burst after burst
of muzzle flashes
lighting up our night ...
between neighbors and in hearts
the peace is crackled
FYI: My tanka below could be read as its sequel:
another
gun control debate
in the spotlight
the back-and-forth flow
of black-and-white monologues
Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LV
a ball of flames
as helicopters zoom, zooming
over Chicago ...
in the meme, Trump boasts
I love the smell of deportations
Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LVI:
inspired by the F.C.C. chair, Brendan Carr's warning against Jimmy Kimmel Live: "We can do this the easy way or the hard way"
Donald Trump Live
suspended over MAGA chants ...
awake at dawn
I muse, it's easy to start
a revolution from bed
FYI: The F.C.C. chair, Brendan Carr, appeared on a MAGA podcast and warned ABC’s parent company, Disney, ‘We can do this the easy way or the hard way.’ Later, after the suspension of Kimmel’s show was announced, Carr went on Fox News, and said, ‘I’m very glad to see that America’s broadcasters are standing up for the interests of their community.’ ” -- The New Yorker Newsletter, September 17
And The Nation Magazine, September 18, 2025: Jimmy Kimmel’s Bosses Sold Us All Out
The mainstream media is complicit in the biggest attack on free speech since the McCarthy era. Kimmel’s suspension is just the latest proof.
Trump, like all would-be authoritarians, has a thin skin and no ability to laugh at himself. As a former reality-show star, he remains excessively obsessed with TV shows and ratings, seeing celebrities as rivals to be brought down.
Trump chortled at Colbert’s firing and wrote, “Next up will be an even less talented Jimmy Kimmel and then, a weak, and very insecure, Jimmy Fallon.”
The political economy of the new authoritarianism is clear: In an increasingly plutocratic America, where a handful of corporations control most of the media, an authoritarian president such as Trump can easily destroy free speech. The corporate weasels (and other elite institutions) are calculating that Trump has the immediate power to hurt them, and that they won’t suffer any penalty for surrendering to Trump if/when Democrats are back in power.
As scary as Trump’s attack on free speech is, the real danger is not the president but an opposition that refuses the courage this moment requires.
Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LVII
in dim light
staring at the TV talk show
Donald Trump holds
a remote control with buttons:
Power, Pause, Mute, Sack, Deport
Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LVIII
the footfalls
of MAGA intruders
stir clouds of dust ...
the Wall of Free Speech in twilight
sentineled with talk show hosts
Added:
bomb shelter
rock, paper, scissors growing
loud and louder
Added:
closed doors
along the nursing home hallway
gathering dark
Added:
her son's gone to war
these pencil marks
on the door frame
Added:
school bus ride
a small handprint fills
with sunlight
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