*This post is sort of political. If you don't want to bother with politics on a blog about music, cool. Just hunt down to the line in italics like this that says "Music part starts Here".*If i say "Seventh December, 1941," most everyone can identify Pearl Harbor DayIf i say "Eighth May, 1945," many, if not as many, can tell me that was VE Day, the end of the war in Europe.But if i say "Nineteenth August, 2006," how many of you can tell me what it was (aside from day-before-yesterday, that is)?On the nineteenth of August, 2006, the US had been fighting in Iraq longer than our entire involvement in the European war in World War 2 - from Pearl Harbor day to the surrender of Germany.And, since VJ Day was three months and seven days later, on December 26th, Boxing Day, 2006, if we are still fighting in Iraq, as i have no doubt we will be, we will have been fighting in Iraq longer than our entire involvement in WW2."Support Our Troops" - you see the stickers everywhere (there's even one on my car - bought from my son-in-law's company's Family Support Group while he was Over There). And for most people, that's where "support" ends - saying how much we're behin our troops (*'way* behind them).They're cutting the funding for the VA.Most people only think about veterans and/or the dead on Veterans' Day or Memorial Day - and we wouldn't want to think *too* hard about dead soldiers on Memeorial Day, 'cos it might spoil our appetites at the picnics.*Really* support the troops - demand better care for our disabled vets, demand that the equipment be upgraded to the best we can supply (it isn't yet; we're still trying to fight the war on the cheap, which has cost roughly $300 Billion) and think about the fact that while the rate is a lot lower than WW2, we're fighting a lot smaller war, and we have over 3000 dead. Not to mention the thousands upon thousands of Iraqi dead, most of whom were *not* Bad Guys.Hell with it. Ian Andrson wrote "I may make you feel, but I can't make you think...", so i'll stop hitting you over the head.Just think about it when you have some spare time, okay?*"Music part starts Here" "Music part starts Here"*"*First we have a snippet from The March of the Dead*":http://electronictiger/avail/march.mp3, from Country Joe's album *War War War*; with lyrics are from the poetry of Robert W. Service. The other eight songs are from poems Service wrote during World War One; The March of the Dead, which closes the album, is a poem inspired by the Boer War, some years earlier.The setup is that everyone has turned out to cheer the returning victorious troops ... and then the dead in their ranks show up to crash the party.*Second is not music, it's a poem, by Rudyard Kipling, no less.*Most of us know that "Tommy Atkins" is the generic soldier, just as "G.I.Joe" is (or at least was) for the US.If you've ever lived in a town that makes most of its money off a military base, you may be familiar with the way that people who depend on soldiers or sailors not just for their country's defense, but for their very livelihood despise and/or fear them, even as they overcharge them for drinks in bars or for used cars or housing. Well, it can get pretty bad these days, but it used to be a lot worse, and Kipling put his finger on it:*Tommy*I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o'beer, The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here." The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die, I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:

O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away"; But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play, The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play, O it's "Thank you, Mr. Atkins," when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be, They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me; They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls, But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside"; But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide, The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide, O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap; An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.

Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy how's yer soul?" But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll, The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll, O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too, But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you; An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints: Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;

While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind," But it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind, There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind, O it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires an' all: We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational. Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!" But it's "Saviour of 'is country," when the guns begin to shoot; An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please; But Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees!