On the Road to Autocracy

And old cliché comes to mind,
"Shoot first and ask questions later."

Those who protested the war with Iraq were made to look like fools.
Called "anti-American,"
and some even said, "treasonous."

"Support our troops!"
Most said they did, even if they did not want the war.
But some proclaimed that protesters were hypocrites
for supporting the troops but saying "No" to war.

Really now?
was it really wrong to support those fallowing orders
even if not agreed with those who gave them?
Why hold soldiers responsible for decisions not theirs?
Soldiers are vital human tools,
not puppet masters pulling strings.

What sad reality did I wake to when all this started?
A reality where it is no longer right to ask questions
or stand up for your beliefs
if they are not popular;
a reality in which it is wrong to want peace.
A reality where the USA masses blindly followed a man
who made war as the world protested.
A man who based reasons for war on lies and deception.
No one dared stop him,
even though that man was never actually elected.

Did this country really get this twisted to stay?
Is the USA no longer a country of freedom?
Are we now a country of domination and suppression?
Are we now a nation willing to sacrifice, in mass,
our individual privacy for that one, out of several million,
who may be a terrorist?
Do the majority of people really think this is right?

For you fools who say yes,
do you think these new privacy invasive rules will ever end?
Even long after the last terrorist has been caught and hanged
they will be looking for someone new to scare you with.
It might turn out to be you.

Am I the only one who feels stuck in a 1942 rerun…
but we are the bad guys this time?

By Michael A. Crane, Jr.
Original Version: April 6, 2003
Version 2: January 5, 2004
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