And Freedom Rings . . . and Booms

"As free people, we must each take the challenges and opportunities that face this nation as our own. As long as some Americans still must struggle, none of us can be fully content. And as America comes ever closer to achieving the perfect Union our founders dreamed, that triumph -- that pride -- belongs to all of us."

This is part of what Obama had to say to those of us who subscribe to his e-mail addresses, and although I would like to still believe in the promises he made that caused us to elect him, I can not ignore the evidence that we have installed more of the corruption we already had. If you are looking for an upbeat message for this Independence Day, go surf somewhere else. We are no closer to a perfect Union than we ever were. The Haves control the means of keeping the Have Nots in our places, and the American Dream is no more than a myth for the vast majority of citizens. Never forget that the signers of the Constitution were rich, slave owners, bound on protecting their own interests.

As the redneck neighbors in this boonie burg decide to finish their supplies of fireworks - starting at 7:30 this Sun. morn. - in the midst of a drought and Burn Ban - it is unnerving to hear the constant pops and bangs, not to mention the occasional, heart-stopping boom of Rebel Kenny's Civil War cannon. It has been non-stop, and I can't help but wonder what this does to a person who hears it for 6 years (or 100), losing one's home, family and friends to ceaseless war and gunfire. What are we celebrating, the moral standards we set for everyone else and fail to live up to ourselves? As long as we are killing people in the name of our Country, patriotism, 'humanitarian efforts', or whatever God seems to be invoked, we can not celebrate any 'democratic' beginnings in good conscience.

Freedom's Price

As I listened to the annual beginning of 3 days of firecrackers in our tiny town, worrying about the drought we have at this time - every year - and whether or not someone will get careless enough to lob one onto an acre of dry forest, I can't help but think of the empirical method we employ in trying to cram our version of democracy down other countries' throats. It doesn't help that I just listened to a stirring speech by Noam Chomsky on Democracy Now!, concerning the real history we have in the world. I wouldn't like us either, if I lived in Haiti, Pakistan, Iraq, or any of the multitude of places we've invaded - uninvited.

As y'all celebrate our Independence Day, try not to drink and drive, keep yourself and others safe, and keep vocalizing for an end to the insanity of wars we fight in Freedom's name. She never asked to be associated with Greed. And as the Border Patrol once again escalates its activities here in Puget Sound, Happy Canada Day, hosers. What a mess.

Stop Funding Genocide in Gaza

Let me state, unequivocally, that I am not now, nor have I ever been, anti-Semitic. As far as I know, I have no prejudices, whatsoever, well, maybe old people (unlike me) who have forgotten how to drive and make highways dangerous. But, with the seizure of the latest, humanitarian supplies trying to reach starving Palestinians and the imprisonment of its 19 volunteers, it is time for someone - the US, the UN, anybody? - to say enough is enough. Stop persecuting these people, taking their land and building new settlements you agreed not to. This is a walled prison, whose hospitals and schools have been destroyed. The only thing we've done is complain about their firing rockets into Israel that killed 4 people. How many Palestinians have been killed and maimed. Obama, stop the daily millions going to fund a country that is not keeping its promises. Tell the Israelis to release former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and her boat mates and work on a TRUE peace initiative - one that does not require the Muslims to swear an oath to Judaism and its repressive treatment of minorities. You'd think they'd remember how Auschwitz started - with walls.

Human Rights?

Activists are calling for our intervention into the recent Iranian elections to denounce the inhumane treatment of protesters, fraudulent election tactics, and the unlawful detainment of people without charges or habeus corpus. I have only one comment: after you address those things in our OWN country, thank you. Do you not get that we have no moral ground on which to stand - anywhere in the world?

We train the generals (at the School of the Americas in Ft. Benning, GA) who perpetrate the coups (like Honduras, El Salvador, and Haiti), our CIA helps install dictators in various countries, then we go on record as being somewhere between concerned and thoroughly appalled at the consequences. We are a nation of hypocrites, and when I say we, understand that I mean those who lead us. But, until we are prepared to stand up and face gunfire, as those brave souls are doing, as our own reporters did during both our party conventions, I guess I can't differentiate too much. I put in my stint in the 60's; that does not mean I won't keep fighting. I simply don't have the money or physical capacity to get where the action is any more. That's why I write from a remote corner. All I'm saying is, you can'tbitch that your neighbor's house is filthy when you have dirty dishes in the sink!

Overkill

Of course, we knew it was going to be a media circus, but the news whores are passing all expectations. From Daddy Joe Jackson pimping his new record company to dredging up every doctor who ever catered to a child star's eventual drug addiction, it's bound to last at least a week and pre-empt all the boring summer drivel. Surely, something has happened in the other 99.9% of the globe. Get over yourselves. What's next? The bidding on memorabilia on E-bay being higher than the stock market? Word of advice to stage moms and dads: nothing good ever came from pushing your kid on stage at the age of 5. This country's idolization of icons who have no other talent but performance is sick. Our children should have a childhood, and I speak as one who wasn't allowed that privilege.

Amigos del Sud

Rafael Correa Delgado, President of Ecuador, appeared on Democracy Now! in an interview taped before the recent coup in Honduras. He was asked about the recent influx of money to Colombia by the US, to further combat the drug wars. His answer was that, if the Colombian President thought it would make a difference, he is a fool. Have any of the 'just say no' tactics worked yet? His advice to our new President re: escalation in Afghanistan and Colombia et al, although he stated that he was not prone to giving advice when none was requested, was that no matter how these problems are resolved, they are political and that no war was going to end the mess that is going on.

Perhaps we should start listening to our brothers from the Southern Hemisphere. They seem to be making more sense than their predecessors - or our leaders. This new generation of leaders have lived through the senseless combats and are managing to return some rights to their indigenous peoples. He and his peers, like Morales and Chavez, have little good to say about capitalism. While I still defend the theory of that ( ala Ayn Rand), as well as the pure theory of communism, there is little doubt that they do not work in practice. Just follow the 'progress' of NAFTA or our Wall Street, free market. These leaders are using a rare and largely unseen talent in governing - logic. Perhaps we should open our ears - and our minds.

It's a Thriller

Michael Jackson went out the same way he lived, with mystery and pathos. For decades he was the genius behind so much music that shaped our world. And, although many of us judged and moralized upon his choices, one can't help but mourn the childhood abuse that turned him into someone hating his body and himself. It is ludicrous to feel anything but sympathy for this sad, lonely man, whose fame turned him into a freak show and isolated him from anything even closely resembling normality. It hurts me that he suffered so, that there were only those around him who would use his infirmities to force him back onto a stage, long past his prime, and who abetted his need for drugs and escape. I hope he can find some peace now. Thanks for all the music, Michael. Some of us could always feel your pain through it. Rest. Try to ignore the circus that the greedy will make of your passing. We loved you.