( – promoted by buhdydharma )
In his haunting song, “Devils and Dust”, Bruce Springsteen observed, “We’re a long, long way from home . . . home’s a long, long way from us.”
As usual, The Boss knows what he’s talking about. Americans have never been so far from home. Our “leaders” have taken us all into a bizarre Twilight Zone America where torture is patriotic, civil liberties have been erased, and proclaimers of endless war are sanctified. Treason is rewarded, justice is waterboarded, and the truth dies unreported.
In the America we used to know, a plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty welcomed the world to our shores with this guarantee:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
That guarantee has been replaced with this disclaimer:
Craven politicians in Washington bear most of the blame for dragging us through all of this shame and degradation, but they are not solely responsible. Too many Americans have never voted in an election. Too many of them used to vote but have given up trying to make a difference. They’ve heard the lies of politicians too many times. They’ve seen the corruption in Washington and don’t trust anyone in government. They’re disillusioned. They feel helpless. They don’t want to have anything to do with politics. What good would it do? “Politicians never listen to us anyway,” they say. “They’ll do whatever they want once they get elected, so why should I pay any attention to politics, why should I go out and vote?”
This is why:
Take your cynicism and apathy off the table, America. Put your children’s future on it, and keep it there.
When destiny calls you, you must be strong.
When destiny called in Iowa, 240,000 Americans were strong. In the cold, snow, and darkness of a Midwestern winter night, they took the first steps on America’s long way home. They didn’t ask David Broder if it was OK with him. They didn’t seek Madame Speaker’s permission. They didn’t consult “Life Is A Campaign” for sage advice from Tweety. They didn’t watch NBC Nightly News so they could hear the latest political news from hack “journalists” who report what their corporate bosses tell them to report.
They want to leave this Bush/Cheney wasteland behind and go home, to the land of hope and dreams America used to be. Iowa teachers and students, housewives and retail clerks, waitresses and truck drivers, blue collar workers and white collar workers, single mothers, grandparents, and the families of Bush’s hostages in uniform in Iraq are all determined to live in that America again.
This Amerika is obscene:
Iowans stood up from Rock Rapids to Cedar Rapids and said IT IS FASCISM WHEN WE DO IT, you brainless Beltway fucks. 240,000 of them said so. They stood up for every American. They stood up for every deceived soldier, they stood up for their frightened wives and children, they stood up for every spied on, lied to, robbed blind, abused, ignored, and exploited American. Someone had to. Nancy Pelosi never will. Harry Reid never will. Rahm Emanuel never will. Too many of their bought and paid for K-Street Democrats in Congress never will. Too many tuba players in the Dancing Donuts Marching Band at Daily Kos Junior High never will.
So 240,000 Iowans did. They bundled up against the cold and set out on the long way home to that land where democracy thrived, where no one was above the law, where voters were respected, not caged. In that America, war was a last resort, not the standard policy of trigger happy lunatics. War crimes were not plotted in the White House, they were something our enemies committed. The world looked up to us, now it turns its back on us in revulsion.
It’s your turn to take a stand, New Hampshire. Your ancestors faced the same choice between freedom and submission you are facing now. They knew what they had to do. They took a stand for freedom in 1775 and showed the rest of the world how its done. The world needs to see American courage and determination like that again. Iowa showed them some, it’s your turn now.
Lock and load, New Hampshire.
You know who the Redcoats of the 21st Century are.
Fire when you see the whites of their beady corporate eyes.
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Like there’s a choice when you live in the presence of this greatness. My current favorite photo of my greatest inspiration and noisiest critics.
for writing this. thanks, thanks, thanks.
not to that home, anyway.
As Moms Mabley said “The good old days. I was there. Where was they?”
The current period is a temporary regression on a long path of progress toward someplace I’d like to call ‘home’; some country I could be proud of, not just in some ways at some times, but in all ways, at all times. The United States has never been that country – and, from what I know of history, neither has anyplace else on Earth.
Maybe, though, we can make some more progress towards home.
Then again, maybe not.
“Can’t find my way home.”
Have only been back and engaged with the internets for a few months, and already the cynicism, negativity, calls for guns and fist-fights and stupid, juvenile snark starts to overcome any hope I might have still held for the potential of the blogosphere.
Do we tear down or build up? BushInc is going out the door. Are we going to busy ourselves with tearing down what’s already in exit or are we going to capitalize on what’s happening right now in real time (crossover voters, new young engaged voters) and build a movement? Edwards is ‘surging,’ Obama’s ‘surging,’ Hilliary’s finally shown her softer face.
These are good things, progressives. I don’t know about anyone else, but my choice is to live in the present and stop fighting battles I’ve already lost.
Berlin Germany’s Checkpoint Charlie has been taken down by now.
The warning sign read “You are now leaving the American Sector”.
How that sign works in reverse today, only one generation later.
getting better Rusty. This is a good one. I feel that we the Democrats or Liberals or Progressives or disenfranchized ones who don’t participate, do seek to end this insanity. The Twilight Zone is apparent to all except those who have always lived in that zone.
Are we once again being co-opted? Not as important to me as getting the show on the road. The myths of political realities are getting blown away. Our voices are even more important now. Fear still lingers but at least the chains that hold the status quo are vulnerable. The Democrats may end up actually being a party that stands for the people again.
I think what happened in Iowa, was a very definite sign of a desire to move far away from what we have known.
And, it happened in New Hampshire, too. Except, McCain is emerging, as well (slippery, slimey one, he is).
And you couldn’t be more RIGHT — it is for our children and their children — those yet to be born who already are left with a burden of debt that should never have been there’s in the first place.
To the picture of hope and a new direction, I still believe Impeachment is imperative — the first step toward return to the rule of law.
As always, a hopeful and good diary!!