Mojave XVII (about)
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Yesterday I wrote: "But lookit- here's a Republican weblogger who is anti-war."
Update: Lance Brown wrote me a nice email and said, "FWIW, I'm not a Republican-- never have been. I'm a Libertarian...a
green Libertarian to be specific. I *am* anti-war-- that much is
true."
Today his weblog says: I was mistaken for a Republican over at Chris Ashley's place. Hmm...was it something I said? Is it the tux in the corner picture?I wrote to him to clear it up. Can't be having myself associated with either of the Two Parties. No thanks.
I sincerely apologize, and stand humbly corrected. That's me reading too fast and on the surface. Thank you, Lance, for you humor and gentle messages.
Lance, BTW, is running for POTUSA in 2008. I've never received a personal email from a presidential candidate before. I'm all for a candidate with humor, a good manner, a weblog, and someone who posts 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action and quotes Utah Phillips.
So I've just orderd a Lance Brown for President t-shirt. I hope it's XL.
Your Order ID is s104801131xxxxxxx. Please keep for your records.
Thank you for supporting my campaign! I won't let you down. Have a nice day. Come Back Soon! -Lance
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I'm a Dixie Chick. The Dixie Chicks apologized, so I'm no longer a fan. Good thing I didn't care about their music anyway.
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Yesterday Lloyd wrote, "as i catch up on weblog reading this afternoon, i see that just about every young person on my list is concerned with the mundane details of American teenage life: school and midterms or finals, college acceptances, relationships, teen politics, music, etc.. that is all well and good, and as it should be, privileged as they are to be living in this affluent society. but all of a sudden i have this deep longing for a weblog written by an Iraqi teenager in Baghdad...," and that reminds me of what I wrote on a few months back:
October 11, 2002
Hey kids, guess what? It was in the news. Did you miss it?
I just quickly looked at all of the latest posts of the younger bloggers linked
from Lloyd's for a mention of or reaction
to the news, but I didn't see any. None among the texts:
allie, alvin,
cole, daniel,
danny, devin,
dianne, fergus,
james, jamie,
jenn, jennifer,
joe, joline,
joseph, josh,
kati, kyle,
lauren, nick
s., nick s.-g., ozzie,
priscilla, stevie,
trev, wako,
yiyi; and none among
the grads: aaron,
alejo,
amanda,
bigi,
cuz.aaron,
fed,
florence,
jessica,
kass,
nathan,
quad,
robin,
spark,
stephanie,
vikki.
Over two thirds of the House and Senate has authorized our "President,"
George W. Bush, to "Use Force Against Iraq (NY
Times)." That means he, and he alone (though, dontcha know, he'll be
gettin' expert advice, hah!) can decide whether or not the U.S. will go to war.
War? Isn't that something that happens to other people? What would war look
like these days? Probably the same thing it always has. It means young people
involved in dangerous, nasty, smelly, ugly, emotionally scarring scenarios of
torn flesh, spilled blood, splintered bone, painful maiming, and, well, killing.
You know, DEATH. As in maybe the "enemies'" death, maybe a friend's
or cousin's, maybe you're own. The End.
But that's OK. We'll all wear little flags on our lapels and stick them on
our bumpers to show our appreciation. We'll say a little prayer for you and
thank you for your sacrifice, Your family will get a pretty flag the sight of
which will make them stand a little taller and prouder, and our President will
send your family a letter of thanks, too.
In the meantime, you'll still be dead. Ouch.
Later, during a press conference or State of the Union Address the President
will wrinkle his brow, and pull his lips tight and tucked in that masculine
way so many of us use to show concern or sorrow, just to let you know, "I
care." Try this: when your brother is trying to get the Veteran's Administration
to pay for that mysterious ailment with the headaches and the achey joints and
the sterility just be sure and say, "Dubya sent us!"
Oh, I'm not worried for myself, of course. I'll be safe, if a only a little
inconvenienced. I'm 45, too old to go to war. I'll stay at home and help pay
for the war, and say good-bye and good luck to the young people I know, and
then watch the body count on the news. After that I can continue to enjoy stabilized
oil prices and internal combustion engines for the rest of my life. Let me say,
right now, in all sincercity, thank you.
And Laura,
thanks for all of your hard work. Please keep doing such a good job teaching,
because those fourteen year olds are going to be needed in about four years
to help keep the great malls, highways, and stadiums of the "greatest country
on the face of the Earth (Bush
Speaks)" safe and free for extended cable and People magazine.
But gosh, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm just overly pessimistic, being a darned
spoil sport. Maybe I'm just not patriotic enough. Maybe I should take comfort
in the fine words of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on October 10, 2002 during
her floor speech on S.J. Res. 45, A Resolution to Authorize the Use of United
States Armed Forces Against Iraq: "I will take the President at his word
that he will try hard to pass a UN resolution and will seek to avoid war, if
at all possible (Senator
Clinton Speeches)." Cool, the Prez will try hard. I'm glad he takes
his job seriously. And thanks, Hilary, for expressing your confidence so eloquently.
Bloggers! The Free Speech Movement
is not just a cafe!
"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes
you so sick at heart, that you can't take part, you can't even tacitly take
part," said Mario Savio on December 2nd, 1964 (The
Free Speech Movement Digital Archive). You, the weblogger between thirteen
and twenty five! You're the one who is threatened. You're the one who is going
to fight this war. What do you think? The Gulf War and recent Afghanistan actions
were relatively brief. Lots of people died, just not so many Americans. But
no one expected the military actions in Vietnam, which was a real if not legal
war, to last twelve years and result in 58,156 American casualties (The History
Place: The Vietnam
War). It can happen again.
"War! What is it good for? It's good for business (Billy
Bragg)."
And today, 031803, see what we've come to?
NY Times Op-Ed: War in the Ruins of Diplomacy
America is on its way to war. President Bush has told Saddam Hussein to depart or face attack. For Mr. Hussein, getting rid of weapons of mass destruction is no longer an option. Diplomacy has been dismissed. Arms inspectors, journalists and other civilians have been advised to leave Iraq.
The country now stands at a decisive turning point, not just in regard to the Iraq crisis, but in how it means to define its role in the post-cold-war world. President Bush's father and then Bill Clinton worked hard to infuse that role with America's traditions of idealism, internationalism and multilateralism. Under George W. Bush, however, Washington has charted a very different course. Allies have been devalued and military force overvalued...
The hubris and mistakes that contributed to America's current isolation began long before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. From the administration's first days, it turned away from internationalism and the concerns of its European allies by abandoning the Kyoto Protocol on global warming and withdrawing America's signature from the treaty establishing the International Criminal Court. Russia was bluntly told to accept America's withdrawal from the Antiballistic Missile Treaty and the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization into the territory of the former Soviet Union. In the Middle East, Washington shortsightedly stepped backed from the worsening spiral of violence between Israel and the Palestinians, ignoring the pleas of Arab, Muslim and European countries. If other nations resist American leadership today, part of the reason lies in this unhappy history.
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Some James Siena prints. And apparently his home directory.
Interesting name for an art gallery- Haunch of Venison in London.
Say...
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