Journalism and the Bush Years
Misinformation was the most potent weapon
of the Bush Regime. How soon we forget.
Remember him clowning at the Press Club?
Journalists laughed with him, not at him.
(The new crop of undereducated – but
photogenic – media types are a sorry lot.
Unlike Morrow, they’re not hired for their brains;
unlike Cronkite, they’re not to be trusted.)
“No WMDs under here!” he bozoed, to
wave upon wave of pandering giggles.
While I, the Christian,
and my Riley, the Jew,
and our friend Muna, the Muslim,
used to sit on her porch and drink “ka-hway”
(which is Arabic coffee powered by something
stronger than nuclear fission could EVER produce;
this bunker-buster brew with thick black syrup on the bottom
is the stuff of dreams except you never go to sleep
until two days later and even then
you are still talking VERY fast).
On 9/11 we sat in her kitchen and cried.
Later on Muna’s porch
(all too soon snarled at by passersby)
we sipped her coffee
and cried some more.
© 2011 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Also at the poetic oasis, Poets United.
Sharp Little Pencil 
Roger Green
More like DISinformation.
Sharp Little Pencil
Preachin’ to the choir again, right? Thanks, Roger! Amy
Sherry Blue Sky
Amy, I am right there with you on that porch. Ditto re the bozo. I LOVE your description of the coffee. Maybe I need a cup of it!
Sharp Little Pencil
It’s so thick you could stand a spoon up in it. Served in tiny cups, and you drink off the top – the bottom is sugary coffee sludge!! And yes, I know you and Pup would both have been on that porch with us… Peace, Amy
kaykuala
Amy,
Very good verse! You brought to the open such open lies which others could just sigh and lament. They thought sending bombs were like playing on the chess board. But I’ve been told before there is such a thing as poetic justice. We never know how they suffered, not those who were bombed but those who sent the bombs, be they Christians, Jews, Muslims or whatever!
Hank
Sharp Little Pencil
Hank, I’ll be honest here… I think they all send those damned drones to bomb whomever gets in the way (as long as there is at least one person from “the list” among the rubble) and they sleep like babies at night. It’s about war contractors, who makes money, and how many lobbyists put money in which politicians’ pockets. I don’t believe in “Just War,” and I believe firmly in diplomacy at all cost. President Bush exercised ZERO diplomacy, and when the US bombs struck Iraq based on a lie, we lost the mantle of ‘The Good Guys’ forever.
I don’t want anyone to suffer, but if the bombs are launched by ANYONE, they should at least be accountable, aware, and THEIR draft-age children should all be on the front lines. I’m talking infantry, not a GWB coke-snorting good time and AWOL with no trouble. Hope this doesn’t rankle, but I have to say it. We can discuss more if you want!! Peace, in our time, Amy
Judith
Yeah – preaching to the choir. I am with you on that porch if only in spirit.
Sharp Little Pencil
Hey, I had that feeling! Welcome to my porch, sister… peace (still working on that one, right?), Amy