July 1, 2008
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A Perspective for Independence Day ("Plus Ca Change....")
A letter I received recently in a roundabout way, from a person about my own age...
28 Jun 2008
Various and sundry folk,
Thirty-seven years ago today, if my math is correct (never a certainty),
I was instantly, after a quick trial, convicted of the intolerably
dangerous crime of refusing to participate in a war of which I could
make neither ethical nor pragmatic sense. Those of you who were present
may remember that, though the curtain of the Temple may not have been
rent in two, the sun (around 4:00 p.m.) was indeed blackened-over and
the earth (or at least, the chandeliers in the courtroom) indeed quaked,
as the skies opened and "threw down their spears"; the thunderstorm was
so massive that several times, while on the witness stand, I simply had
to stop speaking until I could be heard again.Nonetheless, I felt less like Jeremiah than like someone who, never
(yet) having had so much as a parking ticket, finally felt compelled to
say, It may be the law, but it stops here. (Well, OK, I'd had a prior
arrest, for the equally heinous crime of joining two Anglican bishops in
full vestments, with acolytes croziers and incense and quite a few other
people, in a prayer-for-peace service inside the Pentagon...but it was
later held that that hadn't been a crime, so the several-hundred-odd of
us weren't guilty of one.)I survived a week each in the Richmond City Jail and Lewisburg Prison,
complete with getting beaten up in a rape attempt (declining on pacifist
grounds to defend myself physically, while at the same time declining to
submit to rape). The rest of the time (which was going to be four
years, until the once-honorable-but-now-late Judge Merhige had a change
of heart and reduced it to two) I spent at the Allenwood Prison Camp.
There, while definitely on my own as regards survival, I didn't feel
quite alone in this doubtless-lunatic-seeming stance: there were enough
other war resisters, there and in other "joints", that we could actually
deceive ourselves into thinking, or at least hoping, that we might be
making some small contribution to the national consciousness on subjects
like atrocity and a national temptation to pound our collective chest
and play King of the Hill.Fools, yes we were. DAMNED fools. Fast forward 37 years, and we have
a government which stands accused, in unambiguous terms (by a general,
no less), of war crimes, and yet there isn't the slightest indication
anywhere on the horizon that any policy-maker will ever be called to
account. What we would forcefully call atrocity, were it done by an
adversary, is here entre nous considered just one policy option among
others, options about which reasonable people can disagree. (Well, as
long as they come to the conclusion that anything - ANYTHING! - goes, as
long as someone - anyone - has accused a person of being a
Terrorist...otherwise, they're not reasonable people, but pro-enemy
haters of America.)Some incredibly smug person has said that all that's necessary for the
triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing (a statement that has
been wildly variously attributed). Forgive me for suspecting aloud that
it seems much closer to say that, even if every good person embraced
total asceticism and spent every waking moment in rigorously attempting
to counteract evil, evil would still be the odds-on favorite to win the
contest.To say that this has been something of a wistful day is to understate
just a bit. I wish it were a different world that my daughters were
inheriting (or being saddled with).Lances at the ready, yonder comes a windmill.
TK
**********************************
And another Independence Day perspective, from the same now-ancient era:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
/David_M._Shoup "I believe if we had, and would, keep our dirty, bloody, dollar-crooked
fingers out of the business of these nations so full of depressed,
exploited people, they will arrive at a solution of their own. That
they design and want. That they fight and work for...and not the
American style, which they don't want. Not one crammed down their
throats by the Americans."1966, General David Shoup, Commandant of the Marine Corps (1960-1963)
Comments (26)
stop it stop it stop it,,,, hahahahahaha,,, your gonna get me to reminissing again and ill have to seek out some good music to put on my site and post some old pics.....
im assuming the above is about vietnam,,, we did not invade vietnam,,, i think ive mentioned that before,,, we were not there to teach them our ways,,,,, unless they asked,,, i for one was told to stay out of their ways,,, their ways were their ways......
