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May. 19th, 2004 02:42 amFor what it's worth, today didn't turn out to be as blah as it began....
And just as abruptly, the fairly benign post I'd had composed in my mind is completely circumvented. As a couple of you know, my evening posts are generally done while catching up on postings on my friends page. I'd opened Semagic to start typing, and my eye got caught by a post (and LINK) that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rowandoll had put up in HERE. And what had until that moment turned out to be a pleasant day faded as my vision switched to thousand yard stare.
Further digging turned up THIS ARTICLE, which includes the full and uncensored text of the poem in question.
These pages deal with the activists currently involved in this case: AfAF
< sarcasm >
No? Doesn't ring a bell? Pity, really, as it's a wonderful little song and shows you how Uncle Sam's going to graciously remake your whole wide world. No, it wasn't an offer. Still don't understand? Well, then, shall we try again?
What? What do you mean, you don't know what the show is? How can you not? How can you not know the name of the blessed allfather of this cause? The name McCarthy means nothing to you? Well, when the troops finish rescuing you poor bastards from your tyrannical leaders, perhaps then you'll understand.
< /sarcasm > .... JUST in case you missed it.
I'm raging, right now. I've watched the posturing and posing, and I've watched constitutional rights abbreviated (or outright suspended), I've watched as our troops have died, and I've watched as our current Regime (Reich would probably be a better word) has marched militantly away from the 'noble dream' of America past. I've lost long-time friends, and have several more still in the line of fire.
Why are they under fire? Because some petty bastard dicked with a Texan's Daddy... and ANYTHING is justified by that, right?
I am /not/ defending Saddam Hussein, his tactics, his actions, or his intentions. Beyond the rhetoric, he was a malignancy. I've no sympathy for him or his generals.
I also want to make it COMPLETELY clear that the troops currently in the line of fire or stationed anywhere have my full support. They're doing their very best to follow orders and be good and faithful servants of their country. There's a scandal currently raging there... but the men and women that succeeded where I failed over a decade ago will always have my prayers and support.
But I've watched as divisions have appeared in the workforce, in circles of friends, and in families. From my front porch, I've watched as divisions begin to tear my neighborhood apart. In the United States, most citizens in this day and age expect to be permitted their opinions... good, bad, and indifferent. The standard practice in a lot of areas is to try and educate individuals, to alter their opinions by showing them a different path. For every one that refuses, one will pause and think... and one will adopt a new stance. But most consider it a right.
It's not always been that way, however. This nation has before experienced government sponsored censorship, most notably in the age of McCarthyism. Personal grudges became 'justifications' to accuse folks of anti-American activities. That's where the HUAC got it's name... House Un-american Activities Commission. It was set up initially to root out the Communist Party here in the USA... but was quickly perverted into a witch hunt used to control and manipulate the officials and citizens of the US. The powers granted (and claimed) by the HUAC were given in the name of 'national security'... and were used (in addition to targeting the Communists) to target political opponents, alcoholics and sexual deviants... and 'deviants' includes homosexuals, transsexuals, and anyone who in any way condoned or permitted such activities.
Blacklists were created; appearing on that list could almost guarantee the loss of any job held, and through the loss of income all real assets. Books and musics were censored heavily; there were THIRTY THOUSAND books on the banned list. In fear of the HUAC branding them communists or collusionists, libraries made the affected books vanish. Book burnings began. Paranoia ran rampant as more and more people started pointing fingers. It could be as simple as arguing over where a property line lay - once the brand of Communist was placed on a person, then right or wrong they were finished. Game over.
Think I'm being an alarmist? An agitator? Feel like pointing fingers at me?
Great. Wonderful. Have a nice day. Oh, and while you're patting yourself on the back, why not look at the historical corollary to Bill Nevins' plight: Louis Untermeyer. Go ahead. Read it. Tell me again how I'm jumping at shadows, seeing doom and disaster where none exists.
