INTERVIEW OF JUBAL DURFEE (Part I)

Here’s my interview (Part I) of Jubal Durfee, whom I recently met at the gun show. He was there to buy his son his “first” assault rifle—an AK-47—on the occasion of the boy’s fifteenth birthday.

I actually found Durfee to be an interesting and loquacious character, if somewhat long-winded. I think he rather delighted having the audience of someone he obviously considered to be from the “enemy’s camp.”

We spoke in the café area of the gun show. We got fresh cups of coffee and then I started by asking him what he did for a living. He said he was in the roofing business. Married to a school teacher with two sons, Durfee has been active in local politics for about ten years, and, for the last three, served as Republican precinct chair in his little hometown of Bee Keeper, Arkansas. In addition to his politicking, Durfee is a Civil War reenactor—a sergeant in the Bee Keeper Irregulars of the 33rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment. He said he was one of hundreds of reenactors who performed in the movie, Gettysburg. I asked him if he considered himself a “Neocon” or just a “garden variety Republican.”


JUBAL: Well, I ain’t sure what the difference is. What I think I am is just a good ol’ garden variety patriot.

THOLOS: What is that to you?

JUBAL: A patriot? Well, that’s somebody who loves God, this country and its flag—in that order. And he loves ‘em so much that he’s willin’ to put his life on the line for ‘em. And anybody who doesn’t love those three things, and ain’t a hundred percent willin’ to die for ‘em at the drop of a hat, well they just don’t need to be here. They need to be somewheres else.

THOLOS: Would you want your son to fight in a war?

JUBAL: You bet I would. His older brother, James, is in Iraq right now, fightin’ for freedom. I would hope that when the time comes—and I’m pretty sure it will—that Billy will take his rightful place on the front lines and be a man.

THOLOS: Even if it means coming home in a body bag?

JUBAL: I hope that don’t happen. But yeah. Even then. I’m prepared for whatever happens. And I think he is, too. See, when you have God in your life, then you have a strength and a power that nothing and nobody can defeat. It prepares you. It’s your foundation. Your armor. I would no more dream of leavin’ my house in the morning without God in my heart, than I would head off to the firing range without bullets in my AR-15. And I’ve tried to give my boys that foundation, so they can get out there and do what they have to do when the time comes.

THOLOS: Did you fight in a war, yourself?

JUBAL: I sure as hell did. I was in Desert Storm, 110th Armored Division. And you know what? I was never afraid for one minute, even though I knew every minute that I could die. Now, that’s the power of God. (He laughs.) I just don’t see how anyone can deny God. I’m living proof that God exists. And so are you. And so are all these people here—all living proof that God is real. See that dog over there? That’s proof that God exists.

THOLOS: What about all the children in Iraq, killed or maimed by our bombs? Are they proof of God’s existence?

JUBAL: They’re proof that God don’t tolerate our enemies.

THOLOS: Children are our enemies?

JUBAL: When you’re exterminatin’ roaches, you don’t worry about the babies, do you? In fact, it’s better if you can get the babies along with the eggs. At least, that’s what I was always told. I don’t mean to sound callous, but these kiddoes are bein’ raised by their parents to hate Americans. Sooner or later they’ll strap bombs on theirselves and come after us.

THOLOS: I see. You said that a patriot was somebody who loves God and this country—meaning, the U.S. Do you think it’s possible there could be patriots in other places in the world who love their countries as much as we love ours?

JUBAL: Well, I just think God has a plan for America—that’s what I meant by that. He has a mission for us. He wants us to spread Democracy throughout the world, like we’re doin’ right now in Iraq. And if everything goes as planned, we’ll be doin’ the same thing in Syria and Iran, and probably North Korea. Maybe China later on down the line. Hell, I just might sign up again, myself. I’m not too old, yet. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get a chance to fight alongside my two boys. Whoo-ee! Wouldn’t that be somethin’! I can’t imagine a better high than that. See, I believe God wants us to spread His word among all these nations, and get as many as possible to turn away from their false religions and false gods.

THOLOS: Is the Muslim religion a false religion, in your opinion?

JUBAL: Why, hell yes! Are you shittin’ me? It’s a heathen religion, straight from the devil’s mouth. Personally, I wasn’t all that upset over that Newsweek article. You know, the one about them flushin’ the Koran down the toilet? Oh, I know they wrote it to make more people hate us, and I’m glad to see ‘em gettin’ their butts kicked for it. But hell, that wasn’t the first time I’ve heard of the Koran bein’ flushed down a commode or stomped on by some guard. But I just don’t know why they’re makin’ such a big fuss over it. I mean, just because a few people got inflamed? Is that all? Uh, hey, fellas! I think that’s the point, ain’t it--to inflame all these Middle Eastern bastards? Ain’t that the whole reason for this war? For any war? To inflame the other side? Duh! What do they think this is, a garden party? Shit, man, these are our enemies. That’s their book. What else are we s’posed to do with it? Put it on display somewhere? Treat it like the Holy Grail? Shoot. Gitmo ain’t s’posed to be a day at the spa anymore than San Quintin. That ain’t why it’s there. Or Abu Grab, either. (Ghraib.) Nope, you’ll never convince me that George W. Bush was upset over that! No way, man! You notice he ain’t said nothin’ about it. Not a peep out of him. He lets Scotty (Scott McClellen) do all his talkin’ for him. Gotta placate the lefties, I guess. But we all know G.W.’s a Bible man all the way. I’ll bet you my entire gun collection he was slappin’ his thigh when he heard about them flushin’ the Koran.

THOLOS: Do you think that detaining people indefinitely in places like Guantanimo and Abu Ghraib is okay? And do you think torturing them is acceptable, according to our Bill of Rights and the Geneva Conventions?

JUBAL: Well, I think our new Attorney General—

THOLOS: Alberto Gonzales--

JUBAL: Yeah, Gonzales. I think he was dead on about the Geneva Conventions bein’ quaint nowadays. And as far as rights are concerned, I don’t think we should be extending rights to terrorists. That’s my opinion. Rights are for people that earn ‘em.

THOLOS: Most of the detainees have not been proven to be terrorists.

