SOME FOOL ON "DU GENERAL" THINKS WE'LL EMAIL THIS! HOW INSANE IS THAT?

[Jeffersons Ghost]

THE GRUNTS' GIFT

If I could give them eyes to see - past profits from a war
Perhaps Iraq could then be free - to live; much like before
Perhaps they'd see it clear as day - when viewing their own child...
blowing other peoples' kids away - in conflict, now gone wild

If I could give them ears to hear - the muffled cries at night
Perhaps they'd listen to the fear - of missiles taking flight
Perhaps they'd hear a mothers' cry - a'weeping for her son...
who bought into a vicious lie - which truly serves no one

If I could give them hearts to feel - the sorrow and the pain
Perhaps they'd fear a death from steel - as missions go insane
Perhaps they'd feel their bones break - when hidden bombs explode...
near their child who serves for freedoms' sake - along a dusty road

If I could give them minds to soar - about the greater cost
Perhaps we only win at war - when we measure what we've lost
Perhaps they'll learn, to truly win - and swiftly end this game...
that keeps the score of countless sin - on walls too black to name

If I could give them lips to taste - the blood of their best friend
Perhaps they'd stop this hellish waste - and let the killing end
Perhaps if they could taste her blood - as it spews into their face...
they'll hang their heads to curb its flood - and end Iraq's disgrace

If I could give them strength to smell - a ripe corpse in the sun
Perhaps they'd sniff up deaths' hot hell - of battles lost, not won
Perhaps they'd sense sulphuric smoke - arising in the air...
that masks the stench of profits joke - for folks that do not care

sign here________________

It was written by an unknown veteran, heading for the VA Hospital. Please support our troops by signing your name to this poem before passing it along. Emailing this poem to everyone you know will save lives, which serves God and Humanity.

[alfredo]

1. A little insanity is OK. I fully expect to see this e-mail in

my inbox within a week.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

3. okay, you'll get it if you're in the VVAW or the IVAW... should I send it?

Do you think it's good enough? I just joined VVAW and contributed to IVAW. They both need cash, if anyone can help. There's a lot to do before November.

[alfredo]

5. Sure send it.

I have some friends associated with VVAW. I'm part of KVP Kentucky Veterans for Progress.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

9. it looks about ready but I better check the site posting rules first...

this is my first try with this sort of thing.

[katty]

34. check their copyright info/disclaimer

[Jeffersons Ghost]

35. i did, it's not so much that it's prohibited...

My main concern is triggering PTSD... I've known a lot of vets who suffered the issue and I'd hate to think I was party to opening an old wound, especially one that was healing... I've got some calls out, someone from the groups will reply soon.

[juajen]

2. Sad

:kick:

[Jeffersons Ghost]

4. yeah, pathetic... whoever wrote it claims his yellow dog did the poem....

It's an obvious lie. No dog can type fast enough to write a poem.

[alfredo]

7. I seem to remember two bugs would type out stories for

Some newspaper.


Maybe this could be sent.

It's from Ogden Nash

(SMOOT PLANS TARIFF BAN ON IMPROPER BOOKS - News Item)

Senator Smoot (Republican, Ut.)
Is planning a ban on smut.
Oh rooti-ti-toot for Smoot of Ut.
And his reverend occiput.
Smite, Smoot, smite for Ut.,
Grit your molars and do your dut.,
Gird up your l__ns,
Smite h_p and th_gh,
We'll all be Kansas
By and by.

Smite, Smoot, for the Watch and Ward,
For Hiram Johnson and Henry Ford,
For Bishop Cannon and John D., Junior,
For ex-Gov. Pinchot of Pennsylvunia,
For John S. Sumner and Elder Hays
And possibly Edward L. Bernays,
For Orville Poland and Ella Boole,
For Mother Machree and the Shelton pool.
When smut's to be smitten
Smoot will smite
For G-d, for country,
And Fahrenheit.

Senator Smoot is an institute
Not to be bribed with pelf;
He guards our homes from erotic tomes
By reading them all himself.
Smite, Smoot, smite for Ut.,
They're smuggling smut from Balt. to Butte!
Strongest and sternest
Of your s_x
Scatter the scoundrels
From Can. to Mex!

Smite, Smoot, for Smedley Butler,
For any good man by the name of Cutler,
Smite for the W.C.T.U,
For Rockne's team and for Leader's crew,
For Florence Coolidge and Admiral Byrd,
For Billy Sunday and John D., Third,
For Grantland Rice and for Albie Booth,
For the Woman's Auxiliary of Duluth,
Smite, Smoot,
Be rugged and rough,
Smut if smitten
Is front-page stuff.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

8. a nice addition alfredo...in a six sunday series, can your pet do poetry?

