talkin' Ashcroft blues
"But she's only as rich as the poorest of the poor,
Only as free as a padlocked prison door,
Only as strong as our love for this land,
Only as tall as we stand...
Here is a land full of power and glory,
Beauty that words cannot recall
Her power shall rest on the strength of her freedom,
Her glory shall rest on us all."
by Phil Ochs
Should be our national freaking anthem.
Talkin' Ashcroft Blues
I ain't free if you ain't free,
And you ain't free if she ain't free,
We'll all be free, equally,
Or we ain't free at all.
My friend out in Australia wrote to me,
Said, I ain't gonna visit you no more.
She said, "it's not safe out there in the land of the so-called free,
And I'm not goin' there while you're at war."
I said, "Oh, that. No need to worry. We got the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, INS, the
Border Patrol, the Coast Guard, and some new groups that don't even have names yet
watchin' for terrorists. You're prob'ly safer here than you are at home!"
She said, "It's not the terrorists that have me in a stew,
There's worse than that worries me.
It's those held on suspicion that you don't see on the news
When they lock the door and throw away the key.
I laughed. "But you're Australian, and they won't take you away,
They only do that when they have good cause.
It's not the KGB here -- this is still the USA,
And you'll be safe, protected by our laws."
No search and seizure. Habeas Corpus. The Bill of Rights!
She said, "Oh yeah? How can you tell?
They've got no checks and balances at all.
They're trying foreign nationals and locking them in cells
No bail, defense, or media on call."
So here I am now wondering just what the truth might be
And if there's any way we can be sure
We only lock up bad guys, and leave the good ones free
And still welcome freedom-lovers to our shores.
Meanwhile where do I get a ticket to Australia?
copyright dichroic
Blame
Natalie, who sent me a copy of
Woody Guthrie's autobiography, and Ducks and Eiluned, who do their freedom
fighting with words.
Posted by dichroic at August 15, 2002 12:38 PM