Who Would Do These Things?

Which child would jesus collaterally blow the legs off in a campaign of shock and awe

          Where would George Washington have evened a personal score

Which bloody African crisis is far more profitable to simply ignore

Where have Jay and Madison and Tom Paine gotten off to

          What faceless corporate figureheads stand tall in their places

Which agency slickly packages the promotion of their short-sighted agendas

Why is it unpatriotic and practically a terrorist act

          If one does not press Yes in every vote for more defense spending

Why does the illiterate enemy lives in caves wearing dirty bathrobes and sandals

Why is it called defense when we are the ones attacking

          How is it that all the major lands are wrong, and just we are right

And who are we really, standing alone and righteous, behind our one true god

Why do the rag-tag enemies rejoice in our invasion

          And stream on in with new recruits and plenty of fresh money -

to places they were never allowed to go to before

how does draining wetlands, cutting forests, relaxing emissions

          preserving the sanctity of marriage and stopping abortion -

add to our so-called precious national heritage and traditional family valuesÔ

who would Moses leave in tears amid the rubble of what was at best a shack 

who hides behind the bullshit line ‘My country right or wrong’

why would we think that those who so blindly got us in, could safely lead us out

why does it cost billions a month to keep me safe here in the heartland

          and why can’t my children read

where are those awful WMDs that were such an immediate threat to my family

who would take such huge bonuses while sending research jobs overseas

          how much gall does it require to tell us that it is good for the country

how long until their compounds are breached and we stone them outside, in the sun

who believes that sales and marketing will innovate when R & D is in India

          who thinks everybody here will be able to use their college education

who says unemployment figures should not count those who have given up looking

where does the constitution say corporations control the executive branch

          would Eisenhower have negated an anti-missile treaty

did Kennedy ridicule government scientists if it helped out a conglomerate donator

who would provide a semi-conquered people free universal healthcare

          who would allow 50 million citizens to work without health insurance

who would smirkingly declare “Bring ‘em on” beneath a “Mission Accomplished” banner

where did the trillion dollar debts come from in those short, greedy years

          why have giant tax cuts for the rich not trickled down to stem the increase in poverty

Who would profit on packaging worthless loans and then blackmail society for a bailout

why do our wonderful young people torture prisoners while snapping cellphone pictures

          upon what unstable high ground do we stand and preach with moral authority

how can those who led us in with their blind hubris lead us out with our honor

when did our freedom of the press succumb to for-profit entertainment

          it appears that if no child is to be left behind, then all must finish last

when did simultaneous shouting replace reasoned public debate

did Lincoln choke on a corporate snack watching football on the couch

          why wont the arabs pump more oil after seeing our soldiers every day

where would the Crusaders have defecated just to anger local residents

how is the Middle East better with us dropping drones and outsiders killing everywhere

          why cant ‘old europe’ understand our need to prostelyze with arms

just how are we safer despite our vast spending in a global war on terror

how do our ADT-affected children spend hours raptly playing video games, yet cannot study

      why cant all production, engineering and R&D be done cheaper far away

by what inalienable right should your offspring have the opportunity to live just as well as you

who would censor the reality of death and war to maintain popular political support

          why is it unpatriotic to decry a foolish decision acted upon ineptly

where are these bogeymen who cost us half a trillion for defense each year

how can these children compete for the good careers of tomorrow -

with mercury in their brains and diesel truck fumes in their tubercular lungs

what new skilled jobs await the 70% who do not understand simple interest

who would let corporate timber clearcut just the large trees that they crave

          and smirkingly give it a fanciful name like ‘Healthy Forests’

who would relax pollution standards and label it their ‘Clear Skies Initiative’

why would the government unfairly relax fuel and pollution standards for fat SUVs & pickups

          who has the gall to label job exportation a patriotic expression of free trade

who, meanwhile, votes agricultural subsidies to protect their donor’s corporate farms

who would ridicule, silence and ignore scientists who present unfavorable findings

        who gives money to the groups whose prejudice is blessed by their god

how does spending millions on attack ads enhance the electoral process

how, you ask, are we safer at home with our boys dying every day far away

          who, then, has actually cut off the oil supply and forced us into fracking

where are the good new jobs to replace those farmed out forever overseas

how is it then that evangelical christians actually differ from muslim fundamentalists

who would dare ask: where it is still morning in this land that we demand that god bless

