Photo by Jeff Cernak
Islands in a Sea of Troubles
Greetings, comrades, 14 December 2003.
A Sea of Troubles
These are perilous times. The country that I love has been overrun by a
gang of murderers and thieves who have staged a coup d'etat by
electoral fraud and turned sixty years of foreign policy and a century
of social policy on its head.
They are systematically undermining the foundations of democracy and
substituting a fascist policy of corporate privilege, aggression and
war.
Object to the "f-word?" Recall that Benito Mussolini said that
fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it's the
union of
state and corporate power. This is what the unelected, crooked Buxh
administration has brought us. The x in Buxh i
s a swastika. It fits him and his arrogant misbegotten "neocon" buddies
Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle, Kristol, and Jeb Buxh all too well.
As I write this, the U.S. is announcing that they have captured
Saddam Hussein. There will surely be flag-waving right wing victory
parades and Nuremberg-style rallies, celebrating the doctrine of Might
Makes Right, vilifying the Democrats and establishing the "rights" of
the U.S. to establish "Freedom" --- in the Buxh lexicon, U.S. hegemony
and corporate domination of all aspects of life --- by whatever violent
means it deems necessary. A police state at home: under the "Patriot
Act:" Buxh has merely to name someone an "enemy combatant" and he or
she can be detained indefinitely, or even killed, without any defense
or trial whatsoever. Perhaps environmentalists and trade unionists are
next on that list?
Buxh Lied. The troops died.
Forgotten is that there never were any nuclear or chemical weapons,
even say the Iraqi deserters, and the reasons for going to war were
totally fraudulent. a Goebbelsian Big Lie to the American people. Or
that a couple of U.S. deaths a day is considered "an acceptable loss"
by Rumsfeld and his henchmen.
And oh, by the way, the Buxh tax cuts will facilitate the abolition
of Social Security and Medicare without Congress ever having to vote.
The funds will just magically be gone, long since vanished into the
private accounts of the war profiteers and wealthy corporate campaign
contributors who hold secret meetings with Buxh to craft legislation
for their benefit.
I have read and thought much about the ascent of fascism in Italy
and Nazism in Germany, and the parallels are agonizing. Take a dramatic
event, like the Burning of the Reichstag, or 9-11 (Clinton told them
taht such
was in the works, Buxh blew them off: it was a "trifecta" - a perfect
opportunity for setting up a right wing junta)
and you have fertile ground of fear. Just why was it that Buxh flew the
Bin Laden family out of the country at a time when U.S. airspace was
closed? From that fear, too many people will be willing give up
democracy for the illusion of security promised by a tyrant. Alas, Ben
Franklin foresaw this when the Founduing Fathers had f
inished the Constitution. "We have given you a republic, but someday
the rabble will demand a tyrant." Buxh and his neocons are that
tyranny.
Taxpayer funded campaign ads
I watch TV exactly one day a year, the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. And
weren't we all just so thrilled to be interrupted by a
made-for-TV "news event" of Buxh serving turkey to a hand-selected band
of troops under cover of darkness? And it just happened to be when TV
viewership was highest? If you ask me, the troops did not look
impressed seeing how their tours of duty had been forcibly lengthened.
Only slanted, right-wing Fox "News" reporters were allowed to go
along on this trip. You and I paid for footage for the next election
campaign, if he condescends to allow elections.
You have to hand it to the $million-a-year TV consultants provided
him by corporate campaign contributors; they got the famous Norman
Rockwell shots right. Pity that so many Americans are so easily taken
in by such a cynical ploy, the coddled draft dodger dressed up in
fatigues, all the while plotting how to REDUCE veterans? benefits. Or
the "Mission Accomplished" (NOT!) fiasco on a taxpayer-funded aircraft
carrier.
Need we mention the "Friday afternoon specials" after the
Washingt\n
on press corps has gone home, announcements that the Environmental
Protec\n
tion Agency (set up under Nixon, by the way), now headed by a corporate
p\n
olluter, will no longer enforce environmental laws against the timber
and mining industries (not coincidentally fat corporate campaign
contributors to Buxh.
F.D.R. vowed that not one millionaire would be made from World War
II, and that to profiteer was treason.
Not today. Cheney's Halliburton / Brown and Root (mercenaries since
they were LBJ's buddies in Vietnam) gets $15.6 Billion in non-compete
contracts, and overcharges the taxpayers for food and gasoline, and
provides filthy meals for the troops. "Highway Robbery" said the G.A.O.
