Tuesday 27 March 2018


Lap Dog Kelly


by Kathleen Murphey


General Kelly,
What has become of your honor and your oath to country,
when you’re playing lap dog to a fraud?
You’re showing a yellow belly
when you take up the lying habits of your boss;
soldier of grace to mouthpiece of disgrace.

Do you attack and lie about Representative Wilson
because she’s Black woman of power defending
a Black widow—consciously stoking the flames of
racial tension that your boss continues to flame
by his contradictory remarks in Charlottesville and
his inept response to Maria in Puerto Rico?

You cover for a man like Rob Porter who you call
“a man of true integrity and honor” despite knowing
the FBI was investigating him for domestic abuse—
disgracing any claim you have to either of those qualities
and adding to your own disgrace and reputation for the
trivialization of women from Myeshia Johnson
to Colbie Holderness and Jennifer Willoughby.
Does it really take a photograph of Holderness’
battered face to make you take domestic abuse claims seriously?
Or more likely, does the photograph become evidence
you and public can’t ignore, forcing your hand and making
the necessity of Porter gone in “40 minutes”?

Shame on you, General Kelly,
Coach Gregg Popovich said it best:
“We have a pathological liar in the White House: unfit
intellectually, emotionally and psychologically to hold this office
and the whole world knows it, especially those around him every day.
The people who work with this President should be ashamed because
they know it better than anyone just how unfit he is, and yet they
choose to do nothing about it. This is their shame the most of all.”

Lap dog Kelly, your reputation as yellow as your belly,
your honor just a bunch of jelly,
shame on you, General Kelly.


* * * * *

Kathleen Murphey is an associate professor of English at Community College of Philadelphia.  Recently, she has been writing fiction (both short stories and poetry) on women’s and social justice issues.  To learn more about her work, see www.kathleenmurphey.com






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