“They sell us the President the same way/They sell us our clothes and our cars/They sell us everything from Youth to Religion/The same time they sell us our wars.” Jackson Browne, “Lives in the Balance,” mid-1980s

lampreys and rose stems and skeeters, o my.

vampires and vacuums and vegas, o my.

Lobbyists Senate and Congress, O MY.

suckers all,

and the paradox is THEY

are playing US for suckers.

.

and we need an antidote for suckery

and rhymes thereof.

.

doubt of,

discipline against, and

intolerance for scams…

these will help.

but a distaste for “red meat” is as essential.

we all have a hankering for that salacious,

gobsmacking, itch-scratching

metaphorical “red meat.”

so let us say to ourselves, “ah, the best of me

doesn’t want that. only my

Inner Lizard wants that.

because it’s fluffy and tasty.

but side effects include

Genocide, Armament, Despotism

and Destruction.”

.

let us banish the Lizard

to the Hell It is creating.

let It rule there

exclusive of all elsewheres.