JUBAL: Well, that’s a hard thing to prove, I suppose. But we can’t afford to take chances with people like this. People who hate us because of our freedoms. And as far as torture goes, well, I think the press kinda blew that out of proportion, which we all know is somethin’ they're inclined to do. Okay, so maybe we’re shockin’ some prisoners a little, or stackin’ ‘em like cordwood. Hell, I’ve seen pictures of high school cheerleaders formin’ human pyramids and I never heard anybody boo-hooing over that, or callin’ it “torture.” I’ve heard of fraternity hazings that were worse than what that little gal (Lindy England) was doin’ to those ol’ boys at Abu Grab (Ghraib), puttin’ dog collars on ‘em, havin' 'em jack off, and all that. C'mon, lighten up everybody! She was just havin’ a little fun, there. Any Boy Scout would'a done the same in her position. The point is you gotta be able to interrogate the enemy, get information out of him, somehow. And how you gonna do that? I doubt if he’s gonna give up anything by offerin’ him a tootsie roll. At least we’re not cuttin’ their heads off, like they’re doin’ to our people. But, hey, maybe we oughta jump in and do some of that ourselves. You know, for every one of ours, cut off one of theirs. And run it on TV, too. Broadcast it all over Iraq. I bet that’d give those insurgents somethin’ to think about.

THOLOS: Yes, I imagine it would.

JUBAL: Instead, what are we doin’? We’re punishin’ the guards—that girl and her boyfriend—puttin’ ‘em in prison! For what? For doin’ their goddamn jobs! Now, that’s just plain crazy! First place, it sends the wrong message to our enemies. Makes us look soft. Second, it confuses our own people. You can’t say to a soldier one day, “Okay, boy, you’re a killer, now, so go on out there and kill people.” And then the next day, say to him, “Wait! Hold the phone! I didn’t mean kill just anybody. I only meant kill the right ones—just the ones we approve of. Government certified.” Now, you got yourself a confused soldier out there, ‘cause you’ve put doubt in his mind. Doubt is poison to a soldier. Now, he’s liable to hesitate before he pulls the trigger and that moment’s hesitation could cost him his life or his buddies lives. Well, same thing with these guards. One day Rumsfeld's tellin’ ‘em to yank some Arab’s fingernails out with a pair of vice-grips, and the next day he's sayin’, “No, no, leave the fingernails. Just slap ‘em around a little. Or better yet, flush the Koran down the toilet.” And then still another day, he comes in sayin’, “Nope, don’t even think about flushin’ the Koran today. Oh, and by the way, if you don’t get these rules right, we’ll boot you out of the military and put your ass in prison for twenty years!” Well, I just think that’s the wrong way to treat your people. Now, I know Rumsfeld and Bush are worried about the moderates in the party. The softies. They don’t wanta appear to condone torture, even though we all know they do. And so do most Americans, if the ratings of that TV show, 24, is any indication. Ain’t a week goes by somebody don’t get tortured on that show, and nobody flinches over that. So I think they’re makin’ a bigger deal out of this than they need to.

THOLOS: You really think so?

JUBAL: Oh, sure. Look, you remember when that story broke in the news—about Abu Grab (Ghraib)? And they had all those pictures they took over there, the ones with that girl guard (Lindy England) and all them naked Arabs? Okay, I guess you could say it created a stink for awhile. Yeah, Rumsfeld might have broken a sweat for about half a minute. A few people, a few Congressmen, bitched and moaned for a week or two. They said how it was all so "shameful" and “un-American,” and all that bullcrap. You know, the same tired ol’ bunch of liberals raisin' a ruckus. By the way, did you ever see a dog wake himself up out of a deep sleep?

THOLOS: Beg your pardon?

JUBAL: You know, like an ol' coon dog? How sometimes, they’ll just sort of bark themselves awake? You've seen 'em do that, haven't you? Maybe a flea bit him, or somethin', so he barks himself awake. Then, what does he do? He gets up for a second, turns around, then drops back down, and in less than a minute, he’s asleep again. As if nothin' had happened. Know what I mean?

THOLOS: Sure, sure.

JUBAL: Well, these liberals kinda remind me of that dog. Once in awhile, they just kinda bark themselves awake. You know, they’ll blink and look around; maybe they’ll notice somethin’ goin’ on that offends their sensibilities a little bit. And that’ll make ‘em kinda barkey and gripey for a minute or two, like that ol’ dog. But it never lasts long. And pretty soon, you’ll see ‘em yawn, and turn around once or twice, and—plop!—back down they go! Before you know it, they’re off snoozin’ again, in a deep slumber, leavin’ the rest of us to get on with the work of the country. And that’s your liberals—especially the ones that pass for Congressmen these days. Point is, I don’t hear anybody complainin’ about torture. Do you?

THOLOS: How about Amnesty International?

JUBAL: Amnesty Who? C’mon, man, who gives a shit about what some “Amnesty” outfit thinks or says. Who are they, anyway? Nobody knows who they are. Nobody in this country, that’s for sure. Shit, that’s like sayin’ the U.N. don’t like somethin’. The U.N. didn’t like the war. So what? Now, we’re drop-kickin’ their asses. We’ll do the same with this Amnesty bunch. What I want to know is, does anybody in this country give a purple flyin’ shit about torture? That’s the real question, and the only one Bush needs to look at. How ‘bout it? Anybody in the press? In the Congress? Show me one Democrat or one Republican whinin’ over that issue today. What about the churches? Any Catholics worried about torture? No? How ‘bout Methodists or Jews or Presbyterians or Pentecostals or Disciples of Christ? Well, I can tell you right now, us Baptists ain’t losin’ any sleep over it, either. So, there’s your answer, George. Which means that all this hoopla over these guards is a waste of time. They’re just scapegoatin’ those poor bastards. They oughta put medals on ‘em and send ‘em back to work. I guarantee you nobody would notice. Michael Jackson—now there's what people are worried about. The trial of some deviant rock star. Or who Brad Pitt’s fuckin’ this week. I guarantee you that’s all people care about in this country.

(Look for Part II on this site!)

--Grayson Harper.

