Barack Obama, who saved us
from the goatherders of Yemen,
who saved us from 6-year-old girls
playing in the alleys of Kandahar
George Bush II, who saved us
from the wedding parties of Afghanistan,
who saved us from boys gathering firewood
along the road in Iraq, and don’t forget
Saddam Hussein’s toy airplane
Bill Lewinsky, who saved us
from the bastard offspring of David Koresh,
who saved us from the aspirin factories of Sudan,
saved us from the last gasp of socialism in Europe,
who saved us from respect for the Oral Office
George Bush I, who saved us
from the slumdwellers of Panama,
who saved us from the starving tribes of Somalia
Ronald Reagan, who saved us
from the health clinics of Nicaragua,
who saved us from the peasants of El Salvador,
saved us from the palm trees of Granada
Jimmy Carter, who saved us
from normal relations with Iran,
who saved us from his brother Billy
Gerald Ford, who saved us
from self-determination in East Timor,
who saved us from a second term in office
Richard Nixon, who saved us
from the water buffalo of Cambodia,
who saved us from the forgotten valleys of Laos,
saved us from the will of the people in Chile
Lyndon Johnson, who saved us
from the flip-flopped warriors of Vietnam,
who saved us from Ho Chi Minh’s admiration
for the 1776 American Declaration of Independence
John Kennedy, who saved us
from killing Cuba with kindness,
who saved us from the illiterate machetes
of her sugarcane harvesters
Dwight Eisenhower, who saved us
from the banana pickers of Guatemala,
who saved us from western-style democracy in Iran
Harry Truman, who saved us
from the women and children of Hiroshima,
who saved us from peace in Europe
after the war was over