January 1st 2024 to January 1st 2025

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Here a win, there a loss,

History seemed to be repeating

As we stumbled closer to chaos.

We started off with a bang,

Navy Helos gunned some pirates,

Got to wonder ‘bout the Houthis

Seem to be tempting the fates.

But tragedy in east Asia,

A horror for beast or man,

Buildings shook and fell,

As the earth rumbled in Japan.

Jeffrey Epstein back in the news,

Took a bunch of A-Listers on a wild ride,

But Jeffrey is no longer with us,

I’m sure it was just suicide…

Then we conducted strikes into Yemen,

Navy raids led by the Air Force

No wonder things are all messed up,

The Joint world, of course, of course.

Some cases were thrown out of court,

And Trump was fined a bunch,

It will all be overturned on appeal,

At least I have a hunch.

And of course there was the border,

2.5 million folks were able

To cross the border illegally,

Maybe they just want better cable.

But there’s no reason for worry,

We’ve been told it’s all under control,

The White House knows what they’re doing,

On November 5th we’ll take a poll.

No budget from Congress and the White House,

Still looking for a solution,

I have a little suggestion,

Try reading the Constitution.

We learned we should safeguard secrets,

As officers we tried to avoid debt,

And properly handle certain material,

You know, don’t store it in a Corvette.

And still the wars do grind on,

And another seems to be brewing,

But I’m sure it’ll be okay,

The Adults know what they’re doing!

We must send more guns east,

The Ukrainians must restore order!

The White House is not to sure about Rafah,

And not a penny for our border.

Got to hand it to the New York judges,

Always so calm and self composed,

But maybe they misread the Rules,

Excessive fines Shall Be imposed?

In the trenches Avdiivka fell,

That poor country taking a beating,

The Russians grinding forward,

The Ukrainians were retreating.

McConnell – finally decided,

He would just retire,

But will serve out his term,

Presuming he doesn’t expire…

Haley came and Haley went,

Gone in the night – like a bump,

And all that was left after she was gone

Was a smiling Donald Trump.

Some very dear friends passed away,

There is no humor in there,

But we were truly better for knowing them,

From those left behind: we offer a prayer.

Now build a port in Gaza,

For a poorly defined vision,

Election year politics

Driving a shaky military mission.

So off go some grunts and sailors,

And I’ll bet you a fiver,

They’ll get it done despite Washington,

And that five thousand mile screw-driver.

And now Ukraine attacks Russian refineries,

The war takes on another dimension,

Rumor says the administration now wanted peace,

Lest oil prices affect the election.

And then a terror attack in Moscow,

We can’t get any more on the plate…

Oh, wait, that just ain’t true.

Not when so many seemed ruled by hate.

A tragic accident in Baltimore

As the ship Dali set sail,

Six poor souls lost, and billions gone,

No sea and anchor detail?

Down in sunny Ecuador

Things took a turn quite dramatic,

But Mexico wasn’t amused,

Thought it was quite undiplomatic.

Some astronomical events of note,

An eclipse and a Green Comet,

A nice diversion from things political,

Those things that make me want to vomit.

The sky grew dark, the world was quiet,

Just what might it portend?

Not much at all, just simple physics,

Thank God, the world did not end!

Still the wars go on and on,

Still no end in sight,

Lots of chances for folks to protest,

So sad they didn’t get it right.

Ivy League was leading again,

In praise of butchery and Hamas,

And some of the professors also spoke,

Jackass after jackass after jackass.

And then the boys in the West Wing,

Each a foolish political ham,

Thought they’d punish Netanyahu,

And not give him any JDAM.

Of course the people that really hurts,

The Gazan’s already living in debris,

Without the use of JDAM

Say good-by to decent CEP.

In New York arises a new Solon,

Who appears to take the greatest delights

Not in upholding the law,

But in denying the accused his rights.

And a new attack near Kharkiv,

Violence continues unalloyed,

But there is no stopping this war

As a country is destroyed.

Iran had to get a new president,

A new foreign minister also at hand,

Thing about helicopters

In bad weather you can simply land…

A lunatic verdict and a power hungry judge,

How will this all end?

Are there any judges left

With the moral courage not to bend.

Maybe it’s just another sign of Global Warming,

Those charges had to stick,

A Kangaroo court in Manhattan,

New York is now a Banana Republic.

And now that pier has gone away,

Another brilliant idea from some civilian,

But it’s really not a big deal,

Didn’t even cost a billion.

But Osprey – there’s a tale,

A good idea on paper,

A helicopter and an airplane,

“Good ideas” are often vapor.

Started flying 35 years ago,

In the fleet since Oh Seven,

But for too many folks,

It’s been a ticket to heaven.

They called it a real debate,

I’m not sure that’s fair,

A real old guy sort of looked a fool,

And for my country I despair…

In Bolivia General Zuniga thought

That he had a much better plan,

Things didn’t quite work out,

It was over almost as soon as it began.

And the country turned 248,

Still an awful lot of good get’s done,

I suppose we could be much better,

If we could just get rid of Washington…

And one July day in western PA,

A shot was taken, an ear was nicked,

One good man died, one cretin as well,

What happened next was hard to predict.

A surge in the polls, a president bows out,

One party in disarray,

Conspiracy theories bloom in an instant,

So close, but no civil war we pray.

And now the VEEP is the anointed one,

Oh, My, how the money flows!

