Sunday, December 26, 2004

Dan Bern & The Day After Christmas

Okay, it's the day after Christmas and the essential polemic must continue.

First of all this from the New York Times: "I certainly understand the need to balance the federal budget, but people need to remember that to balance the federal budget off the backs of the poorest people in the country is simply unacceptable. You don't pull feeding tubes from people. You don't pull the wheelchair out from under the child with muscular dystrophy."GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE, of Arkansas, on a bipartisan lobbying effort by governors to stave off federal cuts in Medicaid allotments.

Also, this morning's New York Times provided this (which also appeared in the Denver Post) with regard to the kind of democracy Ol' Dubya forsees for Iraq. The article suggests that even if the minority population of Sunnis in Iraq don't do well at the polls that they should be guaranteed positions in the government and even possibly seats in the parliament.

Sure sounds like wholsome democracy to me.

I've discovered Dan Bern.

I think Bern is best described as a GenX Bob Dylan. You should check out the lyrics to some of his songs. Talkin' the Al Kida Blues begins:

It was a beautiful day in New York town
Folks jogging, biking, walking 'round
When a couple of airplanes came around
Hit the big towers, knocked 'em down
Worst disaster on US soil ever!
Course, there's the Indians, a few million slaves ... Enron ... Anyway, it was
worse than Pearl Harbor!

The tragedy of 911 is not diminished by any historical perspective. But, it is important to maintain that perspective as part of the polemic. David and I have flown the stars and bars from our front porch since the day after 911. But, we do not fly it for Dubya and his minions; James Dobson or Pat Robertson; the neocon goons. No, we fly it for the rest of us; that 49% who dare to believe there is something better for America and the world than what Dubya has provided. And, of course, we fly it for our brothers and sisters who Dubya has put in harm's way throughout the world.






2 comments:

Smitty said...

Merry Post-Christmas!!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on discovering Dan Bern. The course of your life has now been altered forever - there's no going back. Go see him in concert; never the same show twice. It used to be that every show was one to tell the grandkids about. He's gotten complacent lately, so maybe every one out of three concerts is mindblowing, but still, them's good odds. And finally, track down "Blue Highway" a new song of his that is perfect.