You Could Be

Reinventing Ourselves

You could become a mechanical engineer

          but wait, those jobs are going off to India to save money for GE

You could become a financial analyst

          but, christ, those positions have long gone overseas

You could get trained in civil engineering but roads are just roads the world over

and foreigners do the same work without the half your overhead

You could do software programming but you were not born and raised in Bangalore

and Americans are too expensive to work in the trendy new age India

You could get your MBA and go off into management

          but all the lower middle managers got RIF'd and became so-called consultants

or work from somewhere else, far away in different timezones

You could study electrical engineering but unless you get on somewhere in china

it would have to remain just an entertaining hobby

         

You could become a carpenter, but the Mexicans can live on half what you do

8 to an apartment, and they don't even ask for no kind of stinkin benefits

You could become a physicist

          and be laughed at while working at some unrelated and menial task

You could train as a policeman, paramedic or maybe a valiant firefighter

          But, alas, you are too much a hands-off, head-down, pencil neck geek

You could morph into a salesman

          but you are not that type of ruthless, grasping, self-centered swine

You could study to be a production engineer

          Oh, but, that’s right, there are no more factories here

You could learn your biotech and genomes

          but big Pharma can save on R and D in the lands of barefoot people

to then spend more on marketing and their own lavish executive perqs

You could become a professor but why should foreigners come here to study

just to move right on back home where they can find the good jobs now

You could become a doctor competing with immigrants to treat for corporations

your decisions monitored and approved by offshore cost accountants

You could take up the honorable study of the law and learn to hate yourself

          like way too many others chasing ever fewer and even more dishonest dollars

you might become a petroleum geologist and help Exxon search for oil

          but 6 skinny Indians will work for what they would have to pay just you

         

you could bet on computer engineering but the only jobs would be in defense

building more things whose only purpose is death and mass destruction

you could study psychology and work in tech support

          but, oops, your job now exists only in Romania

you could become a mechanic, fixing banker's expensive cars

          but watch out for that foreigner who just agreed

to work without benefits for half as much as you could live on

you could open up a little place to deal in the intimacies of your longtime hobby

          and compete against the Fortune 500 bringing in all their stuff from China

you might become a farmer, to help to feed the people and preserve our soil

competing against faceless corporations receiving massive governmental subsidies

you could become a dentist, personable and well-groomed

          yet how many now can afford 150 bucks for five minutes of your precious time

you could become a plumber, driving an expensively loud and smoky new diesel

          but your customer base is shrinking as their lives are being downsized

you might consider truck driving, if your heart can take the extra weight,

the nicotine and the heavy doses of methamphetamines

you might like to be an accurate and competent staff accountant

          but your job is on computer and further analysis is done in foreign offices

maybe you could become a pure theoretical mathematician

          you will do your job out of love and have no need of real food or money

you could become a priest and help them try to spread their silly nonsense

          god certainly knows they need some kind of help, but you ladies need not apply

you could become a politician if your family has the background

          and your way was paid for at the best of schools

and you will sell out easily and often to those who pay for your elections

you could become an outright criminal if you lack the people skills for sales

or simply sell long-term care insurance to the frightened, sick and elderly

you could be a stock broker, shouting  loud and drinking hard,

          but the pump and dump to chump days may be already over

you could become one of our cadre of noble teachers

          and be laughed at and abused by the worthless offspring of the ignorant

yet not earn enough to be able to raise any children of your own

you could plan a career in nursing to nobly help the sick and wounded

          maybe spend your life working with angry filipinos

changing tubes and cleaning up under the old people rotting in their overpriced beds

you could grow up bagging groceries or working checkout down at WalMart

for these are the steady, good-paying jobs of today…and probably tomorrow

maybe you could study six years to become a pharmacist

then watch your job be put up on the internet

to be done by computers and low-skilled, contract labor

perhaps you aspire to a noble career in journalism

          save up for your plastic surgery, hair implants and reworked teeth

then practice your teleprompter skills in a mirror by the hour

you could train as an airline pilot by bombing primitive peoples into the stone age,

          then work for a low-cost airline earning seniority for many years

trying to stay awake while the computer flies the plane

make a career in financial planning and change your long-term advice every year

and try to take people’s money up front

for telling them to assume risks that you will never share

if you are interested in good old-fashioned public service

          think about a career as a legislative lobbyist

spreading cash, peddling influence and focusing senators on client’s legislation

imagine yourself as a powerful soccer mom,

          you could be chauffeuring tiny celebrities inside a posh mini-van

cultivating reasoned opinions about a world you live apart from

get yourself pregnant before dropping out of high school,

          live like a hoe, then make money like one, too

wind up in jail for a long spell, while your children grow up alone

try your hands at the fine arts or letters

          better learn to suck up to rich old women and gay connoisseurs

or maybe you could get a grant from the national endowment

          just don’t produce anything that’s too liberal for your evangelical congressman

Effluent

An unused by-product, waste or residue.