GUNS AND JESUS III

More of my adventures at the local gun show:

Booth Number 649

I stopped at several booths here and there and talked to different sellers and listened to their spiels. It was all quite entertaining, actually. I took a break for a cup of coffee and a donut, then stopped at booth number 649, owned and operated by Luther Bavitch and his wife, Melissa. Luther’s booth was mostly all knives, everything from the smallest Swiss Army Knife with two folding stainless steel blades, that would easily fit in your watch pocket, up to some really big Bowie knives with elk horn handles and grisly serrated bayonets. Somehow, I didn’t think those knives were for cleaning fish.

Hanging on the back wall of the booth was a beautiful four-foot long Samurai sword in a shiny gold scabbard decorated with intricate engravings. Price for the sword--$10,000. What made it so valuable, Mr. Bavitch said, was that it was about five-hundred years old and that it had been used by the actor, Toshiro Mifune, in the movie, The Seven Samurai. Well, I didn’t know whether to believe that or not, and even if it were true, I’m not sure that would make it worth ten grand, except in Mr. Bavitch’s mind. But I suppose it’s worth whatever someone’s willing to pay for it. To give some credence to his claim, Mr. Bavitch had posted several movie stills of Toshiro Mifune right under the sword in little black plastic frames. Sure enough, in each picture, the famed Japanese actor was shown either wearing a big sword on his hip or wielding one in his hands. But the pictures were too murky to be able to definitely identify his sword as the one hanging in Luther Bavitch’s booth.

Still, Mr. Bavitch was a jolly sort—very thin, stringy looking fella with long black hair, a ring in his ear and tattoos on his arms. He wore black blue jeans and a black sleeveless sweatshirt emblazoned with gold script that proclaimed: “Luther’s Knife World, Carson City, Nevada.” His talk was constant, sprinkled with a lot of jokes, many of which were somewhat off-color. Every time he told an off-color one, his wife, Melissa, would laugh and say, “Oh, Luther! You’re so bad!” She sat to one side, in a high-backed rocking chair, doing cross-stitch. In contrast to her husband, whose arms resembled shredded beef jerky, her arms were about as big around as fair sized watermelons. Her pale white and blue checked dress looked homemade. It fell to about mid-calf and tied in back with a bow. Not unlike the kind of dress you might see on a five-year-old. She had long lustrous blonde hair with little girl bangs and her skin was creamy white. She looked like she lived on a diet of mutton and fresh goat’s milk.

They both chatted like magpies and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the frenetic gun-show atmosphere. Melissa rocked and worked right along as she talked, never missing a stitch. Her cross-stitch featured a house with a man on one side and a woman on the other, both wearing overalls. There was a dog and a cat, a little boy and a little girl. And a printed legend over the whole thing that said: “A House Is Not A Home Without Jesus.”

I asked them if they had any children and they said, yes, they did, indeed, have a boy and a girl. Their names were Sammy and Shelby. Melissa said she was going to cross-stitch their names under them, but she just hadn’t gotten to it, yet. She had already put “Mother” and “Father” under the mother and father figures. “Oh, I would love to have three or four more kiddoes,” she said, “if I could just get him off the road for a few days.” Her whole body shook with laughter. She looked like she could handle having a few more kiddoes.

The Filibuster

While I stood there talking to Luther and Melissa, another fella walked up with his young son. He introduced himself as Jubal Durfee and his son, Billy. Jubal was about thirty-five. He wore a T-shirt that said, “Christians aren’t perfect, just saved”; his blue baseball cap featured a hand gripping a large pistol with the words, “Keep Back” printed underneath. He looked like he worked out—his arms were big and muscular, he had a bulging neck and his pecs stood out through his T-shirt. Billy looked about fifteen, wore a Nike T-shirt, baggy pants and a baseball cap screwed on backwards.

Jubal asked Luther some questions about knives, then we all somehow got into a discussion about the recent fight in the Senate over the filibuster issue. Of course, Jubal and Luther were pretty upset that certain Republicans had compromised. That’s when Melissa chimed in. “Well,” she said, looking up from her cross-stitch, “far as I’m concerned, John McCain is toast. He’s a traitor to our party, and we just need to kick his sorry butt out, along with all those other moderates.” I noted her smile was gone for the first time. Now, her soft round face was flushed and she was panting a little. You’d have thought the Republicans had come out in favor of abortion instead of merely brokering a compromise in which the filibuster can stay as long as the Democrats don’t use it, and the Republicans will still be able to seat the most zealous right-wing judges since the Salem witch trials.

“Yeah,” said Jubal Durfee. “I’ve just about gotten my fill of these moderates in the party. They’re out to destroy our country.”

Jubal’s voice cracked slightly. For a second, I thought he was going to cry. I couldn’t help but be amused over all this grieving over “moderates.” It seemed only yesterday, it was the “liberals” who were the devil incarnate. Today, it’s the “moderates.” I wondered who it would be tomorrow. But I’ve heard that in some circles nowadays, even G. W. isn’t considered rabid enough anymore.


More to come, including an interview of Mr. Durfee! A real eye opener!

TORTURE: SOME DISASSEMBLY REQUIRED

"What is it, what nameless, inscrutable, unearthly thing is it; what cozening, hidden lord and master, and cruel, remorseless emperor commands me; that against all natural lovings and longings, I so keep pushing, and crowding, and jamming myself all the time; recklessly making me ready to do what in my own proper, natural heart, I durst not so much as dare? Is Ahab, Ahab? Is it I, God, or who, that lifts this arm?"

--Herman Melville, Moby Dick, p. 534-5

A Great Leviathan has appeared periodically in American History.

Herman Melville wrote about this "vast, shadowed bulk still half blending with the blue of the sea",..."floating up from the undiscoverable bottom"..."crooked rows of white, glistening teeth". This was his Moby Dick, the largest of American metaphors. Tangled in the troubled soul of Ahab, the captain of the Pequod, we have the dilemma and the tragedy of men, signed on together as shipmates, who follow a leader whose transgression and vengeful obsession can have but one end.

