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America's Shame and The Pledge
By John N. Cooper
Axis of Logic
Monday, Dec 6, 2004

America's Shame

When the bombs reign, as rain they have,

 O shame, America, shame!

Whose is the evil empire now?

 For shame, America, shame!

Which country is the rogue nation, now?

 Shame, America, shame!

What terrorist state now drags

  the world down?

 For shame, America, shame!

Say which is the MOST warring nation, now,

  on the face of this bleeding Earth;

And which are the only people, now,

  nuclear weapons, to have used, twice?

 O shame, America, shame!

As new enemies we make, faster than we kill them,

  the list goes, on and on ..

 For shame, America, shame!

Hateful, intemperate, impatient to a fault,

  selfish, intolerant, greedy and cruel,

  self-righteous, insensitive, violent, vain:

Whither the values, the virtues espoused,

  that once made us respected and admired?

 O shame, America, shame!

Have mercy, take pity, on America, good God,

  its victims, past, present, henceforward:

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra,

  Angola, Antigua, Argentina, ... et al.

 Shame, America, shame!


   The Pledge

I pledge allegiance

  to the truth,

  independence,

  integrity and

  critical inquiry;

  and to the outcomes,

  which from these flow:

  Freedom of thought,

  and word, and

  responsible deeds;

  to Equality and Justice,

  the goals of the law,

  and compassion and

  respect for all.

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