we were there at the request of the ruling part of the south of the country,,, to assist and to help train,,,, they of course were untrainable so i guess we just assisted to stave off the enemy,,,,, the enemy of course being those of the same race,,, if you want to bring racism into the conversation, who lived in basically the same country but prefered to live by the rules of another political party.
it was difficult,,,, ok,,, impossible to tell one from the other,,, so me being me merely declined to talk politics with them. which is i think the best policy,,, wouldnt want to get a hot chick angry,,,, whatever they thought was fine with me.
we didnt kill villagers,,, unless they attempted to kill us first,,, which may seem unfair,,, but see above,,, they were untrainable,,,, that would include the enemy,,,, they could be allowed ten shots or so at us usually before it could be determined they were actually shooting at us,,,,, (they just couldnt master the art of using sights on weapons)
villagers usually killed themselves,,, well,,, because they wanted to,,,,
ill admit,, not a very good way to carry out a war,,, which it was never billed as,,, but,,,,, best to have an enemy you can kill if you are going to war,,,,
the new one,,, a total different story,,, we were not asked,,, when we went into afganastan we had a clear enemy,,,, all of them,,, we goofed up,,,, then jr decided to take out iraq,,,, hahahahahahahahaha,,,,, another goof up and i dont see any reconcilliation of any of these goof ups in the near future,,,,, and yes,,,, you dont have to remind me i didnt spell that word right,,,,
im looking for a moral here,, cant find one,,,, or maybe its just a random heres something blog,,,, i do that a lot,,,
you ever think of voting libratarian in stead of socialist? then maybe you would gain the right to say what you believed.... and of course the guy who wrote the above,,,,
hahahahaha,,, that would have been back in the olden days,,, when you werent sent to prison for freedom of speech,,,, i believe if he was in prison,,, theres more to the story than what is stated here,,,, hahahahahahahaha,,, i could pretty much guarantee it,,,,, after clinton and jr,,,,,, today wouldnt surprise me..... but yesterday,,,, no,,,,, i miss those days.
ok,,, ok,,, socialists and communists (used to be the same word) may have been a little persecuted,,,,, all i have to say about that is we didnt do a thorough enough job on them,,,, thats the us way tho isnt it.
Interesting take on Edmund Burke's famous lines. TK clearly takes issue with MLK's view of the arc of history which is long but bends toward justice. As much as I'd like to agree with MLK, I've always wondered if he wasn't a bit too optimistic.
On a personal note, I grew up less than a mile from the Lewisburg prison and accompanied our church youth chorus when they sang at Allenwood. So many stories yearning to be heard behind those walls!
@mejicojohn - Yes, John, that's what they TOLD you, isn't it? That American soldiers were in America "helping" the "democratically-elected" leader of South Viet Nam to resist the encroachments of Communist North Vietnamese "insurgents", who "hated freedom" and were going to cause the entire country of Viet Nam to "go Communist" in fulfillment of Dean Acheson's Cold War "domino theory". That's what they TOLD you, isn't it? And you continued to believe it even as the South Vietnamese soldiers basically refused to fight while you were "helping" them? And you still believe it now despite all the evidence that the Gulf of Tonkin incident was a hoax designed to build (American) public sentiment in favor of the war, which our government never called a "war" and which was never authorized by Congress? You believe it EVEN NOW, because that's what your government TOLD you and because your mind desperately needs some REASON for whatever it was that you suffered and caused others to suffer over there?
Does any of this sound FAMILIAR? What's truly amazing is that you take great pride in being an INDEPENDENT THINKER! Hahahahahahaha! Oh, dear God! Hahahahahahahaha!
@justpeachy607 - Thanks for your comment, which was thoughtful and refreshing as your comments always are. My guess is that TK is familiar with MLK's line, but his own 37-year (or more accurately 57-year) "arc of history" isn't nearly long enough, and to him, experiencing deja vu all over again as they say, it feels as though it has doubled back on itself.
