John Lewis (1940-2020)
His exemplary life
Was dedicated to civil rights.
The right to vote is elemental
And his actions were fundamental.
But the Republicans are in the midst of nefarious and cynical attack
To fundamentally turn the republic back
By systematically attacking the voting process it seems
With a sophisticated vote purging scheme
Roberts like his mentor Rehnquist when alive
Hated the voting rights act of 1965
Roberts in Holder v. Shelby County
Put on voting a terrible bounty
Voting Rights issues he lied were a thing of the past
And hence title IV was unconstitutional
But absent IV, Title V requiring prior change authorization.
Became unnecessary operation
And within a short time thirty states
Had passed laws legalizing hate
Running the gamut from A-Z
Most onerous–picture IDs.
And we see Republicans using every mean trick in the book
Reducing polling places where anyone taking a look
Could see monstrous lines in black and brown areas
With white folk breezing through like a wisp of air.
Voter cross check and purging voting lists
Aided by the Supreme Court which made it legit
Palast documents 17 million voters disappeared from the rolls
Who will be shocked to learn when they show up at the polls
So the election may already be won for Trump
Thanks to this cynical electoral roll dump
Trump has insufficient white voters to win
But has no compunction about cheating again
John Lewis stood, struggled and bled with all his might
For a fundamental and elemental democratic right
Trump and the Republicans are a total disgrace
And should not be considered members of the same human race.
Howard P. Charman, MD 7-18-2020