Civilized customs have been cast aside nowadays, and Melville wouldn't recognize this America. But the White Whale, the Leviathan would be easy to spot. Much of its bulk edges toward the shore of the so-called "central front in the war on terror". In the quagmire of Iraq, there is a much larger transgression and obsession at work. And those fundamentalists in Afghanistan and elsewhere, who had a hand in collapsing the Twin Towers in New York, have less to fear than ordinary Iraqis, killed in the crossfire, blown up by insurgent bombs, or shot at checkpoints by their liberators.

President Bush is waging a real war; but it is a war with dissent. His war is a war against contradiction, against world opinion, against any disruption of authority or frustration of his ambition.

George Bush is not suspected of having a great or troubled soul; he is no Captain Ahab, in that respect. But while the boats are being lowered for the final assault on Moby Dick, an illegal weapon has been discovered in his arsenal. Torture.

"With finger pointed and eye leveled at the Pequod, the beggar-like stranger stood a moment, as if in a troubled reverie; then starting a little, turned and said:--

"Ye've shipped, have ye? Names down on the papers? Well, well, what's signed, is signed; and what's to be, will be; and then again, perhaps it won't be, after all. Any how, it's all fixed and arranged a'ready; and some sailors or other must go with him, I suppose; as well these as any other men, God pity 'em! Morning to ye, shipmates, morning; the ineffable heavens bless ye; I'm sorry I stopped ye."..."Oh! when ye get there, tell 'em I've concluded not to make one of 'em."

"Ah, my dear fellow; you can't fool us that way--you can't fool us. It is the easiest thing in the world for a man to look as if he had a great secret in him."

"Morning to ye, shipmates, morning."

""Morning it is," said I. "Come along, Queequeg; let's leave this crazy man. But stop, tell me your name, will you?"

""Elijah."" (Ibid, pp. 93-4)

The President, George W. Bush, was still standing before the cameras and reporters; he stood as the natural leader for those who pretend not to know about the torture. The President had, as he often has, that strange, comic sense of timing, a trickster's instinct, and his cunning way of presenting himself as an uncomplicated man. He was not there to accept the charges Amnesty International had laid; he was not inclined to express remorse on behalf of his country, or accept accountability for himself or his administration. G.H.W. Bush, the former president, his father, had had a much steadier harpoon hand; but the younger Bush did what he could with the tools of his trade. His best toss was thrown against ex-inmates of the military prison at Guantanamo, Cuba--an entity outside US Territory and beyond the procedural protections of US Law.

The President belittled the men, the victims, he called them enemies of the United States. The former prisoners had never been allowed to appear in a court of law; they were never charged or proven guilty; they were never afforded a presumption of innocence, according to US law. Only mounting international pressure had secured their release.

The President was actually smiling when he said, "[They] disassemble,...that means not tell the truth." Readers should note his comic misuse of the word, disassemble, (to take apart), instead of the correct word, dissemble, (to lie). Some have commented on the perfect, comic beat, or interval, between the word, disassemble, and the President's cockeyed definition. But Amnesty International was not in a joking mood; and for their money some disassembly was required. Their expectation was for the United States to dismantle something alright, to "close Guantanamo and disclose the rest."

How many Americans will ship with a Captain like this? What part of this crowd will sign on to commit torture? Which of those onboard will say, "Torture them--but excuse me while I turn my head?"

Amnesty International's spokesperson, Irene Khan, also spoke to reporters, but not in the same venue as President Bush. The Bangladeshi woman read off the following charges:

• "In 2004,"..."we saw a new and dangerous agenda in the making, rewriting the rules of human rights, discrediting the institutions of international cooperation and usurping the language of justice and freedom to promote policies that create fear and insecurity."
• "The refusal of the US Administration or US Congress to conduct a full and independent investigation of the use of torture and ill treatment by US officials, despite the public outrage over Abu Ghraib and"..."similar practices in Bagram, Guantanamo and other detention centres under US control."
• "The US, UK and some European countries [have attempted] to set aside the absolute prohibition of torture and ill treatment by re-definition and "rendering"--or the transfer of prisoners to regimes that are known to use torture."
• "Under this dangerous agenda, justice is not only denied, it is distorted."
• "The incommunicado detention of unregistered detainees [ghost detainees] --bring back the practice of "disappearances" so popular with Latin American dictators in the past."

""SHIPMATES, have ye shipped in that ship?"..."Have ye shipped in her?" he repeated.

"You mean the ship Pequod, I suppose," said I, trying to gain a little more time for an uninterrupted look at him.

"Aye, the Pequod--that ship there," he said, drawing back his whole arm and then rapidly shoving it straight out from him, with the fixed bayonet of his pointed finger darted full at the object.

"Yes," said I, "we have just signed the articles."

"Anything down there about your souls?" (Ibid, p. 91)

The boats are cutting their way through the water now. And what thoughts are in the minds of this crew? Their backs are straining as they row; but in the privacy of each heart, there is an Ishmael, the lone survivor of Herman Melville's epic.

The ship and the scattered boats have been encircled by the majestic and enraged Moby Dick, the Leviathan; here it emerges again in American History, throwing the transgression and obsession back on its tormenters. And no one else has survived. One is adrift now with no company, except for conscience,--bobbing up and down beside the debris,--riding the blue and green swell of salt water. Any human being is tiny against the tapestry of the sea.

Commands no longer resonate from presidents or captains, neither those issued from great and troubled souls, or superficial and twisted ones.

Was it Elijah's voice?--was it him, "the beggar-like stranger" who sounded a warning?--or was it another voice, an injunction from the Book of Job? Was that voice mingled among shipmates? Did it rise up the gangplank in the beginning?--when they made their mark or signed their names?

"AND I ONLY AM ESCAPED ALONE TO TELL THEE."

GUNS AND JESUS II

More on my visit to the local gun show (See below for Part I.)

Oh, Say, Can You See. . . ?