Yet Americans dutifully wave the flag even as they're being fleeced and
their sons and daughters are being
killed on the altar of corporate capital. Dennis Kucinich had a graphic
reminder of this: www.kucinich.us/dk.html
which lists the names of the GI's killed and the corporations who used
their deaths as a means to record profit.
Electoral Fraud in 2002
After a crooked Supreme Court brought us the fraudulent Buxh
administrationin 2000, two Senatorial elections were stolen in
2002 in
Georgia and Nebraska, by Republican-owned, unverifiable voting
machines.
In Nebraska, Chuck Hagel, arch-fundamentalist, "won" by 83% of the vote
in a contested election in a democratic state. How? Easy! His company
counted the votes, and he got a law passed that no election official,
only
members of his company, could see the votes. When this was brought up
in the Senate, the head of the Ethics Comittee resigned, and the matter
was never taken up again.
In Georgia, Max Cleland, who lost three limbs in Vietnam was declared
"unpatriotic" and somehow went from a 16-point to a "stunning upset" by
Diebold Machines.
Funny thing, the exit polls, uses as a check on the honesty in Third
World elections, did not take place in spite of two years of
preparation. The fix was in!
These two stolen Senate elections gave Buxh the margin he needed to
pass by Cheney's tie breaker vote,
an irresponsible $10,000,000,000,000 (Trillion) giveaway to the rich.
Think of
it as $40,000 for every man, woman and child in the U.S.,
charged to your credit card (you and your children will pay interest in
on the debt, the rich will pay no tax).
An unparalled heist for the upper class, paid byt your life's labor,
and
that of future generations.
See Paul Krugman's Dec. 2, 2003 article "Hack the Vote" in the
New York Times. Krugman is a rare
voice of sanity in a sea of sycophants. Read his columns. Be
informed.
Enron Recall in California
The Schwarzenegger recall in California was engineered by Karl Rove in
Washington, D.C. and had the delightful effect of quashing a $9 Billion
civil suit that Cruz Bustamante had pending for theft against
California utility ratepayers against ...
Enron!
Schwarzenegger met with Enron to set up the recall effort.
Republican Juggernaut
Money talks. And the twice-a-decade redistricting in Republican states
to give the Gingrich mob total control over legislation,
now including blanket substitution by the White House for legislation
already approved by both houses. My Congressman reports that
Democratic Representatives are not even allowed to speak at committee
meetings and none are picked to be on the House-Senate Conference
Committee. After the entirely new legislation is served up from
this committee, Democratic Senators are not allowed to see it until
right before the vote. The only conscientious vote is "no."
This has never happened before in American history. The Republican
capos in the House even called in the Capitol Police to prevent the
democrats from caucusing! We have "government" by right wing
juggernaut, changing the rules in the middle of the game. For
example,,t eh Texas redistricting, again directed by Tom DeLay in
Washington. The same fellow who flew his staffers to Florida to disrupt
recounts of the stolen 2000 election. Power at any price! For a
sobering look at the 2000 vote frauds, do a web search on "Grand Theft
America" tfor the saga of Buzhist Dragon LAdy Katherine HArris.
Vatican Holocaust
Another nexus of evil is in the Vatican. Deliberately falsifying the
known science that condoms save lives, they have valued sexism and
patriarchy over life and health, disseminated a Big Lie that may cost
millions of lives by AIDS. This comes after they promulgated another
(old, vicious) Big Lie equating homosexual orientation with pedophilia.
They are guilty of a holocaust. Shame! Shame! Shame!
The remedy is Activism!
Speak out against the tyrants! It is a sickening prospect that we
face, and there is a temptation to retreat, and shrink back hoping that
it "won't happen here." It will happen here if you don't do something
to stop it!
Remember what Pastor Martin Niemoeller said:
First they came for
the Jews
and I did not speak out - because I
was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists
and I did not speak out - because I
was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade
unionists
and I did not speak out - because I
was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me -
and by then there was no one left to
speak out for me.
It's time to speak out, and forcefully, to everyone about this
danger. Forget that it's "not polite" to bring up political issues. It
is deadly dangerous to the future of life on earth not to. People have
to be challenged in their denial, and denial can be strong. Some
"polite" Jewish ladies
were upset that some men were shouting to them to run for their lives
before they entered the death camps and were murdered. Don't be so
polite. Speak up!
Islands of Sanity.
In order to sustain our activism, we must cultivate islands of sanity
and rest, though we must not reclude ourselves there:
Thailand and Cambodia Trip.