Brownish, sudsy discharge heading down to the next drinking water plant

Hatred spewing unchecked from the poor upon seeing the prosperity all around

Ignorance vented as noise, smoke and litter by the loudly-proud working class

Used oil and dirty grease washed off overcrowded roads and into nearby streams

Vitriol escaping from the dyspeptic ruling theocrats in righteous bile-green streams

Deceptions, omissions and outright lies leaching from abandoned advertising materials

Embrace of diesel fumes from an apartment cowboy warming a shiny pickup

Endless stream of used prisoners leaking from the filthy underside of society

The constant feeling that so many unchangeable things have gone so very wrong

Fertilizers and pesticides invisibly spreading from land to mother’s milk

Lies and money escaping from under flimsy, leaking plastic cover-ups

Deodorant, hair spray, skin cream and toothpaste changing the fish in the streams

The overwhelming malodorous effluvia from the simple existence of too many people

Murky discontent which brews desperate acts of perverted terrorism

Hope spiraling with smoke from burning trees that always gave us shelter

Noxious brown cloud which we exude above our cities in our scuttling to and fro

Human wreckage in filthy rags, intoxicated and begging on gray corners

Useless and obscene eruptions blurted out in hopeless and unheard tirades

Commerce, in the form of mercury and lead, oozing into a quiet baby’s room

Hypocrisy and lies flowing unfiltered into the open minds of helpless children

Fairly brilliant men and women with their entire belongings in old shopping carts

Religious dogma bubbling off from boiling insecurity, ignorance and fear

Dirty slime left behind by the righteous tenants who still owed their rent

The artificial aura of hurry and importance created by commercials on our televisions

Litter hotspots blooming robustly around each welcome new big box retail store

Environmental degradation spreading out behind the black contrail of our consumption

Cheap homes and tacky strip malls, a lasting tribute to our powerfully vapid greed

Tons of CO2 emitted idling SUVs to stay cool while sipping good hot coffee

Mistrust, hatred and war a normal byproduct of the love for one’s true God

Squishy sound of rubber boots echoing in the residues of corporate slaughterhouses

The failing education system a godsend for political and advertising sloganeers

Millions of pounds of greasy fast food fat hauled about by the wheezingly obese

Mass self-loathing induced by artificially perfect and unattainable marketing stereotypes

Useless and infantile noise emitted purposely via costly exhaust modifications

Imaginary souls wafting gracefully to a soul-scam heaven upon the demise of their frail shells

Involuntary suspension of all belief resulting from chronic propaganda exposure

Twist of the pursuit of happiness into a god-granted license to get rich by any means

Decay of virtue into the worship of all-consuming greed and hyper-consumption

Permanent mental degradation resulting from years of mindless channel flipping

Acid rain dulling our prized autos as they emerge from their safe garages

Stain of the hypocrisy left by militarily spreading freedom, only where it suits our needs

Destruction of the desert soil microbe community by gas-powered wreckreation

Mute hatred and aggression inflicted upon your fine new car by unseen vandals

Myriad invisible toxic substances soaking your children in parts per million

Tuberculosis returning stronger because we don’t bother to finish our prescriptions

A thousand foolish expensive commercials filling the air at every instant

An outpouring of nonsensical and co-opted faith from the ignorant, childish and insecure

Palpable hatred flowing outward from many sources in all directions

Broken lives and shattered dreams crunching underfoot amid layers of litter

Multi-generational, illegitimate mothers bearing children raised in their own chaotic images

Anger bubbling over from lack of control over things we do not wish to understand

Poisonous smell of cooking Meth stimulating wild desires for large doses

Overdosed pesticides and fertilizers running off with the wasted water sprinkled on too-green lawns

Self-worth oozing from the critical wound caused by casual overseas outsourcing

Potential escaping into the atmosphere from families without fathers

Rational, educated thought decaying into a blind faith in concocted religious scams

Anger, frustration and disappointment vented upon frightened children

Invisible fumes from smarmy, self-evident truths inhaled 24X7 without a whimper

Earth’s infected scabs from our so-called progress, visible even from out in space

Savings absorbed by credit cards, second mortgages, gambling and vacations

Disquieting silence spreading when we shut up as our toys lose power

Unceasing toxic rants of political sloganeering pressurizing our homes

Dangerous ideas given off by the decomposition of polite society

The aura of unreality which surrounds us throughout our frantic dancing

Fearless, Furtive Corporate Leaders

Who are these leaders that we only follow because our paychecks barely cover us week to week?