Did I mention flags? Good Lord, they were everywhere, hanging from every post and two-by-four. Patriotic songs blared from speakers located throughout the hall, everything from God Bless America to The Star Spangled Banner. There were plenty of country patriotic songs, as well, which are currently coming off the assembly line at about the same rate as car flags. Songs like Peace On Earth At Mama's House, and, G.W.'s personal favorite, We Are The U.S.A., which was written for the Rally For America. Readers may recall the RFA was a series of Nuremburg style rallies put on around the country by right-wing radio D.J. Glenn Beck. The rallies drew thousands of flag-wavers, just as they drew them in Hitler's day. Nowadays, it's a real testament to the power of advertising and the NRA that they’ve managed to make owning every kind of gun known to man synonymous with patriotism. I saw several vendors where all they had for sale was flags. Besides Old Glory, one booth had a substantial collection of Nazi memorabilia on hand. The guy running the booth, whose name was Derrick, sported a Nazi officer’s coat over a bright red T-shirt and faded Levis. I asked him what was printed on his T-shirt. With a toothy grin, he opened his coat and flashed the sign: “I (Heart) Halliburton.” A German infantry helmet crowned his head. He carried dozens of helmets, uniforms and medals and he had a glass case full of shoulder patches with storm-trooper insignia—the ones with little zigzag lightning bolts on them. I asked Derrick if he sold very many of those. He laughed and said, “Like hot cakes.” Apparently, it’s a favorite symbol of militia groups. He also had about a hundred Nazi flags lined up for sale right alongside the American ones. I think the irony of it was lost on him, though. Ahhh. . .who knows how far Hitler could have gone if he'd only had the NRA!

Stranger In A Strange Land

Wow, what a place. Just looking at everything and listening to all these people talk was wildly fascinating. In a way, it was as if I’d blundered into a Star Wars convention or a massed gathering of Trekkies. I felt like I’d crashed the gates of some outlandish club, where the members have all agreed to certain rules, done the secret handshake, and signed oaths in blood. They all know each other and speak their own language. For instance, most of them seem to know the language of guns and gun law. But they also have their own political language, in which truth and untruth have somehow become inextricably bound together. One strand is Bush’s lies about WMD’s and another is the tangling up of Al Qaeda and bin Laden with Iraq and Saddam Hussein. There are scores of other strands, such as Medicare reform, Social Security reform, Creationism, and “Let’s get government off our backs.” It’s a peculiar blend of reality and fantasy, of religion combined with the ravings of Fox News and right-wing radio jocks. The net result: legions of people whose heads are literally awash with a kind of latter-day folklore: a veritable stew of lies, superstition, paranoia, and wild imaginings having to do with the “end times,” the “Last Judgment,” and the “raptures.” Wherever I happened on any small group of people bunched together, all I had to do was pause and listen awhile. It was like entering another street in one of those strange lost towns in the Twilight Zone.

GOD, LOVE THOSE PRESS BRIEFINGS!

I'm sorry, folks, but I just have to run this and help spread it around a little. Like manure, you know what I mean? Dang, if it don't sound like a long lost piece of script from a Marx Brothers movie:


McClellan Spars With Press, Says No Need to Notify Bush

By Greg Mitchell

Published: May 12, 2005 5:25 PM ET


NEW YORK On the day after more than 30,000 people -- including the vice president, the first lady, and a former first lady -- were evacuated from their offices or homes in Washington, D.C., but the president, who was biking in Maryland was not notified until the threat passed, reporters grilled Press Secretary Scott McClellan at his daily briefing.

Q: Scott, yesterday the White House was on red alert, was evacuated. The first lady and Nancy Reagan were taken to a secure location. The Vice President was evacuated from the grounds. The Capitol building was evacuated. The continuity of government plan was initiated. And yet the president wasn't told of yesterday's events until after he finished his bike ride, about 36 minutes after the all-clear had been sent. Is he satisfied with the fact that he wasn't notified about this?

McCLELLAN: Yes. I think you just brought up a very good point -- the protocols that were in place after Sept. 11 were followed. The president was never considered to be in danger because he was at an off-site location. The president has a tremendous amount of trust in his Secret Service detail. . . .

Q: The fact that the president wasn't in danger is one aspect of this. But he's also the commander in chief. There was a military operation underway. Other people were in contact with the White House. Shouldn't the commander in chief have been notified of what was going on?

McCLELLAN: John, the protocols that we put in place after Sept. 11 were being followed. They did not require presidential authority for this situation. I think you have to look at each situation and the circumstances surrounding the situation. And that's what officials here at the White House were doing. . . .

Q: Even on a personal level, did nobody here at the White House think that calling the president to say, by the way, your wife has been evacuated from the White House, we just want to let you know everything is OK?

McCLELLAN: Actually, all the protocols were followed and people were -- officials that you point out were taken to secure locations or evacuated, in some cases. I think, again, you have to look at the circumstances surrounding the situation, and it depends on the situation and the circumstance. . . .

Q: Nobody thought to say, by the way, this is going on, but it's all under control?

McCLELLAN: And I think it depends on each situation and the circumstances surrounding the situation when you're making those decisions.

Q: Isn't there a bit of an appearance problem, notwithstanding the president's safety was not in question, protocols were followed, that today, looking at it, he was enjoying a bike ride, and that recreation time was not considered expendable to inform him of this.

McCLELLAN: Well, I mean, John mentioned 36 minutes after the all-clear. Remember, this was a matter of minutes when all this was happening. . . .

Q: But has the President even indicated that even if everything was followed that he would prefer to be notified, that if the choice is: tell the commander in chief or let him continue to exercise, that he would prefer to be informed?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, it depends on the situation and the circumstances. And you have to take all that into account, and I think that's what people were doing here at the White House, as well as those people that were with the president.

Q: I think there's a disconnect here because, I mean, yesterday you had more than 30,000 people who were evacuated, you had millions of people who were watching this on television, and there was a sense at some point -- it was a short window, a 15-minute window, but there was a sense of confusion among some on the streets. There was a sense of fear. And people are wondering was this not a moment for the president to exercise some leadership, some guidance during that period of time?

MR. McCLELLAN: The president did lead, and the president did that after September the 11th when we put the protocols in place to make sure that situations like this were addressed before it was too late. And that was the case -- that was the case in this situation. . . .

