Aug
26
A Musement Spark
Filed Under poetry | Leave a Comment
You could take me down
to the dark end of a fair and
turn me into a tattoo
whispering to your carnival desires
whenever you roll up your sleeve
You could allow this hemlock pen
to pierce your pride and I
would be the only serum;
you’d weave wild-eyed through the streets
clutching the night to you like a fig leaf
all for the lack of me
You could petition every manner of
beast and angel for the power
to hear my footsteps
by knoll, by creek, by concrete canyon,
to always know where I am and
if I’m alone
You could know all of this madness,
or live an hour in my skin
Aug
26
Are They Really Crazy
Filed Under essay | Leave a Comment
Are They Really Crazy?
With only a few weeks to go before the 2004 Republican National Convention and being hot off the John Kerry rally a few days ago, I’m rattled with rhetoric.
I desperately need Yosemite Sam out of the White House. I’m sure he’s a decent enough fellow and is probably lots of fun at barbecues and family picnics, but he is in no way qualified to be the Leader of the Free World. And while I’ve pinned all my hopes to Kerry’s old-school legal-eagle and somewhat wishy-washy political lapels, something is missing. No it’s not his personality, as pundits are so eager to barf out at us. It is a sense of genuine moral justice with regard to the way America conducts herself on the world stage.
This is a lot bigger than just getting our neighbors’ permission before overthrowing a sovereign government, or living a blatant double standard with regard to the development and proliferation of nuclear weapons. It’s about respect. There is a lot of prattling on about regaining the respect of the world community, but not once have I heard anyone talk about OUR RESPECT FOR THE WORLD.
Instead, both candidates are wielding Osama bin Laden and his Jihadi lunatics like their own personal flaming saber. Each claims to have the better way to deal with these radical Islamists who are absolutely wrong and clearly insane. Are they? Not one of our politicians has the courage to talk about the issues behind the madness: Long term, systematic abuse, manipulation and – most critically – McWorld Domination. Yes, those cagey corporate multinational (or counter-national) puppet masters bent on lining their pockets with the proceeds of mass Americanization of the world culture.
Make no doubt about it: This is Americanization. The word “globalization” is dangerously euphemistic. I’d consider it more accurate if I could see any influence of non-American culture in my own little sterilized-for-your-protection back yard, but the Corporations don’t want that because they don’t profit from it. Americans have the money; Americans want to see/feel/taste America everywhere they go. Ergo, Corporations follow the will of the American wallet. Think about it: if we didn’t buy Happy Meals, they wouldn’t sell them. Anywhere.
“What?? Corporations aren’t really to blame?” For as difficult as it is to control the corporate congloms and manipulators, the real challenge is to change the American way of life. Our response to their little Buy Me bells is positively Pavlovian. If we exercised just a little bit of self control and (heaven forbid) good judgment, we could set the whole economy on its ear. But I digress…
For its own completely legitimate reasons, the Islamic culture does not want to be Americanized. And if we came down off our high and morally bankrupt horse we’d not only understand their concern, but do everything we could to preserve their way of life. Admittedly, Islam embraces aspects of cultural repression and inequity that we don’t understand or approve of. But do we honestly believe they will more clearly see the light at gunpoint or from under a tank tread? What the hell ever happened to leading by example: show the benefit of a just and equitable society by BEING one.
With the lackadaisical acceptance of preemptive war, being held prisoner indefinitely without benefit of counsel, and our new and improved interrogation techniques, we’ve all but lost our claim to a moral/ethical high ground. You can say that they pushed us to these depths; that we were forced to adopt otherwise distasteful policies in response to those evil-doers with murder on their minds. Is justice only for when things are going well? When the chips are down, do right and wrong become a fuzzy gray security blanket for the bleeding heart liberal? If so, then our esteemed forefathers weren’t quite as clever as they seemed.
The ugly but simple fact is that we don’t value the world around us. It’s our own personal cat box and we’ll shit wherever we please, and you better thank us for the privilege of cleaning it up. So people get mad and fight back in the only way we seem to understand: with violence and fear. We temporarily hitch up our drawers, break out the big guns and put our constitution under lock down. In the process, we’re killing the very things we’re trying to protect: Freedom, liberty, justice. In succumbing to this level or moral turpitude, our mask slips. We become even more of what our crazed enemies hate, and less of an America worth defending.