Whitey’s still on the moon

Recently, Shabana and I spent some quality time with some good friends

who’d rented a cabin at Deep Creek Lake, near the West Virginia border
of Maryland (not too far from the famed Morgantown, for whatever that’s
worth).

Our friends had an eclectic collection of MP3’s in rotation in the
iPod, from Billy Bragg to Rachid Taha.  One classic in particular got
me nostalgic (not for its era, which is before my time–though only
just barely, as I was born the same year it was recorded, in 1972–but
for music and songs that actually meant something). 

It was Gil Scott Heron’s piercing "Whitey on the Moon".
Its not the same without the rythm of bongos in the background, but the
lyrics, sadly, still capture America’s misplaced priorities:

A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Her face and arms began to swell.
(and Whitey’s on the moon)
I can’t pay no doctor bill.
(but Whitey’s on the moon)
Ten years from now I’ll be payin’ still.
(while Whitey’s on the moon)
The man jus’ upped my rent las’ night.
(’cause Whitey’s on the moon)
No hot water, no toilets, no lights.
(but Whitey’s on the moon)
I wonder why he’s uppi’ me?
(’cause Whitey’s on the moon?)
I wuz already payin’ ‘im fifty a week.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Taxes takin’ my whole damn check,
Junkies makin’ me a nervous wreck,
The price of food is goin’ up,
An’ as if all that shit wuzn’t enough:
A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Her face an’ arm began to swell.
(but Whitey’s on the moon)
Was all that money I made las’ year
(for Whitey on the moon?)
How come there ain’t no money here?
(Hmm! Whitey’s on the moon)
Y’know I jus’ ’bout had my fill
(of Whitey on the moon)
I think I’ll sen’ these doctor bills,
Airmail special
(to Whitey on the moon)

With
this administration’s obsession "Missile Defense" and its plan to
militarize space, Heron’s tirade seems more apropos than ever.  And we won’t even get into the "misplaced"–which is a more polite way of saying parasitic–priorities revealed by the Katrina disaster (the new, post-New Orleans version: "Development in the tidal floodplain so Whitey can have a condo by the beach").

This metaphor applies to so many comtemporary problems:

• My Middle Eastern country dictator is supported by Washington despite his butchery?
  Whitey in an SUV.
• Can’t water the crops in the family farm in the West Bank ?
  Whitey in a swimming pool in settlement.
• etc. etc.

Feel free to make suggestions.