FROM JOE HILL TO CINDY'S SONG

I was pleased to hear that Joan Baez sang "Joe Hill" at Camp Crawford earlier this week because as a long-time huge fan and admirer, I wrote new lyrics to the song a couple of weeks ago and titled it "Cindy's Song." The song seemed appropriate to me to Cindy's crusade -- and obviously did to Ms. Baez.

Just an hour or so ago I received an e-mail regarding the song (which I posted on my other blog Political Poet) and I'm repeating it here exactly as written. The commenter, I believe, makes some very powerful points in terms "the other America" ought to understand.

Here is what I learned from the Vietnam war, which I witnessed on tv for the last eight years of my public school experience. I learned that we always kill more of the enemy than we lose, always. I learned that trying as a nation to control another countries destiny caries a hugh cost of lives. I learned that the government is inept in conducting a foreign policy that reflects the values of the average american because it is not the government that makes the decisions, but rather some elite power group that is in the background, secret and powerful in its ability to control the actions of the government. I learned that when someone in the government does try to tell the truth .then they are blackballed and fired. So cut out the bulshit just tell us the truth for once. The lessons I learned from the Vietnam expirience give me pause to ponder what P. Bush would say if he did answer cindy’s request for an honest answer as to why her son died, and for what noble cause. He would tell her that he died to prop up an economy that is doomed to implode on its dept. He would tell her that his death bought a few more days of luxurious living for the privileged class in America before the oil runs out and the economy of perpetual growth begins to shrivel and die. He would bluntly say that we have to continue to flex our muscles on the world stage to insure continued investment in the crucial t- bonds by foreigners that support our lifestyle of convenience and an ever increasing imbalance of payments. He died to buy another injection for an addicted nation. One more fix for the junkie shopper cruising the Wall Mart isle salivating for the cheap consumer goods imported from overseas. He died to prop up governments that support economic conditions that keep in place the cheap overseas labor to provide the life blood of our high tech economy. That of exorbitant markup by the ever increasing technology driven companies that do nothing more than move the keys on thier laptops.

Here, again, is "Cindy's Song." Man, I'd love to hear it in Joanie's voice.