Donald J. Trump (Holly Kellum/NTD)A Poem on the Persecution of Donald J. Trump, by Brian Yapko The Society April 16, 2024 Culture, Poetry 43 Comments . . On the Altar of Our Nation I must confess it took a long, long time For Donald Trump to grow on me. He’s gruff, Undiplomatic, calls opponents slime And scum. Of course the man is right, but rough . Around the edges. Loud, uncensored, brash. Plus I can see he’s been around the block. He has an eye for ladies; he loves cash; And he’s about as graceful as a rock. . But somehow I have come to love this man. He speaks the truth; he knows what hurts my soul. Against all odds I’m now Trump’s biggest fan Since no one else can make this country whole. . How Democrats despise him. How they shiver To think he might be President once more. And so they try to sell him down the river They persecute and slander. It’s a war . Which they engage in like Third World regimes Where petty potentates, their brute fangs bared, Have their opponents jailed. These lawfare schemes Are meant to keep the masses dumb and scared. . But they’ve already lost! We see this ruse Of Court-abuse as rotten on its face, As star chambers, as courts of kangaroos. The leftists cannot win so they disgrace . The one man who has earned the right to serve us Far better than Obama, Biden, Carter; The leftists cannot see though they observe us: They’re raising up a presidential martyr. . . . . Brian Yapko is a retired lawyer whose poetry has appeared in over fifty journals. He is the winner of the 2023 SCP International Poetry Competition. Brian is also the author of several short stories, the science fiction novel El Nuevo Mundo and the gothic archaeological novel Bleeding Stone. He lives in Wimauma, Florida. NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Trending now: 43 Responses Adela April 16, 2024 Bravo Brian! Although I don’t comment on this site anymore, your poetry is one I look for ! You tell the truth and write so eloquently and I admire your integrity. Thank you for sharing your awesome poems and telling it like it is. God bless you always ! Reply Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Thank you, Adela, for this very generous and warm-hearted comment! I do try and I’m grateful for your appreciation of that. God bless you as well! Reply Roy Eugene Peterson April 16, 2024 This is a brilliant poem that goes to the heart of what I feel is now happening to Trump. Coming from a successful lawyer, now retired as you are, your words command extra attention such as “lawfare schemes” and “…As star chambers, as courts of kangaroos. The leftists cannot win so they disgrace…” It is outright persecution and misapplication of justice designed by those who intend to sully him. Some of the legal schemes and machinations reach high into the present administration. Conspiracy theory? I doubt it. But that does not matter. What matters is he is facing a barrage of legal suits from the far left designed to bring him down along with those who oppose the left. Your last line is deeply inspired: “They’re raising up a presidential martyr.” Reply Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Thank you very much indeed, Roy. While every indictment of President Trump has some plausibility at a micro level, when you look at the big picture you can see how systematic these prosecutions are across the board and driven exclusively by Progressives who think they are fighting the good fight by trying to make him disgraced and unelectable. But the statistics make it obvious that this is a witch hunt rather than a series of legitimate prosecutions. It is a cynical leftist pattern of indict, indict, indict and hope something sticks. In a Soros-dominated legal system where criminals are regularly released, given no bail requirement, go unprosecuted completely, where rioting and terror-coddling are rewarded, it is obvious that the Trump prosecutions are vanity projects at best and at worst democracy-threatening, disingenuous lawfare. The leftists are revealing who the vileness of who they are far more than they are scoring points against Trump. How can they not realize this? Reply Warren Bonham April 16, 2024 I’ll pile on the martyr comment. Creating a martyr is a strange strategy for trying to defeat him. They’re only making him stronger and converting more unlikely allies. Great poem! Reply Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 I agree 100% Warren. Thank you for this. Reply Cheryl Corey April 16, 2024 They had two years to bring these cases – none of which would’ve been brought if he wasn’t running again. They waited until now and they’re using lawfare so they can use something, anything, during an election. Now a judge is saying he can’t even attend his son’s graduation! Reply Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Thank you for reading and commenting, Cheryl. There’s a horrible vindictiveness at play in these prosecutions which speaks volumes about how much the left hates this man. Lawfare is used not only wrongfully but sadistically in an effort to “make him sorry.” Our progressive district attorneys act like 17 year-old bullies. I would have hoped the judges were better but apparently not. Any normal judge without an agenda would have recessed the trial to allow the defendant (who happens to deserve respect as our former president) the ability to see his son graduate. That this judge could not act with even a modicum of decency speaks volumes. Reply Joseph S. Salemi April 16, 2024 The left-liberals in this country are malignant vipers, and they will do, say, or condone anything to keep themselves in power. Reply Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Joe, I could not agree more. I never thought I would see such malignancy in my lifetime, and certainly not within the United States of America. Human nature reveals itself to be deeply corrupt no matter how noble the ideals stated as the justification for evil actions. My thoughts often return to the French Revolution and the Bolshevik Revolution in which noble ideas were grossly perverted and terrible purges took place of the innocent and productive. Our present day leftists have that