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"The Essential Bob Dylan", Track #30

BILL COHEN: The recurrent theme in this song is that dylan tells us that he used to care, but things have changed. All of his early songs about the Masters Of war, A Hard Rain Is Gonna Fall, and Blowing In The Wind, and With God On our Side seem now to be gone. Dylan tells us that he used to care very much, but it's different now. I was reading an Article in this week editionof Newsweek about the young people coming back from Iraq. They are wounded, and now homeless. This is a replay of Vietnam. They are starting to die on the streets and turning to drugs and alcohol. The new homeless and forgotten, having to cope alone with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and nobody to help them. What have we turned into- is it any diffeent than the Ballad of Ira Hayes? I don't think so. Dylan will not sing any more political songs. He cant!. Why restate the obvious? He has already told us about this 40 years ago. The VA is worthless and have always been the same. A bunch of Civil Service employees spending most of their time doing nothing. As a Korean Vet I know what these kids are going through. So I called my local VA hospital to volunteer to offer counseling. I explained that I was a doctor and a licensed psychotherapist. They told me that I should apply and the would let me know. I did apply, last year, and have never heard from them. I could tell from the conversation that I had with the Officer in charge of Psychiatry that they had enough people at the time, but he would consider my application. In a comment that I recently wrote about Ira Hayes, I noted that this would happen. It finally got front page headlines, and the President ordered a full scale investigation. We live in a Poilitical World. Noting will happen. It never does. As Dylan asks in another song "What have we become? (03/07/07)

SHAZBABY: Cannot believe this is so low down the list, it's sang so wonderfully (06/26/06)

FONTANA: better than anything on BOOT (or TOOM for that matter) (03/31/06)