Humans are allowed to enter poems too but war is the prime theme for a winner, who's sick of losing. Be sure and try writing a potential email that might damage the reich-wing "war of ideas," which sucks freedom from our country. The real sickness, is that these people are on their third tour of duty and the casuality rate is soaring becuase Congress will do nothing to offer them relief. Congress eats their cake and keeps it too, as our troops suck sand in through rib cage wounds because battle fatigue took it's toll. But we can't pull anyone out... gotta guard those profits and they can't put enough troops in during an election year... what's more important, politics?

[alfredo]

11. My pet is fertilizer, making my Day Lillies grow strong.

Here's a comment on war.



I find anti war prose more to my liking, but put the poetry to music and then I pay attention.


Marvin Gaye—What’s Going On?

Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today - Ya
Father, father
We don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today
Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me, so you can see
Oh, what's going on
What's going on
Ya, what's going on
Ah, what's going on
In the mean time
Right on, baby
Right on
Right on
Father, father, everybody thinks we're wrong
Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply because our hair is long
Oh, you know we've got to find a way
To bring some understanding here today
Oh
Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me
So you can see
What's going on
Ya, what's going on
Tell me what's going on
I'll tell you what's going on - Uh
Right on baby
Right on baby

[Jeffersons Ghost]

26. Marvin was great! here's some of my favorite anti-war lyrics...

Listen children to a story that was written long ago
'bout a kingdom on a mountain and the valley folk below.
On the mountain was a treasure buried deep beneath a stone,
and the valley people swore they'd have it for their very own.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor, go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of heaven, justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowin' come the judgment day
on the bloody morning after one tin soldier rides away.

So the people of the valley sent a message up the hill
asking for the buried treasure, tons of gold for which they'd kill.
Came an answer from the kingdom: "With our brothers we will share
all the secrets of our mountain, all the riches buried there."

Go ahead and hate your neighbor, go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of heaven, justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowin' come the judgment day
on the bloody morning after one tin soldier rides away.

Now the valley cried with anger; mount your horses, draw your sword,
and they killed the mountain people, so they won their just reward.
Now they stood beside the treasure on the mountain, dark and red,
turned the stone and looked beneath it. "Peace on earth" was all it said.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor, go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of heaven, justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowin' come the judgment day
on the bloody morning after one tin soldier rides away.

[alfredo]

28. Dylan's "Masters of War" is one of my favorites.

The artist have always been out front on the war issue. That's one reason the arts are being cut from schools. Art appeals to our feeling side, our human side.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

30. Dylan is one of my favorites, as is sharing info on music trivia at DU...

With all the old-time (pre-ClearChannel) radio stations I worked for, I had to specialize in something. :crazy: What amazes me most about Dylan is that in several interviews, he claims political (anti-war) motivation is not at the core of his music. He comes across as a sort of reluctant hero for the movement. Here's some fine lyrics Dylan wrote, although another rock great got a bigger hit from them.


All Along the Watchtower
by Bob Dylan

"There must be some kind of way out of here"
Said the joker to the thief
"There's too much confusion
I can't get no relief
Businessmen they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
None of them along the line
Know what any of it is worth"

"No reason to get excited"
The thief, he kindly spoke
"There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I, we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now
The hour is getting late"

All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants, too
But outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl

[tfj2]

44. anti-war lyrics

...forwarding this too...

[dweller]

12. perhaps Archy?

and Mehitabel?

http://www.donmarquis.com/archy/

one bug anyway...
dp

[alfredo]

13. bingo!

Thanks. Now I can go to bed.

[bobbieinok]

37. my dad had this book....a great favorite of mine

[Jeffersons Ghost]

39. that's the first, I've heard of that fine artistic approach to bringing...

interest to poetry, which is often considered boring by the masses... I actually got the dog-writer idea after reading a DU post involving a drunken cat but had I been inspired by such excellent media as that link, I would have evolved the character a bit more in my initial poem on the other board. I DO like the concept of adding other animal characters. thanks for the link.

[saberjet22]

27. nash poem

dear alfedo,
thanks a heap for that nash poem. i never saw it before, and it's very wonderful. i read it three times consecutively and my smile never left my lips. thanks again.

[alfredo]

29. He's one of our forgotten treasures. More of nash

http://www.westegg.com/nash/

[Jeffersons Ghost]

31. Nash is indeed a lost treasure. much of the work is short and sweet

Celery, raw
Develops the jaw,
But celery, stewed,
Is more quietly chewed.

Still the underlying message is clear

Death, is it noble?
Are jobs now global?
As democracy fried
millions have died.

see anti-war creations don't have to be long. People can even use greats like Nash for a format.

Hey Alfredo, if you like Theodor Geisel, check out the first entry in my DU Journal.

