Contradictions (2002)

"And now the Taliban will pay a price. On my orders, the United States military has begun strikes against al Qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan." . . .at least 3,767 Afghan civilians were killed by the U.S. military during Operation Enduring Freedom's first 60 days Yes, it seemed the President's stand was strong and plain But some Republicans was a-goin' insane And they still are They said our plan was just too mild Spare the rod and spoil the child.

"More than two weeks ago, I gave Taliban leaders a series of clear and specific demands:. . . return all foreign nationals, including American citizens, unjustly detained in your country. We expect nations not to misuse the war against terror as an excuse to persecute ethnic and religious minorities in any country." The Justice Department is violating the Constitution and federal law by withholding basic information about some 1,000 people picked up by police since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, according to the first lawsuit challenging government actions in the detentions. In many a time, in many a land, With many a gun in many a hand, They came by the night, they came by the day, Came with their guns to take us away With a knock on the door, knock on the door. Here they come to take one more, One more.

"The danger to our country is grave. The danger to our country is growing. The Iraqi regime possesses biological and chemical weapons. The Iraqi regime is building the facilities necessary to make more biological and chemical weapons." But justice is not what President Bush wants "unless it's a useful way of putting America's enemies out of the way, of effecting "regime change" or of providing a useful excuse for a military invasion which will leave US oil companies, including Mr Bush's own buddies, in control of one of the world's largest reserves of oil. Now Africa and Asia and the Carribean shore No longer can be counted as the spoils of war They were bought and sold together, now together they will stand, For this old world is changing hands.

"My budget calls for the largest increase in defense spending in the last 20 years." There is one soldier per 43 people in the world, one physician per 1,030 people. It costs $590,000 a day to operate one aircraft carrier while every day in Africa alone 14,000 children die of hunger or hunger-related causes. In a world spending $800 billion a year for military programs, one adult in three cannot read and write; one person in four is hungry. And before you walk out on your job in answer to the call Just think about the millions who have no job at all And the men who wait for handouts with their eyes upon the floor Oh I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?

* This is a found poem which uses text by other people. In this poem, I tried to make my political beliefs clear and my disagreement with our country’s administrative decisions. To do this, I used three different elements. The first is a quote from our President, George W. Bush, which is followed by a fact, essay, or news headline that expresses opinions many people support, to show how bad the decisions the current administration makes. This is followed by a stanza from songs by Phil Ochs, a popular folk singer in the 1960's. Although the songs were written more than 40 years ago, they still relate to today’s topics. In my opinion the lyrics perfectly sum up the point very well.