By Dennis Loo
It was 1974
“The Rumble in the Jungle”
Ali v Foreman in Zaire
The world heavyweight crown
It was 1974
Sportswriters said Foreman’s
The most unbeatable heavyweight in history
He leaves dents in the heavy bag
Whump whump whump
It was 1974
George arrived in Zaire
Steps off the plane with his German Shepherd
Unaware that Belgian colonialists
Used snarling German Shepherds for riot control
It was 1974
Ali out to recapture his belt
Exiled from boxing for forty-three months
For saying
“Keep asking me, no matter how long,
On the war in Vietnam, I’ll still sing this song:
I ain’t got no quarrel with no Viet Cong.”
It was 1974
Ali said he’d dance
& dance & dance
It was 1974
3:00 in the morning
Ali meets George and tells him
You’re in trouble
It was 1974
Foreman cuts off Ali’s dancing
Ali finds the mat’s slow
And George is faster than he thought
It was 1974
Facing Foreman’s heavy artillery
Ali backs into the ropes
Folds his arms across his chest and face
Absorbing blow after blow after blow
Boom boom boom
Blow after blow after blow
Boom boom boom
Blow after blow after blow
It was 1974
“Hit harder” Ali said to Foreman
Boom boom boom
“That didn’t hurt” Ali said to Foreman
Boom boom boom
“Is that all you got?” Ali taunted Foreman
From the second to the seventh
boom boom boom
“Is that all you got?”
It was 1974
“Is that all you got?”
And in the eighth
Foreman thinks
“As a matter of fact, that IS all I got.”
It was 1974
Foreman’s heavy artillery is not what it was
Ali comes off the ropes
And with a vicious combination
Lays George on the mat
It was 1974
And we were kings
It is 2009
Barack Obama
The man of change
That millions look to to deliver us
From the evil of George and Dick
It is 2009
Barack Obama promised to close Gitmo
To restore habeas corpus
“Habeas corpus is the foundation of Anglo-American law” he said
It is 2009
Barack Obama said “we do not torture”
That is not who we are
That is not what the US stands for
It is 2009
Barack Obama announces rendition will continue
Gitmo will close but it may take a year
Torture gets worse at Gitmo
It is 2009
Barack Obama says
Bagram prisoners – who number over six hundred – must stay
For they have no habeas corpus rights
It is 2009
Barack Obama says that before June 2008
No Gitmo detainees had habeas corpus rights
Despite habeas corpus being “a foundation of Anglo-American law”
It is 2009
Barack Obama says troops will stay in Iraq indefinitely
It is 2009
Barack Obama sends 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan
He orders more missile attacks on Pakistan
Attacks that dismember childrens’ bodies
He gives AIG the right to dispense bonuses in the rescue bill
It is 2009
Barack Obama uses his second signing statement
He says that Iran has a nuclear weapons program
He says that we will not tolerate this
He says this despite the fact that Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapons program
It is 2009
Barack Obama claims that Bush and Cheney
Stopped abusing their powers in 2003
Despite everyone knowing they got more brazen as time went on
Obama’s looking forwards not backwards
It is 2009
Barack Obama is carrying forward the Bush policies
Defending these policies using the Bush justifications
It is 2009
“Is that all you got?”