Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
  • omnibus

Waiting for a Schmo: Theater of the Absurd!
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
19 Jan 2022
Waiting for a Schmo: Theater of the Absurd!
Waiting for a Schmo: Theater of the Absurd!

Waiting for a Schmo:

Theater of the Absurd!

Waiting for a Schmo
Munchkin—or the other—
is Theater of the Absurd!
Myth of Boer swineherd
of coal, gas, oilbird…Absurd!
Who’s Afraid of West Virginia
Wolf in a Brooks Brothers suit
thickening a thin plot: Millions dying?

Two tramps, frontmen for fossil fools and warlords of Wall Street—
Pentagon pimps—stand center stage projecting corporate power.
The two Lilliputian politicians gesticulate wildly as they move stage Right
for months. Ambient sounds include shareholders oinking gleefully.

One protagonist is Ike, the other Mike.One's good cop, the other
bad. One’s forceful, the other deceptive… They continue babbling
in corporate counterpoint. Their bizarre, disconnected dialogue makes
Absolutely no sense to you! You can’t understand a damn thing they’re
saying— or doing… You see strings from their shoulders orchestrating
stage business— Invisible hands of the market are up their asses making
their mouths move! But, you suspend disbelief every two to four years…

More months moving stage right, blabbering bellicose phrases, farting
cellophane threats at no one in particular… You’ve paid hard-earned money
subscribing to schlock! Your high threshold for pain and terrible theater can
only go so far with dismal dialogue:

“Buzzword” “Platitude” “Buzzword” “High fructose corn syrup slogan” “Build back better”
“…get something done…” “Voting rights” “I cannot support…” “working across the aisle”
“…get something done…” “I cannot support…” “60 vote threshold” “Filibuster” “bipartisan buy
in” “…get something done” “freeze Afghan assets” “bipartisan buy-in” “sanction Iran” “masks”
“tests” “masks” “tests” “too expensive” “I cannot support…” “…get something done” “60 vote
threshold” “bipartisan buy-in” “paid sick leave” “medicare for all” “how will we pay for
it?!” “build back better” “dagger at the throat of our democracy” “how will we pay for
it?!”“$768 billion for war” “NATO” “Guantanamo” “Juan Guaidó” “bipartisan buy-in” begging
the question: When will we storm the stage, slinging shoes and shouting “STOP the
performance!!”??

© 2022. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Political Duopoly

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles. Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Reagan’s “Shining City on a Hill” Was Really a Mirage
Dr.Wilmer J. Leon, III
Reagan’s “Shining City on a Hill” Was Really a Mirage
26 January 2022
It is best to be wary when American politicians create expressions like "shining city on a hill." One of Reagan's signature phrases has been re
Democrats and Trading People for Political Power
Daniel Melo
Democrats and Trading People for Political Power
26 January 2022
Electoral politics in this country is a cover for oligarchic rule.

More Stories


  • Hanna Eid
    Mariategui and American Labor
    02 Jul 2025
    Capitalism’s accelerating crises demand a pan-American labor revolt against Trump’s plundering, bipartisan imperialism, and the neoliberal NAFTA. José Carlos Mariátegui’s century-old warnings are…
  • Essam Elkorghli , Matteo Capasso
    Fabricating Enemies in Times of Decline: NATO 2025 Summit
    02 Jul 2025
    The 2025 NATO summit exposed a dying empire escalating wars and austerity to hide its collapse while backing genocide in Gaza and illegal attacks worldwide.
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Did New Yorkers say, No Mo Cuomo; No Mo Turkey Trot with Papa Cop?
    02 Jul 2025
    "Did New Yorkers say, No Mo Cuomo; No Mo Turkey Trot with Papa Cop?" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    The Terrible Origins of July 4th
    02 Jul 2025
    The causes of the July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence are rarely taught in this country. The American colonists chafed under British rules limiting their settlements and feared they would end…
  • Adam Mahoney
    From Watts to D.C.: How 500 Black Neighborhoods Vanished in 45 Years
    02 Jul 2025
    America’s gentrified neighborhoods have lost 500,000 Black people, while gaining residents of every other race, a study finds.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us