MUSIC TO KEEP THE SPIRIT FREE-THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND.

Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Senior, Clinton, Bush Junior and now Obama. These are the American Presidents that I have lived through, most are crooks, and I find only Carter and Clinton tolerable, Kennedy was of course the greatest let down of all. I was 13 when he was elected and joy was unconfined in households like ours where, to paraphrase W.B. Yeats ”green was worn” A fireside rug adorned our living room wall showing Kennedy looking young and heroic with the White House and the stars and stripes behind him. He was a secular saint to people with Irish backgrounds everywhere and the disappointment was crushing when I later learned the truth about him and his wretched family, they were like modern day Borgias. The guys listed above are a strange mixture of dullards, crooks and incompetents with one or two decent incumbents like Clinton, Carter and now hopefully Obama. Ford, Reagan and Bush Jnr. were simpletons who were put there to serve corporate America, to do this as required there had to be a distinct lack of intelligence and great gullibility and these 3 supplied that. Nixon and Bush Senior could have been Mafia bosses had they wanted to but, they preferred bigger crimes. Johnson was a flawed bully and a huge missed opportunity because he could have been great. I was barely aware of Truman and Eisenhower.


‘Obama brings hope’ that has been the mantra but; I only bought into it completely yesterday. This is a picture taken at the Inauguration Concert in Washington, the song being sung is sometimes referred to as the real American national anthem, “This land is your Land” by the late American singer, writer and political activist, Woody Guthrie, a ‘non person’ for many years because of blacklisting and political chicanery. The old guy next to Springsteen playing the banjo in the woolly hat is another ‘non person’ an American communist, Pete Seeger 89 years old; referred to as ‘the father of American folk music’ he also bore the brunt of McCarthyism when he too was given a prison sentence and blacklisted during that dark period for America. Guthrie and Seeger of course like many other blacklisted Americans served during the Second World War, Bush Jnr. by contrast managed to miss Vietnam and still became “Commander in Chief” of the American Military, a dreadful insult to military people past and present.

That Obama is prepared to include all Americans judging by this picture can only be a good thing, the song says that America ‘is your land’ it means everybody not just the rich and powerful but everyone, people might get an education now, people might get health care now, who knows the disgracefully massive prison numbers might reduce. ‘Anyone can become President of America’ so they say; and to a certain extent Bush Jnr. proves that but; this is different, this guy definitely comes from the other side of the tracks; the first black American President, it doesn’t get any bigger than that.

The sight of Pete Seeger standing there singing “while all around me a voice was chanting, this land was made for you and me” was inspirational, the American workers and the Liberal community have come through some dark depressing times; decent Americans have seen their country used and cheated by wealthy crooks and seen it’s reputation destroyed in every corner of the world, Obama’s task is to reverse this decline and restore honesty and dignity to that great country.

Those who put Nixon, Bush Sen. Bush Jnr. etc. into power have not gone away, they have retreated in the face of a mighty anguished cry of “enough is enough, we want our country back, we want our dignity back and we want a decent future” The right wing corporate gangsters will do their utmost to destroy the dreams of the American people at every turn and Obama and his family will live their lives as their number one enemies, these people will show no mercy, they will have lost influence, power and above all money; they are ruthless and completely devoid of any morality or decency.

Obama be warned.

YANKS N FITBA

The USA media call Hilary Clinton a communist agitator, that's an indication of where the centre of their politics is. When her husband Bill ran for President while Governor of Arkansas he interrupted his campaign in a blaze of publicity to return home and sign a death warrant for a prisoner on death row who had appealed, this was done to show his 'toughness' on crime. When the condemned man was asked for his last words he asked if he could have ice cream later for dessert, he had a mental age of 8 yrs. 'Land of the Free'.

Hilary and the other democrat hopeful Barack Obama both support the death penalty, and Iraq, in the USA they are left wingers, Edwards, a third so called left wing democratic candidate recently spent 800 dollars on his hair cut, that's normal according to left wing senator Edwards, seriously.

Meanwhile, one of the gangster Bush's hate figures Michael Moore is back in his face with a documentary about America's deplorable health provision 'or lack of it' 50 million without health care and child mortality worse in some areas than some 3rd. world countries, that's the USA today, the world's richest country !

Brave people who helped to rescue and care for victims of 9/11 and suffered injuries and illness as a consequence were told that they were not entitled to treatment because their Medical Insurance did not cover them for such an incident. Moore took them to Cuba to get treatment and he is now being pursued by American authorities for visiting the tiny island which scares them so much.

The Americans want to confiscate his documentary, they don't want the world to see the scandalous situation in the worlds richest capitalist country, this is the Home of the Brave !

Americans should start telling the truth by adding to the Statue of Liberty ' give me your tired , your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breath free.
AND I WILL EXPLOIT THEM

FITBA - Dramatic contrast was provided by two cup finals one was a non event at the world's greatest and newest stadium between two of the world's richest, most famous teams, that was of course the FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester United. Cat and mouse tactics by both managers made this a major disappointment, people paid £60 for a ticket and were charged £5 for a programme, £8 for a burger and £10 for a pint of beer, the working man's game eh ?
There were famous rich players on show who didn't enhance their reputation in any way, with the honourable exception of Didier Drogba who is quite simply a force of nature. IMO if you sat down a panel of experts and asked them to come up with a perfect centre forward, Didier would emerge, big, strong, brave, fast, skillful and a mentality which does not allow failure, he gave the fans their money's worth.

The other final at historic Hampden Park, by contrast had the lot, a roaring battle between two relatively modest Spanish teams, Seville and Espanyol, with every player giving everything and a brilliant level of talent and skill.

These players were completely uninhibited, play flowed from end to end at an astonishing speed, a 2-2 score and the whole thing ended in an agonising shoot out ( bring back replays I say ) I watched the penalties from behind the couch. Wembley and Hampden showed the best and worst of the beautiful game, Wembley was awful with a bill of £83 for the game, a programme, a burger and a beer while Hampden was great at £35 for the same, and even that IMO makes it tough for the working man. The Spanish at least showed us the beautiful game. muchos gracias.