Welcome, recruits! [Revised, revisited, corrected.]

This is how we do it
Down in Sesame Street.
We take the children,
Feed them gold,
And hope they will repeat:
                                Big Bird, feathers bright,
                                Growing with the sun,
                                Can you count, 1, 2, 3?
                                You make it seem so fun.
We take the brightest brains
For spreading the disease.
The parents find us,
Bow their heads,
We bring them to their knees:
                                Big Bird, feathers bright,
                                Glowing with the sun,
                                Can you count, 1, 2, 3?
                                You make it seem so fun.
The chorus tells us how
To help our country grow,
We sit and watch them,
Show our teeth,
And listen as they go:
                                Big bird, feathers bright,
                                Glowing with the sun,
                                Can you count, 1, 2, 3?
                                You make it seem so fun.
We don't know when to stop,
The blood is on our hands,
We took your brother,
Sister, too,
They're meeting our demands:
                                Big Bird, feathers bright,
                                Glowing with the sun,
                                Can you count, 1, 2, 3?
                                The kids have got a gun.