Matter
What Does It Matter?
What does it matter if justice is served
On a table that tilts with the wind?
When did we stop serving justice deserved?
And at what point does freedom then end?
Back in the day, in this land of the free
Most rules then set out were well meant.
You knew if you broke them -- the standard was high --
You had to have willful intent.
If it turns out you picked up a suitcase -- not yours --
At the carousel (yours left behind)
You may be a klutz, but you're not then a thief --
A distinction that brings peace of mind.
If you do go to court, Perry Mason would prove
Your intention was pure as the snow.
In a hurry, you did't take the time to read tags --
It was yours, insofar as you know.
Perry Mason's retired -- he may even be dead.
But if so, rolling there in his grave.
Did you know? Your intentions don't count in fed court
In this land of the free and the brave?
The table of justice has tilted a bit.
The standard has dropped quite a notch …
"Intentions don't matter. That case wasn't yours.
"Now it's theft! No one steals on my watch!"
It wasn't that far -- not the too distant past --
When in school every youngster was taught,
"It is better to have a few bad guys slip through
"Than to have just one good guy get caught."
But I guess that's too hard, takes too long, jams the courts.
Gotta streamline this thing -- it's surreal.
So the table's upended. The new game in town
Isn't justice -- it's "Let's make a deal!"
The way this game's played is we beef up the charge
'Til the possible time you could serve
Is way out of line -- forty counts, ten years each
Fifty times more than you should deserve!
Not to worry! Sign here and we'll drop it to one.
And that's it -- just ten years. Are we on?
Then this way we won't charge your wife and your kids.
Only you will be colored "All gone!"
But it looked like my suitcase -- a Samsonite grey --
It was all just an innocent slip!
Yeah? The one that you took had three kilos of smack --
That we know -- an anonymous tip.
You could truly be innocent. Nobody cares --
Not the judge nor the jury. You're cooked.
'Tis better that one man who's good gets ground up --
"No intent" means more bad guys get booked!
So where does it end? Hear me now, loud and clear!
NSA's got you covered, and how!
Now pretty much nothing you say on a phone
Or online goes unnoticed -- like, wow!
Good citizens, take note: being good's no defense.
You are wanted because you still breathe.
As felonies go, you commit three a day.
No intention. It should make you seethe.
It cert'nly does me. But you see, I have time
To absorb it and learn to adjust --
Ten years' time to be programmed to think it's OK
To live in a land without trust.