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

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

Why Democrats Don't Win The Way They Should
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Why Democrats Don't Win The Way They Should
09 November 2022
The people prefer the initiatives which democrtatic party leadership claim to support.
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


  • Anthony Rogers-Wright
    Preserving the Legacy of Martin Luther King and The Black Radical Tradition Requires Saving Both from the Congressional Black Caucus More than from white moderates and white supremacists (Or, I said what I said)
    21 Jan 2026
    Preserving the Black Radical Tradition demands struggle not only against white supremacists, but also against the co-opted Black political class who actively support the very evils Dr. King named.
  • Mark P. Fancher
    A Role for Africans In Exile: “Revolutionaries at Large”
    21 Jan 2026
    Africans in the U.S. must weaponize their position and sabotage imperial projects from the inside. Black revolutionaries must modify traditional strategy.
  • Jamal Abdulahi
    Saudi Arabia Asserts Dominant Role in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea 
    21 Jan 2026
    Israel's recognition of a breakaway region in Somalia has redrawn the map of the Horn of Africa, pitting two oil-rich Gulf powers against each other and forcing the U.S. to delay its imperial plans…
  • Monique Welch-Rutherford
    This Texas County Is the Deadliest Place in the U.S. for Black Mothers to Give Birth
    21 Jan 2026
    Harris County, home to a world-renowned medical center, holds the worst maternal death rate for Black women in the entire nation. This staggering statistic represents a systemic failure that subjects…
  • x
    Orinoco Tribune
    Venezuela Rejects CIA Award Rumors While President Maduro’s Son Sparks Backlash Over Comments Suggesting to Resume Diplomatic Ties with ‘Israel’
    21 Jan 2026
    Venezuela's official stance remains one of principled anti-imperialism. Internal discussions reflect the complex realities of navigating a crisis.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us