freshwest
freshwest's Journal
Civility ends in the face of immenient death. When I was your age, you would either have to flee
the country to escape prison, or allow yourself to be shipped off to fight a war you didn't believe in, but still not vote on. 'You're old enough to kill, but not for voting.'There was 'nothing civil' about it from either side. The only thing was the name, 'civil disobediance.' That term is obviously misunderstood today. And there was a reason we went after Democratic politicians - they were supposed to be the party of the people. We weren't civil, although most were peaceful and our fight was against all oppression of every type at home and the end of the war itself.
Nixon freaked when we came with half a million to shut down the federal government. Well over ten thousand were arrested the weekend I was there. We organized, mobilized and traveled from one coast ot the other. We also prepared to be gassed, beaten, jailed and worse.
Because people were dying for the pride of the comfortable and wealthy. It was more violent than BLM interrupting a talk. This is mild stuff, and the cries of 'how dare they' sound like the arrogant ones who yelled at us, 'America love it or leave it.' Certainly not the words of the radical liberals of the generation that BS is cited for. If we hadn't loved the ideal of what America was believed to be, some could have stayed home and enjoyed good times.
But for a young male like yourself, your body was a step away from the meat grinder. Young men had to choose if going to fight an unpopular war was worth dying or being maimed for. They, especially veterans against the war like John Kerry, disrupted every place in the country they could, every meeting. No matter what it was about.
I don't see any difference between those days and this where as Thom Hartmann said, 'Black people are sick and tired of being shot!' Americans have surrendered the moral argument to commercial media, which has none.
Where is the love for one like Bravenak who sent out her MAYDAY and SOS to beg progressives to help POC?
It's past time to change the structural basis of America as we said then. We did do as Kerry said, vote those who would not do the will of the people out of office. We did make progress on civil rights that have since been eroded.
Because the battle never ends, it's never over. The aging and dying of each generation is the stark proof of how the rich outwait our struggles. Each new generation must be wary and take up the cause of equality and of survival.
You aren't doing anything new even if it is new to you. You are now part of a proud tradition of Americans joining with each other to change the nation and the world. So keep it up, look ahead to the end results, be willing to grow in understanding and just doing whatever works.
Great essay. The Democratic Party still means something to most of us:
Barbara Charline Jordan 1976 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address
delivered 12 July 1976, New York, NY
...I could list the many problems which Americans have. I could list the problems which cause people to feel cynical, angry, frustrated: problems which include lack of integrity in government; the feeling that the individual no longer counts; the reality of material and spiritual poverty; the feeling that the grand American experiment is failing or has failed. I could recite these problems, and then I could sit down and offer no solutions. But I don't choose to do that either. The citizens of America expect more. They deserve and they want more than a recital of problems.
We are a people in a quandary about the present. We are a people in search of our future. We are a people in search of a national community. We are a people trying not only to solve the problems of the present, unemployment, inflation, but we are attempting on a larger scale to fulfill the promise of America. We are attempting to fulfill our national purpose, to create and sustain a society in which all of us are equal.
Throughout -- Throughout our history, when people have looked for new ways to solve their problems and to uphold the principles of this nation, many times they have turned to political parties. They have often turned to the Democratic Party. What is it? What is it about the Democratic Party that makes it the instrument the people use when they search for ways to shape their future?
Well I believe the answer to that question lies in our concept of governing. Our concept of governing is derived from our view of people. It is a concept deeply rooted in a set of beliefs firmly etched in the national conscience of all of us.
Now what are these beliefs?
First, we believe in equality for all and privileges for none. This is a belief -- This is a belief that each American, regardless of background, has equal standing in the public forum -- all of us. Because -- Because we believe this idea so firmly, we are an inclusive rather than an exclusive party. Let everybody come.
I think it no accident that most of those immigrating to America in the 19th century identified with the Democratic Party. We are a heterogeneous party made up of Americans of diverse backgrounds. We believe that the people are the source of all governmental power; that the authority of the people is to be extended, not restricted.
This -- This can be accomplished only by providing each citizen with every opportunity to participate in the management of the government. They must have that, we believe. We believe that the government which represents the authority of all the people, not just one interest group, but all the people, has an obligation to actively -- underscore actively -- seek to remove those obstacles which would block individual achievement -- obstacles emanating from race, sex, economic condition. The government must remove them, seek to remove them. We.
