Spinal Tap!
The Back Story of a Crippling Disease
When the article describing moral fibrosis,
(including the protocol for diagnosis)
appeared in the pages
and under the aegis
of the New England Journal of Medicine a century ago,
who knew? who could possibly know
that the disease would wait latently
to break out blatantly
thanks to the appetite of a pudgy man
with golden locks and a wrap-around grin
who took extraction lessons from a vampire named Vlad,*
but, eschewing the traditional sucking of blood,
chose a diet of moral fiber instead,
which leaves the victim still kicking but essentially dead,
(as described by James Comey in his recent op ed).**
*Vlad, Vladi, and Vovaare all nicknames for Vladimir, as in Putin.Vlad III Dracula, known as Vlad the Impaler, was a fifteenth-century ruler of Wallachia, whose dynastic name and reputation for cruelty served as the basis for the bloodsucking protagonist of Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula.
** “Accomplished people lacking inner strength can’t resist the compromises necessary to survive Mr. Trump …. Mr. Trump eats your soul in small bites.” Comey op-ed, How Trump Co-opts Leaders Like Bill Barr, May 1, 2019, New York Times