Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Coda of Conduct

The term "Hobby Lobbying"
has always existed

for various organizations
existing at all intersections
of the political
and monetary spectrum

trying to curry favor

for their worthy or "look-how-worthy-
this-expensive-B-roll-

of-shiny-happy-
people-blithely-engaging-with-our-company-
makes-us-look-"

goals

but only recently
has it become

a proper noun
that is properly capitalized
when written.

Since February 2013
Nebraska-based Judge
Richard Kopf

has kept a notable
"Hercules and the Umpire" blog
where he relays his adventures
in federal trial-judging.

He scolded the five Catholic male
Republican-appointed
Supreme Court Justices
for undermining Obamacare

when they in his words
ruled that a "huge corporation
with thousands of employees

and gargantuan revenues
was a 'person'."

He went on to recommend
an indefinite silence
or "quiescent" period

then added

"As the kids say
it is time for the Court
to STFU"

(Shut The Eff Up
for non-Millennials)

even providing a helpful link
to Urban Dictionary.

After receiving a note
from a respected lawyer

decrying his foul language
he is
(at least temporarily)
following his own recommendation.

Those who support
free and uninhibited speech

for all public officials
giving truth to power

should start a campaign
politely asking Kopf
to "un-STFU" himself.

This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.