Living in the Fourth Reich

[Nur]

Living in the Fourth Reich

 

June 13, 2005

 

By: Gary Steven Corseri

Axis of Logic

 

 

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By Gary Steven Corseri

 

 

In the Third Reich we said We were just following orders. Today we say, Were just doing our job.

 

In the Third Reich We were anti-Semitic. (We hated the Jews.) In the Fourth Reich We are anti-Semitic. (We hate the Arabs.)

 

In the Third Reich We had our Minister of Information. Goebbels said If you tell a lie big enough And often enough People believe it.

 

In the Fourth Reich We have Corporate Media. We get 24-7 lies Interspersed with commercials.

 

In the Third Reich We had sturm und drang. In the Fourth Reich We have shock and awe.

 

In the Third Reich We said Poland was a threat And we made an alliance with that Communist Stalin. In the Fourth Reich We say Iran is a threat And we make an alliance With that terrorist in Uzbekistan.

 

In the Third Reich We had 'democracy,' We elected our national leader. In the Fourth Reich We have 'democracy,' We elect our national leader.

 

In the Third Reich We despised the French. In the Fourth Reich We eat Freedom Fries.

 

In the Third Reich Good Germans didn't know What was going on In the concentration camp down the road. In the Fourth Reich Good Americans don't care About torture at Guantanamo.

 

The Third Reich wrapped itself In a dark kind of religious symbolism. We put Gott mit uns on our SS buckles. In the Fourth Reich we wrap ourselves In dark religious symbolism. Our generals say, Kill one for Jesus.

 

In the Third Reich We incinerated the body of der Fuhrer. In the Fourth Reich He has risen from the ashes.

 

© Copyright 2005 by AxisofLogic.com

 

Gary Steven Corseris dramas have been published, and broadcast over PBS-Atlanta; his prose and poems have appeared at/in Axis of Logic, The New York Times, Village Voice, Redbook, Sky, Georgia Review, CommonDreams, CounterPunch, DissidentVoice and over 100 other periodicals and e-zines. He has published two poetry collections and two novels, has taught in public schools and prisons in the U.S., and at universities in the U.S. and Japan. He edited the Manifestations anthology in 2004. His Manifestations anthology has been a desktop friend of mine and a regular visitor to my New Hampshire refuge since it was first published. You can purchase a copy by sending an email to: dcarts@mindspring.com. Mr. Corseri can be reached at: corseri@comcast.net.