Pity the Nation (After Khalil Gibran)
Pity the nation whose people are sheep
And whose shepherds mislead them
Pity the nation whose leaders are liars
Whose sages are silenced
And whose bigots haunt the airwaves
Pity the nation that raises not its voice
Except to praise conquerors
And acclaim the bully as a hero
And aims to rule the world
By force and by torture
Pity the nation that knows
No other language but its own
And no other culture but its own
Pity the nation whose breath is money
And sleeps the sleep of the too well fed
Pity the nation oh pity the people
who allow their rights to erode
and their freedoms be washed away
My country, tears of thee
Sweet land of liberty!
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
2007
P.S. I listened to a group of teachers in the teachers' lounge at my school today make excuses for that POSPOTUS. I didn't know what to do so I left the room. What are we supposed to do? How are we supposed to live in love with these people?
P.P.S
kubeiko
n. a state of exhaustion inspired by an act of senseless violence, which forces you to revise your image of what can happen in this world—mending the fences of your expectations, weeding out invasive truths, cultivating the perennial good that’s buried under the surface—before propping yourself up in the middle of it like an old scarecrow, who’s bursting at the seams but powerless to do anything but stand there and watch.
via The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
It will get better. He will have to answer for what he's done one day and so will the republican party. Have faith.
ReplyDeleteYou, more than most, are not powerless. Your words pack a punch! And in some instances, they may even influence some of the hapless sheep. 💜
ReplyDeleteIt's weird to me that a group of teachers would defend the man. In California. Of course everything is weird to me right now. I am weary of trying to make sense of it. Except yes, "Shit is fucked up and bullshit" makes perfect sense to me.
ReplyDeleteOh God, we all need the dictionary of obscure sorrows!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear you left the room.
ReplyDeleteIt's a Catholic school, though, right? So maybe there's a religious motivation to those teachers' support for the Republicans. (Not that all Catholics or religious people necessarily support Trump, as irreligious as he is.)
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that there's a dictionary of obscure sorrows. What's the word for exhaustion created by a feeling of perceived powerlessness in the face of evil?
And Ferlinghetti wrote that 12 years ago! He had no idea how bad things were going to get!
I want that sign....
ReplyDeleteJust knowing that over 40% of the population still supports this Administration makes me realize and have to face that too many have a defective moral compass... the farce of a Trial with no Witnesses and no Evidence was a National Embarrassment for all the World to Witness. As a Nation our credibility now is questionable and earning back Trust will be extremely difficult. The support of such vile Leadership is complicit in a way I simply cannot excuse and find so hard to believe he's played so many for Fools as he's run his usual Con Game upon his rabid Base and they've bought into it hook, line and sinker.
ReplyDeleteSo many of us live in a state of shock and awe. Exhaustion from it all, too. I keep believing there are people within the government, the real workers, who are trying to salvage our institutions. But I don't know, only have scant evidence by things I hear on NPR. His purge is beginning now; he is exacting revenge on the truth tellers. We must keep speaking out, and get out the vote like never before.
ReplyDeleteI agree with much of this. However, as a longtime, albeit "moderate" Democrat since 1980, I'm having a hard time finding any cohesive theme in possible candidates now except hating the current president. Yes, keep speaking out, but not by tearing things down. Instead of being in shock that almost half of the country doesn't agree with me I want to hear proposals on how to fix the country that I can agree with, and that the possible candidates can agree on. Until my party comes together with similar goals and a united front, I fear the same outcome in 2020. I love Elizabeth Warren but she has become a shrinking Violet. It is sad to watch the party I have loved for a long time imploding.
ReplyDelete