An American anthem by Phil Ochs
"Here is a land full of Power & Glory
But she's only as rich as the poorest of the poor
Only as free as the pad-locked prison door"
Today's Topics
*Not the Grammys
*Phil Ochs Anthem the Power and the Glory
*American Christians arrested in Haiti charged with kidnapping
*Corporations are "Persons" Supreme Court Decision
*Is it the end of US Democracy
Yes last night the Grammys were televised but it's just not my cup of tea as it were. It's just all glitz and glamour for the so called Beautiful people that is the Elites of the Rich and Famous- some have some talent others are just born into wealth and believe they should be treated as royalty which is what the Mainstream Media does. Odd how Americans claim to on the one hand believe in equality -all men are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights-yet the poor have no rights and are chastized as being lazy , apathetic and stupid and therefore second or third class citizens -the first class are the rich and famous then comes the upper middle class followed by the rest who are just not up to snuff as it were.
For the most part awards shows such as the Grammys are just another way to defend the Status Quo - those who get political or question American values ie Consumerism, materialism, racism, snobbery, elitism need not expect an invitation of an event which props up another Soulless Industry.
They even managed to make Dave Mathews look like another overgrown clean cut Disney product which is what most the pop music scene now is . But hats off to Lady Gaga for using the whole facile Industry by turning herself into a product equivalent to Andy Warhole himself. The stage set even had the headlines the Fame Factory which is just what all of this is and has little to do with original voices . These are hackneyed court poets and court jester who never question those in power or the accepted values and beliefs about one's society or country. Other nations besides the United States also believe theirs is the best nation the most fair and just and that they too have been chosen by God or Gods.
This song The Power and The Glory by Phil Ochs sings the praises of America with the warning that America will not be able to live up to its ideals or self-image if those in need and those who are discriminated against are not given a voice and justice and are seen as deserving equal rights and equality of opportunity. If the poor are left to fend for themselves in America it speaks volumes about America's hypocrisy and its defense of the Elites in America. How can a person who is poor or from a poor family able to get equal treatment and equal opportunity if their nutrition is not adequate or their shelter /homes or that they have to live in substandard housing and do without what the majority of Americans take for granted such as quality public education and high quality healthcare. but the American common belief is that if you don't have the money then you do without -so someone with cancer or AIDS if they can pay get the best of treatment while a poor person with Cancer or Aids should be just left to die- and that's unfettered Capitalism for you-there is no such animal as a compassionate Conservative-it is an oxymoron.
PHIL OCHS - Power And The Glory (1974)
For Haiti Phil Ochs -There But For Fortune
Video clip of Phil Ochs singing "There But For Fortune" at the Bitter End, 1967.
Baptists Defend Motives in Haiti Adoption Case
Child trafficers?
Ten U.S. Baptists arrested trying to take 33 children out of earthquake-shattered Haiti say they were just trying to do the right thing, applying Christian principles to save Haitian children. (Jan. 31)
and from Raw Story: "US Christian group arrested in Haiti on child trafficking charges" at Raw Story , Jan. 31, 2010
PORT-AU-PRINCE – Haitian police detained 10 members of a US Christian group after they allegedly tried to leave the country with more than 30 children who survived the country's devastating earthquake.
News of the charges came as the UN's food agency prepared to launch a massive food effort targeted at vulnerable women in a bid to ease some of the chaos surrounding the relief effort.
Police had arrested five men and five women with US passports, as well as two Haitians, as they tried to cross into the neighboring Dominican Republic with 33 children late Friday, Haitian authorities said.
Border police "saw a bus with a lot of children. Thirty-three children. When asked about the children's documents, they had no documents," Haitian Culture and Communications Minister Marie Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue said.
The Americans were members of an Idaho-based charity called New Life Children's Refuge, said Social Affairs Minister Yves Christallin, adding: "This is an abduction, not an adoption."
Blow to America's Democracy when Corporations are given the same rights as a US citizen- This is now a big step for the Ultraconservatives who believe the rights of Corporations is above the rights of the Common Good or individual citizens. Therefore it is now to be enshrined into American law that any attempts to restrict corporations by regulations or taxing them differently than individual Americans is an attack on the Corporations Individual Rights.
Keith Olbermann - Supreme Court Ruling kills Democracy - part 1
-AMAZING Keith Olbermann Special Comment On Supreme Court Ruling - Part 2
and so it goes,
GORD.
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