Dec 192016
 

Collage adapted from”How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss

 

How The Trump Stole America

by John Pavlovitz

 

In a land where the states are united, they claim,

in a sky-scraping tower adorned with his name,

lived a terrible, horrible, devious chump,

the bright orange miscreant known as The Trump.

 

This Trump he was mean, such a mean little man,

with the tiniest heart and two tinier hands,

and a thin set of lips etched in permanent curl,

and a sneer and a scowl and contempt for the world.

 

He looked down from his perch and he grinned ear to ear,

and he thought, “I could steal the election this year!

It’d be rather simple, it’s so easily won,

I’ll just make them believe that their best days are done!

Yes, I’ll make them believe that it’s all gone to Hell,

and I’ll be Jerk Messiah and their souls they will sell.

 

And I’ll use lots of words disconnected from truth,

but I’ll say them with style so they won’t ask for proof.

I’ll toss out random platitudes, phrases, and such,

They’re so raised on fake news that it won’t matter much!

They won’t question the how to, the what, why or when,

I will make their American great once again!”

 

The Trump told them to fear, they should fear he would say,

“They’ve all come for your jobs, they’ll all take them away.

You should fear every Muslim and Mexican too,

every brown, black, and tan one, everyone who votes blue.”

 

And he fooled all the Christians, he fooled them indeed,

He just trotted out Jesus, that’s all Jesus folk need.

And celebrity preachers they all crowned him as king,

Tripping over themselves just to kiss the Trump’s ring.

 

And he spoke only lies just as if they were true,

Until they believed all of those lies were true, too.

He repeated and tweeted and he blustered and spit,

And he mislead and fibbed—and just made up sh*t.

 

And the media laughed but they printed each line,

thinking “He never will win, in the end we’ll be fine.”

So they chased every headline, bold typed every claim,

’til the fake news and real news they looked just the same.

 

And the scared folk who listened, they devoured each word,

yes, they ate it all up every word that they heard,

petrified that their freedom was under attack,

trusting Trump he would take their America back.

From the gays and from ISIS, he’d take it all back,

take it back from the Democrats, fat cats, and blacks.

And so hook, line, and sinker they all took the bait,

all his lies about making America great.

 

Now the Pant-suited One she was smart and prepared,

she was brilliant and steady but none of them cared,

no one cared not to see all the work that she’d done,

or the fact that the Trump had not yet done thing one.

They could only shout “Emails!”, yes “Emails!” they’d shout,

because Fox News had told them—and Fox News had clout.

And the Pant-suited One she was slandered no end,

and a lie became truth she could never defend.

And the Trump watched it all go according to plan—

a strong woman eclipsed by an insecure man.

 

And November the 8th arrived, finally it came,

like a slow-moving storm but it came just the same.

And Tuesday became Wednesday as those days will do,

and the night turned to morning and the nightmare came true,

with millions of non-voters still in their beds,

yes, the Trump he had done it, just like he had said.

 

And the Trumpers they trumped, how they trumped when he won,

all the racists and bigots; deplorable ones,

they crawled out from the woodwork, came out to raise Hell,

they came out to be hateful and hurtful as well.

With slurs and with road signs, with spray paint and tweets,

with death threats to neighbors and taunts on the streets.

and the grossest of grossness they hurled on their peers,

while the Trump he said zilch—for the first time in years.

 

But he tweeted at Hamilton, he tweeted the Times,

and he trolled Alec Baldwin a few hundred times,

and he pouted a pout like a petulant kid,

thinking he could still be a perpetual jerk,

terrified to learn he had to actually work,

work for every American, not just for a few,

not just for the white ones—there was much more to do.

He now worked for the Muslims and Mexicans, too,

for the brown, black, and tan ones, and the ones who vote blue.

They were all now his bosses, now they all had a say,

and those nasty pant-suited ones were here to stay.

And the Trump he soon realized that he didn’t win,

he had gotten the thing—and the thing now had him.

 

And it turned out the Trump was a little too late,

for America was already more than quite great,

not because of the sameness, the opposite’s true,

It’s greatness far more than just red, white, and blue,

it’s straight, gay, and female—its Gentile and Jew,

it’s transgender and Christian ad Atheist, too.

It’s Asian, Caucasians of every kind,

the disabled and abled, the deaf and the blind,

it’s immigrants, Muslims, and brave refugees,

it’s Liberals with bleeding hearts fixed to their sleeves.

And we are all staying, we’re staying right here,

and we’ll be the great bane of the Trump for four years.

And we’ll be twice as loud as the loudness of hate,

be the greatness that makes our America great.

And the Trump’s loudest boasts they won’t every obscure,

[almost three million] more of us—voted for her.

 

Reprinted with permission from John Pavlovitz,

in the infamous year, 2016,

with thanks to Ed Townsend for the best Christmas gift.

 

From the blog, ”Stuff That Has to Be Said.”

 

 

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  6 Responses to “How the Trump Stole America, a Rhyme”

  1. I am unfollowing your blog. This is insulting, uninformed, and not what I want to read from you. I was not following your blog to hear your political opinion, which you are entitled to, but I have no interest in hearing in this forum.

    • It is my civic duty to stand up and speak out, particularly when faced with the most dangerous threat to our nation since its founding–the fraudulent election of Donald Trump, assisted not only by the dissemination of fake news (Fox et. al.) unprecedented slander of the other candidate, and extensive voter suppression, but also, the inference of a hostile foreign government to install the compromised candidate. This duty takes its form in voting, civic dialogue, and protest, as our constitution mandates. It is you who are uninformed by facts. Thank you for unsubscribing.

  2. Thank you Julia. I am in Canada watching in horror as the Trump becomes more unhinged every day. I may learn to knit…

    • My lawyer gave it to me as a Christmas card and I thought it was too good to keep to myself. We wish we were up there with you, believe me. I’ll be cooking up more recipes and passing them along.

  3. I love this! I’m still working through how open I’m am on social media et al, but agree we have a responsibility to stand up to such a dangerous man, his Executive Orders, and decisions. We are truly in a frightening time here in the US.

    • Yes, we are, Susan. I think it’s important for everyone to speak up. We know the lessons of history very well. I thought Pavlowitz’s piece was spot on. These are extraordinary times. Thanks so much for writing.

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