There’s no reason to be jolly; fa la la la la, la la la la

Congress Isn’t Stopping the War

(To the tune of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”)

You better shape up,

You better get tough.

Or this next election

Is gonna be rough

If Congress doesn’t stop the war

We’re watching your votes

We’re taking good notes

Gonna insist on more than good quotes  

Congress isn’t stopping the war

We see you when you’re voting

We know when you sell out

We know when you don’t have the guts

To get our troops right out

So you better shape up,

You better get tough

Or this next election

Is gonna be rough

If Congress doesn’t stop the war.

(VARIATION: Substitute Democrats for Congress, with a few word adjustments)

Think that’s bad?  You ain’t heard nothin’ yet.  Read on …

There’s No Reason To Be Jolly

(To the tune of you know what)

There’s no reason to be jolly

Fa la la la la, la la la la

The Iraq war is Bush’s folly,

Fa la la la la, la la la la

It’s past time to bring the troops home

Fa la la la la, la la la la

Tell the Dems to get some backbone

Fa la la la la, la la la la

No more bloodshed, stop the killing,

End the war and bring them home.

Think you can do better? I hope you’ll try.  This is your invitation. Submit some lyrics in the comment section.  We’ll collect and distribute them through the Iraq Moratorium website.

This is inspired — if you can use that word — by the fact that Iraq Moratorium #4, observed on the Third Friday of every month, falls on December 21.

That’s a mere four days before Christmas, and the day before the shortest day of the year.  It is likely to be dark and cold in much of the country.  And most college campuses, a likely spot for some activity, will already be closed.

That all calls for some creativity to spice things up for Moratorium #4. That’s where the carols come in.

It may be a time to wear Santa hats or suits to the vigil or demonstration.

Maybe it’s a good time to take the Moratorium where the people are — like leafleting busy shopping districts thronged with last-minute buyers.

Malls would be a likely target, but there are legal implications to being on private property, even in their parking lots.  It’s much safer to find a busy shopping area where you can be on a public sidewalk, greeting and leafleting people as they enter or exit. (Although we might finally get some mainstream media coverage if Santa were arrested for leafleting for peace in the mall.)

In Indiana, one group organized a “mall walk” for the Iraq Moratorium in October.  

Here’s their report:

 

Peace activists from Northwest Indiana took a walk through the mall on Friday, October 19. Sponsored by NW Indiana Code Pink and NW Indiana Veterans For Peace. the walk went through Southlake Mall in Hobart, IN.

6 people wore our matching white tee shirts with “Out of Iraq” in bold red letters. We also had two children in strollers and 3 other walkers with different anti-war tee shirts. Taking part were Kathy Sturm (Merrillville), Nina Klooster (Lake Village), Karen Kroczek (Munster), Mike Ploski (Mattson, IL), Jim Roseen (Munster), Anita Skomac and her mother Myrna (Hobart), Mark Lesniewski (Crown Point) and Nick Egnatz (Munster).

We strolled around the mall. Karen bought a Swiss army knife to replace one confiscated from her during our meeting with Indiana Senator Evan Bayh in August (Security was taking no chances with a baby boomer armed with a Swiss army knife within sight of a future Vice Presidential candidate). We dined in the food court and went through some other stores.

We had our best luck when we were not moving and people would come up to us and ask us where had we been for the last 6 years of the Bush Regime. We didn’t leaflet, but had a flier with info about our events, the Iraq Moratorium and the October 27 Mobilization in Chicago, etc. for those who approached us with an interest.

We feel the action was a great success and plan on repeating it, especially during the winter. Our thanks go out to Cathy McGuire of Terre Haute, Indiana who suggested it to us last month!

If you have other creative ideas for Moratorium Day #4, or more lyrics, or whatever, share them here or on the Iraq Moratorium website.

And one more thing:  The Iraq Moratorium is facing a bleak holiday season, with scarcely a lump of coal.  If you can put a little something in their stocking, please do so here. .  God bless us, every one.