The tone changes, here. The earlier portions of this post were written almost three hours ago. In the past few hours, I've been hitting website after website, both domestic US and non-American sources, growing more upset with each news article. *shakes her head* There was a lot more to this in the original draft - other reports of censure and suppression, the silencing of 'controversial viewpoints' in our nation's classrooms, and the muzzling of the free (meaning non-corporate) press. I'd been tossing link after link into the entry pane for hours. But as I started to assemble it all, to try and order it all in a format that would be readable by anyone besides me... I ... I'm sorry. I'm weak. I'm nauseous from some of the articles and reports and instances I've read in the last three hours. I've lost my supper, and the nausea still has hold of me. I'm heartsick at what's going on... and that people I know are intelligent are deliberately putting on blinders and refusing to even consider questioning things.
This... this is not what the United States is supposed to be about. These are not thing things that leap to mind when I hear or say the Pledge of Allegiance. Where is the strong, intelligent, honorable leadership? Where are the noble goals? Where is the respect for other cultures? And it's not even limited to foreign policy; where is the respect for other faiths, other lifestyles, other people? The world press paints the US as a rabid bully stomping around the playground of the world... where is the leader that can be looked to to prove it wrong? Where is the pattern of honorable and just policies? Where is the history of succor and tolerance? While waging a war for wounded family pride, the President of the United States has been frantically busy attempting to marginalize a good sized chunk of the populace of his own country... and trying to codify intolerance and prejudice into the nation's constitution. He's crippled our public school systems with the No Child Left Behind program - he signed it into law promising federal support to offset the additional expenditures it would require, and then CUT funding to the schools and creating layoffs in multiple states and further burdening the already floundering school system. Where moving, honest rapport should be is rhetoric and saber rattling.
Where does it end?
And just as abruptly, the fairly benign post I'd had composed in my mind is completely circumvented. As a couple of you know, my evening posts are generally done while catching up on postings on my friends page. I'd opened Semagic to start typing, and my eye got caught by a post (and LINK) that
rowandoll had put up in HERE. And what had until that moment turned out to be a pleasant day faded as my vision switched to thousand yard stare.Further digging turned up THIS ARTICLE, which includes the full and uncensored text of the poem in question.
These pages deal with the activists currently involved in this case: AfAF
< sarcasm >
Welcome back, my friend, to the show that never ends. We're so glad you could attend; come inside. Come inside!
"Karn Evil 9" is copyright Emerson, Lake, & Palmer. Lyrics used without permission.
No? Doesn't ring a bell? Pity, really, as it's a wonderful little song and shows you how Uncle Sam's going to graciously remake your whole wide world. No, it wasn't an offer. Still don't understand? Well, then, shall we try again?
| And they sent us along as a surrogate band We're gonna find out where you folks really stand. Are there any queers in the theater tonight? Get them up against the wall! There's one in the spotlight, he don't look right to me, Get him up against the wall! That one looks Jewish! And that one's a coon! Who let all of this riff-raff into the room? There's one smoking a joint, And another with spots! If I had my way, I'd have all of you shot! |
"In The Flesh" is copyright Pink Floyd. Lyrics used without permission.
What? What do you mean, you don't know what the show is? How can you not? How can you not know the name of the blessed allfather of this cause? The name McCarthy means nothing to you? Well, when the troops finish rescuing you poor bastards from your tyrannical leaders, perhaps then you'll understand.
< /sarcasm > .... JUST in case you missed it.
I'm raging, right now. I've watched the posturing and posing, and I've watched constitutional rights abbreviated (or outright suspended), I've watched as our troops have died, and I've watched as our current Regime (Reich would probably be a better word) has marched militantly away from the 'noble dream' of America past. I've lost long-time friends, and have several more still in the line of fire.
Why are they under fire? Because some petty bastard dicked with a Texan's Daddy... and ANYTHING is justified by that, right?
No.
I am /not/ defending Saddam Hussein, his tactics, his actions, or his intentions. Beyond the rhetoric, he was a malignancy. I've no sympathy for him or his generals.
