger
attacking
Romney
on his plans
for the economy.

Romney’s plan--

make sure
the folks at the top
play by a different set of rules,
lower tax rates for the wealthy.

Romney

saying things that are not true.
Romney
on the defensive.
Romney’s
math not adding up.

Obama displayed toughness.

Obama gained ground.

Obama is back, handily winning the second debate. I don’t know what was wrong with Obama at the first debate; maybe he was just exhausted. 

Obama called Romney out on his lies.  Governor Romney, when the moderator has to intercede to tell you that you are not speaking the truth, you might as well just pack up and go home.

Romney’s demeanor at the debate showed who is is—an arrogant bully.  At the first debate he sported a smug smile, during this debate he had a tight smile.  The smug smile said “Ha Ha I’m winning;” the tight smile said “I’m losing.”  

At the first debate I thought he wanted to break out into a victory dance.  At the second debate, I thought he wanted to stomp his foot through the floor like Rumplestiltskin.

 

Romney reminds me of Rumplestiltskin--

consumed by his desire for gold, exploiting the weak, furious in defeat--

so I’m using this illustration from http://storynory.com to illustrate this poem.

I had to add this picture of Romney's tight-lipped smile (scowl) that I found on Huffington Post. 

 

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In Defense of Big Bird

Romney vowed to kill Big Bird.

An uproar on social media.

The remark went viral.
Everyone likes Big Bird.

Big Bird will survive the attack.

Big Bird will go on.

Actually Mitt Romney vowed to cut off government funding for PBS.  That would mean the shut-down of some PBS stations, especially the rural ones.  So, with a little poetic license, Romney vowed to kill Big Bird.

 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

This picture from new.cnet.com

Debate

The first debate:

Romney

defending
against charges—
-- his tax plan favors the wealthy—

taking

more moderate stances
on green energy, social security,

offering
sharper answers

seizing

control of the debate.

Obama

trying
to rebut Romney
with math, common sense, history.

Romney

surprising
the public with a strong performance.

 It was the pugilist against the professor.

I think Obama was stunned by Romney doing a 180 on just about everything he said prior to the debate.  It’s been said that debating Romney is like trying to nail Jello to the wall. Romney gave the old Etch-a-Sketch a good shake last night. 

I hope people were not fooled last night.  We did not see the real Romney last night.  Romney used to give a nervous laugh whenever he lied; last night he lied with a straight face.  All we got was a tight smug self-satisfied faint trace of a smile. 

 

Romney won if by "winning" you mean giving the best performance; Obama won if by "winning" you mean laying out a thoughtful coherent honest plan for the next four years.

©2012 Catherine Giordano



The picture of Romney is from washintonblade.com. The picture of Obama is from nydailynews.com.



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Romney Controversy

Mitt Romney.
an unfeeling, uncaring plutocrat.
explaining away another gaffe.

The political world roiled.

Romney insulted everyday people,
people who work incredibly hard.

Romney told high-paying donors—

half of Americans are worthless, lazy,
don’t pay taxes,
don’t have a job,
and don’t want one.

Is this the utterance that decides the election?

Not only did Romney dismissively insult half the people in this country, but his facts were wrong.   He claimed that people who don’t pay taxes are going to vote for Obama no matter what.  The fact is that the states with the highest proportion of people who don’t pay income taxes are “red states.”

Message to people who don’t pay income taxes: You heard the man.  Vote for Obama.

If only people would vote their pocketbook instead of their prejudices, Obama would win all 50 states.

 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

This picture from www.motherjones. com

Libya, Obama, and Romney

The attack:
A small group of militants
arriving late at night,
unleashing a fusillade,
from rifles,
from rocket-propelled grenades.

The U.S Consulate:

Torched and ransacked
on the anniversary
of September 11^th .

The dead:

the U.S. ambassador
and other Americans.

President Barrack Obama:

vows to bring
the killers to justice.

Republican Mitt Romney:

criticizes Obama,
politicizes a tragedy.

Romney’s attack of Obama, as usual, had no acquaintance with the “reality-based” world.  The timing of his attack (while the embassy was still under fire), the content of his attack (based on misinformation), and his reiteration of the attack (after he was given the correct information) have been soundly rebuked, even by his fellow Republicans.
 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

 

This picture of the attack in Libya and the U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens (age 52), who died in the line of duty, is from http://telegraph.co.uk

 

Dueling Conventions

Tampa:
Amateurish stagecraft.
Emphasis on “defeat Barack Obama”
rather than “elect Mitt Romney.”
The party seemed to believe
Romney will lose.

Charlotte:

Focused and spirited
Emphasis on “reelect Barack Obama.”
The oratory, superior.
The visuals, more telegenic.
No Clint Eastwood moments.

The Republicans—

Meandering.
The Democrats—
Relentlessly on message.
The Democrats—
Absolutely on fire. 

The Democrats’ philosophy of “We’re all in this together” is better than the Republicans’ philosophy of “You’re on your own.” 

 Another difference between the two conventions:  the Republicans lied, the Democrats told the truth. (The independent fact-checkers confirmed this.)

I found this picture at http://www.csmonitor.com/

Two Peas in a Pod

This picture is from www.enasco.com

A preview of a Mitt Romney presidency,
right here in Florida.

Our businessman/governor

Rick Scott, promised us jobs.
He delivered Wawa,
convenience stores paying low wages.

He delivered cuts to education,

curbs to early voting,
pandering to campaign contributors,
a rock-bottom approval rating.

Success in business does not translate

to success in government.
Business is all about profits;
government is all about protecting citizens.

I’ve watched a businessman

run my state into the ground.
I don’t want one running
my country into the ground.