We are a party -- We are a party of innovation. We do not reject our traditions, but we are willing to adapt to changing circumstances, when change we must. We are willing to suffer the discomfort of change in order to achieve a better future. We have a positive vision of the future founded on the belief that the gap between the promise and reality of America can one day be finally closed. We believe that.
This, my friends is the bedrock of our concept of governing. This is a part of the reason why Americans have turned to the Democratic Party. These are the foundations upon which a national community can be built. Let all understand that these guiding principles cannot be discarded for short-term political gains. They represent what this country is all about. They are indigenous to the American idea. And these are principles which are not negotiable.
In other times -- In other times, I could stand here and give this kind of exposition on the beliefs of the Democratic Party and that would be enough. But today that is not enough. People want more. That is not sufficient reason for the majority of the people of this country to decide to vote Democratic. We have made mistakes. We realize that. We admit our mistakes. In our haste to do all things for all people, we did not foresee the full consequences of our actions. And when the people raised their voices, we didn't hear. But our deafness was only a temporary condition, and not an irreversible condition.
Even as I stand here and admit that we have made mistakes, I still believe that as the people of America sit in judgment on each party, they will recognize that our mistakes were mistakes of the heart. They'll recognize that.
And now -- now we must look to the future. Let us heed the voice of the people and recognize their common sense. If we do not, we not only blaspheme our political heritage, we ignore the common ties that bind all Americans. Many fear the future. Many are distrustful of their leaders, and believe that their voices are never heard. Many seek only to satisfy their private work -- wants; to satisfy their private interests. But this is the great danger America faces -- that we will cease to be one nation and become instead a collection of interest groups: city against suburb, region against region, individual against individual; each seeking to satisfy private wants. If that happens, who then will speak for America? Who then will speak for the common good?
This is the question which must be answered in 1976: Are we to be one people bound together by common spirit, sharing in a common endeavor; or will we become a divided nation?
For all of its uncertainty, we cannot flee the future. We must not become the "New Puritans" and reject our society. We must address and master the future together. It can be done if we restore the belief that we share a sense of national community, that we share a common national endeavor. It can be done.
There is no executive order; there is no law that can require the American people to form a national community. This we must do as individuals, and if we do it as individuals, there is no President of the United States who can veto that decision.
As a first step -- As a first step, we must restore our belief in ourselves. We are a generous people, so why can't we be generous with each other? We need to take to heart the words spoken by Thomas Jefferson:
Let us restore the social intercourse -- "Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and that affection without which liberty and even life are but dreary things."
A nation is formed by the willingness of each of us to share in the responsibility for upholding the common good. A government is invigorated when each one of us is willing to participate in shaping the future of this nation. In this election year, we must define the "common good" and begin again to shape a common future. Let each person do his or her part. If one citizen is unwilling to participate, all of us are going to suffer. For the American idea, though it is shared by all of us, is realized in each one of us...
We as public servants must set an example for the rest of the nation. It is hypocritical for the public official to admonish and exhort the people to uphold the common good if we are derelict in upholding the common good.
More is required -- More is required of public officials than slogans and handshakes and press releases. More is required. We must hold ourselves strictly accountable. We must provide the people with a vision of the future.
If we promise as public officials, we must deliver. If -- If we as public officials propose, we must produce. If we say to the American people, "It is time for you to be sacrificial" -- sacrifice. If the public official says that, we [public officials] must be the first to give. We must be. And again, if we make mistakes, we must be willing to admit them. We have to do that. What we have to do is strike a balance between the idea that government should do everything and the idea, the belief, that government ought to do nothing. Strike a balance.
Let there be no illusions about the difficulty of forming this kind of a national community. It's tough, difficult, not easy. But a spirit of harmony will survive in America only if each of us remembers that we share a common destiny; if each of us remembers, when self-interest and bitterness seem to prevail, that we share a common destiny.
I have confidence that we can form this kind of national community.
I have confidence that the Democratic Party can lead the way.
I have that confidence.
We cannot improve on the system of government handed down to us by the founders of the Republic. There is no way to improve upon that. But what we can do is to find new ways to implement that system and realize our destiny.