I must say I feel much the same way. My observation and experience of history is that, as someone else has said, if it doesn't repeat itself then it surely does rhyme. The composition of the group which is experiencing injustice may change from time to time, but there is always plenty of injustice and indeed human cruelty and ignorance and depravity to go around.
Wasn't there an 80% cheerleading section for GW??? i even remember the NY Times on the bandwagon...but "mission accomplished" didn't end as predicted and now everyone wants to cut & run
Happy 4th of July my freind, hope you are well.
This letter is disheartening, mostly because TK's words ring true. We need another massive movement, similar to civil rights movement. Who will be the MLK of our generation? Can a leader emerge without followers?
I want to say that TK's sacrifice made a difference, but who can really say it and know that it's true?
Perhaps the only thing we can say to TK is: Thank you for your example. These stories of courage and sacrifice, when told, do impact people who are fortunate to read it. Yes, it's probably a drop in the bucket, but you know...
And thanks to Eccentrique for posting it. People in in my generation need to hear this more and wake up from our collective amnesia, ignorance, and apathy.
(Coincidentally, I'm in the process of reading Don Quixote and never occurred to think of it as anything but silliness. Now I know better...)
@mejicojohn - If we killed all the socialists and communists there would just be a new enemy. We need to pass laws to make war not for profit. Then we would get a few less of them. I know some people who had to flee China to escape communism. They were from educated families and the intellectuals got thrown in prison camps. One recalls having to make his own bed in a camp. In China, the conservative people are communists and love communism. They feel just as obligated to spread communism as we do capitalism. I have always been suspicious of communism because of what happened to the scientists under Mao and Stalin. But now you see things happening here such as ID being taught as "science" and climate scientists censored and the accusations of the "liberal professors" you can see that we are slipping into it too.
What a grim, but correct, observation on this holiday weekend. It is a never ending battle for peace. Greed and hunger for power is always with us.
Someone just told me a few days ago that almost nobody seems willing to DIE for their country anymore. I said it we'd give them a real reason, maybe the numbers would change.
I think I'm in love with General Shoup.
"What's truly amazing is that you take great pride in being an INDEPENDENT THINKER! Hahahahahahaha! Oh, dear God! Hahahahahahahaha!"
i like that,,,,, hahahahahahahahaha
i just wanted to say thanks for talking to hidalgo.
I didn't read the first part as I am tired and only up b/c my expanding belly, coupled with extremely pleasant heartburn, is making sleep more of a chore than a comfort. However, I loved the last part and agree whole-heartedly. We do not own the "how to" book for runing a successful nation, regardless of what we might, ethnocentrically, believe.
Luckily people today don't get arrested as much for protesting since their area allowed for 'free speech' is systematically fenced off a mile or more away from events.
As someone that has been handcuffed for Viet Nam protesting and became draft eligible on Kent State Massacre day, I consider your walk to be that of a HERO that has served his nation's best interests.
@Isismoon - right,,, there will always be an enemy,,, i think its a territory thing as much as a political thing,,,,, politics just reinforces reasoning,,, thats all.
@fratmom - hahahahaha,,, i for one am not,,, my country ceased to exist quite some time ago,,, i may be willing to die in an attempt to regain it,,,
disclaimer: that statement is in reference to nothing.
@arthur_poindexter_lunch - ????? your???? it is clearly stated this is a recieved note,,,,, in the post,,,,,
altho easily slapped down at the time,,, this was in fact the begining of the end for the us,,,,,
i could probably think of several hundred things that went wrong at the time,,, all which would probably annoy people if i brought them up,,, and not off the top of my head,,, (thats a lot of things)
i do enjoy fussing with people about vietnam,,,, hahahahahaha,,, rather than protest,,, i quit college and went,,,
i was there for the beer,,, and there was plenty of beer,,, (actually, i dont drink,,, so its just a saying) (well,,, im not a tetotaler either) (probably misspelled)
occasionaly (less and less anymore) i have dreams about vietnam,,, those are the ones i dont want to wake up from.
