When Louis Gates got arrested for breaking into his own house, president Obama deemed it worthy of a teachable moment on race.
Surely a catastrophic, still-uncontrolled oil spill that threatens an entire ocean should be worthy of at least a little fireside chat from the president about just what the hell kind of people we are.
Are we really so addicted to mindlessly driving around that we’re willing to destroy entire ecosystems rather than even consider alternatives?
Really? That’s who we are? That’s the United States of America?
Can such a people really take the moral high ground on…anything? Let alone the fight against terrorism?
We need a leader.
President Obama, please. Give us the moral compass our nation hungers for.
What Kind Of Monsters
by Ben Bochner
What’s that I heard today?
They say
A million barrels spilled into the bay?
And what kind of fool would say,
“Well, hey,
“That’s just the way things seem to go these days”?
And where is the voice to say:
“No more. No way.
“We’ve got to find ourselves another way”?
We’re hypnotized
And paralyzed
Pretending that our eyes don’t see
Oh, what kind of monsters
What kind of monsters
What kind of monsters
Are we?
Hey! It’s a sunny day
We lay
Beneath the sky and dream our lives away
But, oh! What a price to pay
Look away and tell ourselves that
Everything’s OK
And where is our president?
He came. And went.
He says he sends us all his deep regrets
We’re hypnotized
And paralyzed
Pretending that our eyes don’t see
Oh, what kind of monsters
What kind of monsters
What kind of monsters
Are we?