same blood-boiling fervor to destroy without recognizing the monstrous nature of what they have become or weighing what horrors they now think of as acceptable. The “Death to America” chants recently heard in Dearborn, Michigan are horrible enough but to think that many of the left are not only excusing this but chasing after such people as voters is deeply discouraging. Reply Cynthia Erlandson April 16, 2024 Good one, Brian. “Since no one else can make this country whole,” I’m very glad that he has grown on you. Using Carter to rhyme with martyr was clever. But I can’t help wondering what you might have rhymed with Obama… 🙂 Reply Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Thank you so much, Cynthia! That “Carter/martyr” rhyme sort of came naturally without my even thinking about it. As for your question… oh so many things: “No llama”, “go comma”, “yo mama” or… here’s one. How about “Osama”? Just saying. Reply Phil S. Rogers April 16, 2024 Excellent Brian, so many people agree with you now. We need someone a little rough ‘around the edges.’ Reply Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Thank you, Phil! I couldn’t agree more! Reply TrumpsUrDaddy April 17, 2024 As a fellow attorney, I hope my life experiences, my law practice, my retirement, or whatever graced Brian so wonderfully, renders me as eloquent and honest, and able to take people’s feelings with my words to a depth that Brian Yapko took mine with this poem. Much love from a new fan. Reply Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Thank you very much indeed, TUD. I appreciate your appreciation and love having a new fan — especially a lawyer! Alas, I fear our moderator may have issues with you posting under a moniker because of SCP rules. If so, let me just say thank you quickly in case your comment disappears! Reply Cheryl Corey April 17, 2024 I can’t help but put my two cents in – I don’t think monikers should be allowed. They can get weird and wacky, and too overtly political. Joseph S. Salemi April 17, 2024 I strongly agree with Cheryl. Pseudonyms are childish, and they also allow enemies of the website (we have an awful lot of them, folks!) to come here and undermine what we do. I’ve seen this dire consequence at other websites that tried to maintain a conservative stance, whether in aesthetics or politics. If you let one person use a pseudonym, you have no way to stop anyone else from coming in and causing trouble. James Sale April 17, 2024 Very true Brian – as an outsider, non-American, observer of your internal politics, there seems to me a completely perverted use of the judicial system, not to mention the systemic corruption of some of these justices, DAs and what-nots. In Britain we love underdogs – so I find myself rooting for Trump despite his manifest failings. What is happening in America now – however things pan out – is going to have the most world-shaking consequences. Thanks for the poem alerting us to some of the issues. Reply Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Thank you very much, James. I think your observations are spot-on. And yes, what happens will indeed have world-shaking consequences. Heaven help us! Reply C.B. Anderson April 17, 2024 The Dems & the Deep State hate him because they fear him. They are scared and desperate. I don’t need to love Trump; it’s sufficient to observe who his enemies are. Reply Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Thank you, C.B.! That’s it exactly. You’ve just articulated in one short sentence precisely what I’ve been trying to say. Reply Suzanne Peters Tyrpak April 17, 2024 Too bad this poet is part of a cult. Too bad this publication chose to send this to my inbox. Bye Reply Michael Vanyukov April 17, 2024 Vey iz mir, I am inconsolable. As, I am sure, is Brian. Reply Joseph S. Salemi April 17, 2024 Exactly so, Michael. Maybe she’ll go weeping to her feminist support group. Reply Michael Vanyukov April 17, 2024 Joseph, Brian, please, how do you get it in your mailbox? Checking the notify boxes doesn’t work. Or is it me. Or is it she? It’s hard to be a proper cult member without notifications :). Joseph S. Salemi April 17, 2024 It may be that a link to the poem was sent to her mailbox by a third party who had read it, and who wanted her to see it. Or she may be lying so as to cover up the fact that she came here and read it herself. Michael Vanyukov April 17, 2024 Thank you, Joseph. My best to the fellow cultist! Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Michael, to get poetry in your email inbox simply go to the main page of SCP and under the section which sets forth recent comments you’ll see a heading for DAILY POETRY with an option to subscribe by entering your email. That’s how poems get announced each day. Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 I subscribe to the axiom that every time you piss a leftist off another angel gets his wings. Reply C.B. Anderson April 18, 2024 And too bad idiots such as you are still extant. Reply Margaret Coats April 18, 2024 Brian, I am very glad to see this poem, with the use of the term “lawfare,” as numerous legal and procedural attacks bedevil a candidate admirable for his patriotism, whom approximately half of Americans want to vote for, many for the third time. At this point, lawfare has become a major political weapon. It may have begun with Third World tyrannies’ treatment of opponents, but it spreads unrestricted, and encouraged by media, wherever leftist injustice can gain enough power to make use of it. Marine Le Pen, three times a major candidate for the French presidency, has faced several trials for violating election regulations, and been acquitted of the most serious infraction, “hate speech.” Your personal story, of coming to realize Trump’s unmatched capacity for unifying Americans and restoring what they love about their country, is one we come to identify with, more and more. Reply Brian A. Yapko April 18, 2024 Thank you very much, Margaret. I appreciate your insights and especially your appreciation of my personal story. I wrote the poem this way — detailing my progression from antipathy to grudging respect to outright enthusiasm — because it seemed possible that others who have experienced a dislike for Donald Trump might consider the possibility that they also have committed an injustice to him by shallowly prioritizing personality over principles. I spent 7 years fighting Trump, voting first for Hilary Clinton and then for Joe Biden. I don’t think I can legitimately be called a “cultist” when my movement towards Trump has been this slow, this nuanced and this deeply considered. To have been a Democrat for 45 years and to then be driven from that party towards the Republicans after experiencing too much woke insanity and gaslighting makes me, I believe, as rational a voter as anyone. Perhaps my experience as a lawyer — valuing what people DO rather than what people SAY — has some bearing on this. Is this poem a “love letter?” Hardly. It is more like a written amends and acknowledgement of an injustice that I now recognize. I’m sorry that some of our more liberal readers have not been able to recognize this and think that my views lack either consideration or weight. I’d recommend that such readers look in the mirror and consider the mental doors that they themselves have slammed shut because of absolute certainty in the narrative in which they have invested. I’m a big believer in looking at what fruits fall from the tree and the fact of the matter is: Biden’s presidency has caused nothing but chaos. His fruit has been poison. In contrast, Trump’s presidency nourished this country. It resulted in a safer America, a safer world, and one in which merit and rule of law were valued. I also greatly appreciate what C.B. said above: I look at who Trump’s enemies are and the lengths they are willing to go to block him and that tells me much of what I need to know. Thank you again, Margaret, for giving me a chance to address my reasoning here. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant April 18, 2024 Brian, hats off to you for presenting us with an honest, well-crafted poem that touches upon your personal journey to embracing Trump, warts and all. I particularly like your observation of Trump’s opposition below: They persecute and slander. It’s a war Which they engage in like Third World regimes Where petty potentates, their brute fangs bared, Have their opponents jailed. These lawfare schemes Are meant to keep the masses dumb and scared. You have hit the nail on the head with this. In fact, every subsequent line leading to the powerful closing message sums up this heinous debacle perfectly. Whatever political side one favors, it should be evident that the treatment of Trump is unconscionable. It saddens me that in a supposedly freedom-loving country, a favorable mention of Trump incites ad-hominem and/or physical attacks. Every day we hear of the “danger to our democracy” by the mockingbird media – surely, the demonization and dragging-through-court hysteria when a counterargument is put forward by the opposition spells “banana republic” – do we still have a vote, I ask? Brian, I admire your poetry and your courage. Non illegitimi carborundum! Reply Brian A. Yapko April 19, 2024 Thank you so much, Susan. “Warts and all” is exactly right. But boy is he a fighter. He survives what would crush a lesser man. You really point to something terrifying here: favorable words about Trump are intolerable to the left and yet leftists like to pretend it’s an aberration — a phenomenon which has nothing to do with them or their bankrupt policies. They like to pretend it’s only some “deplorables” in other states who are voting for him, rather than the neighbor across the street, a brother who was the victim of a crime, a Jewish friend who cannot take the antisemitism, a parent who can no longer abide having six-year olds in kindergarten referred to as “zem” and “zey” while being prepared for puberty blockers; a business owner who resents no one arresting the rioters who looted his store; a woman athlete whose 20 years of training have been upended by some man claiming to be a woman — for now — and beating her to the gold medal; another friend who can no longer stand walking down sidewalks buried in human feces, or a neighbor whose cousins were assaulted by illegal aliens. The left needs to come to grips with the fact that normal, sensible, deep-thinking people have come to embrace Trump not out of any great love but because the left’s utter woke insanity has left us no choice if we want to live reasonably normal lives in a reasonably functional society. Thank you for your appreciative comment, Susan. I won’t let the bastards get me down because you and others on SCP have shown me how to be a good soldier. Reply Adam Wasem April 21, 2024 One of the truly great things Trump’s 2016 candidacy did, for me, is help to shatter the last vestiges of my media conditioning. Like you, and probably like most “educated” people in America, I was initially taken aback by his gruffness, bluntness, and willingness to use insults and invective. But I soon realized that was my media brainwashing talking: The overwhelmingly leftist media and academia for well over 50 years had fostered an intellectual climate in America which enforced Marquess of Queensberry rhetorical rules on the right, while with a wink and a nod allowing the left to use every dirty trick in the book to destroy their opponents; at the same time they had been steadily shifting the Overton Window so far to the left that the only political debate allowed was essentially about how quickly or slowly America would be adopting socialism. The seething hatred with which not only the media and academia went after him, but the entire government establishment, for simply making commonsense observations about how the system was completely rigged against the average American, cinched my conviction about how rotten the system was, top to bottom, that it couldn’t be saved, and that the only way to save the Republic was for the federal government to be almost completely dismantled and rebuilt. And Trump was the wrecking ball we needed. Thank you for poetically stating what so many are feeling. Reply Brian A. Yapko April 21, 2024 Thank you, Adam. It seems we’ve had some very similar