Q: I have one more question. When we walked out of this door yesterday, when those of us who heard that there was a situation, when we walked out of the door, we heard aircraft, jets overhead. There is a concern that that plane came closer to the White House than the White House said, more -- it came within the three-mile radius, it was closer than you --

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I said that it came within three miles.

Q: OK, but you said three miles. How close --

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, it came within three miles.

Q: How close was it? Because someone has taken a picture of a plane being escorted on K street. How close was the plane?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I mean, if the Department of Homeland Security or FAA has any additional information, I'm sure --

Q: Scott, how close was it?

McCLELLAN: April, it was within --

Q: You know how close it was. Please tell us.

McCLELLAN: Yes, within three miles. I don't know beyond that. Go ahead.

Q: Might there be something wrong with protocols that render the president unnecessary when the alarm is going off at his house?

McCLELLAN: That's not at all what occurred, Ken. And I would disagree strongly with the way you characterize it for the reasons I started earlier, and that I talked about. This was a situation where the president was in an off-site location. He was not in danger, a situation where protocols have been put in place to address the situation. The protocols were followed. . . .

Q: And those protocols are OK with the president despite the fact that his wife was in a situation where she might have been endangered?

McCLELLAN: She was taken to a secure location, as were some other officials.

Q: And wouldn't he want to know about that as it was happening?

McCLELLAN: He was briefed about the situation.

Q: After it happened.

McCLELLAN: He was briefed about the situation, Ken. And I think that he wants to make sure that the protocols that are in place are followed. The protocols that were in place were followed.

Q: Scott, to follow on the same line of questioning, if there is a possibility that a plane may have to be shot down over Washington, doesn't the President want to be involved in that type of decision?

McCLELLAN: Well, Keith, I think again, it depends on the circumstances in the situation. You have to look at each individual situation and the circumstances surrounding that situation. There are protocols --

Q: Doesn't the President want to be involved in what could be a decision to shoot down a plane over Washington?

McCLELLAN: To answer your question, I was just getting ready to address exactly what you're bringing up. The protocols that were put in place after Sept. 11 include protocols for that, as well. And there are protocols there. They're classified. But they do not require presidential authority. . . .

Q: They don't require presidential authority, but they don't obviate the need for presidential authority, do they? They don't say the president cannot be involved --

McCLELLAN: Like I said, that depends on --

Q: -- wouldn't he want to be involved --

McCLELLAN: It depends on the circumstances and it depends on the situation.

Q: And wasn't there a possibility that a plane headed for the White House, that this was the leading edge of some broader attack, isn't the president concerned that maybe he should have been alerted to the fact that this could have been the beginning of a general attack?

McCLELLAN: That was not the case, and I think the Department of Defense yesterday indicated that they didn't sense any hostile intent on the part of the plane, so again --

Q: How did they know -- how did they know this plane wasn't laden with WMD or some other type of weapons like that? Did they get reassurances from the pilot? Or how did they know that?

McCLELLAN: Well, again, if you want to give me a chance to respond, I'll be glad to. The protocols were followed. This situation, as you're well aware, turned out to be an accident. The Department of Defense pointed out yesterday that they didn't sense any hostile intent on the part of the plane. There were fighter jets scrambled. There was a Blackhawk helicopter scrambled, as well, to get in contact with the plane. . . .

Q: So if it was assessed that there was no hostile intent on the part of this aircraft, can you tell us why 30,000 people -- 35,000 people were told to run for their lives?

McCLELLAN: Because of the protocols that are in place, John. We want to make sure that the people in the area of the threat are protected. After --

Q: But what was the threat? You just said there was no threat.

McCLELLAN: John, after Sept. 11, we have to take into account the world that we live in. We live in a very different world than we did before Sept. 11. And the president is going to do everything in his power to make sure we are protecting the American people and to make sure that the people in areas that could be high-risk areas are protected, as well.

Q: Right, but there seems to be so many disconnects here. You've got a plane that was assessed as not being a threat, you've got 35,000 people evacuated, you've got a person who you claim is a hands-on commander in chief who is left to go ride his bicycle through the rural wildlands of Maryland while his wife is in some secure location somewhere, it's just not adding up.

McCLELLAN: Well, John, I disagree, and let me tell you why: You have highly skilled professionals who are involved in situations like this, in a variety of different fronts, from our Homeland Security officials to our National Security Council officials to our Secret Service officials and to others and to local officials, and they work very closely together. The protocols that were put in place were followed, and I think they were followed well.

Greg Mitchell (letters@editorandpublisher.com) is editor of E&P.

GUNS AND JESUS

The gun show hit town last weekend, so I thought I’d check it out, since I’ve never seen one. What the hell. Might as well see what this bruhaha is all about. The show was held in our downtown convention center in one of its colossal showrooms, where they sponsor all the big events, like boat shows, trailer home shows, Hummer shows and Benny Hinn shows.

Boy, that place was packed! Like one of those megachurches. Thousands of people flooded every aisle and the aisles were three football fields long. We’re talking hundreds of booths and sellers from all over the country bringing in every kind of pistol and rifle and shotgun imaginable. And assault weapons, too—you bet! The only place you could find more fire-power was in downtown Fallujah.

A Jolt To The Senses

The first half-hour, I wandered around in a daze, the same sort of shocked state of mind I’ve experienced walking into a casino in the middle of the night. Everything was lit up with spotlights and colored lights, there were guns aplenty, and lots of folks buying them, not just one or two, but sometimes three, four, or even more, guns at a time. I saw guys walking around with a pistol on each hip and a different rifle in each hand. It wasn’t just men buying the guns, either; lots of women buying them, too. I saw an old gal sitting in the café area, sipping a cup of coffee. Two Winchester pump shotguns lay on the table in front of her. This wasn’t some defenseless little Southern belle, but a big stout broad wearing a cowboy hat and steer-hide boots. The belt on her starched Wranglers featured a buckle the size of a pie plate. She looked like she could hold her own in a fist-fight with just about any man you could throw at her.

Age didn’t seem to matter, either. I saw quite a few white-haired gramps and grannies strolling around with guns slung over their shoulders. One little old lady smiled politely and winked at me as she walked by. Then, I noticed she was practically dragging the floor with an extra long-barreled .357 magnum pistol, the kind used by Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry movies (“Go ahead—make my day.”) I couldn’t imagine what would happen if she actually had to aim that thing at someone and pull the trigger. But I don’t think anybody wanted to find out.

