Monday's Poetry: "Sympathy for the Devil"

 

by Pa Rock

Poetry Appreciator

Ever since Donald Trump brought hate and bigotry back into fashion in America, some Republican politicians seem to be abandoning their moral compasses.    Before taking a stand on crimes so heinous  that they would have, in years past, only had one decent response, some right-wing politicos now run their potential responses through a Fox News filter to make sure that what they say will not offend any of the angry old white folks whose whole world is based on what Fox feeds them.

Two recent examples:  

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott is chomping at the bit to pardon a convicted killer, and all Abbot is waiting on is some official cover via a recommendation from the state's pardon and parole board.  The man Abbott is so eager to pardon is 35-yeear-old Army sergeant Daniel Perry, who in 2020 drove his car into a Black Lives Matter protest, rolled down his window, and fired five shots with a pistol at a man in the crowd who had an assault weapon pointed down and who was apparently approaching Perry's car.  Perry said in court that he felt the other man was "going to aim at me."  Texas has a stand-your-ground law, so the Perry, a legally armed Uber driver, immediately declared that he had feared for his life.

Sgt. Perry was tried on a charge of murder in Travis County, Texas (Austin) this past April and was found guilty through the unanimous vote of the jurors who heard the case, even though he had apparently been expecting to be exonerated through the stand-your-ground law.   Fox News was not happy with the outcome and the managed to get Governor Abbott stirred up about it.  In Texas a governor does not have unilateral pardoning power like the President does, and for Abbott to pardon the man who killed the protester, he must have a recommendation to do so from the Pardon and Parole Board.  Governor Abbott has said that he will make the pardon just as soon as he gets that recommendation.  

Abbott obviously knows far more about real justice and the actual incident that occurred on the streets of Austin than the twelve individuals who sat through the entire trial as jury members listening to - and weighing - the evidence, and then agreeing unanimously on the shooter's guilt - and when Abbott gets that recommendation he will fix the egregious error that the jury made, you betcha he will!

No pressure guys, but Greg is waiting . . . waiting . . . waiting!

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, like Abbott in Texas, is also a Trump acolyte.  DeSantis seems to be running for President, a situation which he apparently feels gives him license to speak about political outrages that occur anywhere.  This week he inserted himself, quite uninvited, into the case of Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old former Marine who has been charged in the choking death of a New York City mentally ill Black man as they were riding on a subway.  The victim died as a result of being placed in a chokehold by the Marine vigilante.  Many who knew the victim describe him as having been an annoyance - but essentially harmless.  Penny was arrested and charged with second degree manslaughter, and is now out on bail.

In a tweet last night Governor DeSantis described the vigilante who killed the subway nuisance (and fellow human being) as a "Good Samaritan."

Yup, Ron, I'm sure that's exactly how Jesus would have described him, too.

Today's poetry is another offering that initially entered the public realm as a musical recording.  It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and was recorded, of course, by The Rolling Stones.  The song, "Sympathy for the Devil," highlights many other people in history who probably also felt - at some level - that they were doing God's work.   I'm not sure why it reminds me of Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis and others of that authoritarian stripe, but it does.

Sympathy for the Devil

By Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

 

 

Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long, long years
Stole million man's soul an faith

 

And I was 'round when Jesus Christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate

 

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game

 

Stuck around St. Petersburg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed Tsar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain

 

I rode a tank
Held a general's rank
When the blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies stank

 

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah
Ah, what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah

 

I watched with glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the gods they made

 

I shouted out
Who killed the Kennedys?
When after all
It was you and me

 

Let me please introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
And I laid traps for troubadours
Who get killed before they reached Bombay

 

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah, get down, baby

 

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what's confusing you
Is just the nature of my game

 

Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails
Just call me Lucifer
'Cause I'm in need of some restraint

 

So if you meet me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politnesse
Or I'll lay your soul to waste, mm yeah

 

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, mm yeah
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, mm mean it, get down

 

Woo, who
Oh yeah, get on down
Oh yeah

 

Aah yeah

 

Tell me baby, what's my name?
Tell me honey, can ya guess my name?
Tell me baby, what's my name?
I tell you one time, you're to blame

 

What's my name
Tell me, baby, what's my name?
Tell me, sweetie, what's my name?