developments in our thinking regarding Trump as well as the Democrats. I am particularly struck by that “seething hatred” which you describe and which I have now experienced for daring to speak my mind about someone who has grudgingly earned my respect. Coming out of the closet, as it were, has now cost me relationships. I was not so naive as to think that this wouldn’t happen, but it nonetheless hurts to be attacked as thoughtless or shallow when in reality my improbable embrace of Trump has been so many years and arguments in the making. No matter how much my beloved Democratic party (45 years) gaslighted me, I could not imagine making a switch. That is, until October 7th which was the last straw after a big puberty-blocking/defund the police/riot-till-you-get-what-you-want build-up. My decision to become a Republican came hard and painfully. For that reason, I greatly resent the fact that career Democrats cannot and will not consider the possibility that they offer policies which are not “the right side of history” but which are morally bankrupt. This recoiling from self-reflection is why they oversimplify these matters. They cannot grasp that Trump — this man who they hate so much –has been embraced by millions as a direct reaction to the putrescent policies that THEY promoted. It’s not that we don’t see Trump’s problems or that he has us hypnotized into drooling idiocy. It’s that we with open eyes and plenty of academic and military venerability — would rather have a boorish lout with questionable personal habits and exaggerated legal problems as our president than someone as spinelessly evil-appeasing, knee-jerk woke and senile as the present White House occupant. At least we know what we’re getting. The fruit of the tree matters, and in Biden’s case that fruit is poisonous. And in Trump’s case everything was BETTER. As for ad hominem attacks… it is much easier to use derogatory terms for the opposition (e.g. “basket of deplorables”) than to admit that your own party, no matter how many rainbows you paint and how “inclusive” you claim to be, is actually pretty gross. This is the process that I had to go through myself in turning my back on 45 years as a gay Democrat. And, believe me, it was painful. I feel sorry for people who don’t realize how indoctrinated and manipulated they are and will defend their moral bankruptcy and prejudices to the death — because they can’t conceive that they’re anything but great people. That self-delusion is so important to maintain and, frankly, makes me think of Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard” stuck in her fantasy of the legend that she thinks she is even to the point of insanity and homicide. I notice that some people get drunk on their self-righteousness. They willingly live in a confirmation-bias bubble and become nose-blind to its stench. Reply Patricia Allred April 23, 2024 My dear Brian, as one who worked on President Trump’s first campaign, tirelessly,for months, I knew he had to become President or else! The second time around, the Democrats shamelessly stole the election! By a Liar and an Oaf! In this election, I go beyond the animal antics by the fool, maniacal Democrats. The survival of America and Israel hang in the balance. The Muslims aka Palestinians are out to destroy and murder all Israelis.,President Trump would never let that happen, remember the Abraham Accords? Well, New President, Mr. Potatoe-head, destroyed those, his first day in office, Elizabeth Warren now wants Israel accused of genocide? Mr. Potatoe Head allows our country to be threatened by University morons. President Trump would not support such insanity. See him in courts run by maniacal lawyers and clowns, acting as judges! Plus the media zoo and devilish websites! I encourage all poets to contribute, read Truth Social, vote for him, get Newsmax channel. Works on all devices and carries all his rallies plus interviews from Mar-A-Lago.! Free! On cell phones also. And to contribute time and money to the Trump Campaign. Freedom is not free we must fight for it and keep the world free. Or we will end up as 3rd world countries! Your poem was beyond excellent,my friend! My first submission here was the day President Trump left, it was rejected and rightly so! You are so special a poet, Brian Reply Mark Stellinga May 5, 2024 Hi Patricia, I’m a couple-years-SCP-member and am so glad to learn how you feel about President Trump. I couldn’t agree more. And, seeing how DJT so enjoys reciting “The Snake” at rallies, I’m betting big he would genuinely enjoy perusing this set of MY poetic contributions (as IleneRight) to whom, IMO, is unquestionably the GOAT presidents. And, seeing as you, too, appear to be an avid fan of verse, am guessing you would like them as well. I’ve tried to get these to him, but have never been able to confirm that he’s received them?? If you decide that he’d likely appreciate them, and are able to present them to him, please feel free to share them with him & his family. Any show of love and support he gets will help him to win the war of persecution he fights every single day. Here’s a link to that specific page on Truth Social. https://truthsocial.com/@IleneRight Reply Brian A. Yapko April 24, 2024 Thank you so much, Patricia! I appreciate hearing your perspective on these awful events as we watch the demolition of American values in real time. Reply Joshua C. Frank May 5, 2024 Great poem! You’ve said it well, and everyone else has already said most of what I was going to say about it. It seems that democracy has been reduced to “You can vote for anyone you want, as long as it’s the Democratic candidate.” Never mind that conservatism today is just the liberalism of the ’90s at best, today’s liberals can’t stomach such a concept. Reply Brian A. Yapko May 5, 2024 Thank you very much, Josh! You’ve nailed it. Only Democrats are allowed. They would like to see us become a one-party nation. Because they know so much better than the deplorables what’s right for us. How kind of them to protect us from ourselves. And they do it because they’re so nice. Reply Elena October 9, 2024 Great poem! Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Adela April 16, 2024 Bravo Brian! Although I don’t comment on this site anymore, your poetry is one I look for ! You tell the truth and write so eloquently and I admire your integrity. Thank you for sharing your awesome poems and telling it like it is. God bless you always ! Reply
Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Thank you, Adela, for this very generous and warm-hearted comment! I do try and I’m grateful for your appreciation of that. God bless you as well! Reply
Roy Eugene Peterson April 16, 2024 This is a brilliant poem that goes to the heart of what I feel is now happening to Trump. Coming from a successful lawyer, now retired as you are, your words command extra attention such as “lawfare schemes” and “…As star chambers, as courts of kangaroos. The leftists cannot win so they disgrace…” It is outright persecution and misapplication of justice designed by those who intend to sully him. Some of the legal schemes and machinations reach high into the present administration. Conspiracy theory? I doubt it. But that does not matter. What matters is he is facing a barrage of legal suits from the far left designed to bring him down along with those who oppose the left. Your last line is deeply inspired: “They’re raising up a presidential martyr.” Reply
Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Thank you very much indeed, Roy. While every indictment of President Trump has some plausibility at a micro level, when you look at the big picture you can see how systematic these prosecutions are across the board and driven exclusively by Progressives who think they are fighting the good fight by trying to make him disgraced and unelectable. But the statistics make it obvious that this is a witch hunt rather than a series of legitimate prosecutions. It is a cynical leftist pattern of indict, indict, indict and hope something sticks. In a Soros-dominated legal system where criminals are regularly released, given no bail requirement, go unprosecuted completely, where rioting and terror-coddling are rewarded, it is obvious that the Trump prosecutions are vanity projects at best and at worst democracy-threatening, disingenuous lawfare. The leftists are revealing who the vileness of who they are far more than they are scoring points against Trump. How can they not realize this? Reply
Warren Bonham April 16, 2024 I’ll pile on the martyr comment. Creating a martyr is a strange strategy for trying to defeat him. They’re only making him stronger and converting more unlikely allies. Great poem! Reply
Cheryl Corey April 16, 2024 They had two years to bring these cases – none of which would’ve been brought if he wasn’t running again. They waited until now and they’re using lawfare so they can use something, anything, during an election. Now a judge is saying he can’t even attend his son’s graduation! Reply
Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Thank you for reading and commenting, Cheryl. There’s a horrible vindictiveness at play in these prosecutions which speaks volumes about how much the left hates this man. Lawfare is used not only wrongfully but sadistically in an effort to “make him sorry.” Our progressive district attorneys act like 17 year-old bullies. I would have hoped the judges were better but apparently not. Any normal judge without an agenda would have recessed the trial to allow the defendant (who happens to deserve respect as our former president) the ability to see his son graduate. That this judge could not act with even a modicum of decency speaks volumes. Reply
Joseph S. Salemi April 16, 2024 The left-liberals in this country are malignant vipers, and they will do, say, or condone anything to keep themselves in power. Reply
Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Joe, I could not agree more. I never thought I would see such malignancy in my lifetime, and certainly not within the United States of America. Human nature reveals itself to be deeply corrupt no matter how noble the ideals stated as the justification for evil actions. My thoughts often return to the French Revolution and the Bolshevik Revolution in which noble ideas were grossly perverted and terrible purges took place of the innocent and productive. Our present day leftists have that same blood-boiling fervor to destroy without recognizing the monstrous nature of what they have become or weighing what horrors they now think of as acceptable. The “Death to America” chants recently heard in Dearborn, Michigan are horrible enough but to think that many of the left are not only excusing this but chasing after such people as voters is deeply discouraging. Reply
Cynthia Erlandson April 16, 2024 Good one, Brian. “Since no one else can make this country whole,” I’m very glad that he has grown on you. Using Carter to rhyme with martyr was clever. But I can’t help wondering what you might have rhymed with Obama… 🙂 Reply
Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Thank you so much, Cynthia! That “Carter/martyr” rhyme sort of came naturally without my even thinking about it. As for your question… oh so many things: “No llama”, “go comma”, “yo mama” or… here’s one. How about “Osama”? Just saying. Reply
Phil S. Rogers April 16, 2024 Excellent Brian, so many people agree with you now. We need someone a little rough ‘around the edges.’ Reply
TrumpsUrDaddy April 17, 2024 As a fellow attorney, I hope my life experiences, my law practice, my retirement, or whatever graced Brian so wonderfully, renders me as eloquent and honest, and able to take people’s feelings with my words to a depth that Brian Yapko took mine with this poem. Much love from a new fan. Reply
Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Thank you very much indeed, TUD. I appreciate your appreciation and love having a new fan — especially a lawyer! Alas, I fear our moderator may have issues with you posting under a moniker because of SCP rules. If so, let me just say thank you quickly in case your comment disappears! Reply
Cheryl Corey April 17, 2024 I can’t help but put my two cents in – I don’t think monikers should be allowed. They can get weird and wacky, and too overtly political.
