America Remains Very Much the Same, and More so

By Bob Schildgen

"America will never be the same." Of all the stupid solemn remarks uttered after 9/11, this one was the most moronic—not to mention the most flat out wrong. In fact, America became MORE what it was. More paranoid, more militaristic, more racist, and more willing to meddle in the rest of the world--in the deplorable tradition of American imperialism.

Because we became more of what we were, with our cold-war-style paranoia rekindled, a new hatred of Arabs satisfying our appetite for bigotry, and militarist ambitions to carry a big stick rekindled, we tore into Iraq with shock and awe. Well, we no longer speak silently while wielding the proverbial big stick. We make a lot of noise, professional PR geniuses spin it, pundits blather endlessly about it, and officials howl "Mission Accomplished" at the top of their lungs before the dust is settled. The only thing the Bush government has been able to keep quiet about is torture, illegal imprisonment, and crooked contracts to pay its friends to "rebuild" Iraq.

The war is outward expression of our belligerent fear. The proposed project for a fence on the Mexican border (see "Border Fence) is its at-home equivalent.

There are so many symptoms of fear on so many levels I find it almost impossible to describe. But a friend of mine seems to have captured a frightening amount of fear in a recent poem. Not only is he an unheralded poet, but he wishes to remain unheralded, and, yes, anonymous because he still fears that he isn't as afraid as he should be. Despite the catalog of fearful threats in the poem, he still fears that Homeland Security might disapprove of his unpatriotic lack of fear. "These days," he says, "to be afraid is to be a loyal American. President Bush knows that without a reliable level of wholesome fear we would fail to go to war abroad and fail to protect our families at home. I know there's got to be more to be afraid of and to defend ourselves from than what I've written down in this poem," he says. "But this is the best I could do. Pray that it will help us wake up and defend ourselves."

Defend Defend Defend Defend

Defend defend defend defend
defend until the very end
defend your friend defend your foe.
defend your TV's right to know
defend your sweat-shop running-shoe
defend yourself from Dubya too
defend your right to bear your arm
defend your burglar alarm
defend your lawn defend its mower
defend your leaves defend their blower
defend your rocket's rocket science
defend your every last appliance
from terrorist attack and then
defend them staunchly once again
defend your fleet of SUVs
from serious contingencies
and while you're at it bold erect
defend defenses to protect
your FBI and CIA
defending the American way
defend your national anthem proud
defend it when you sing it loud,
defend your defensive linemen too
defend them till you're red white blue,
defend yourself and watch my back
you never know when they'll attack
defend from covert Arab bombs
conspiring with welfare moms
to deprive you of your hard-
earned platinum credit card
defend our telegenic war
defend the right to fight some more
defend our burgers and our fries
defend them without alibis
defend your sacred Christian right
to download God from Falwell's site
defend your temporary alliance
to secure permanent compliance
with covert interrogations done
by an agent with a loaded gun
there is no need to be afraid
of foreign or domestic raid
with weapons loaded, ready, aim
defend your honor and your name
defend Colombia and Peru
and Bangalore and Xanadu
defend our mountain majesty
from homeland insecurity
defend above our fruited plain
defend your bombs from crack cocaine
defend your holy war on drugs
from anthrax-breeding foreign thugs
defend your permanent war on terror
defend your testicles by the pair or
defend them boldly one by one
defend them with great fearful fun
defend collateral contraband
on damaged strips of holy land
if thoughts of nerve gas make you nervous
defend your right to armored service
defend from heroin from Iraq
smuggled in a sneak attack
inside weapons of mass destruction
defend your oil from foreign suction
defend your right to fight Iran
for pipelines through Georgebushistan
to North Korea and from there
to every country anywhere
defend us from that evil axis
defend from death defend from taxes
defend us from Eritrea
and foreign strains of gonnorhea
concocted deep in secret caves
by hidden nuclear warfare slaves
defend from germs covertly spreadin'
across the plain of Armageddon
defend defend defend defend
defend until the final end