the fall of the us,,, to,,, all the things my parents warned me about,,,,, rapidly followed the above events,,,,
one thing i will agree with on this note,,,,, it was a mess.
re: 4th of july,,,, i did not expect to witness any festivities for the 4,,, as it is only a date here,,,,
but about 10:30ish (nite) sillylauta demanded a ride to the hospital that housed wallythemerchant,,, there was an easy 3 hr bridge line,,, but airforce1 can always cut those to 15 minutes,,, (its called breaking all laws of the highway) and always does,,,,
about 11ish i came up on more congestion of the streets in laredo,,, and we witnessed laredos fireworks display at that time,,,,, hahahahahahaha,,, that was fun...
@gpspacey - are you reading Don Quixote en english or spanish? I started reading it in the original castillian spanish, I have a copy a past Mexican president, Vicente Fox gave me, I found it's a very hard read........
really thought provoking post, I read it a while back but realized I didn't comment........sorry......!
@Eccentrique - ( i used the reply thing of course because im replying to this specific comment)
hahahahaha,, i read this today,,, found it interesting,,, kinda goes to show,,, you cant believe anything you hear,,, that would be true of either side of the fence i would think,,,
and insomuch as a lot of history is indeed still classified,,, that would automatically make anything we knew about it false,,,, wouldnt it,,,,,
history that is,,, hahahahahahaha,,, wouldnt it be fun if we actually had a clue.,,, well,, i dunno about fun,,,, interesting tho at the least.
@hidalgogringo - thinking only makes things worse,,,,,
@mejicojohn - yeah I'm learning that the hard way...................
@arthur_poindexter_lunch - oh,, im re reading,,, i always do,,,
re: laws/arrests
everyone breaking the law cant be arrested,,, all would have to be arrested,,, i dont care how law abiding you claim to be,,, those making the arrests would need to be arrested,,, those guarding the arrested would also have to be arrested,,, best to start with our legislators,,, because they,,, most of all are guilty, by sheer numbers and quality of crimes they should go first,,,, of our last,,, i dont know how many presidents,,, and contenders for the position probably should be tried and hung,,, or however they dispose of them nowadays,,, for treason,,,,
what would be best,,, is a handful of just laws,,, trash the rest,,,, enforce all the handful equally,,, people, legislators,,, lets dont forget foreign diplomats,,,, alike and punish alike,,, all crimes,,, all perpetrators,,, probably wouldnt take but a couple of prisons to house all the criminals,,,
as the offending legislators died off,,, we could quickly close several of the prisons,,, probably wouldnt be too much activity after after that,,,, prison wise.
Hi John,Hope you are enjoying the summer,not sweating to death ,it has been nice for the most part here ,a few dog days ,that were humid.
We use to play "King of the Hill" and the bullies always won,I am supposing it is that way all across the board.
The Executioner's Song is one of my all time favorite books. If I would have been born just a few years earlier, I have no doubt that Norman Mailer and I would have been lovers.
@SaadiaOnline - Yes. Norman Mailer and I WERE lovers, many moons ago. He was a little rough around the edges, but just what I needed at the time.
RYC: I heard the same as you - that nicotine is more "addictive" than heroin. I don't think the actual drug is though - not with one dose - it's the act - the habit - that becomes the addiction. I'm sure I will research it more at some stage
I smoked for over 10 years before I gave up. (Yes. I started very young - 13 - and I smoked very heavily - a pack a day or more.) I didn't give up first try. It took me 3 attempts before I finally kicked it and it has now been...well a couple of months since I had a cig because apparently I am now a "social smoker"...but it has been about 6 years. And I still get wicked cravings.
Thanks for your kind comment. Don't you know by now that blogs only give the smallest clues about their authors' lives?
Only the four youngest kids in my family were adopted, and the three oldest (including me) were not.
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