John Coopey

TRUMPETRY

by John Coopey

Sunday 14th July 2019 10:32 pm

In a land of immigration

Paul Revere and Liberty

Welcoming with open arms

Land of Opportunity.

Once a fair and moral nation

Looked upon with admiration

Hands held out with open palms

Welcoming with open arms

Not clenched fists but open palms

Greeted us from o’er the sea

And offered opportunity.

Marches that won integration

Rosa Parks, the Kennedys

Dream of Martin Luther King

Nation made of refugees

Land of equal aspiration

Nation born of many nations

In a land more welcoming

Nary race nor colouring

When we were more welcoming

Land of Brave and Land of Free

Yes, we were Brave and free.

Ellis Island patriation

Polish, Irish, Russian Jew

Couples, children, young and old

Citizens of nation new.

Then the winds of changes hasten

There no longer is a place in

Uncle Sam’s new Land of Gold

“America now First” we’re told

No more sharing of our gold

No more Opportunity

All heralded in Trumpetry.

🌷(7)

◄ COSTA COFFEE

THE TRUE AUTHORSHIP OF THE PLAYS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ►

Comments

John Coopey

Fri 19th Jul 2019 15:59

I took a bonus of delight in hanging this on the structure and rhyming pattern of Edward Lear’s nonsense poem “ The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo”.

M.C. Newberry

Tue 16th Jul 2019 20:38

Hi again JC. I declared in a blog in the recent past that refugees
are migrants but migrants are not necessarily refugees. But whatever definition applies, they have certain characteristics in common. Both seek to move from a place that doesn't "suit" to
a place that does - or promises to do so. They both possess the
ability, aim/intent to change their destination to one that reflects
their own "face" and hopes. As for the Normans, they surely
fall within the wider definition of migrant/immigrant and set about
changing the Britain they found into something that reflected their
invasive ambitions - largely heedless (at least to begin with) of,
the resident Anglo-Saxon population and its concerns. It took
many years of unrest for assimilation to kick in but from that came
what we know as "The English" identity....lasting to the present
day.
As for your "Jewish" question. I suspect that I would have attuned
myself to the values, attitudes and behaviour of my father's generation present at that time. Before WW2, the German Jews
(I assume this is the subject) who saw the rising threat made their plans to move away to less dangerous destinations - of which
there were many besides this country - the good old US of A
being the favoured choice for many. It must be remembered that
the population here was considerably smaller than it is now and
the existence of the Commonwealth would have made the
acceptance of substantial numbers less problematical than now.
The Poles are also here in substantial numbers, again largely
arising from those years and their ripple effects, and they probably
contain a sizeable total of Polish Jews.
On a related matter - it is recorded that Queen Elizabeth the First
acted to control immigration into her realm (population circa 15
million I believe) to avoid social unrest. So, the subject is hardly
new.
Cheers.

John Coopey

Tue 16th Jul 2019 14:24

I’m sure they are, Mindy. But with regard to the POTUS’s stated option (among whatever alternatives there are) of sending them back to their “own” country - do you agree with him?

John Coopey

Tue 16th Jul 2019 13:11

MC - I think it’s a bit of a push to call the Normans “immigrants” in the sense we interpret it. They didn’t arrive to escape persecution and poverty to work at the local car wash. They were conquerors. They took Saxon land and property and titles.
I am not against a thought-out policy on immigration with precise controls. It troubles me that so many base this on “drawbridge mentality”.
In any event, it begs the question “Would you have given refuge to the Jews?”

M.C. Newberry

Tue 16th Jul 2019 12:13

JC - I undersand where you're coming from...both literally and
figuratively. I maintain that we are of whom we are born more than
of where...since we could even pop into this world aboard a ship or
'plane. But on the subject of immigration, it is surely about sane
sensible control. Your sentence "we are all immigrants" (to the UK) had me thinking of the mantra "we are all guilty" .
The last true change here brought about by migration was the Norman Conquest, whereafter there was a slow and often painful/
bloody adjustment and little subsequent sign of immigration of any meaningful relevance - mainly modest numbers fleeing some
religious or social persecution, restricted by the cost and difficulty
in reaching these shores in other days..The Huguenots, those
escaping the French Revolution and the Jewish exodus from
Nazi Germany are examples. The 20th century saw post-war fresh impetus and we have been adjusting ever since. It is no
comfort that now we are experiencing violent crime of a kind that
has no equal in recent times and no doubt some fearless research
could explain its origins which I for one suspect lie in the social
changes brought about by the numbers originating from lands
less law-abiding or socially stable and cohesive than our own.
Or is it to be a case - as Basil Fawlty might say - of "Don't mention the war"! ? Which takes me back to "sane sensible control".

