EXTRA: Foreign Policy Follies and Congressional Subcommittees - More on Shitty Kitty by Don Mee Choi

In this bonus episode Connor and Jack continue their discussion of Don Mee Choi's poem, Shitty KItty. This time they focus on (rant about?) the history of US foreign policy failures, the lack of consequences for the architects of those disasters, and connect the histories that Shitty Kitty surfaces to contemporary struggles. They also share a some from the "Report by the Special Subcommittee on Disciplinary Problems in the US Navy."

Listen to the full episode on "Shitty Kitty" here: https://soundcloud.com/close-talking/episode-141-shitty-kitty-don-mee-choi

Read the poem, here: www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/90212/shitty-kitty

Get a copy of Hardly War, here: www.wavepoetry.com/products/hardly-war

Learn more about Don Mee Choi, here: www.donmeechoi.com/

Shitty Kitty

By: Don Mee Choi

Here comes Shitty Kitty en route to the Gulf of Tonkin or en route to a race riot? That

is the question and meanwhile discipline is the keystone and meanwhile did you

see on TV helicopters being ditched into the sea? That is also my film and meanwhile

all refugees must be treated as suspects. Looking for your husband? Looking for

your son? That is the question and meanwhile she was the mother of the boy or that

is what the translator said or Shitty Kitty or shall we adhere to traditional concepts

of military discipline tempered with humanitarianism? That is the question and

meanwhile South Korea exports military labor left over from the war. That is also my

history or is that your history? That is the question and meanwhile

(CHORUS: Dictator Park Chung Hee and his soldiers in Ray-Bans)

How much?

$7.5 million=per division

or Binh Tai massacre=$7.5 million

or Binh Hoa massacre=$7.5 million

or Dien Nien—Phuoc Binh massacre=$7.5 million

or Go Dai massacre=$7.5 milion

or Ha My massacre=$7.5 million

or Phong Nhi & Phong Nhat massacre=$15 million

or Tay Vinh massacre=$7.5 million

or Vinh Xuan massacre=$7.5 million

or Mighty History?

That is the question and meanwhile a riot began over a grilled cheese sandwich at

Subic Bay. Discrimination or perception? That is the question and meanwhile the

sailor refused to make a statement or translate? That is the question and meanwhile

twenty-six men all black were charged with assault and rioting and meanwhile did

you translate? That is my question and meanwhile lard or Crisco? Aye, aye, sir!

(Anti-CHORUS: kittens in frilly white bonnets, bibs, and mittens)

K I T T Y S O N G

I, aye-aye-sir!

I, crazy-daisy-sir!

I, export-quality-sir!

I, grill-grill-sir!

I, meow-meow-sir!

I, kitty-litter-sir!

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