{"id":69680,"date":"2016-02-15T12:00:52","date_gmt":"2016-02-15T12:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=69680"},"modified":"2016-02-09T17:12:49","modified_gmt":"2016-02-09T17:12:49","slug":"10-signs-that-america-is-the-most-corrupt-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2016\/02\/10-signs-that-america-is-the-most-corrupt-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Signs That America Is the Most Corrupt Nation"},"content":{"rendered":"

A poem based on an article by Juan Cole<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Wealth Disparities<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Trickle down economics
    \nIs an excuse
    \nFor the rich to piss on the poor.
    \nSo, look up, ye wretched of the Earth!
    \nWe\u2019re happy to piss on your faces
    \nWhile you cry out for \u201cmore\u201d!<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Human Carbon Emissions<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      I deny with a straight face
      \nThat I\u2019ve anything to do
      \nWith the CO2 I haphazardly spew
      \nFrom my Lotus, or my factory\u2014
      \nBringing to you
      \nThe latest baubles I\u2019ve convinced you
      \nYou can\u2019t live without.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Endless Political Campaigns<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Ridiculous to think they last a year or two
        \nWhen, in fact, they\u2019ve been going on
        \nSince Washington chopped down the cherry tree
        \nIn quasi-actuality,
        \nThen dressed in military garb
        \nImpressing all the delegates
        \nHe was best-suited to make us \u201cfree.\u201d<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Lobbyists, Bankers, Bribes<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Excuse me for being
          \nUnpolitically correct,
          \nBut wasn\u2019t that the very thing
          \nThe \u201cself-radicalized,\u201d reforming Jew
          \nGot so upset about when he threw
          \nall those money-changers out
          \nOf the Temple?<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Not Prosecuting the Villains of the Meltdown<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            What else is new?
            \nWhen Polk invaded Mexico
            \nAnd our legislators cheered him on,
            \nDid anyone besides Thoreau
            \nCry \u201cfoul,\u201d let\u2019s end this now
            \nOnce and for all?<\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Bloated Military Budgets<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              Forget the nitpicking, if you please!
              \nIt\u2019s not easy to maintain
              \nA thousand military bases around the world,
              \n\u201cdedicated to the proposition\u201d
              \nThat we\u2019re the \u201cexceptional\u201d people
              \nAnd God loves us best!
              \nWhat\u2019s a couple of trillion bucks mislaid
              \nGot to do with \u201cbad guys\u201d slayed?<\/p>\n

                \n
              1. Our Prison-Industrial Complex<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                3 Strikes and you\u2019re out\u2014
                \nWorks in baseball, why not crime?
                \nWe\u2019re a sporting people, and besides,
                \nBetter to pay the minimum-minimum-minimum wage
                \nTo polish belt buckles for the troops
                \nThen deal with marchers in the streets
                \nSquawking about \u201cfairness.\u201d<\/p>\n

                  \n
                1. Domestic Spying<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  How else control a restive group
                  \nOf malcontents out-of-the-loop
                  \nOf what the country stands for?
                  \nWhen everyone fears everyone
                  \nEveryone will get a gun.
                  \nFear\u2019s the friend of governments
                  \nSeeking to steer malcontents
                  \nAgainst each other.<\/p>\n

                    \n
                  1. Insider Trading & Revolving Doors<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                    If I\u2019m spying, why wouldn\u2019t I
                    \nOccasionally lapse,
                    \nProfit from some Great Collapse
                    \nI see coming down the gilded pike?
                    \nIf prices of a stock should spike–
                    \nand my foreknowledge tells me when\u2014
                    \nwhy shouldn\u2019t I collect a million,
                    \nput the kid through the Ivy League,
                    \ntake my seat on the Corporate Board?<\/p>\n

                      \n
                    1. Asset Forfeiture<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                      Why shouldn\u2019t our cops seize what they can?
                      \nCould anything be more American?
                      \nForget your Citizens\u2019 Rights\u2019<\/em> complaints!
                      \nThey\u2019re neither paid nor trained for being saints!<\/p>\n

                      _______________________________________<\/strong><\/p>\n

                      Gary Corseri has published his works in countless venues around the world, including <\/em>TRANSCEND Media Service<\/a>, Op Ed News, CounterPunch, Common Dreams, Dissident Voice, L.A. (and <\/em>Hollywood\u2013) <\/em>Progressive, Village Voice, and <\/em>The New York Times. He has published two novels and two collections of poetry, edited <\/em>Manifestations, a literary anthology, and his dramas have been produced on <\/em>PBS-Atlanta and elsewhere. He has taught at US public schools and prisons and at US and Japanese universities. He has performed his work at the Carter Presidential Library. gary_corseri@comcast.net<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                      Trickle down economics
                      \nIs an excuse
                      \nFor the rich to piss on the poor.
                      \nSo, look up, ye wretched of the Earth!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry-format"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69680\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}