Rant Conceived When Passing Old Sugar Refinery – “An(us) Domino”
Picture Taken A Few Miles Above Domino Sugar Refinery On the Hudson River
An(us) Domino – Rant Conceived when Riding By Sugar Refinery
Who would have thought
we would get to the day
when sugar
is the healthy alternative?
Or, when those who assail abortion,
especially, if male,
would fight tooth and nail
against any measure taken
to avoid getting pregnant
in the first place; or
when salivating-at-the-pockets protectors
of private property
would allow the police to investigate
your privates, properly;
not finding a speck
of governmental overreach
as long as the state is only allowed to reach
up your rectum or vagina.
Perhaps they are not thinking of the police
reaching up their rectums or vaginas.
(Or maybe they are.)
All I can say is that what goes around comes around.
In the meantime, pass me the sugar, sweetie.
I hesitate to post the above poem for this the 9th day of National Poetry Month and also for dVerse Poets Pub Open Link Night, since it is a bit of a stretch from my typical more lyrical format. However, for those who haven’t heard, the U.S. Supreme Court has recently ruled in Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Burlington that a person arrested for even a minor offense (or, as in the Florence case, arrested wrongfully) can be strip searched without reasonable suspicion if they are to be detained with the common jail population. It seems to me a troubling decision that has not raised a significant public response (which is ironic given the huge uproar over clothed pat-downs done by the TSA.)
A discussion of the case may be read on Scotusblog. (Disclaimer, Scotusblog has a very thorough discussion but is a blog written, at least in part, by an attorney whose firm, Goldstein v. Russell, P.C., was counsel to the petitioner.)
Explore posts in the same categories: poetry, UncategorizedTags: An(us) Domino, Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of County of Burlington poem, manicddaily, political poem re Supreme court
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ManicDDaily 
April 9, 2012 at 9:50 pm
booyah! great write k…and thanks for bringing to light the issue as well…think i missed this one somehow…at first i was thinking of the VA that is currently tabled for a year on the required exam in abortion cases…of course this one just adds to the civil liberties bashing that is going on all over the place…love a good political poem…smiles.
April 9, 2012 at 9:57 pm
Ha. No, this is different. The case was just decided about a week or so ago. It allows the strip search of even someone arrested for a traffic offense if the person is going to be detained in the common jail (with other inmates.) The person in the case had in fact been wrongly arrested due to an old warrant that had been quashed. He had proof of quashing with him when wife (driving) stopped in traffic stop. Strip searched twice. Women also brought in the case–a nun stripped searched after participating in a protest. Kind of crazy. (Maybe it’s to avoid liability, I don’t know. Can’t quite understand logic.) k.
April 10, 2012 at 12:00 am
Well, I was about to knock off for the night when I saw this title come up, and I had to come by–and may I say–well worth it. I’m laughin to keep from cryin here, Karin. Is there some law of physics or natural science that says when mankind reaches a certain level of contrarian idiocy, he will become extinct? One can hope. This incident reminds me of one of my favorite old Dylan tunes–‘Idiot Wind.”
April 10, 2012 at 2:23 am
Jon Stewart did a piece on this last week … I couldn’t believe what I was hearing … very troubling, this decision! Great write ~~~
April 10, 2012 at 11:30 am
Yes, Jon Stewart had on the Jack Goldstein (I think). He was counsel to the petitioner, and handled the oral argument on the case. k.
April 10, 2012 at 5:10 am
This so much needed saying. More power to you. Great, great write.
April 10, 2012 at 11:25 am
honestly…this shocked me…and good that you write about it to make the people sensitive for the topic…
April 10, 2012 at 11:29 am
Thanks. I’m not so thrilled by the poem, but it is pretty shocking. The Daily Show did a piece on it, but there has been remarkably little attention paid to the case, it seems. k.
April 10, 2012 at 11:51 am
The Daily Show ~ The Colbert Report = must view!!!
April 10, 2012 at 11:55 am
Absolutely! They are terrific. (I have to say I have an especially soft spot for Colbert. I find him just incredibly likeable, as well as talented in just about every possible way.)
April 10, 2012 at 1:32 pm
Great write and thank you for bringing attention to this. Tough truths but true !
April 10, 2012 at 7:17 pm
Government intrusion…therein lies the core of so many of our problems. Courageous write, Karin.
April 10, 2012 at 7:36 pm
Ha. Thanks, Victoria. I should clarify though I am really not someone so against government per se. (There are so many big forces in our society right now.) But I do feel that this current Supreme Court is terribly inconsistent in its view of the situation and the law. Inconsistent may not be the right word–they are consistent in their views in some ways, but they seem to defend individual liberty of the pocketbook while being far less careful about other civil liberties. Crazy world. K.
April 11, 2012 at 12:31 am
Excellent moving powerful and important! We do need to stand up for people’s rights ~ too much is being decided in congress & courts & state legislators that is indeed unconstitutional! Protests in many forms one being the power of the written word! Thank you for your posting tonight!
April 11, 2012 at 9:31 am
The imposition on civil liberties is appalling, like total information awareness that despite public and congressional disapproval simply changed names and agencies and continues to be funded. Steve and John are some of the few things I miss from television (we banned it from the house in 2001 after 9/11 coverage and reality tv proved infuriating). I do try to keep up on the internet, through books, and documentaries.
April 11, 2012 at 4:11 pm
The bitter ironies of hypocracy. A much less important example I observed recently during my visit to Japan is that people enjoy the cherry blossom season by drinking and eating under the blooming cherry trees in the parks. Everyone I told was shocked that drinking outside is illegal in the US. Land of the free.