A Fear of Phobias

A “phobia” means fear, blind and unreasoning,
Whose usefulness requires a little seasoning

When ignorance alone will not stir up the mob
Misinformation management will do the job

Like when the Pope proposed invasion and Crusade
To take some land from Muslims who would not get paid

The first Nine petered out after two hundred years
But now, eight hundred later, time again for tears

This time for land and oil the Jews and Christians would
Do every bloody thing they ever thought they could

The Tenth Crusade began in nineteen forty-eight
Predictably creating loathesome fear and hate

As Zionists attempted to set up a “state”
In Palestine, for Jews, which made the world irate

The plan involved the splitting of two Muslim sects
Who'd “kill each other off,” as Kissinger directs

Then on into the nineties with the first George Bush
Who told the Muslim world that it could kiss his tush

A “splendid little war” would make him popular
At home where attitudes towards “war” were jocular

And so Bush Senior kicked Saddam, the useful tool,
So he and his Republicans could spit and drool

But raising taxes slightly on the filthy rich
Brought Ross Perot as punishment, an unseen glitch

So, thus, with forty-three precent, the Clintons won
The two of them, they said, “for just the price of one.”

Then came the Health Care that the wife could not provide
While Bill crossed over to the farther right-wing side

Which brought eight years of bombings, sanctions: “worth the price”
Including dead Chinese in Belgrade. Oops! Not nice.

Then Bush the Younger got his turn. The Court made sure.
“Elections” in the U.S.A. are hardly pure

But Dubya failed to heed Bin Laden's threat, Jihad:
“Get far away from Mecca or you'll wish you had”

But Dick and Dubya had the Treasury to rob
So, caught with their pants down, they failed to do their job

Some unarmed Saudis brought three buildings crashing down
With planes they learned to fly in some Southeastern town

Which caused our “leaders” to attack Afghanistan
And then Iraq, without a reason, clue, or plan

Eight years spent bombing Muslims who had done no wrong
Let Saudis off the hook, while Dubya's wars got long …

Which brought Obama, one more Muslim-bombing fool
Who thought the robot drone would make a perfect tool

For killing from long distance, safely, so he thought
He claimed he didn't like dumb wars. Then more he bought

So if you're male and muslim in your early teens
He'll send a drone to blow you all to smithereens.

He'll call your day's activities a "signature,"
Which means, for you, a death for which there is no cure.

O'Bomber has you placed upon his weekly list
While pounding on a bible with his bloody fist

He claims to read Aquinas, making up his mind
Which kind of drone to use in wiping out your kind

And if you should protest that this does not make sense,
Once dead you can return and claim your innocence.

In legal matters, like the Queen, he's deeply versed.
The verdict can come afterwards, the sentence first.

But resurrection, he believes, is commonplace
Each dead man a Messiah, none a vacant face

Now comes one Donald Trump the greedy, vain, and dumb
Whom Bibi Netanyahoo has beneath his thumb

As does the Saudi prince who buys more bombs and guns
The only thing that matters where the money runs

And so after a thousand years, Crusade goes on
With Christians blaming Muslims as the Devil's spawn

For fighting back, the Jews and Christians can't forgive
Their victims, they insist, must simply die, not live.

Michael Murry, "The Misfortune Teller," Copyright © 2018