A disclaimer -
I understand that the subject matter for this post is very serious. But I'm sick and tired of having to be serious all the time (yes, I know this administration requires us to be constantly vigilant and serious) so I thought maybe I'd post something a little lighthearted.
One of my favorite folk songs is The Kingston Trio's "MTA", or "Charlie and the MTA", it has a few titles. It was written back in the 40s by Jacqueline Steiner and Bess Lomax Hawes as a protest of a fare increase on Boston's MTA and, to help a candidate for mayor win the election.
I heard it today as I was running and my mind just started reworking the words. I mean, MTA, NSA, it just seemed very easy.
Let me tell you the story
Of a man named Charlie
On a tragic and fateful day
He put his cell phone his pocket,
Kissed his wife and family
Unaware of the NSA
Charlie dialed his cell phone
Placed a call to England
And then a call to Madrid, Spain
He was suddenly surrounded
By men in black trench coats
And put on an unmarked plane
Chorus:
Did he ever return,
No he never returned
And his fate is still unlearn'd
He may languish forever
In a cell in Gitmo
He's the man who never returned.
Now all night long
Charlie sits in his jail cell
Saying, "Just tell me what I did
I was just trying to call
My sister in Chelsea
And my cousin in old Madrid"
Charlie's wife goes down
To stand outside the White House
Every day at quarter past two
But she's vilified and harassed
As she yells at the President
As his motorcade comes rumblin' through.
Chorus:
Did he ever return,
No he never returned
And his fate is still unlearn'd
He may languish forever
In a cell in Gitmo
He's the man who never returned.
Now you citizens of the US
Don't you think it's a scandal
How bad the government is today
Fight illegal phone tapping
Vote for a democratic Congress
To oversee the NSA
Chorus:
Or else he'll never return,
No he'll never return
And his fate will be unlearned
He may languish forever
In a cell in Gitmo
He's the man who never returned.
He's the man who never returned.
He's the man who never returned.