The Sporting Look

There were even booths that didn’t sell guns at all, but only accessories for guns, like holsters for pistols and zipper bags for rifles and assault weapons, and ammunition vests and butt packs and SWAT uniforms and costumes for militia groups, such as the ones that like to hunt wetbacks along the Texas border in their spare time.

Yeah, as much as the guns, themselves, clothing has become a big deal, a huge money-maker. Because if you’re going to outfit yourself with an AK-47, you don’t want to be walking around in a powder blue leisure suit or even a pair of Levis, an Isod shirt and yuppie deck shoes. No, sir, it’s all about image. You want to feel as if you’re in a movie by Jerry Bruckheimer. You want to look like a genuine urban assault commando or a soldier of fortune or just a good ol’ boy/weekend warrior protecting the homeland against invading foreign hordes. So, after purchasing your 32-round AP 9 assault pistol or your Colt AR-15 rifle, then you simply must stop off at the outfitters, and get yourself a brand new pair of neoprene-soled combat boots, with matching black or camouflage nylon pants. (If you’re a fan of the hit TV show, Cops, then you know the look I’m talking about.) Those pants come with deep leg pockets--good for carrying extra handfuls of shotgun shells—and you got your sheath-knife strapped to your leg, and the pants leg draws up tight at the ankle for that cool storm-trooper look; you can get your para-military style shirt and your fancy vest with all the little nooks and crannies and hook rings and secret zipper compartments for your hideaway bullets and your backup glock in case you get in a tight-spot with a bunch of sunburned dehydrated Mexicans.

More on this later. Stay tuned, including an exclusive interview with a gun nut.

SENATE DEMOCRATS PARK THE FILIBUSTER AND HAND OVER THE KEYS

"To sin by silence when they should protest, makes cowards of men."--Abraham Lincoln

Senator Byrd said after the deal was consummated that "We have saved the Republic". And leading Senate Democrats were ecstatic about a victory which had, furthermore, infuriated those on the fundamentalist Right. But this was a hollow victory. Democratic Senators had loudly sworn to defend their constituents, especially injured consumers, and potential victims of discrimination, and the rest of us, whose interest rests with due process of law and the Constitution's Separation of Powers. These Democratic Senators had made a principled stand on the preservation of the filibuster. Rather than simply strike a pose, Senator Reid announced, weeks in advance, that Democrats would preserve their right to filibuster, against what a Republican had dubbed, "the nuclear option", a parliamentary option, with which the Republicans might revoke the tradition of the Senate that protects minority interests.

The filibuster is a "check and balance". It was deliberately engineered to be non-majoritarian, in order to induce compromise between the majority and minority factions in the Senate. Blocking certain of the President's nominees to the court, was the issue around which the Republicans threatened to demolish this tradition.

It was to protect us from the confirmation of extremist judges, that the Senate Democrats entered the fray, and announced their intention to defend the filibuster as a necessary instrument, which necessarily includes access to the filibuster. But they are happy now that the Republicans have not officially abolished it.

But the record of political success that we attach to this, and other acts of appeasement, is indeed very poor. Democratic leaders promised to fight tooth-and-nail for us, and once again there was capitulation, and this time, they added the irony of a victory walk. And we, the constituents and rank-and-file, are supposed to celebrate with them, and sing the salvation of the Republic. We are encouraged to sing, after they have made the filibuster virtually unusable by their touted "compromise", and have left the gates wide open to judicial nominees like Owen, Brown, and Pryor.

Unlike those on the Religious Right, Democrats who oppose this deal do not hate the moderates who brokered it. Unlike the Right, they don't slander either the moderates or moderation. But there is disappointment, sadness, and the feeling that this compromise is hollow. The criteria to be met, for a Democratic filibuster, is "extraordinary circumstances"; but in the aftermath, we can't be sure that Leader Frist won't trot out the "nuclear option" the moment that Democrats object to a Supreme Court nominee, or any other nominee for the federal court.

To add to the grandeur of the joke, President Bush was admonished to consult with the Senate, in the future, over prospective nominees. Being advised, obviously rankles this president.

But all of this is appeasement, for which we must pay. As long as Senate Democrats keep their hands off the filibuster, they can boast that they have preserved it. It's not your grandfather's car. Park it, and hand over the keys.

copeland morris ABOUT WISTERIA

The loss comes twice.
I close off the room and lock it.
Winter is hanging on till April, the invisible
Reinventing time, approaching the blossoms
Of wisteria blown down, touching the hourglass.
Darkness subsides. Surrounded by play, children
Notice this peace, lingering upon the branch.
They bid me look before I turn my head.

BUSH TO UNZIP "RODS FROM GOD" SPACE WEAPON

At the end of the film, Dr. Strangelove, after the "Doomsday Machine" has gone off, and the destruction of living things on the earth's surface is guaranteed; it falls to Herr Doktor Strangelove to explain how a few of the world's more perfect specimens might lustily carry on humanity's procreative duty in a few of our deepest mineshafts. The wheels that turn in the military mind are immediately set to the proximate danger of a "mineshaft gap". Competitors and adversaries must not get the jump on us. The President and his generals nervously nod their heads in agreement.

Reporter Julian Borger of the Guardian breaks a story in the parallel universe of Bushtopia that is every bit as weird and ominous: a switch in official strategy that follows the latent desire of the US Air Force to put offensive weapons in earth orbit.

"The new push to develop space weapons comes as the earth-based missile defence system , intended to hit an incoming missile with another missile and which was heavily promoted by the Bush administration, has been set back by technical problems and failed tests. The air force's intentions were spelt out last September by General Lance Lord, head of its space command, who said satellites had given US military power a decisive advantage with their spying, communications and targeting capacities. That advantage had to be maintained by space superiority".

"The "Rods from God" scheme would aim tungsten, titanium or uranium cylinders at targets on the ground from a position in low earth orbit. By the time they hit the earth they would be traveling at around 7,500mph, with the impact of a small nuclear warhead."

