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At the C&O Canal
my friend anti-X
(Not Kennan)
Gave flowing rivers
A run for their currents
The twinkle in his
Effervescent bloodshot eyes
Fighting with
Engineered liquid
Drops prescribed for his
War with Glaucoma
More subdued than the
Sun-stroked auburn leaves
Demanding the same
Reverence as La
Gioconda
It's all in the wrist
Said my mentor-friend
So did the mallard
Expertly ducking
My oncoming rock
Launched from a small hand
Eager to leave a mark
Just like Mr. X
At the Potomac
Where boats powered by
Mules once hauled coals for
Western expansion
Before Gap and Co.
Invaded Georgetown
Being at one with
An overburdened
Mama Nature might
Be as futile
As searching for
Today's Walden Pond
At urban jungles
Called Shopping Centers
But with a flick of
A wrist my friend X
Reminded me that
21st Century
Civil disobedience
Begins with reviewing
The art of rock throwing
Against lost causes like
Uncorrupted canals
Farrah Hassen is a Seymour Melman fellow of the
Institute for Policy Studies. She can be reached at fhuisclos1944@aol.com
War Planes At Practice By PETER HARLEY
Over Tucson, low-flying warplanes
called A-10s, or tank-busters,
if one prefers, dimwittedly,
thunder the sky in pairs.
This doubled, silver, soaring,
slitting
of Heaven,s throat with technology
is ever audible as background fever,
a rumbling hatred of quiet and peace,
practice for exporting war abroad.
(You have to practice, as any fool knows,
to be any good at doing harm).
It strains my touristic sympathy
with the place I have chosen to visit,
and which I could leave, of course,
but don't--the city has too many virtues.
I choose, instead, to stay on and say:
Give peace a chance, Your wars are the problem,
and other expressions of impotence
somewhat above the roar.
Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
* unless designated as a non-faith-basic
religion --
or abridging the freedom
of speech
* unless it conflicts with
official speech,
or of the press;
* unless it is an unconditionally
free press --
or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble,
* unless they assemble in all
the wrong places --
and to petition the government
for a redress of grievances
* unless the grievance is at
odds with the Patriot Act.
II
A well regulated militia,
being necessary to the security of a free state,
* unless threatened by acts
of God (in which case you are on your own) -- the right of
the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed
*unless the arms are being
used to shoot retired lawyers in the wild.
III
No soldier shall, in time
of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the
owner,
* unless the house is within
US occupied territory -- nor in time of war,
* unless the war is a preemptive
war -- but in a manner to be prescribed by law
* unless the law is classified
as a secret law.
IV
The right of the people
to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and
no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by
oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to
be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
* unless the FBI, CIA, the
Pentagon or the President (et al) deem otherwise.
V
No person shall be held
to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless
on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases
arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when
in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall
any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in
jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal
case to be a witness against himself,
nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process
of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without
just compensation.
* unless the person being held
has a hard to pronounce surname.
VI
In all criminal prosecutions,
the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial,
by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime
shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously
ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause
of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against
him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his
favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
* unless the prosecution is
occurring in an unknown location.
VII
In suits at common law,
where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the
right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried
by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the
United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
* unless an unacknowledged
secret court want to do the reexamining.
VIII
Excessive bail shall not
be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual
punishments inflicted.
* unless you are extraordinarily
rendered into the Gitmosphere.
IX
The enumeration in the Constitution,
of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage
others retained by the people.
* unless they are retained
as "tearist" threats.
X
The powers not delegated
to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it
to the states, are reserved to the states respectively,
* unless they are Blue States
--
or to the people
* unless they are people "highlighting
a familiar list of transgressors."
Finally
Available
from CounterPunch Books!
The Case
Against Israel
By Michael Neumann
CounterPunch
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