Last year this time, I was enjoying Southeast Asia, good food, and in
Thailand a culture that had never been colonized or converted. How
refreshing to talk to monks for whom sexual orientation was of no more
interest than hair color. I finally got to see Angkor Wat
in Cambodia after decades of wanting to. The country is still a
shambles,
and I hope that economic development will be sensitive to the deep
cultural values there! This year's card features a relaxing elephant
ride after a couple days moderate hike in North Thailand. I schlepped
the elephant's hat all the way from Seattle for that shot!
Upcomining retirement
If the world stays together, I plan to take an early retirement from
Boeing (!! Watch for the BIG PARTY !!) next July at age 55. Although I
have recently found work in Commercial Aircraft, the pro-military right
wing orientation of the company turns my stomach every day I'm there.
It was never a good fit with my ideals. I have to say I have been
disappointed that a physics degree has brought me mostly work I am in
moral disagreement with as
a conscientious objector to war.
At this point, I am working for health care the company, now headed by
a notorious pocket-liner from the St. Louis coup. The Company owes me
health care until Medicare if I retire early. I expect a great bloom of
health to follow my retirement,
knowing that I can volunteer full time for Regime change in the U.S.
Howard Dean for President.
Even though my politics are closer to those of Dennis Kucinich, I want
to beat Buxh, Republican dirty tricks and vote rigging
notwithstanding, and to
return sanity and compassion to government. I went to a couple of Dean
meetings in Seattle, and their organization is ramping up, even to the
point of printing both sides of the lawn signs. Dean is a "small d"
democrat as well as a Big D one and it is edifying to meet with people
who are also concerned about how fast and severely democracy, civil
liberties, worker's rights, and environmental protection
has been curtailed under the Buxhists. Is it worth $1.37 a day to be
rid of Buxh? Over four years, that's what the max allowable $2000 to a
candidate
will cost you. It's a smal\n
l price to pay for restoring the environment, our respect in the world,
and viable Social Security. Volunteer at http://www.deanforamerica.com
Verifiable Voting
I am also supporting the campaign for fair electronic voting led by
Sanford Prof. David Dill atat
http::www.verifiedvoting.org . And I still carry my ACLU card, in
spite of McCarthyesque criminations from Buxh pere.
Vest pocket vacations.
All three Kerlick siblings celebrated Mother's 80th birthday in July.
It was a lucky thing that the tornado that destroyed the party tent
came by two days after the party. Mom and tornadoes go together: she
had one for her wedding tin 1947, too. I then visited with old friends
in D.C. and with a potential contractor in Manhattan.
I especially enjoyed the Silicon Graphics display at the new Hayden
Planetarium.
I visited San Francisco to sing in the 25th Anniversary of the Gay
Men's Chorus there. Though it's not musically my cup of tea, it was an
important anniversary since our first performance was Nov. 27, 1978 on
the steps of City Hall, on the day when George Moscone and Harvey Milk
were assassinated and their killer was still at large. I had also
visited for Gay Day in June, and the Faery Freedom village was jovial
because the conservative Supreme Court bowed before the people and
thirty years of political progress, and removed the legal prohibitions
on gay & l\n
esbians. I was not a fan of gay marriage before, but I was convinced by
the arguments in the Massachusetts case. Equal protection of the law
means just
that, and applied to all spheres of life, marriage included. I hope
Buxh's attempt to make political capital out of homophobia dooms him to
miserable
failure. (Google on "miserable failure" and see what you get).
Music
My choir, Seattle Pro Musica, goes from success to success, including
the national Margaret "Max" Hillis award for choral excellence. We also
took a jaunt to Vancouver, B.C. to sing in the music festival there in
August and a Canadian national broadcast. Our C.D. was also featured on
the Harmonia program, syndicated in the U.S. and our "Navidad" concert
was aired in prime time on our local KING-FM (broadcasts on the 'net
at www.king.org. The new
Seattle Opera House opened in August, and the star of the show was the
stage machinery! A 45 foot tall building disappears into the traps in 5
seconds. Cool!
Romantic love
Alas, a complete failure. Perhaps it just means I'm young at heart, but
must it be like Nasrudin throwing yeast into a lake, hoping it will
turn into yogurt? Imagine if I should succeed! I have now been doing
sitting meditation and kindness practice for some years. Still anger
haunts me, or at least its expression to anyone
who will listen. It is a vital energy, a potentially useful one, one
that awaits transformation, not repression. Wish me luck.
I wish you well. To my foreign correspondents, a wholehearted
apology for the evil our country is now doing in the world. We deserve
better leaders. I will do my best to get them elected (like we did in
2000) and actually installed into office this time.
David Kerlick
Your dissident correspondent in West Seattle, Washington.