"Pity the Nation"

A friend on Facebook posted the following poem written by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

I thought it uncannily appropriate and timely.

"PITY THE NATION"

(After Khalil Gibran)

Pity the nation whose people are sheep

And whose shepherds mislead them

Pity the nation whose leaders are liars

Whose sages are silenced

And whose bigots haunt the airwaves

Pity the nation that raises not its voice

Except to praise conquerers

And acclaim the bully as hero

And aims to rule the world

By force and by torture

Pity the nation that knows

No other language but its own

And no other culture but its own

Pity the nation whose breath is money

And sleeps the sleep of the too well fed

Pity the nation oh pity the people

who allow their rights to erode

and their freedoms to be washed away

My country, tears of thee

Sweet land of liberty!

Quote of the Day

Behold the common and ever-present coward and bully

The report this morning from The Kansas City Star is that all was well again last evening on the Plaza.

And of course it was.

Because that is precisely how the bully and the coward and the cowardly bully all operate--they pick on the smaller person, the more helpless, and, in this case, the unarmed, the defenseless and those who aren't expecting any trouble or that they should have to defend themselves on the Country Club Plaza on a mild, otherwise pleasant Saturday night.

Couple having coffee, as they stroll the area?

Knock the coffee out of their hands.

Potted planters to decorate the area?

Pick them up and break them into pieces.

etc., etc.

Cowards. Bullies, all.

So they knew there would be a big police presence on the Plaza last evening. I guessed that they'd not show precisely because of this cowardice and I was right.

But, knowing this is how bullies and cowards act, naturally we can't assume this has taken care of itself.

Chief Corwin and the KCMO Police Department will have to, at least for a while, if not forever, prepare themselves for any possible "flash mob" like this, in case they decide to converge again on a spot and on people and be the bullies and cowards they've shown themselves to be.

Sad, pitiful and tragic but true.

This is the reality we'll have to live in, at least for a while, if not permanently.

Fortunately, the police surely know this.