The Statue of Liberty Rocks
The poet Emma Lazarus saw a different statue in her sonnet "The New Colossus" which constituted a recasting of the statue's officially intended meaning. Lazarus's Statue, a "Mother of Exiles," speaks:
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries sheWith silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" (Lazarus 1888, 202-3)
posted by Claire @ 9:15 AM
5 Comments:
Hi Claire,
I think it talks about democracy ... but if we compare the sonnet to the current western hemisphere , the term democracy and human rights changed a lot during the last 100 years.
The states wants to spread " democracy and human rights" that they think it may work in the world but lets see whats is happeinig in Iraq and Afghanistan as the U.S.A is using them as " models of democracy and human rights"
Ammar
Hi Ammar,
Sadly, you are right. I am only referring to an ideal that many of us keep in our hearts as the present Administration not only attempts to take away the rights of other countries, but of its own citizens! Bush has lied to us and brought us into an illegal war with Iraq, he has vetoed stem cell research, he would outlaw legal abortions even in a case of rape, his extreme religious views and neglect to read any newspapers or books or listen to his advisors is sending our country "down the tubes," as they say. Thank God, people are starting to wake up and see his faults! Also, he can't get re-elected for another term. That, I am grateful for. I am a naturalized citizen and I studied hard for my citizenship test and it was a challenge. I love my country, (like the car bumper sticker says) it's the crimminals in charge I hate. Well hate is a strong word. I don't know if I hate anybody. Anyways, I agree with you whole-heartedly!
Hi Claire, thats so right. light will prevail at the end for all the injustice countries.
p.s. how can u link a website in th middle of the post. my e-mail is ammar_majali@hotmail.com
Have a great day
Ammar
The US doesn't care at all about spreading democracy and human rights. That maybe even would have been a valid reason to invade Iraq, as there was (and still is) an extreme humanitarian crisis as a result of the sanctions and the brutal authoritarian rule of Saddam Hussein. But they didn't use that as a justification because they knew it was completely absurd, as they supported and continue to support any ruthless dictator who supports US interests, like the Shah of Iran, Saddam himself in the 80's, Pinoche in Chile, Gadafi in Lybia, the warlords who control Somalia, etc. They even supported a failed military coup to overthrow the most popular democratically elected government in all of Latin America - Hugo Chavez's administration in Vennezuela. Democracy and human rights only matter so far as they happen to coincide with the domestic and international politics of global hegemony.
By the way Legal Alien, to link to a website from within a post, assuming that you are using the normal blogger editor, just highlight the text that you want to link, and click on the fourth button from the left, that I guess is supposed to look like a link in a chain. A window will pop up, allowing you to enter the website to link it to. Otherwise, if you are editing the html, type the following:
Text
Sorry, let me try that again. If you edit the html, type the following to link:
<a href="website address">Link Text</a>
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