I am America
By Joshua James
AMERICA, LIBERTY, TRUTH and JUSTICE stand in a line and address the assembly before them.
AMERICA
I am America, land of the free.
LIBERTY
And we only had to kill and subjugate four or five million native Americans to do it.
TRUTH
It wasnt completely free, I mean, we had to give some of the little buckskin-wearing buggers a bunch of shiny beads and whiskey, I think it set us back about three bucks or so, just for Manhattan alone. So it wasnt THAT free.
JUSTICE
Land of the free, but not land of the free health insurance, that sore on your face, thats going to cost you.
AMERICA
I am America, where all men are created equal.
LIBERTY
And women get to do the dishes.
TRUTH
America, where it took only two hundred years for a civil rights movement, a movement that met with much resistance, in fact there are people in office as we speak who still doubt that it was a good idea.
JUSTICE
In fact, some elected officials think that Strom Thurmond retired far too early.
AMERICA
I am America, where the separation of Church and State is the law and freedom of religion is sacred.
JUSTICE
As long as you pagan pig-fuckers remember that we are one Nation, UNDER GOD, thats what it says in the Pledge of Allegiance and dont you fucking forget it. UNDER GOD.
LIBERTY
And please keep in mind that Jesus was white, blond and blue-eyed.
TRUTH
Regardless of where he was born, hes the son of God, he had to be white, right? We wont accept anything else here in America.
AMERICA
I am America, where any child can grow up to be President someday.
TRUTH
As long as hes either a Republican or Democrat, reads the bible every day, comes from family money and attended an Ivy league school where he was able to achieve at least a "C" average, then he can be President.
LIBERTY
And as long as HE is a HE and not a SHE, then your child can be president.
JUSTICE
Our corporate sponsors tell us that were not going to be ready for a female President for quite some time, HOWEVER, in forty or fifty years we could very well see a Jewish President (because they believe in God, too) or maybe, just maybe, even a black President.
LIBERTY
As long he only looks black, but is still able to think rich and white, i.e. Colin Powell.
AMERICA
I am America, where every vote counts.
TRUTH
They do COUNT the votes.
LIBERTY
They dont mean anything, but they do COUNT them.
JUSTICE
Your vote does count, unless one of the candidates is the son of a previous president who also ran the CIA and therefore knows where a lot of bodies are buried, than that counts more than your vote counts.
AMERICA
I am America, where freedom of speech is guaranteed.
TRUTH
Except in New York City, where all protests must be pre-approved and participants can only protest in small, quiet cordoned-off streets that are in no way connected to each other and have no port-a-potties.
JUSTICE
I mean, come on, a parade of a half a million of our citizens protesting a possible war isnt that big of a deal, its not like its the Puerto Rican Day Parade or something big. We make a lot of money in Puerto Rico.
TRUTH
And especially, dont protest to the New York City policemen that are there to mace and arrest you for exercising your freedom of speech.
LIBERTY
You can protest in New York City, just dont protest about New York City.
JUSTICE
And dont criticize our leaders, regardless of how badly they may read the teleprompter.
TRUTH
And dont burn the flag, let it touch the ground or turn your back on it.
LIBERTY
You can protest in America, just dont protest about America.
AMERICA
I am America, and I support the spread of democracy around the world.
TRUTH
Except in Saudi Arabia, China, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Taiwan, Tibet, most of Central and South America and parts of Africa.
LIBERTY
And Texas.
JUSTICE
We make too much money there to bother with democracy.
AMERICA
I am America, and I fight for those that cannot fight for themselves.
TRUTH
Except in Saudi Arabia, China, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Taiwan, Tibet, most of Central and South America and parts of Africa.
LIBERTY
And Texas.
JUSTICE
We make to much money there to bother with human rights.
AMERICA
I am America, and every citizen of America has the inalienable right to freedom, life and pursuit of happiness.
TRUTH
Unless youre poor and you need health-care.
LIBERTY
Unless youre a woman and you want equal pay and opportunities.
JUSTICE
Unless youre gay and you want to serve in the armed forces.
TRUTH
Unless youre in New York City and you dont move along when a New York City policeman tells you to move along.
LIBERTY
Unless you look "too different" from everyone else.
JUSTICE
Unless youre over the age of sixty-five and need affordable prescription medication.
TRUTH
Unless youre eighteen years old, able to get drafted but not able to get a drink in a bar.
JUSTICE
Unless you suddenly find yourself classified an "enemy combatant".
TRUTH
Unless youre lacking in corporate sponsorship.
LIBERTY
Unless youre in Texas.
AMERICA
I am America, and I am at War.
JUSTICE
We are fighting a war for our way of life.
LIBERTY
We are fighting a war for truth and justice.
TRUTH
We are fighting a war overseas to avoid having to fight a war here at home.
AMERICA
I am America and I am at War.
TRUTH
If we dont fight this war, than sooner or later everyone is going to wonder why we havent caught the people responsible for destruction of the World Trade Center.
LIBERTY
If we dont fight this war, than sooner or later everyones going to realize just how dumb and ineffective the guy sitting in the White House really is.
JUSTICE
If we dont fight someone else, then sooner or later were going to fight each other. And our corporate sponsors cant have that.
TRUTH
War is a good thing.
LIBERTY
War is a good thing.
JUSTICE
War is a good thing.
AMERICA
I am America and I am at War.
BLACK OUT.
"I am America" IS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL AND MAY NOT BE DOWNLOADED, TRANSMITTED, PRINTED OR PERFORMED WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR
"I am America" debuted February 28, 2003, with the following cast:
Maggie Bell as Liberty
Dan Brooks as Justice
Joshua Peskay as Truth
Joshua James as America
Performed at No Shame Goes To War (Los Angeles), on March 8, 2003. Directed by John James Hickey, with the following cast:
America - Tory Seiter
Liberty - Mike Rothschild
Truth - Jenn Cousin
Justice - ?
Performed at No Shame Goes To War (Charlottesville), on March 21, 2003, by Vanessa Brown, Chris Estey, Todd Ristau, and Seth Silverman.
Performed at No Shame Goes To War (Charleston), on March 21, 2003. Performed by Amber, Betsy Johns, Rachel Lewin, Hilary C.
Performed at No Shame Goes To War (Austin), on March 22, 2003, by Jonathan Morrow, Kate Caldwell, Keely Williams and Wetzel Parker.