These so-called captains of industry, siphoning off vast and undeserved riches

Preaching the value of competition while buying government import tariffs

From where do they draw the moral authority and social conscience to send our jobs overseas?

Masters of simultaneous backbiting and ass-kissing, they have shoulder-climbed to the top

Faceless drones in expensive suits, piously mouthing an ambiguous patriotic, political correctness

People who do not write and let others read their email, yet make great decisions

Their Insular MBAs, lawyers and accountants provide all the counsel they might ever need

Great swashbuckling heroes who lack the courage to meet the eyes of those they pay

Half man, half mannequin, parroting pre-digested, nonsensical, pre-recorded pabulum

Intrepidly guiding that great ship of capitalism from high above in a rich suite, safe on shore

Trained in the arts of cronyism and influence-peddling, they scuttle from the light of inquiry

They are our great moral beacons, illuminating all that’s good within our system

Lying and dealing to raise stock prices, stealing and then floating off under golden parachutes

Able to control simpering lackeys with the mere suspicious raising of an eyebrow

Mouthing pious platitudes about free trade while bribing officials for subsidies

Great patriots and defenders of freedoms with huge secret offshore accounts

Supporters of human rights running sweatshops throughout the third world

Brave knights of capitalism on a quest to secretly become Masters of the Universe

Good fathers they are, sending our children’s jobs to foreign lands forever

Far-seeing leaders whose great vision sometimes might even extend beyond next quarter’s results

Defenders of democracy, running brutal, petty, hidden dictatorships all their own

Falsely pumping stock prices through churning by formulaic mergers, layoffs and synergy

Slashing jobs and benefits by the magic twenty percent analysts approve

Whining that America requires better education in science and math

Outsourcing engineering and research jobs, saving money for perhaps one whole year

Commanding lavish perqs, bonuses and stock options as star players

Yet, their actual contributions are not measurable by standard accounting methods

Treating the masses like sheep, hand-in-hand with friendly political sock puppets

They measure world progress by secret internal financial statements and stock market numbers

Staying on message via the media they have simplified and conglomerated

Blithely not even reporting that which ruffles their sponsor’s agendas

Benevolent dictators of food, fashion, sport, automobiles and recreation

Agilely co-opting, cheapening and offshore mass-producing other’s ideas for quick profits

Marginalizing dissident voices via their paid professional ‘opinion leaders’

Upbeat no matter what, and inevitably ‘eager for the chance to clear my name’ without no comment

Insulated in estates, limousines and personal jets, they listen to their guts

Their god-given talents wasted on greed, hubris and corporate politics

Who are these ‘leaders’ at whose behest politicians rail so loudly against over-regulation?

Who spends millions on crafted corporate images which totally bely their real actions & intentions?

They preach the wisdom and benevolence of the unfettered free marketplace

Meanwhile, blackmailing for tax breaks and whining of regulation’s costs in jobs and money

They extol the benefits of free enterprise, competition and entrepreneurship

They merge and acquire towards a goal of tightly-controlled global oligarchies

Hiding, shifting and conniving to ‘make their numbers’ and fool the analysts

Dumping pumped, exorbitant stock options at the top of an artificial curve they created

Lying about leaving to ‘pursue other interests’ or ‘to spend more time with their families’

They feel terrible for employees watching as locked retirement savings evaporate

How is it they are revered as all-powerful, absolute, unchallenged dictators? -

While always claiming they did nothing and knew nothing of those many wrongdoings

They rise based on their need for attention, all consuming greed and blackhole egos

When under scrutiny they appear mute in fine suits with expensive lawyers who do all the talking

They retreat inside secured compounds saying they look forward to clearing their names

Once they have safely sheltered their takings they express their grief and deepest sympathies

Who are these swashbuckling lieutenants who cook books to woo the analysts?

Smirking masters of slick PowerPoints posturing behind hardwood podiums in fine suits

Shallow and petty, vapid and vain, pathologically-focused and viciously passively-aggressive

Living proof of the innate infallibility of the so-called blind hand of the free marketplace

Unrepentant yet deeply concerned, wrist-slapped, but still our models going forward

Whining for subsidies while bribing for reductions in tariffs on their outsourced goods

Retiring to supervise the creation of fictional autobiographies and scam motivational courses

Who are these polished liars promising the better jobs of tomorrow as they offshore us forever?

How is it their compensation skyrockets as they slash wages, jobs, benefits and pensions?

Faceless fearless leaders pulling strings behind the scenes, sage masters of their known universe