[alfredo]

36. Excellent! Here my take on a classic

[Kire]

6. I don't understand.

You call it insane, yet you want people to mail it around.

Is there a link to DU General?

[Blue_Tires]

10. ttt !!

[LibertyorDeath]

14. Glad you stuck around JG

Will do!
Rec!!

[Jeffersons Ghost]

19. I have reason the believe, when the 'UNKNOWN VET" gets home...

from his appointment on Wednesday that he will write a poem (suitable for email) on CUT-AND-RUN, which will deal with CONGRESS. They CUT services at the VA Hospital and RUN over veterans!

[tfj2]

20. cut-run poem

i hope he does..one of my cats helped type this..

[Jeffersons Ghost]

23. I think cats evolved to type better than dogs... smaller paws....

[tfj2]

42. cats evolution

shit, they're way more evolved and intelligent than the american public..this all seems like a bad trip..i mean dream!!!

[newyawker99]

32. Hi tfj2!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[tfj2]

43. thanks

thanks to all who welcomed me...not used to that...!!!! hope i don't miss posts...not yet great at this & know i must miss some...

[ChairmanAgnostic]

15. serves god and humanity? They playing doubles or something?

Faith based e-mailing - guaranteed to save lives, lose weight, remove dental plaque, lower cholesteral, increase penis length/breast size,
(WARNING - prolonged use of faith based e-mailing has been associated with arthritic conditions in the knees, lead to temporary impotancy, hemerrhoids, severe coughing fits, allergic reactions to sunlight, rampant GOPism, temporary insanity, irrational belief that Deno the Dino roamed with Adam and Eve, and chronic fatigue.

DO NOT OPERATE ANY MACHINERY while engaged in faith based e-mailing unless the Rapture is in progress - in which case, pull off the side of the road, turn off your bible studies cassette, and open your skylight. Don't forget! REMOVE YOUR SEATBELT and DISCONNECT YOUR AIRBAGS!)

[tfj2]

21. faith bs

too excellent!! kittens say hi......

[ChairmanAgnostic]

33. when I hear some extoll the "power" or faith or demand that I must have it

my teeth start to grind. With all the energy wasted in such a useless activity, you would think that they would begin to realize that deliberate self-delusion is not an answer to their problem.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

22. in media we call it TARGETING OUR DEMOGRAPHIC, which I'm sure...

you already realized... Sending this to true blue Democrats already against the occupation of Iraq is not the intention... The plan here is to reduce the number of citizens in support of the kill-fest... It really doesn't matter to me if the sender believes in God... If you're tired of getting faith based email send this to those who send it to you, as revenge for all I care... Most of the faith based email I get is crap and suggests replacing prayer with THEURGY. Now it's my turn... I even got one, once that said the God of Abraham was a "GENTLEMAN!" From what I can tell, whoever wrote it never read the OLD TESTAMENT... Hang on a sec my little yellow dog is barking at something... I hope she's not imagining TROLLS at the door... brb

[tfj2]

16. GRUNTS' GIFTS

I will keep and forward this eloquent writing to many. Too bad only a few suffer in wars such as Iraq and Vietnam...Want to end this war? Start the draft for ALL!!! As long it is only these few who suffer, the ignorant masses will never care about the "Grunts"...Unfortunately, the American public proves itself comatose day after day after generation ...Obviously, critical thinking skills (geography, history, etc...) are not taught in the PSS. Could it be because an uneducated public is more easily manipulated by its "elected officials" and recruited by its military??? Let me count the ways!!!! Teresa F. Johnson FWB, FL 32547 PS Yes, Krazy Karl is BACK! If only more knew...

[babylonsister]

17. Welcome to DU, tfj2!

:hi:

The draft might prevent this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x218967

[tfj2]

18. AWOL ELITE

THANKS...EXACTLY!!! I'M KEEPING-FORWARDING THAT LINK..

[Jeffersons Ghost]

24. yes it is a good link... thanks for posting... i kicked it up! welcome...

to DU tfj2. I just noticed that you're new here.

[tfj2]

41. new

yes, i don't im, chat, and barely blog...just internet research and writing final papers for an ese masters ...all papers now are 2 mos. late ...don't narc to my professors @ any blogging!!!! this one and TO are excellent w many intelligent and thoughtful members...

[saberjet22]

25. The grunt's gift

I don't understand the sarcastic attitude with which this poem is being received. It moved me a great deal. Guess I'm just a simple, country fella. Perhaps someone could explain this to me.
Thanks. And what the hell do pets have to do with it, anyway?

[bobbieinok]

38. isn't the OP + aren't many of the comments 'playing sarcasm'???

[tfj2]

40. pets

cats? they're the pagan idols i worship...spay and neuter!!!

[Jeffersons Ghost]

45. if we spay them it will affect growth! maybe crash the economy! n/t