Joseph S. Salemi April 17, 2024 I strongly agree with Cheryl. Pseudonyms are childish, and they also allow enemies of the website (we have an awful lot of them, folks!) to come here and undermine what we do. I’ve seen this dire consequence at other websites that tried to maintain a conservative stance, whether in aesthetics or politics. If you let one person use a pseudonym, you have no way to stop anyone else from coming in and causing trouble.
James Sale April 17, 2024 Very true Brian – as an outsider, non-American, observer of your internal politics, there seems to me a completely perverted use of the judicial system, not to mention the systemic corruption of some of these justices, DAs and what-nots. In Britain we love underdogs – so I find myself rooting for Trump despite his manifest failings. What is happening in America now – however things pan out – is going to have the most world-shaking consequences. Thanks for the poem alerting us to some of the issues. Reply
Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Thank you very much, James. I think your observations are spot-on. And yes, what happens will indeed have world-shaking consequences. Heaven help us! Reply
C.B. Anderson April 17, 2024 The Dems & the Deep State hate him because they fear him. They are scared and desperate. I don’t need to love Trump; it’s sufficient to observe who his enemies are. Reply
Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Thank you, C.B.! That’s it exactly. You’ve just articulated in one short sentence precisely what I’ve been trying to say. Reply
Suzanne Peters Tyrpak April 17, 2024 Too bad this poet is part of a cult. Too bad this publication chose to send this to my inbox. Bye Reply
Joseph S. Salemi April 17, 2024 Exactly so, Michael. Maybe she’ll go weeping to her feminist support group. Reply
Michael Vanyukov April 17, 2024 Joseph, Brian, please, how do you get it in your mailbox? Checking the notify boxes doesn’t work. Or is it me. Or is it she? It’s hard to be a proper cult member without notifications :).
Joseph S. Salemi April 17, 2024 It may be that a link to the poem was sent to her mailbox by a third party who had read it, and who wanted her to see it. Or she may be lying so as to cover up the fact that she came here and read it herself.
Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 Michael, to get poetry in your email inbox simply go to the main page of SCP and under the section which sets forth recent comments you’ll see a heading for DAILY POETRY with an option to subscribe by entering your email. That’s how poems get announced each day.
Brian A. Yapko April 17, 2024 I subscribe to the axiom that every time you piss a leftist off another angel gets his wings. Reply
Margaret Coats April 18, 2024 Brian, I am very glad to see this poem, with the use of the term “lawfare,” as numerous legal and procedural attacks bedevil a candidate admirable for his patriotism, whom approximately half of Americans want to vote for, many for the third time. At this point, lawfare has become a major political weapon. It may have begun with Third World tyrannies’ treatment of opponents, but it spreads unrestricted, and encouraged by media, wherever leftist injustice can gain enough power to make use of it. Marine Le Pen, three times a major candidate for the French presidency, has faced several trials for violating election regulations, and been acquitted of the most serious infraction, “hate speech.” Your personal story, of coming to realize Trump’s unmatched capacity for unifying Americans and restoring what they love about their country, is one we come to identify with, more and more. Reply
Brian A. Yapko April 18, 2024 Thank you very much, Margaret. I appreciate your insights and especially your appreciation of my personal story. I wrote the poem this way — detailing my progression from antipathy to grudging respect to outright enthusiasm — because it seemed possible that others who have experienced a dislike for Donald Trump might consider the possibility that they also have committed an injustice to him by shallowly prioritizing personality over principles. I spent 7 years fighting Trump, voting first for Hilary Clinton and then for Joe Biden. I don’t think I can legitimately be called a “cultist” when my movement towards Trump has been this slow, this nuanced and this deeply considered. To have been a Democrat for 45 years and to then be driven from that party towards the Republicans after experiencing too much woke insanity and gaslighting makes me, I believe, as rational a voter as anyone. Perhaps my experience as a lawyer — valuing what people DO rather than what people SAY — has some bearing on this. Is this poem a “love letter?” Hardly. It is more like a written amends and acknowledgement of an injustice that I now recognize. I’m sorry that some of our more liberal readers have not been able to recognize this and think that my views lack either consideration or weight. I’d recommend that such readers look in the mirror and consider the mental doors that they themselves have slammed shut because of absolute certainty in the narrative in which they have invested. I’m a big believer in looking at what fruits fall from the tree and the fact of the matter is: Biden’s presidency has caused nothing but chaos. His fruit has been poison. In contrast, Trump’s presidency nourished this country. It resulted in a safer America, a safer world, and one in which merit and rule of law were valued. I also greatly appreciate what C.B. said above: I look at who Trump’s enemies are and the lengths they are willing to go to block him and that tells me much of what I need to know. Thank you again, Margaret, for giving me a chance to address my reasoning here. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant April 18, 2024 Brian, hats off to you for presenting us with an honest, well-crafted poem that touches upon your personal journey to embracing Trump, warts and all. I particularly like your observation of Trump’s opposition below: They persecute and slander. It’s a war Which they engage in like Third World regimes Where petty potentates, their brute fangs bared, Have their opponents jailed. These lawfare schemes Are meant to keep the masses dumb and scared. You have hit the nail on the head with this. In fact, every subsequent line leading to the powerful closing message sums up this heinous debacle perfectly. Whatever political side one favors, it should be evident that the treatment of Trump is unconscionable. It saddens me that in a supposedly freedom-loving country, a favorable mention of Trump incites ad-hominem and/or physical attacks. Every day we hear of the “danger to our democracy” by the mockingbird media – surely, the demonization and dragging-through-court hysteria when a counterargument is put forward by the opposition spells “banana republic” – do we still have a vote, I ask? Brian, I admire your poetry and your courage. Non illegitimi carborundum! Reply
Brian A. Yapko April 19, 2024 Thank you so much, Susan. “Warts and all” is exactly right. But boy is he a fighter. He survives what would crush a lesser man. You really point to something terrifying here: favorable words about Trump are intolerable to the left and yet leftists like to pretend it’s an aberration — a phenomenon which has nothing to do with them or their bankrupt policies. They like to pretend it’s only some “deplorables” in other states who are voting for him, rather than the neighbor across the street, a brother who was the victim of a crime, a Jewish friend who cannot take the antisemitism, a parent who can no longer abide having six-year olds in kindergarten referred to as “zem” and “zey” while being prepared for puberty blockers; a business owner who resents no one arresting the rioters who looted his store; a woman athlete whose 20 years of training have been upended by some man claiming to be a woman — for now — and beating her to the gold medal; another friend who can no longer stand walking down sidewalks buried in human feces, or a neighbor whose cousins were assaulted by illegal aliens. The left needs to come to grips with the fact that normal, sensible, deep-thinking people have come to embrace Trump not out of any great love but because the left’s utter woke insanity has left us no choice if we want to live reasonably normal lives in a reasonably functional society. Thank you for your appreciative comment, Susan. I won’t let the bastards get me down because you and others on SCP have shown me how to be a good soldier. Reply
Adam Wasem April 21, 2024 One of the truly great things Trump’s 2016 candidacy did, for me, is help to shatter the last vestiges of my media conditioning. Like you, and probably like most “educated” people in America, I was initially taken aback by his gruffness, bluntness, and willingness to use insults and invective. But I soon realized that was my media brainwashing talking: The overwhelmingly leftist media and academia for well over 50 years had fostered an intellectual climate in America which enforced Marquess of Queensberry rhetorical rules on the right, while with a wink and a nod allowing the left to use every dirty trick in the book to destroy their opponents; at the same time they had been steadily shifting the Overton Window so far to the left that the only political debate allowed was essentially about how quickly or slowly America would be adopting socialism. The seething hatred with which not only the media and academia went after him, but the entire government establishment, for simply making commonsense observations about how the system was completely rigged against the average American, cinched my conviction about how rotten the system was, top to bottom, that it couldn’t be saved, and that the only way to save the Republic was for the federal government to be almost completely dismantled and rebuilt. And Trump was the wrecking ball we needed. Thank you for poetically stating what so many are feeling. Reply
