TYRANNUS NIX?.....TYRANNUS BUSH?.....TYRANNUS CHENEY?

"I saw your childhood face It was the same
face the face of adult America the face we
chose for America the space-race face the
race face the face that sunk a thousand
sampans the face we all love in the Geritol
ads the face of the nation facing the nation"

"Nixon Nixon enigma Nixon your nowhere eyes
tell the true story of America and a picture
of them is worth a thousand false words Are
you 'a real man or a real machine with computer-
brain' Are you the fifty-five-year-old virgin
or are you Machiavelli smiling I think you've
still got that infectious Pink Eye you caught on
the Unamerican Committee what with your yahoo
cohorts now conducting the nazification of California
and other campuses I heard you plainly tell
them on TV to get a little tougher to get a little
rougher on campus and the next day they
murdered one of us to show how tough Thank
you Tyrannus Nix Let him be laid at your door
You waved your soft white hand and the trigger
moved unknown to you yet it moved down
the toilet chain of command The Blue Meanies
are your real army oh my Commander-in-chief"...

"One would think the wind still whispered latin
phrases when whoever wrote our dollar bill took its
not-so-mystic motto from Virgil's Messianic Eclogue but
conveniently skipped the part of the prophesy about
the way the Age would end in Fire"

"Nixon oh Nixon I am not asking you to turn
and live with animals I am not asking you to commune
with trees although 'What times are these when a conver-
sation about a tree is almost a crime because it contains
so many silences about so many crimes' "

"Nixon oh Nixon I saw you on TV last night
again stumbling through Vietnam you just didn't look
like you believed who you were like as if it were all a
strange mad dream you were lost in Moving through
the motions of some nightmare in which you suddenly
found yourself in your pajamas in front of five million
tea-ladies worried whether something was
showing down there Military might must be
disguised to be effective It occurred to me your
warhead was showing My poet's shadow stitched
to thee won't stand many more such bullshit
speeches I had the weird feeling you
were speaking in a completely empty room Alone
with nothing but the War Machine like a toy behind
the pulpit In another age you would have been
a Methodist preacher In this one you're a real
low priest You're a true record of where
winter is today"

"Nixon oh Nixon I stayed up all night writing
this to thee and thine I saw the dawn come up
over San Francisco The Bay Bridge lights sparkled
in the first dawn A dawn wind was rising The guard
was changing in the Presidio Mutiny Stockade Some-
where a Justice Department or FBI hi-fi repairman
was bugging a Berkeley Barb editor At City Hall they
were celebrating the Nineteen-six Earthquake Emperor
Alioto and his Black Urban Affairs Director
whose name was actually Rebel were very much
in evidence but the evidence was all against a quake
It just wasn't going to happen here No shake-
up here and no Revolution either and I have my
director to see to it Souls on ice won't melt"

--Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Tyrannus Nix?

Photo by Abraham Aronow

THE LATE CALVIN COOLIDGE RESTING EASIER NOW

"...Eh yep,...I'm not the worst president,...you don't say?
Don't that beat all?"

The Bush Presidency at its zenith.
(In a straw poll, 69 percent would now vote for the perch)

THE REAL BUSH LEGACY REVEALED

Just passing on this little blurb from today's Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman:

In an interview with the German press, President Bush was questioned about the high point of his presidency. Bush said, "I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a seven-and-a-half pound perch in my lake."

Well, after all, there are so many great moments to choose from.

SENATOR KERRY'S SPEECH IN IOWA IS IMPRESSIVE

RAW STORY has the full transcript. Here are some excerpts:

"I have come here today to reaffirm that it was right to dissent in 1971 from a war that was wrong. And to affirm that it is both a right and an obligation for Americans today to disagree with a President who is wrong, a policy that is wrong, and a war in Iraq that weakens the nation."

"The lesson here is not that some of us were right about Vietnam, and some of us were wrong. The lesson is that true patriots must defend the right of dissent, and hear the voices of dissenters, especially now, when our leaders have committed us to a pre-emptive "war of choice" that does not involve the defense of our people or our territory against aggressors. The patriotic obligation to speak out becomes even more urgent when politicians refuse to debate their policies or disclose the facts. And even more urgent when they seek, perversely, to use their own military blunders to deflect opposition and answer their own failures with more of the same. Presidents and politicians may worry about losing face, or votes, or legacy; it is time to think about young Americans and innocent civilians who are losing their lives."

"Dissenters are not always right, but it is always a warning sign when they are accused of unpatriotic sentiments by politicians seeking a safe harbor from debate, from accountability, or from the simple truth."

"And here in Iowa we must insist again that fidelity, honor, and love of country demand untrammeled debate and open dissent. At no time is that truer than in the midst of a war rooted in deceit and justified by continuing deception."

"...America has always been stronger when we have not only proclaimed free speech, but listened to it. Yes, in every war, there have been those who demand suppression and silencing. And although no one is being jailed today for speaking out against the war in Iraq, the spirit of intolerance for dissent has risen steadily, and the habit of labeling dissenters as unpatriotic has become the common currency of the politicians currently running our country.

"Dismissing dissent is not only wrong, but dangerous when America's leadership is unwilling to admit mistakes, unwilling to engage in honest discussion, and unwilling to hold itself accountable for the consequences of decisions made without genuine disclosure, or genuine debate. As Thomas Jefferson said, "dissent is the highest form of patriotism."

"Half of the service members listed on the Vietnam Memorial Wall died after America's leaders knew our strategy would not work. It was immoral then and it would be immoral now to engage in the same delusion. We want democracy in Iraq, but Iraqis must want it as much as we do. Our valiant soldiers can't bring democracy to Iraq if Iraq's leaders are unwilling themselves to make the compromises that democracy requires."

"So now, as in 1971, we are engaged in another fight to live the truth and make our own government accountable. This is another moment when American patriotism demands more dissent and less complacency in the face of bland assurances from those in power."

"We must insist now that patriotism does not belong to those who defend a President's position—it belongs to those who defend their country. Patriotism is not love of power; it is love of country. And sometimes loving your country demands you must tell the truth to power. This is one of those times."

"When I testified thirty five years ago, I asked the question: 'where are the leaders of our country?"

"It's time we ask that question again – and time we say clearly it's not just in Iraq but on every issue where Washington has either failed to lead – or misled America in the wrong direction."

"Rarely has there been a moment more urgent for all Americans to step up and define our country again."