Plague Warning

(To the tune of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now".)

Reps were known to pinch a cent.
A balanced budget? Heaven sent!
Corruption -- they'd eschew the scent.
They stood for something then.
But that was ere their Satan Newt
Tempted them with his power flute,
And now they only lust for loot:
Hot air-pumped hollow men.
It is no more the old "Stand pat!"
Now neocon and theocrat
Slink in the seat where Lincoln sat.
Republicans have fallen flat.

Dems once stood for civil rights.
Their R.E.A. turned on the lights.
Their pensions eased our elder's nights.
They tried to help the least.
But now consultants make them quake,
And wealthy pollsters their nerves shake.
No longer brave, they try to fake
More anger than the Beast.
Opposing war would terrify
Contributors, so they don't try
To fight for peace, or call the lie --
The Democrats gave Bush a bye.

Parties were to mediate
Between the public and the state
And help us to control our fate --
At least that's what they claimed.
But now they mostly help themselves.
Our freedom they put on the shelves.
They act like greedy evil elves.
Their leaders are Teh Lame.
Though it is true that one is worse,
The beltway has both in its curse.
The rush to empire they rehearse.
The Constitution? Bring the hearse.

(Cross-posted to American Street.)