Brian A. Yapko April 21, 2024 Thank you, Adam. It seems we’ve had some very similar developments in our thinking regarding Trump as well as the Democrats. I am particularly struck by that “seething hatred” which you describe and which I have now experienced for daring to speak my mind about someone who has grudgingly earned my respect. Coming out of the closet, as it were, has now cost me relationships. I was not so naive as to think that this wouldn’t happen, but it nonetheless hurts to be attacked as thoughtless or shallow when in reality my improbable embrace of Trump has been so many years and arguments in the making. No matter how much my beloved Democratic party (45 years) gaslighted me, I could not imagine making a switch. That is, until October 7th which was the last straw after a big puberty-blocking/defund the police/riot-till-you-get-what-you-want build-up. My decision to become a Republican came hard and painfully. For that reason, I greatly resent the fact that career Democrats cannot and will not consider the possibility that they offer policies which are not “the right side of history” but which are morally bankrupt. This recoiling from self-reflection is why they oversimplify these matters. They cannot grasp that Trump — this man who they hate so much –has been embraced by millions as a direct reaction to the putrescent policies that THEY promoted. It’s not that we don’t see Trump’s problems or that he has us hypnotized into drooling idiocy. It’s that we with open eyes and plenty of academic and military venerability — would rather have a boorish lout with questionable personal habits and exaggerated legal problems as our president than someone as spinelessly evil-appeasing, knee-jerk woke and senile as the present White House occupant. At least we know what we’re getting. The fruit of the tree matters, and in Biden’s case that fruit is poisonous. And in Trump’s case everything was BETTER. As for ad hominem attacks… it is much easier to use derogatory terms for the opposition (e.g. “basket of deplorables”) than to admit that your own party, no matter how many rainbows you paint and how “inclusive” you claim to be, is actually pretty gross. This is the process that I had to go through myself in turning my back on 45 years as a gay Democrat. And, believe me, it was painful. I feel sorry for people who don’t realize how indoctrinated and manipulated they are and will defend their moral bankruptcy and prejudices to the death — because they can’t conceive that they’re anything but great people. That self-delusion is so important to maintain and, frankly, makes me think of Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard” stuck in her fantasy of the legend that she thinks she is even to the point of insanity and homicide. I notice that some people get drunk on their self-righteousness. They willingly live in a confirmation-bias bubble and become nose-blind to its stench. Reply
Patricia Allred April 23, 2024 My dear Brian, as one who worked on President Trump’s first campaign, tirelessly,for months, I knew he had to become President or else! The second time around, the Democrats shamelessly stole the election! By a Liar and an Oaf! In this election, I go beyond the animal antics by the fool, maniacal Democrats. The survival of America and Israel hang in the balance. The Muslims aka Palestinians are out to destroy and murder all Israelis.,President Trump would never let that happen, remember the Abraham Accords? Well, New President, Mr. Potatoe-head, destroyed those, his first day in office, Elizabeth Warren now wants Israel accused of genocide? Mr. Potatoe Head allows our country to be threatened by University morons. President Trump would not support such insanity. See him in courts run by maniacal lawyers and clowns, acting as judges! Plus the media zoo and devilish websites! I encourage all poets to contribute, read Truth Social, vote for him, get Newsmax channel. Works on all devices and carries all his rallies plus interviews from Mar-A-Lago.! Free! On cell phones also. And to contribute time and money to the Trump Campaign. Freedom is not free we must fight for it and keep the world free. Or we will end up as 3rd world countries! Your poem was beyond excellent,my friend! My first submission here was the day President Trump left, it was rejected and rightly so! You are so special a poet, Brian Reply
Mark Stellinga May 5, 2024 Hi Patricia, I’m a couple-years-SCP-member and am so glad to learn how you feel about President Trump. I couldn’t agree more. And, seeing how DJT so enjoys reciting “The Snake” at rallies, I’m betting big he would genuinely enjoy perusing this set of MY poetic contributions (as IleneRight) to whom, IMO, is unquestionably the GOAT presidents. And, seeing as you, too, appear to be an avid fan of verse, am guessing you would like them as well. I’ve tried to get these to him, but have never been able to confirm that he’s received them?? If you decide that he’d likely appreciate them, and are able to present them to him, please feel free to share them with him & his family. Any show of love and support he gets will help him to win the war of persecution he fights every single day. Here’s a link to that specific page on Truth Social. https://truthsocial.com/@IleneRight Reply
Brian A. Yapko April 24, 2024 Thank you so much, Patricia! I appreciate hearing your perspective on these awful events as we watch the demolition of American values in real time. Reply
Joshua C. Frank May 5, 2024 Great poem! You’ve said it well, and everyone else has already said most of what I was going to say about it. It seems that democracy has been reduced to “You can vote for anyone you want, as long as it’s the Democratic candidate.” Never mind that conservatism today is just the liberalism of the ’90s at best, today’s liberals can’t stomach such a concept. Reply
Brian A. Yapko May 5, 2024 Thank you very much, Josh! You’ve nailed it. Only Democrats are allowed. They would like to see us become a one-party nation. Because they know so much better than the deplorables what’s right for us. How kind of them to protect us from ourselves. And they do it because they’re so nice. Reply