The 2016 Election: Not One Senator Stood

I wrote this poem to express my outrage at what happened at a key juncture in the official 2016 election process.  

There is a moment when it is the job of the Congress to either certify (confirm) that the election was done 100% fairly ... or step back to evaluate if it had process issues. 

This step was put into the process to help ensure fair elections.

At this stage in January 2017, for the November 2016 election, there was notable evidence for concern about issues in the election process ... enough to warrant a pause to consider them .. for the Congress not to just a rubber stamp the results.

A number of U.S. Representatives called for this pause. But we needed a Senator too. And none stepped forward. This is my experience of this and what it meant.


Not One Senator Stood
By Patricia Dines
January 8, 2017

Not one Senator stood
When the world hung in balance
And the cruel legislators drooled
At the tasty snack of our democracy
And the vain figurehead fool
Strutted, doing just as the
Puppetmasters directed
Thinking it proved him king

The citizens in the know watched,
Hoping that finally this last system failsafe
Would hold --
This opportunity to challenge the
Certification of the vote,
This mechanism to protect us
From the vandals banging on the door --
Hoping that finally those we trusted

To serve our country
Would stand up and speak out
Against the stolen election
Even if just to say, "No, a wrong has occurred"
At this critical moment
So that at least it would
Become part of the tale.

We cheered to see a sequence of
Brave Representatives
Speak out
But we needed one of each
And not one Senator stood to back the play
They all consented to the travesty
With their silence

Acting as if the election had been fair
Leaving us hanging in the wind
Vulnerable to the onslaught --
Even though the intelligence community agreed
That Russia had interfered --
Even though 50 Republican electors were deep insiders
Instead of offering the required separation --
Even though so many votes lay uncounted,
 
Votes of the people in key swing states,
Many more votes than the slim margin
That gave the Abuser in Chief his
Electoral votes
That overrode the popular vote.
But the recounts
Weren’t allowed to proceed 
At the new dictator's behest

Why not insist on at least
Finishing the count
Letting each vote be heard
Giving democracy a chance?

Instead, we all watched the Senators
Fail to protect us
As we heard the banging at the door,
And knew that soon the door would collapse,
And the pirates would get the power to
Decimate our democracy
For their greed and corporate sponsors,
And we would be left trying to defend ourselves
As a minority
Against those without ethics or concern
For any of us.

We had to watch
Those we sent to protect us
Do nothing
And let the pirates
In.

 
For more information on this topic, see:
https://www.thenation.com/article/courageous-house-progressives-raise-justice-and-fairness-objections-to-certifying-trump



I first published this on Facebook, on Jan. 8, 2017

Blog content (c) Copyright Patricia Dines, 2017 - 2019. All rights reserved. Links are encouraged! My content is also available for reprint. Please don't copy and paste this content without permission. Thanks!

• • •

I hope you enjoyed this piece and I welcome your thoughts. Tell me what you like about it, or any other constructive thoughts you want to share. Thanks!