John Prine - 'Sam Stone'

John Prine, the American songwriter, has just passed away as a result of complications from Covid-19.

I can still remember the words of Sam Stone, one of the first songs to make a really big impression on me as a teenager.

The song is about the aftermath of the Vietnam War - a conflict which Donald Trump avoided, of course.

Not because of any principled or conscientious objection on Trump's part, but because he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and the infamous drafting-dodging 'bone spurs' in his heels.   

   

Sam Stone by John Prine


Sam Stone came home,
To the wife and family
After serving in the conflict overseas.
And the time that he served,
Had shattered all his nerves,
And left a little shrapnel in his knees.


But the morhpine eased the pain,
And the grass grew round his brain,
And gave him all the confidence he lacked,
With a purple heart and a monkey on his back.


There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin I suppose.
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.


Sam Stone's welcome home
Didn't last too long.
He went to work when he'd spent his last dime
And soon he took to stealing
When he got that empty feeling
For a hundred dollar habit without overtime.
And the gold roared through his veins
Like a thousand railroad trains,
And eased his mind in the hours that he chose,
While the kids ran around wearin' other peoples' clothes...


There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin I suppose.
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.


Sam Stone was alone
When he popped his last balloon,
Climbing walls while sitting in a chair.
Well, he played his last request,
While the room smelled just like death,
With an overdose hovering in the air.
But life had lost it's fun,
There was nothing to be done,
But trade his house that he bought on the GI bill,
For a flag-draped casket on a local hero's hill.


There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin I suppose.
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.

Draft-Dodger-In-Chief (16/06/28)

Here's a great photo of America's Draft-Dodger-In-Chief saluting a North Korean general during the recent summit with Kim Jong-un in Singapore.

 

Draft Dodger Trump (11/03/18)

Donald Trump is posing here in a flight jacket and admiral's cap during a recent visit to an aircraft carrier, but it's worth pointing out that America's commander-in-chief is a 'draft dodger' who received no less than five deferments from serving in the Vietnam War.

Apparently one of these deferments was down to 'bone spurs' in both heels although this condition didn't seem to hold Trump back during his four years at university during which time he was regarded as a 'student athlete' who played football, basketball, baseball tennis and squash.

Clearly, self-obsessed narcissists like Trump have no qualms about indulging in such cowardly. shameless behaviour.

Donald J. Trump, center, as a high school senior in 1964 at the New York Military Academy.CreditNew York Military Academy

 

Draft Dodger Trump (27/02/18)

Donald Trump 'ran the other way' five times during the Vietnam War using the lame excuse of having bone spurs in his heels which had no effect on his ability to play a wide range of sports, of course.

Yet now Trump would have people believe that he would have run towards danger had he been on the scene at America's latest mass shooting incident at Parkland School in Florida.

The man's been 'tested' alright - and even on his own Donald Trump been exposed as a terrible blowhard and blabbermouth.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/43202075

Florida school shooting: Trump says 'I'd have run in'

Image copyright - EPAImage caption - President Trump discussing policies to combat mass shootings

US President Donald Trump has said he would have run into the Florida high school where 17 people were shot dead this month even if he was not armed.

"I really believe I'd run in there even if I didn't have a weapon," the president told a group of state governors gathered at the White House.

Mr Trump also said it was "disgusting" that officers reportedly did not confront the suspect on 14 February.

The massacre was the second-deadliest shooting at a US school.

"I think most of the people in this room would have done that, too," said the US president on Monday of his assertion that he would have rushed into the school.

He added: "You never know until you're tested."


Media caption - Seven things the NRA blames after Florida

A state inquiry was launched on Sunday into law enforcement's response to the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Scot Peterson, a sheriff's officer who had been assigned to the high school, resigned last week as it emerged he had remained outside during the shooting,

Broward County Sheriff's Office is reportedly also investigating why three of its deputies apparently remained outside the building as the attack unfolded.

But Sheriff Scott Israel has defended himself from criticism.

"I've given amazing leadership to this agency," he said during an interview with CNN on Sunday.

Image copyright - GETTY IMAGES Image caption - Students, including activist Emma Gonzalez (L), returned to school on Sunday for the afternoon.