These charlatans, these successors of those
Who looked so right in suits, and assured us
That all would be well, that we were, in fact,
Moving quite briskly toward our ultimate
Destinations:  wealth and democracy, order
And peace, and everyone equally, well, you
Know, equal, no longer convince.  They don't
Even try.  They point fingers at others.  They
Sneer and accuse.  “We have stopped moving
Forward.  We need to go back,” and, in so
Doing, lead us to doubt that their forebears
Were actually noble.  The stories come out,
And we find that our democrats subsidized
Tyrants.  Our egalitarians rifled the till,
And none of them much liked the thought
Of equality.  Petty and shitty, and baldly
Dishonest, the icons of postwar prosperity
Crumble, while those who've replaced them
Inspire disgust, but they're ours, aren't they?
We shout and clap when they speak,
Which suggests that they're worthy of us.