"Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, whose sages are silenced"

[kpete]

LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI:
You know, I’d like to read one poem that I just wrote. I really want to get this out.

AMY GOODMAN: Read.

LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI: Especially since Khalil Gibran has been in the news lately, including yesterday or the day before on your program. “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 conquerors and acclaim the bully as hero
and aims to rule the world with 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.

AMY GOODMAN: Lawrence Ferlinghetti. So what about the state of the world today and our role in it?

LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI: It’s rushing over the cliff.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/03/138216

[Dakini23]

1. Amazing poem

Thanks for sharing. :)

[Boojatta]

2. "Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, whose sages are silenced"

I don't consider Fred Phelps to be a sage, but those who do should be reassured that the ACLU is on the case working to protect his first amendment rights.

[Jim__]

4. We should all be thankful that the ACLU is protecting OUR first amendment rights.

[Boojatta]

6. If there are sages in America who are being silenced today ...

then the ACLU should be representing both the sages and Fred Phelps. If the ACLU's resources are limited, then I would hope that the ACLU would give a higher priority to a sage than to Fred Phelps. After all, a sage might have an important message for everyone.

I suspect that cases in which the ACLU assists Fred Phelps will include some complications. Otherwise one would expect summary judgment rather than a full trial. The participation of the ACLU suggests that it is not a matter of getting a routine court order to enforce an ordinary, well-recognized right. Of course, Fred Phelps is merely an example and there might be better examples to illustrate the point that I have attempted to make.

[Jim__]

7. The ACLU defends our first amendment rights.

It is currently invovled in more than one first amendment case. The problem with defending the rights of a "sage" is that we often don't recognize a "sage" 'til long he/she is gone. We must recognize the need to defend all of our rights; and to defend them whenever they are threatened.

[Boojatta]

8. re: sages who are Now Recognized as being sages

If sages are generally not recognized as sages while they are alive and if the poem refers to those who are now recognized as being sages, then are we to understand that the poem likely speaks of the past rather than the present?

[Jim__]

10. I wouldn't tell anyone how to interpret the poem.

However, if we allow the suppression of anyone's (first amendment) rights, then we allow the suppression of everyone's (first amendment) rights.

By suppression of rights, I mean the suppression of a right without a judicial ruling.

[Jim__]

3. The master class starts wars. The lower classes fight it. Governments lie. - FERLINGHETTI

Thanks for posting. I wish people were listening.

[Delphinus]

5. So true!

I wish there was a magic formula for wakening the sheeple. After seeing John Pilger's documentary, "The Death of Democracy", I don't hold out much hope.

[RainDog]

9. kick

thanks for posting this one. I missed DN! when he was on.