Politics and Poetry 3: Rant and Rave

For those of you who know me, I have an opinion on everything. From politics to spreading peanut butter, it is rare that you find a topic I don't have a comment on deck for.
That being said, I have learned to pick my fights over the years. Believe it or not, I was once an arrogant, far left, borderline extremist who didn't wear shoes, thought all Republicans were evil and all Southerners racist bigots.
From that time, I grew up, put on shoes and moved center ; moved forwards and realized that this country isn't going to fix itself from the see-saw extremes of right or left. It has to be balanced and progressive (no, not the party). From a center stand, you can survey both sides and move with a decision that reflects the best of a nation, not an ideology.
Today, while perusing the internet in search of topics for this post, I grew irritated and depressed. It happens now and then, never to my surprise but always to my disappointment. The political pages of this digital expanse were plastered with nothing more than left/right rubric, the exasperating back and forth of extremes: birthers, racists, and anti-mormons, oh my. Useless and petty commentary that had about as much to do with election issues as what I ate for breakfast.
I noticed another open tab, almost pulsating with disgust, a number which I used in another article I recently wrote: 82,000. That's how many people are homeless on any given night in Los Angeles, just Los Angeles.
Now that, is an issue.
I don't give a rats ass who Romney prays to. I don't give a damn who Obama used to pray with. I'm not electing a god or a priest. I'm electing a president - a president who will make promises now that will fall through the cracks later, just like the people I see outside my window.
And that's ok?

Understand that silence is a response. 

What about jobs? What about education? What about the kids I used to babysit for eating dust in Afghani caves? What about trillions of dollars in debt with my name on it?
With all this on the chop block, all we can think to consume is gossip on forged birth certificates? Come the fuck on, people.
And don't push the blame off. It's on us. You can't blame the host if the guest agrees to eat shit.
Instead of throwing some facts and commentary down - today, I'm simply going to leave you with this rant and rave, this little morsel to chew over, in the hopes that it won't just end in talk.


Apathy

Apathy is a cancer that kills the soul

These are the lies
you eat
when they feed you

You didn’t wake up when
our freedom died

How DARE you now
question why

This is not a game
no “other side” to blame

We chose this course by never
Demanding more

...would you LISTEN?!

there’s so much wrong
how could you write another song
about
sex, drugs and rock n roll
welcome to the tearing of my soul

come in, come in -
guilt tastes like fault
take a seat right there by the bank vault
I WANNA REACH YOU SO BAD!
would you hold up your hand
And DO SOMETHING

I miss something I’ve never known
a country with no corporate throne
I see it - every day -
my mind peddles truths that aren’t real

Do you dream in freedom
Do you see in ideas of change
Do you get sick from reality -
born from our slavery

Politics and Poetry 2

• The Cradle will fall: The mayhem in Syria reached epic heights over the weekend. A massacre in the town of Houla left 109 victims dead, mostly women and children - 49 under the age of 10 hacked to death with axes and knives. The men of the town were demonstrating at the town mosque and claim that while they were away, government forces ambushed the town, killing innocent civilians. The government has claimed that this is the act of rogue terrorists. Kofi Annan of the UN sat down with President al-Assad today to make clear the international weight of these decisions. Several countries, including the US, also expelled Syrian diplomats in protest to the weekends events. All this to say...well, just to say, really. According to Annan, he "appealed to him [Mr Assad] for bold steps now - not tomorrow, now - to create momentum for the implementation of the plan."
So he spoke to him sternly about having spoken to him about at some point doing what he had spoken to him about originally.
Meanwhile, people in Houla fear another attack: "Military reinforcements have been brought in, and artillery, and we are afraid that the massacre will happen again," Mahmoud Al Houli told CNN reporters. "Four checkpoints have been set up around the town, and nothing can enter -- no food or medical supplies can come in. The electricity has been cut off. Things are desperate."
He closed with this piercing remark: "You have seen the bodies on television, on the computer, but we see them in real life."
So true. And yet, we discuss these images, these lives as if no one had to see them in real life.
If we're going to take an interest in the slaughtering of humans in other countries, we have to take a real interest. Hanging a carrot in front of desperate people's eyes is cruel and superfluous.
If we are going to stay out of it, stay out of it. This half ass bullshit is about as useful and philanthropic as standing in front of a homeless man, waxing poetic about the ills of poverty while counting your money. Come the fuck on!

Fear, fear, fear: While many of us reflected on the meaning of Memorial Day, perhaps remembering family members or saying a silent thank you to those who felt our country was worth a fight...Mitt Romney was enjoying a heaping bowl of fear with his BBQ.
At a speech in San Diego, CA, his message was clear: "The world is not safe."
"We can follow in the footsteps of Europe and shrink our military smaller and smaller to pay for our social needs...and they of course rely on the strength of America and hope for the best. Were we to follow that kind of course, there would be no one that could stand to protect us. The other is to commit to preserve America as the strongest military in the world, second to none with no comparable power anywhere in the world. We choose that course - not so we just win wars but so we prevent wars, because a strong America is the biggest deterrent to war that has ever been invented."
Let me just attempt to wrap my head around this one...military is more important than our social needs? What is your damage?! I'd like to see him give this speech at the WTC memorial - or how about to a bunch of school kids who don't know how to read but already know to hate Muslims.
And Europe relies on us?! You've got to be fucking kidding me. Even with the teetering Eurozone, there are only 4 European countries that have worse national debt than the US...guess ole Mitt was too busy polishing his gun to study up on some fucking common sense and hard facts. Good lord.
I'm no fan of Obama, but the more I hear this jack noodle talk, the more I'd like to see him pushing pens at a dead end Pentagon job - love the military so much? Go serve 'em. They deserve it.
Meanwhile, this pro-military spending loony tune is the same guy who recently said:

"You have to have a government that doesn't get too big."

What's bigger than the biggest military in the world?...


Call or Draw:
 

We crawl here on our knees and fear

Gagged and tied

lady liberty has died

call or draw

And in this mess you

wave the flag and bless

all the ones who

rape your rights for fun

call or draw

coming round that roulette wheel

coming round that roulette wheel

kill your innocence and ignorance

you can’t use them now

build your common sense,

intelligence

they won’t show you how

give it up like

virgins in a truck

all your rights in your country’s name

call or draw

are you blind?!

freedom ain’t a right you know

and those who lead

spin these lies for bribes

call or draw

coming round that roulette wheel

coming round that roulette wheel

kill your innocence and ignorance

you can’t use them now

build your common sense,

intelligence

they won’t show you how