(It Is) Right to Boycott

The NY legislature couldn’t pass the bills to blacklist companies and organizations that support boycotts for human rights for Palestinians. So Gov. Cuomo executive ordered them, raising Joe McCarthy from his well-earned grave. A state-wide Freedom to Boycott coalition has been combating these atrocious bills, which are surfacing around the country. Here are some songs and images of this growing movement.

There Once Was a Boycott Made
(tune: Union Made)
There once was a boycott made
By those who weren’t afraid
Of ginks and goons and political loons
Who make new laws to ban a stand
For human rights for all, across the apartheid wall
And when the governor made his threat
Well this is what they said:

Oh you can’t scare me
I’m stickin’ to the boycott
Dispossession is their plot
Oppression I’ve always fought
No you can’t scare me
I’m stickin’ to the boycott
Apartheid you cannot
Force me to buy

This BDS gang was wise
To the Israel lobby’s lies
They couldn’t be fooled or overruled
They’d organize the gals and guys
When McCarthy was reborn
They stood up to forewarn
We’ll hold the line for Palestine
Yes this is what we’ll say:

Oh you can’t scare me
I’m stickin’ to the boycott
Dispossession is their plot
Oppression I’ve always fought
No you can’t scare me
I’m stickin’ to the boycott
Apartheid you cannot
Force me to buy

Give Me That Old Time Boycott
(tune: ” Give Me That Old Time Religion”)

Chorus:
Give me that old-time boycott
Give me that old-time divestment
Give me them old-time sanctions
They will make the people free

From the fields of California
To bathrooms in Carolina
Really nothing could be finer
Than to boycott till we’re free

It was good enough for Nestlé
So let’s use it for the Dead Sea
Dispossessing is not cool see
But divestment is the key
Chorus

It was good for Sun City
That apartheid was so shitty
Israel’s land theft isn’t pretty
And that’s why we’re singing here

Your executive order
Is so clearly out of order
It’s a state terrorist order
It’s not good enough for me
Chorus

Will the Bill of Rights Be Broken?
(Tune: “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”)

I was standing against oppression
On a cold and cloudy day
When I heard the Governor calling
For to carry my democracy away

Will the Bill of
Rights be broken
Or be honored in the breach
When they take your right to boycott
They have taken your freedom of speech

Now the governor’s in the capital
Helping Israel steal the land
Netanyahu wants to grab it all
That’s why we must take a stand

Are you now or have you ever
Been supportive of human rights
Better watch out for the Governor
Cause he’s got you in his sights

We are here to tell the governor
We boycott and divest with pride
You attack our first amendment
In support of apartheid.

Major domo in the statehouse
Wants to kill the bill of rights
Wants to bring back the dark ages
We are here to turn on the lights

Will the Bill of
Rights be broken
Or be honored in the breach
When they take your right to boycott
They have taken your freedom of speech

(It is) Right to Boycott, short version

Short version:

There Once Was a Boycott Made
(tune: Union Made)
There once was a boycott made
By those who weren’t afraid
Of ginks and goons and political loons
Who make new laws to ban a stand
For human rights for all, across the apartheid wall
And when the governor made his threat
Well this is what they said:

Oh you can’t scare me
I’m stickin’ to the boycott
Dispossession is their plot
Oppression I’ve always fought
No you can’t scare me
I’m stickin’ to the boycott
Apartheid you cannot
Force me to buy

This BDS gang was wise
To the Israel lobby’s lies
They couldn’t be fooled or overruled
They’d organize the gals and guys
When McCarthy was reborn
They stood up to forewarn
We’ll hold the line for Palestine
Yes this is what we’ll say:

Oh you can’t scare me
I’m stickin’ to the boycott
Dispossession is their plot
Oppression I’ve always fought
No you can’t scare me
I’m stickin’ to the boycott
Apartheid you cannot
Force me to buy

Give Me That Old Time Boycott
(tune: ” Give Me That Old Time Religion”)

Chorus:
Give me that old-time boycott
Give me that old-time divestment
Give me them old-time sanctions
They will make the people free

From the fields of California
To bathrooms in Carolina
Really nothing could be finer
Than to boycott till we’re free

It was good enough for Nestlés
So let’s use it for the Dead Sea
Dispossessing is not cool see
But divestment is the key
Chorus

It was good for Sun City
That apartheid was so shitty
Israel’s land theft isn’t pretty
And that’s why we’re singing here

We will boycott when they’re lyin’
We are tryin’ to stop the dyin’
That’s the reason we’re not buyin
It will make the people free
Chorus

National Drumpfhood Week

The less said about this, the better, so it’s short.

There’s this guy who seems set to triumph
To which I offer a qualified harrumph
Almost makes me pine for Hubert Humphrey
Guess it’s clear I’m talkin’ bout Drumpf, see when heTalks about his weenie
And in many other ways resembles Mussolini
Some allege his hands are littler
You wouldn’t want him as a juror
He reminds you of the führer
As a racist he’s the rashest
As a sexist he’s the brashest
About Mexicans and Muslims he’s a krypto-not nice guyWhen he goes out on the stump
Rabid rioters in a clump
Had to lose the David Duke bump
Yes he’s a bit of a schlump, a frump,
Oh yes heLooks just like a mump
To spiff him up would take a sump pump
So far we’ve sadly failed in our attempts to dump—-
The Donald
I’m not sayin’ he’s corrupt
But he does have a penchant for going bankrupt
Kudos to those who show up to disrupt his braggadocio
And interrupt the Generalissimo
It’s fun to eulogize those who self-aggrandize
It’s only for four years so have no fear
For this boy from Queens, by all means a big Bronx cheer!

Triple W and H2 – Oh!

How to remember why we don’t quite like Hillary and perhaps would rather see her elected to prison.

Walmart, war and Wall Street
Are Hillary’s three great loves
Check out w.w.w. – did I say dubya?
She just can’t get enough
Then comes the double H,
Haiti and Honduras
Ensuring continuity of coups –
OMG she’s got endurance!
Walmart, War and Wall StreetHillary’s three great lovesDown Central America way
Mining and clearcutting are her favorite sports
Never mind indigenous folks
Let’s get on with the exports
Who knows best?
Multinational corporations don’t you see
Let’s give them a fair shake
though they leave corpses in their wake
From sea to slimy seaSo triple dub and H2 – O!, let us not redact
Welfare reform which was really
wWelfare retract
Send single moms to bottom rung jobs
At, oh, let’s see, y’know, Wal-Mart
I believe it would be in history an utmost epic fail
If Hillary and company don’t all end up in jailBut she’s a liberal, so you say, she fights for us
Hey I’ll bring you a Frappuccino
When you wake up
After having been thrown under the bus

 

She couldn’t possibly be in the establishment
Cause she’S a woman running for president
She’s better than Ted and Don
But she’s still a center-right automaton
She’s right on women’s choice
For that we must rejoice
Won’t release her bankster speeches
Wonder why?
I don’t mean to pillory Hillary but it’s time to declassify
Anyone with such a penchant for artillery,
Makes me want to flee to a distillery

 

The most terrifying 14 words in the English language
I know this is true, it says so right on yelp:
I’m from the center-right wing of a centrist party
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and I’m here to help

The Union, It Must Be Changin’

I wrote a medley for the Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE), a caucus of the United Federation of Teachers in NYC working for a democratic union and actually educational schools. Here’s the singalong vid, filmed at their meeting.