I also want to make it COMPLETELY clear that the troops currently in the line of fire or stationed anywhere have my full support. They're doing their very best to follow orders and be good and faithful servants of their country. There's a scandal currently raging there... but the men and women that succeeded where I failed over a decade ago will always have my prayers and support.
But I've watched as divisions have appeared in the workforce, in circles of friends, and in families. From my front porch, I've watched as divisions begin to tear my neighborhood apart. In the United States, most citizens in this day and age expect to be permitted their opinions... good, bad, and indifferent. The standard practice in a lot of areas is to try and educate individuals, to alter their opinions by showing them a different path. For every one that refuses, one will pause and think... and one will adopt a new stance. But most consider it a right.
It's not always been that way, however. This nation has before experienced government sponsored censorship, most notably in the age of McCarthyism. Personal grudges became 'justifications' to accuse folks of anti-American activities. That's where the HUAC got it's name... House Un-american Activities Commission. It was set up initially to root out the Communist Party here in the USA... but was quickly perverted into a witch hunt used to control and manipulate the officials and citizens of the US. The powers granted (and claimed) by the HUAC were given in the name of 'national security'... and were used (in addition to targeting the Communists) to target political opponents, alcoholics and sexual deviants... and 'deviants' includes homosexuals, transsexuals, and anyone who in any way condoned or permitted such activities.
Blacklists were created; appearing on that list could almost guarantee the loss of any job held, and through the loss of income all real assets. Books and musics were censored heavily; there were THIRTY THOUSAND books on the banned list. In fear of the HUAC branding them communists or collusionists, libraries made the affected books vanish. Book burnings began. Paranoia ran rampant as more and more people started pointing fingers. It could be as simple as arguing over where a property line lay - once the brand of Communist was placed on a person, then right or wrong they were finished. Game over.
Think I'm being an alarmist? An agitator? Feel like pointing fingers at me?
Great. Wonderful. Have a nice day. Oh, and while you're patting yourself on the back, why not look at the historical corollary to Bill Nevins' plight: Louis Untermeyer. Go ahead. Read it. Tell me again how I'm jumping at shadows, seeing doom and disaster where none exists.
The tone changes, here. The earlier portions of this post were written almost three hours ago. In the past few hours, I've been hitting website after website, both domestic US and non-American sources, growing more upset with each news article. *shakes her head* There was a lot more to this in the original draft - other reports of censure and suppression, the silencing of 'controversial viewpoints' in our nation's classrooms, and the muzzling of the free (meaning non-corporate) press. I'd been tossing link after link into the entry pane for hours. But as I started to assemble it all, to try and order it all in a format that would be readable by anyone besides me... I ... I'm sorry. I'm weak. I'm nauseous from some of the articles and reports and instances I've read in the last three hours. I've lost my supper, and the nausea still has hold of me. I'm heartsick at what's going on... and that people I know are intelligent are deliberately putting on blinders and refusing to even consider questioning things.
This... this is not what the United States is supposed to be about. These are not thing things that leap to mind when I hear or say the Pledge of Allegiance. Where is the strong, intelligent, honorable leadership? Where are the noble goals? Where is the respect for other cultures? And it's not even limited to foreign policy; where is the respect for other faiths, other lifestyles, other people? The world press paints the US as a rabid bully stomping around the playground of the world... where is the leader that can be looked to to prove it wrong? Where is the pattern of honorable and just policies? Where is the history of succor and tolerance? While waging a war for wounded family pride, the President of the United States has been frantically busy attempting to marginalize a good sized chunk of the populace of his own country... and trying to codify intolerance and prejudice into the nation's constitution. He's crippled our public school systems with the No Child Left Behind program - he signed it into law promising federal support to offset the additional expenditures it would require, and then CUT funding to the schools and creating layoffs in multiple states and further burdening the already floundering school system. Where moving, honest rapport should be is rhetoric and saber rattling.
Where does it end?
