Lyricalocity 2

Back in the early to mid 80's the Reagan administration was wreaking havoc all over the world and at home. While most called Ronnie "the great communicator" it was the content of his communicating that many people had trouble with. This song, by the incredibly talented Bruce Cockburn, hit home with me because of the obvious shot aimed directly at Ronald Reagan and his "store of dupes". Now we find ourselves in the same mess with George Bush and his daddies rich friends. The song still rings true after 20 years.

BTW, if you ever get a chance to see Bruce Cockburn in concert, do it. He is the most underrated guitar player in music today and puts on a performance you won't soon forget.

People See Through You
You've got covert action
Prejudice to extremes
You've got primitive cunning
And high tech means
You've got eyes everywhere
But people see through you

You've got good manipulators
Got your store of dupes
You've got the idiot clamour
Of your lobby groups
You like to play on fears
But people see through you

You've got instant communication
Instant data tabulation
You got the forces of occupation
But you don't get capitulation

Cause people see through you

You've got the sounding brass
You've got the triumph of the will
You do what you want to
And we pay the bills
You hype the need for sacrifice but

People see through you

You've got anti-matter language
Contrived to conceal
You've been lying so long
You don't know what's real
You're a figment of your own imagination

And people see through you

You've got lip service tributaries
You've got death fetish mercenaries
You hold the tickets to the cemeteries
You're big and bad and scary

But people see through you

Bruce Cockburn, 1986 (Artist: Bruce Cockburn - Album: World of Wonders)

I'm BC and I'll BC'ing Ya

Hurricane Katrina: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

What a fucking mess along the US Gulf Coast. This natural disaster has turned into a political disaster for George Bush and his appointed friends. Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has dropped the ball from day one. This bureaucratic piece of waste became a figurehead for FEMA and decided to start his job as director, the day after Katrina made landfall along the Gulf Coast. (He's been on the job at FEMA since 2001!!) He had the same look on his face that George Bush had after 9/11, a deer in the headlights look.

Ole "Brownie", as George Bush calls him, had no disaster relief experience prior to his appointment as Director of FEMA. He was fired from his last private sector job overseeing horse shows. He was formerly an estates and family lawyer. This week he has has made several shocking public admissions, including interviews where he suggested FEMA was unaware of the misery and desperation of refugees stranded at the New Orleans convention center.

Before joining the Bush administration in 2001, Brown spent 11 years as the commissioner of judges and stewards for the International Arabian Horse Association, a breeders' and horse-show organization based in Colorado. "We do disciplinary actions, certification of (show trial) judges. We hold classes to train people to become judges and stewards. And we keep records" explained a spokeswoman for the IAHA commissioners office. "This was his full-time job for 11 years,'' she added. Brown was forced out of the position after a spate of lawsuits over alleged supervision failures. "He was asked to resign" Bill Pennington, president of the IAHA at the time, confirmed. And the Bush administration continues to publicly defend this loser.

The media are having a field day with the political debacle. Mind you, they need to stop slapping themselves on the back for pointing out the obvious. It's incredible to see Ted Koppel show video from New Orleans and then broadcasting Georgie Boy and his "executive staff" being interviewed about conditions in the city. They paint a picture of people being rescued and downplaying the conditions, meanwhile live video of the area shows a completely different story. Do they think people are stupid?

George Bush has declared September 16 as a "national day of prayer" for Katrina victims. Good one Georgie, that will help the dying folks still trapped. Save your "day of prayer" for the Republicans in 2008.

I tried to find some good in this whole mess and can't see any. Sure, there are some real instances of heroism, this however is nothing new. Americans have historically stepped up to the plate during disasters and showed true integrity, too bad we can't say the same for the US Federal Government.



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I'm BC and I'll BC'ing Ya