Now I began this speech by commenting to you on the uniqueness of a Barbara Jordan making a keynote address. Well I am going to close my speech by quoting a Republican President and I ask you that as you listen to these words of Abraham Lincoln, relate them to the concept of a national community in which every last one of us participates:
"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master." This -- This -- "This expresses my idea of Democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no Democracy."
Thank you.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barbarajordan1976dnc.html
Copyright Status: Via the Democratic National Committee, this speech appears to be in the public domain. Any use of this speech, however, should show proper attribution to its author.
The emboldening in the text is my addition.
Random killing of the general public is counterproductive. I was in D.C. just before MayDay 1971.
The crowd in the march I took part in was reported by CBS and the Park Service was between 100,000 and 500,000. Yes, we interrupted the daily lives of all the people there because of the daily body count from the war.
Nixon absolutely freaked out, he could see that we were there to shut the government down. Inconvenience be damned, the war was killing Americans and the people of Indochina daily.
John Kerry told the Congress, in effect, that they would either end the war, or those opposing the war would shut it down or take it over by voting them all out of office. And while we didn't get the presidency back until Carter, we took majorities elsewhere and worked to stop the oppression of black people, gays, women, immigrants, workers and to save the environment.
The next few days in 1971 involved many determined to shut the federal government to stop 'business as usual.' They went tried to block the Pentagon and roved about to do more. It resulted in over 12,000 arrests.
And he things that people said to the powerful were not polite. There was a lot more going on in those days than what did in Seattle. People who act like that was outrageous aren't aware of how desperate things negate the rules of civility in protest.
JMHO. YMMV.
Wait! Woo caused our reptilian Illuminati overlords to fail in depopulating the planet!
We're multiplying like rabbits!
Maybe they are behind organic, non-GMO, vegan food for healthier eating. Not for our health, theirs. They take us down into underground tunnels and eat us, or so Infowars says. Consider this, too:
Thanks, I hadn't heard that one... This is the one I remember best:
Time Has Come Today ~ Chambers BrothersTime has come today
Young hearts can go their way
Can't put it off another day
I don't care what others say
They say we don't listen anyway
Time has come today
(Hey)
Oh
The rules have changed today (Hey)
I have no place to stay (Hey)
I'm thinking about the subway (Hey)
My love has flown away (Hey)
My tears have come and gone (Hey)
Oh my Lord, I have to roam (Hey)
I have no home (Hey)
I have no home (Hey)
Now the time has come (Time)
There's no place to run (Time)
I might get burned up by the sun (Time)
But I had my fun (Time)
I've been loved and put aside (Time)
I've been crushed by the tumbling tide (Time)
And my soul has been psychedelicized (Time)
(Time)
Now the time has come (Time)
There are things to realize (Time)
Time has come today (Time)
Time has come today (Time)
Time [x11]
Oh
Now the time has come (Time)
There's no place to run (Time)
I might get burned up by the sun (Time)
But I had my fun (Time)
I've been loved and put aside (Time)
I've been crushed by tumbling tide (Time)
And my soul has been psychedelicized (Time)
(Time)
Now the time has come (Time)
There are things to realize (Time)
Time has come today (Time)
Time has come today (Time)
Time [x4]
Yeah
Once again, the time has come today to end the oppression of people for 400 years who are 'tired of being shot at.'
Texas had an unhealthy fascination with the CSA when I was growing up:
Jefferson Davis High School in Houston.
'Spirit of the Confederacy' in Sam Houston Park in downtown Houston.
Check the chapter list of the:
Texas Division
United Daughters of the Confederacy®
http://www.txudc.org/chapters.html
There was a state holiday for the birthday of that Jefferrson-fucking-Davis! In 1973 it was mixed with Robert E. Lee's to create 'Confederate Heroes Day.'
The Confederate response to the Emancipation Proclaimation. Jefferson Davis' own words:
"...Now, therefore, as a compensatory measure, I do hereby issue the following Address to the People of the Non-Slaveholding States:
On and after February 22, 1863, all free negroes within the limits of the Southern Confederacy shall be placed on the slave status, and be deemed to be chattels, they and their issue forever.
All negroes who shall be taken in any of the States in which slavery does not now exist, in the progress of our arms, shall be adjudged, immediately after such capture, to occupy the slave status, and in all States which shall be vanquished by our arms, all free negroes shall, ipsofacto, be reduced to the condition of helotism, so that the respective normal conditions of the white and black races may be ultimately placed on a permanent basis, so as to prevent the public peace from being thereafter endangered..."
http://davisspeech.blogspot.com/
It's American Exceptionalism. We control everything, everywhere! No evil happens without us!