This is from a letter to the editor.  If eight years of George W. Bush didn’t teach you enough about how businessmen can run our country into the ground, maybe a look at Rick Scott’s governorship is the refresher course that you need.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

The Empty Chair

Clint Eastwood’s
rhetorical ramble,
his conversation
with an empty chair,
slamming Obama,
inspiring a social –media
pile on,
diverting attention
from Romney’s speech.

Convention delegates were gleeful.
Rush Limbaugh loved the shtick.
Romney laughed at the improv.
Clint came across as sad and pathetic.  

     

What did Clint Eastwood accomplish? He made Republicans laugh.  He diverted attention away from Romney. He reinforced the idea that the Republican party is the party of “angry old white men.”  He ruined his reputation as a serious filmmaker.

I hope you enjoyed those cheap shots, Mr. Eastwood.  You paid a high price for them.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano   

Get the full behind the scenes
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Nominee Romney

Mitt Romney 2012

Nominee Romney.
Romney officially.
The official
GOP nominee
at the RNC.

Nominee Romney,

with the lowest
favorability
ratings of any
presidential nominee.

Nominee Romney,

over the top.
 

Ann Romney, Mitt Romney’s wife, gave a very nice speech about love.  Her message may have been lost among all the other speeches spewing hate.  (Congressman Boehner compared Obama to a drunk in a bar who has to be thrown out.)

Ann Romney praised her husband.  But I noticed the other Republican National Convention speakers mostly praised themselves, or the party, and said very little about Romney.


Update 7/20/16: Four years later and not much has changed, except the hate is even worse. Just the names are different. And Romney is so ashamed of his party that he won't even attend the convention. 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

Medicare

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan promise
to preserve and protect Medicare.
Their plan is a big gamble.

Give seniors vouchers?

Privatize Medicare?
A risky proposition!

Obama’s strategy improves quality and efficacy.

Obama’s strategy will preserve Medicare.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

The insurance agencies support Romney/Ryan because by abolishing Medicare and Obamacare, the insurance agencies can reap even more ginormous profits.  The people support Obama because we want affordable health care.

This picture is from http://www.bocahomecareservices.com

Romney's VP Pick

Abandoning caution,
Romney selects Paul Ryan
as his running mate.

The selection is risky.

Ryan champions a budget plan
ending Medicare, providing
tax cuts for the wealthy.

It’s a Hail Mary pass,

Romney’s campaign
was stumbling, ratings slumping. 

Democrats are gleeful

over Romney’s choice.

Ryan is out of sync, appealing only to a narrow ultra-conservative slice of the electorate.

P.S. I wonder if Ryan will release his tax returns.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

I found this picture at http://freakoutnation.com

Obama Talks Taxes

President Barack Obama,

two thousand screaming supporters,

at Rollins college on Thursday

Two different versions of America:
Mitt Romney’s tax cuts for the rich;

Obama’s defense of the middle class.

Trickle-down economics—

the path Romney is proposing—

Trickle-down tax-cut fairy-dust.

Romney asks middle class families

to pay higher taxes.

Not to reduce our deficit,

Not to help care for seniors,

Not to rebuild America,

Not to fight a war.

Romney is asking you to pay more

so that people like him can pay less. 

If you are middle class or poor, why would you vote for Romney?  I think people are starting to catch on.  Obama has substantial leads in the swing states.  Maybe Obama will take all 50 states.  Well, maybe not Utah.  The Mormons will probably vote for one of their own regardless of how bad his policies are.

 © 2012 Catherine Giordano



http://upload.democraticunderground.com/imgs/home/120801-the-romney-tax-plan-in-one-chart.jpg

Romney Rouses Outrage

Mitt Romney,
on a foreign tour:

His offhand comments

challenge the image
his campaign
    has tried
       so carefully
          to construct.

Controversy swirled around

Romney in Jerusalem.
A furor surrounded
Romney in the United Kingdom.

Romney repeatedly

f ^um _{b l} ^e s
the foreign policy football
from country to country.

This man

   needs . . .
     a lot of education.
 
Mitt Romney, going abroad, and embarrassing himself, and embarrassing America.

 

 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

Steve Sack / Minneapolis Star-Tribune.  I found it at http://romneycomics.com

Republicans Don't Especially Love Mitt Romney

Republicans don’t especially love Mitt Romney.

Not conservative enough.
He flip-flopped.
He can’t connect with everyday Americans.
He can’t beat Barack Obama.

Republicans are falling in line.

What choice do they have?
He is not the best.
But, he’s the best they got.

Even Republicans don’t like their candidate very much.

If the Republicans win in November, they will bring back the policies that nearly destroyed our economy.  It will be like another eight years of George W. Bush.

Give Obama big majorities, filibuster-proof majorities, before you judge him  If only he could get a few of his many proposed bills through Congress, this country would be greater than ever.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

This picture comes from http://patrick.net

 

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Obama Focused

CLICK HERE Audacity of Hope

Four years ago

Obama ran on hope and change.

This time,

unlderline the hope,

lowercase the change.

Chearleader in chief. 

An overall optimistic tone,

with just the right balance

between optimism

and realism.

Find the sweet spot.

Newt Gingrich declared,

“America is decaying.”

Mitt Romney called the nation

a “virtual Titanic.” 

Believe in America.

An incumbent has to err

on the side of optimism.

A challenger has to sell

the need for change.

Obama pays tribute to the country.

The president has

a hopeful message.

Republicans can be as

apocalyptic as doomsday. 

Stick to talk about the future.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

I like this poem because it expresses my belief that people are going to get tired of Republicans bad-mouthing America.

2/6/2016 Update
It's interesting to look back four years ago today when I was doing my News Print Poetry project.  Obama was going to be the Democratic nominee and the Republicans were fighting it out to determine who their nominee would be. The Republicans were bad-mouthing America and they are doing it again.