Fading Newsprint

Baby Joseph was enticed away
From mother Sarah
But nobody laughed.

Best friends David and Jonathan
Dragged baby Joseph
Down the streets of Jerusalem
As the Philistines watched and did nothing.

As baby Joseph raised his arms in vain for protection
David and Jonathan came down on him
With the cruelty of the Amalekites.

Baby Joseph was mauled by wild beasts
As we were sold into slavery.
God hardens our hearts
As we watch the evening news.

The bible of the future is being written
With the blood of our children.

Jacob wrestled with an angel
And won.
These two danced with a demon
And lost.

Jacob was rewarded with a new name
Recorded in Scripture for all to see.
The British courts refuse to reveal
The new names and whereabouts
Of the two murderers formerly known as
Jon Venables and Robert Thompson.

In 1993 they shocked the world
Dragging a two year old
Through the streets of Liverpool.
This year they turned 18.

British courts assure the people
The two aren't being freed
But are on probation and being watched.
They'll be brought back to jail
At any sign of threat.

This provides no comfort to the mother
Whose child was stolen
Eight years ago.
She still wants justice.

But if the demons have been exorcised,
Perhaps the two deserve a chance
Not because they've served their time
(Which they haven't.)
But because they were so young.

There’s this dude from Paraguay
Who’s pro’ly gonna fry on Tuesday
Unless Virginia’s state Gov
Experiences an outbreak of Love.

The Nation of Paraguay’s in a tizzy
And the United Nations is busy
Urging the state to think again
And the White House to poke its nose in

They claim a Convention was broken
The one that in Vienna was spoken.
He wasn’t informed of his right
to speak to his consulate.

The US insists they’re not to blame
the result would have still been the same.
Of course, the news stories dont say
that Capital Punishment’s foreign to Paraguay

And to all the European countries
we like to consider our allies
Even Germany, Russia, Japan
Don’t execute their fellow man

Alas, Virginia’s state Gov
Experienced no outbreak of Love
And we turned the dude from Paraguay
into an angel that Tuesday.

In 72 they declared the chair unconstitutional
Due to the racially biased nature of juries.
In 76 the Supreme Court deemed the nation’s juries
Prejudice free . Amazing -- Humanity progressing so far in four years.

Since then studies have shown, if you want to kill
And live -- Don’t kill a white person.
Four out of every five executed since 76
Killed white people. Even with prejudice free juries!

I agree with the Pope the death penalty is wrong
For the simple reason killing is wrong in the first place.
I agree with the Pope on so little
That I am slightly uncomfortable.

However, while I shudder every time
I hear another human has been killed by our state
Or any other state in the nation
I prefer there to be some logic to our Justice system.

A criminal should be convicted and sentenced
Based on what they did, not their race or creed.
A sentence should be commuted based
On the facts of the case.

While I am happy the State of Missouri
Will execute one less prisoner this year,
Granting a man clemency because
The Pope happened to come to town

Is almost as bad as sentencing him to death
Because his victims were White.

The public relations department
At a major tobacco company
Is in tears.
They’ve had to alert the media
That they have discovered
A “Dangerous Chemical”
In their cigarettes.
A pesticide
Which according to the PR Dept
Might cause Nausea or Dizziness
And some consumers
Might not desire
Nausea or Dizziness
So these dangerous cigarettes
Are being recalled.
Of course, this same PR department
Insists
The unrecalled cigarrettes
Are safe.
They won’t cause Nausea
Or Dizziness.
(Just Cancer.)

Documents have been produced
Alleging
That Philip Morris
Has performed some experiments.
Admittedly
They are not Mengelian
In nature.
Nothing really shocking
Except perhaps the electricity
Delivered to college students
In an attempt to see
If the nervousness derived
Resulted in increased
Use of the product.
The study was stopped
According to the documents
When it was noted
That the number of subjects
Was decreasing.
And then there was
The study
Involving third graders
Of a hyperactive nature
Measuring
Whether they were more likely
To use the above mentioned product
in the future.
The documents also show
That the company knew
About the addictive nature
Of their product
10 years before the Surgeon General.
Of course, they continued
Producing their product
Denying their nature
And now that the documents
Have been produced
We shall see what becomes
Of Phillip Morris.