We are omnipotent, all powerful, all seeing, all knowing! Muahahaha!
Okay, back away from Paranoid Plaza.
DU is like The Taming of the Shrew, Act IV, Scene 5:
Enter PETRUCHIO, KATHERINA, HORTENSIO, and SERVANTS
* Petruchio. Come on, a God's name; once more toward our father's.
Good Lord, how bright and goodly shines the moon!
* Katherina. The moon? The sun! It is not moonlight now.
* Petruchio. I say it is the moon that shines so bright.
* Katherina. I know it is the sun that shines so bright.
* Petruchio. Now by my mother's son, and that's myself,
It shall be moon, or star, or what I list,
Or ere I journey to your father's house.
Go on and fetch our horses back again.
Evermore cross'd and cross'd; nothing but cross'd!
* Hortensio. Say as he says, or we shall never go.
* Katherina. Forward, I pray, since we have come so far,
And be it moon, or sun, or what you please;
And if you please to call it a rush-candle,
Henceforth I vow it shall be so for me.
* Petruchio. I say it is the moon.
* Katherina. I know it is the moon.
* Petruchio. Nay, then you lie; it is the blessed sun.
* Katherina. Then, God be bless'd, it is the blessed sun;
But sun it is not, when you say it is not;
And the moon changes even as your mind.
What you will have it nam'd, even that it is,
And so it shall be so for Katherine.
* Hortensio. Petruchio, go thy ways, the field is won.
* Petruchio. Well, forward, forward! thus the bowl should run,
And not unluckily against the bias.
But, soft! Company is coming here.
[Enter VINCENTIO]
[To VINCENTIO] Good-morrow, gentle mistress; where away?
Tell me, sweet Kate, and tell me truly too,
Hast thou beheld a fresher gentlewoman?
Such war of white and red within her cheeks!
What stars do spangle heaven with such beauty
As those two eyes become that heavenly face?
Fair lovely maid, once more good day to thee.
Sweet Kate, embrace her for her beauty's sake.
* Hortensio. 'A will make the man mad, to make a woman of him.
* Katherina. Young budding virgin, fair and fresh and sweet,
Whither away, or where is thy abode?
Happy the parents of so fair a child;
Happier the man whom favourable stars
Allots thee for his lovely bed-fellow.
* Petruchio. Why, how now, Kate, I hope thou art not mad!
This is a man, old, wrinkled, faded, withered,
And not a maiden, as thou sayst he is.
* Katherina. Pardon, old father, my mistaking eyes,
That have been so bedazzled with the... sun?
That everything I look on seemeth green;
Now I perceive thou art a reverend father.
Pardon, I pray thee, for my mad mistaking.
* Petruchio. Do, good old grandsire, and withal make known
Which way thou travellest- if along with us,
We shall be joyful of thy company.
* Vincentio. Fair sir, and you my merry mistress,
That with your strange encounter much amaz'd me,
My name is call'd Vincentio, my dwelling Pisa,
And bound I am to Padua, there to visit
A son of mine, which long I have not seen.
* Petruchio. What is his name?
* Vincentio. Lucentio, gentle sir.
* Petruchio. Happily met; the happier for thy son.
And now by law, as well as reverend age,
I may entitle thee my loving father:
The sister to my wife, this gentlewoman,
Thy son by this hath married. Wonder not,
Nor be not grieved- she is of good esteem,
Her dowry wealthy, and of worthy birth;
Beside, so qualified as may beseem
The spouse of any noble gentleman.
Let me embrace with old Vincentio;
And wander we to see thy honest son,
Who will of thy arrival be full joyous.
* Vincentio. But is this true; or is it else your pleasure,
Like pleasant travellers, to break a jest
Upon the company you overtake?
* Hortensio. I do assure thee, father, so it is.
* Petruchio. Come, go along, and see the truth hereof;
For our first merriment hath made thee jealous.
Exeunt all but HORTENSIO
* Hortensio. Well, Petruchio, this has put me in heart.
Have to my widow; and if she be froward,
Then hast thou taught Hortensio to be untoward.
Exeunt.
We're being trained. We have to ask:'Mother, May I?' before we post anything.
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