John Coopey

Tue 16th Jul 2019 09:37

And Mindy, are you in favour of sending those Congresswomen back to their “own” countries?

John Coopey

Tue 16th Jul 2019 09:35

I couldn’t agree less, MC. We are all immigrants. Britain, and even more recently, the US are composed of the sons and daughters of immigrants. My own heritage is Dutch from way back when. Should my ancestors have been prevented from entering? Apart from Native American Indians, ALL American citizens are the descendants of immigrants. Should their forebears have been prevented from entering the US? Or is it a case of “We’re in. Now pull up the drawbridge”?
Put bluntly, should the UK have denied access to Europe’s Jews?

M.C. Newberry

Tue 16th Jul 2019 01:14

JC - we should be kinder to ourselves as we face the current problem
of selective migration. You say "It was fortunate that the Jews of Europe were fleeing to the arms of our forefathers and not to us".
Better surely to say "It was fortunate for the Jews of Europe
that they were able to flee to the arms of our forefathers and not to
us"...if any such comparison (dubious) is to be made. No one seems
able to address the question of WHY we in these small islands
with a land mass a third the size of France and a population as big
as the latter country are being targeted by these long-distance selective migrants with a distant alien culture and religion they seem
ready to bring with them and perpetrate within an old Christian monarchy that is far removed from their own history and traditions.

John Coopey

Mon 15th Jul 2019 21:39

Many thanks, Keith. I cannot understand what possible argument there can be which results in this.

https://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=87158

keith jeffries

Mon 15th Jul 2019 19:46

John,

A good poem which once again highlights a problem of tragic proportions. Recently I listened to a talk given by the Dali Lama who urged Africans, in particular, to remain in their own countries and seek to change and reform them from within rather than to flee to europe or north america. This at first sounds good sense but then it is those countries in europe and north america who send vast sums of money to africa to alleviate the suffering of the indigenous peoples. Money which they never see as it goes into the pockets of presidents for life and other sundry dictators. Having said that we should never lose sight of such human suffering and do our level best to help where and when we can, but in the meantime ostracise the tyrants or eliminate them. I recently saw video coverage of a beach somewhere in southern europe littered with dead bodies of those who falied to reach our countries in europe.

Keith

John Coopey

Mon 15th Jul 2019 18:43

This is a far superior testament to (specifically) Irish immigration from The Pogues, “Thousands Are Sailing”.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=27iJsZpQn3A

John Coopey

Mon 15th Jul 2019 18:08

Thankyou for your thoughts, MC and Mindy. Both our countries were once kinder to those fleeing persecution and poverty than we are now. It is fortunate that the Jews of Europe were fleeing to the arms of our forefathers and not to us.

<Deleted User> (22247)

Mon 15th Jul 2019 17:08

Well said, M.C.!!!

It is so popular to hate and blame this country.
You'd think we invented the mirror!

M.C. Newberry

Mon 15th Jul 2019 16:59

It can be said that this US scenario gained fresh impetus from being attacked from within by certain factions and origins that had been
welcomed on face value (so to speak) and then set about trying
to affect the progress and safety of the country they sought to live
in but with malign/ulterior intent. The situation of the illegal mass
immigration from largely Latin-American South America - the less
stable and more inflammatory neighbour to Uncle Sam - can be
seen as an exacerbation of an ongoing problem facing the social
well-being and established national security of the latter country.
Without being melodramatic, here in the UK we are seeing report
after report of boat-loads of people being found crossing the Channel from the safe havens of Europe, with nearly all being
Iranian. Who is to say that this is not a sneaky way of getting
5th columnists from that unfriendly regime into this country for
purposes other than peaceful? Why aren't they willing to stay in
lands like La Belle France and other receptive liberal European
destinations? Why come here...the vilified oft-criticised old colonial power? The currency of Freedom deserves answers to protect its proper value.

John Coopey

Mon 15th Jul 2019 11:09

Many thanks for the “likes”, Lisa, Devon and Rachel.
I opened the link, Rachel, but saw it was 54 minutes long and I am on my phone now. So I’ll save it to look at when I’m back at the ranch.
We were better people then.

elPintor

Mon 15th Jul 2019 10:18

Any number of discussions could spring up from what you've written, here--such are the undercurrents that pervade these ideas.

It is very sad to see the resurgence of outright bigotry to such a degree that the fringe no longer feel the need to hide its face.

I'm posting a link--again )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuPZr68T_fg

I realize others may not share an interest, but it's hard to resist the opportunity to push a little light through the channel you've opened with your post.

Thanks John,

Rachel

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