Wasteland of the Free

It is times like these that can agitate those who are already agitated.

A couple of quotes come to mind:

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Benjamin Franklin

When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.

Sinclair Lewis

Folk singer / social advocate Iris Dement outlines many of the problems in the USA today in her 1996 song, ‘Wasteland Of The Free’, from the album ,"The Way I Should":

We got preachers dealin' in politics and diamond mines and their speech is growing increasingly unkind.
They say they are Christ's disciples but they don't look like Jesus to me
And it feels like I'm livin' in the wasteland of the free

We got politicians runnin' races on corporate cash, now don't tell me they don't turn around and kiss them people's ass
Now you may call me old-fashioned, but that don't fit my picture of a true democracy.
And it feels like I'm livin' in the wasteland of the free

We got CEO's makin' 200 times the worker's pay, but they'll fight like hell against raisin' the minimum wage
And if you don't like it Mister, they'll ship your job to some third world country 'cross the sea
And it feels like I'm livin' in the wasteland of the free.

Chorus:
Living in the wasteland of the free, where the poor have now become the enemy
Let's blame our troubles on the weak ones, sounds like some kind of Hitler remedy
Living in the wasteland of the free

We got little kids with guns fightin' inner city wars, So what do we do, we put these little kids behind prison doors
And we call ourselves the advanced civilization, but that sounds like crap to me
And it feels like I'm livin' in the wasteland of the free

We got high school kids runnin' 'round in Calvin Klein and Guess, who cannot pass a 6th grade reading test
But if you ask them, they can tell you, the name of every crotch on MTV
And it feels like I'm livin' in the wasteland of the free

We kill for oil then we throw a party when we win, some guy refuses to fight and we call that the sin
But he's standin' up for what he believes in, and that seems pretty damned American to me
And it feels like I'm livin' in the wasteland of the free

Repeat Chorus

While we sit gloating in our greatness
Justice is sinking to the bottom of the sea
And it feels like I'm livin' in the wasteland of the free

I’m so agitated right now, that all I can say is that there are four groups that I'm familiar with, (and donate to regularly), who are only a small thread of defense between our freedom and the return of the Dark Ages. They are: The American Civil Liberties Union, The Freedom From Religion Foundation, the People For The American Way and Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The Agitated Atheist