She did such a great job with the border,

So it makes sense, I suppose…

And a few more evil Hamas leaders

Appear to have met their fates,

I’m pretty sure it’s not a martyr’s paradise

That for them awaits…

And the Man from Minnesota

Proud as a peacock, I’ll wager,

Brought up into the Big Show

But was he really a Sergeant Major?

And Ukrainians invading Russia,

Near Kursk, in German tanks,

Last time that didn’t end so well,

I think I’d say “No, thanks.”

But for a time they did okay,

Just so long as Vlad ain’t lost his head,

And pulls out the really big guns,

And then we might all be dead…

And Z-Man still wants big rockets,

Wants to blow up Russian stuff,

Convinced that if he does so,

Russian people will say “Enough!.”

Of course, there is another view point,

One that in history is often missed,

When you drop bombs on people,

They often end up pissed.

From Terence Mann to Darth Vader,

Sergeant Major Nelson in Garden of Stones,

He entertained us for 60 years,

Farewell and thanks, Mr. Jones.

Meanwhile in the Mid East,

The Israelis used a tactic few would wager,

Reached out and touched Hezballah,

Terror from a trusty pager.

And on the campaign trail,

Folks trying to ignore what the VP sez,

It all seems so insipid, and besides,

Seems we already had a woman Prez.

The President had a cabinet meeting,

But it was Constitutionally quite unguided,

The President was absent,

And Dr. Jill presided.

In Lebanon the IDF took action,

But there was little need for surgeons,

Just a bunch of Hezballah dudes

Sent off to look for virgins.

Back home in the south-east,

A nasty change in weather,

Helene and Milton stormed in,

Two hurricanes made us work together.

Not that everyone got it quite right,

Some folks in DC must have overslept,

State and local folks working hard,

But FEMA stutter-stepped.

And months later down in Appalachia,

Some bad decisions, help delayed,

Lots of folks still hurting,

Lots of folks still need some aid.

And back in Iran the mullahs

Just incurred some new expenses,

After the Israelis broke

A major slice of their air defenses.

And then along comes November,

No one thought that he could win,

Harris was gonna’ take it,

The same ole’ crowd agin…

But then something surprising happened,

A trifecta was the Trump show,

Taking both the House and Senate,

Where did those 18 million go?

Things look to be exciting,

In the coming year,

Lots of new folks in,

DEI out on its ear.

Meanwhile the wars don’t really stop,

Joe B took off the last restraint,

Vlad answered with a big missile,

De-escalation this ain’t.

But Orange man has harrumphed,

And in less than one night,

Mexico and Canada

Seem to have seen his light…

And now a ceasefire in Lebanon,

Come the sun and the rain,

And Assad is looking shaky,

And maybe peace talks in Ukraine?

Assad was looking shaky,

But then the end finally came,

In a flash he was gone,

As they reopened Notre Dame!

And off the coast of New Jersey

And a bunch of other places, too,

Drones appeared in the sky,

But Kirby said “Nothing New!”

The Old Admiral said it was nothing,

But he couldn’t say what it was,

Is he just incompetent?

Or he doesn’t trust us with the buzz?

Really quite annoying

Really more than simple fuss,

All these jackasses keep forgetting,

In the end they work for us…

And the BLS gave us some numbers,

Which from the people they did pull,

They really did look pretty,

But turned out to be pure bull.

Never mind what the numbers say,

Even though the budget is written in vermillion,

Employment is looking simply grand,

Well… give or take a million…

But Joe B is still in the seat,

And some court decisions will be ignored,

As he wields his pen and demonstrates

It’s mightier than the sword.

Lots of folks got pardons,

And everyone said it was such a surprise,

He pardoned his son Hunter,

Who really thought otherwise?

But now we finally have a President

After a seeming four year vacancy.

He hasn’t yet been sworn in,

But he’s awake as we all can see.

He’s awake and doing things,

A bunch of stuff that just makes good sense,

But the stupidity that awaits… Geeez!

It really is immense.

And what about them Russkies,

Lost 4 ships in just two weeks,

I think they need to take a look

At all their maintenance techniques.

And as for good old Naval Aviation,

We all know it’s always been risky,

But I didn’t think you’re supposed to worry

About being shot down by Alpha Whiskey.

So here’s another Christmas

Truly a reason to celebrate,

Despite all that has gone wrong,

Truly our blessings are great.

And in Korea a horrible bird strike,

179 souls Dear Lord forgive,

They arrived too soon at heaven’s gate,

Tis a miracle that two lived.

Mr Carter was no one’s favorite president,

Not even in the Hood,

But with Habitat for Humanity

He did some real good.

Rest in peace, President Carter,

We’ll speak no ill of the dead,

But you were an humanitarian,

So we’ll thank you for that instead.

And so we welcome a New Year,

And a New President and Congress to boot,

Let’s pray they do what’s right for our country,

‘Tis the same flag that we all salute.

But they’re bringing in some new blood,

Things will probably get exciting,

They will try to shake things up a lot,

The Deep State may go down fighting.

And we still have wars in Ukraine,

The Mid East and Burma – and Africa, too,

And a bunch of feckless governments,

Who don’t know what to do.

So everyone fasten your seat belts,

It’s gonna be another bumpy ride,

The Donald’s gonna make us great again,
With Vivek and Elon by his side.

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