“Small Stick”

America became a people who
Preferred the boastful word before the deed;
It is not what our ancestors would do,
Even as rash acts from rash words proceed.

“The fire and the fury,” “shock and awe,”
It liked erratic show of force instead
Of measured, well-considered rule of law,
Tough talk though words unprincipled were said.

Only Obama understood restraint;
The opposition party made great show
But tacitly conceded every feint,
And went the way undisciplined ranks must go.

Or rather, party discipline was aimed
To side distractions, not the major thing,
To momentary tactics, truth defamed,
Integrity abandoned on the wing.