CHEAP PATRIOTISM

Every pot dealer I knew in the 70s had a decal on his/her car window
supporting local law enforcement officers. I used to laugh about this
theater of the absurd that was played out in the "cops and robbers made
for TV dramas" live on the streets of anywhere USA . It was great strategy.
The kind of strategy that wins wars and keeps people guessing who is the
real enemy.

So here we are 30 years later, there are more drug dealers than ever and
drug prices are plummeting and I can't help but laugh out loud every time I
see those decals supporting local law enforcement on expensive car windows.

I was wondering how many meth dealers in small town Arkansas figured out
they could put Asa Hutchinson bumperstickers and Republican bumperstickers
on their cars and get away with more drug trafficking. It's sound strategy,
proven over and over again by our own government. Their twist was to
immediately start talking about the perils of too much freedom in America
instead of the debate being focused on a pathetic, intrusive foreign policy.

Life after 9-11 has risen to another theater of the absurd that is so
dangerous, even I can't laugh. It's this new flag-waving patriotism. I
wonder how many of the bonifide terrorist out there living in our country
have flags all over their houses, apartments and cars. It's such an easy
thing to do. I call it cheap patriotism because it only requires a little
money and a lot of rhetoric (which is cheap talk).

It seems the more flags a person displays, the more they talk about taking
away more of my freedoms.

Unfortunately, the things I consider a sign of patriotism don't make the
nightly news and sure as hell merits very little serious debate. So here it
is, that holiday time of year when I want to open my mind and my heart to
those that make life in America so great in their struggles to make life
for all American's better.

I want to applaud anyone who has ever volunteered for community radio, they
are true patriots. It has been especially important since 9-11 to be able
to get opinions and news that is biased in a good way. Every news program
has a bias, but public radio's bias is toward the people, not the
corporations and government. They have more than enough media outlets for
their propaganda so we should be happy we have a little bit of a sanity on
KABF and KARN.

I also want to applaud our school children, who risk their intelligence and
individualism everyday in their quest for an education in this country. The
lack of resources they have access to is an embarrassment. They are brave
enough to get out of bed every morning and face this "war against
intelligence".

In third world countries, we have turned our backs and let countless
dictators murder the well-educated of their societies. We are supporting
regimes all around the world that will never want to educate their
women. It was apparently figured out how to quash intelligence before it
happens in this country. It's bloodless, cheap and doesn't get a blip on
the radar screen.

I want to send out my heartfelt sympathies to all those families torn apart
and bankrupted because of the drug war. You are the real patriots in this
war. The horror of drug addiction is bad enough without having a government
that wants to punish your entire family for it. Taking parents out of the
home is a bad idea, unless it is life threatening to the kids. I guess the
propaganda we had to endure with that TV series "Dragnet" where more often
than not crazed marijuana smokers drowned their kids in the bathtub damaged
the less educated amongst us, meaning the politicians. They probably used
the scripts for these absurd shows as proof to be able to fund the drug war.

It's hard to strum up patriotism for a war that is guaranteed to take more
money away from our children's education. And just look at how fast our
health care system is crumbling since that day. The economic tumble that
started in March was largely ignored by our government until they had
something to blame it on.

You know what, this is my holiday issue and I would like to be a little
more joyous and I think you get my drift with all the above ranting. So now
for the fun part.

What I Want For Christmas

My wants are simple.

I want all the big medical lobbyist in Washington to be whisked off to
Disneyland for a few days as a Christmas present. While their gone, we
could enact a sane health care policy for our country. This piecemeal
approach to appease the lobbyist is expensive and stupid, stupid,
stupid.....we'd be better off without any insurance in this country. At
least that would force the prices to go down.

I want education that is creative and fun, not repressive and stupid,
stupid, stupid...Who cares if our kids can't remember bullshit dates of
Civil War battles. That is the kind of stuff hobbies are made of. How about
just letting them know the real reasons the war happened and it's
historical significant. We were the brave new world and we have been
struggling ever since with our identify. We are the most wonderful melting
pot, full of creativity and ideas for solving problems. Let's just give our
children reading, writing and thinking skills.

I want more support and appreciation for our musicians and artists in this
city. Why should we spend millions of dollars for a deadman's music or art,
when the living and barely eating among us need our support. Just a
thought. Oh, and just for the fun of it, could I get a new vibrator or some
satin sheets or maybe a blow-up doll, if you have the money for the
expensive one.

If not, I'll just take a ho-hum cd.