Here is an omnipotence that no other modern industrial power is likely to conceed to the United States. And Borger rightly points out that this will set off an arms race, that would place the moving shadow of "deathstars" above our world.

If America weaponizes space, it is certain that countermeasures will be aimed at its own satellites, by others.

As Dr.Werner Von Braun, the NASA celebrity and Hitler's former rocket specialist, lay dying from cancer in the mid-1970s, he asked Dr. Carol Rosin to come to Fairchild (an aerospace industry) and "be responsible for keeping weapons out of space".Von Braun was convinced that there was a move afoot, a long-term strategy in military industrial circles, that would scare the public and decision-makers into building a space-based weapons system. And according to Dr, Von Braun, these planners were committed to using a string of bogeymen that would be held up to the public: the threat of communists, terrorists, rogue nations, ETs--anything to justify the space weapon initiative,

But as Dr, Von Braun stressed, again and again, "the effort to put weapons in space was not only based on a lie but would accelerate past the point of people even understanding it until it was already up there and too late". (Rosin)

It is into the web of fantastic and omnipotent schemes that the Bush Gang has drawn us. And what a psychological universe of paranoia and abusive power it is! It is every bit as unbalanced as the fictional parallel found in novelist Terry Southern's Dr. Strangelove, with its "love of the Bomb" and "Doomsday Machine".

What faces the world now is the taboo-smashing dementia of the Wolfowitz Doctrine; which is only the newest model of a proven psychosis. Under its presumptive weight, the United States will do whatever it takes to prevent the rise of a rival superpower; but it will eventually stoop to the destruction of regional powers, by means of terror weapons of its own. State terror, raised to these stakes, demurs when it comes to the normally understood concept of "victory" and maintains its pre-eminence by employing a revolutionary chaos that undermines other nations.

Edmund Burke, who spoke for England when it stood at the threshold of its supremacy, said this:

"I dread our own power and our own ambition. I dread being too much dreaded."

But George W. Bush and his Pentagon Clique will settle for nothing less than to be dreaded too much.

HERSH SAYS PRESIDENT BUSH IS UNREACHABLE

`
Veteran journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner, Seymour Hersh


Go and read Amy Goldman's interview with Seymour Hersh at Democracy Now!.

Here is a sample, an exerpt:

"We have always had spinning of the press. And, as Bob mentioned earlier, that's all part of the game. We have had the horrible tragedy of the Pentagon Papers, which showed that the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, particularly Kennedy, and Johnson, too -- I can't differentiate that much between them -- lied and lied and lied and got away with it. You have to understand it's not that hard inside the government to tell a lie. So, this is an administration that has brought that art, the art of lying not only to the world, not only to foreign reporters, but lying to the American press, systematic misrepresenting and lying, they brought it to a new art form."

"For example, after the elections -- yeah, they were interesting elections because if anybody -- not to get into and dwell too much on it, but what did we vote for? Anybody in Iraq, they were voting not for an assemblyman or a legislator, they were voting sectarianism, sectarian lines. They were voting a religious track. It was an election solely based on religion, ethnicity. That was the issue. And it was the strangest election. You know, you don't need me to tell you, what plays out today shows that the election doesn't work."

"[I]n the paper today, it's the lead story in the Times, 100 rebels killed in western Iraq. We're back in the body count, by the way. Sometimes we call them "insurgents" or "rebels," that's a great word because -- I'm wacko on this word "insurgency." Just so you know, an "insurgency" means, suggests you've won the war and there are people who disagree. They're rebels or they're insurgents, as I said. No. We're still fighting the war we started, folks. We started a war largely against Sunnis and Ba'athists, in many cases tribal groups that supported Saddam or were at least frightened enough to support him. We started a war against the people we're still fighting. They gave us Baghdad very quickly. They retreated."

"They simply are not fighting the war in the way and the manner we want them to, that our press, you know, wants to tell you they did, that the government wants to tell the press, wants to suggest that we won and that an insurgency broke out again. We're fighting a resistance movement. The irony is it's a resistance movement that probably -- and has been for years, more than a year -- trying to find ways to talk to us, that just like, you know, the way we deal with most of the -- this administration deals with the Iranians or the Syrians or the North Koreans. And the resistance, you don't talk to them. It's an amazing -- This is a government that absolutely says, we won't talk to anybody we disagree with and gets away with it on a daily level, consistently, no criticism, no suggestion, no pressure to have bilateral talks with people in any case."

"I know, since I did Abu Ghraib, lots of emails from lots of kids involved. It's complicated because what happens is we're going along -- the way the war is, it's sort of this dreary pattern. We're going along, our troops, and they're going down roads. It's really sort of astonishingly stupid. We patrol, which is stupid to begin with. What good does that do? They go down roads, certain fixed roads, certain times, certain places, usually in groups of three, four, five Humvees, Bradley tanks, Strikers, other heavy vehicles. One gets blown up. The Americans start screaming in pain. The other vehicles stop, run out. The soldiers are jammed into the back. You've seen some tapes or TV stuff about how they do it. They come running out and they shoot at anything that runs. And that's the war."

"There is good reporting. It's not just me. The Washington Post has done good stuff. Knight-Ridder newspapers has done good stuff, Amy Goodman's show, Naomi Klein have done a lot of brilliant stuff about the war. It's not as if there's any monopoly on critical reporting about the war. Even in The New York Times had a marvelous story a month ago about a group of Marines that came back disillusioned with the lack of equipment, the stupidity of their mission. It was an amazing story. It went down, it just went down. No stories seem to have bounce anymore, in part because, I guess, because of the networks and their cowardness, which is, you know, duh. You know, I'm tired of worrying about the networks. They just are what they are."

"[T]his Bush, absolutely believes in what he's doing. He's not like a nervous Richard Nixon, worried about, you know, "They're coming after me," or Lyndon Johnson quitting over Vietnam with great uncertainty about whether he is doing the right thing. This guy is absolutely convinced. This guy for -- I don't know -- I don't know what's in his mind. I don't know whether he -- God talks to him or whether he's undoing what the mistakes his father made, but he is convinced that he has got to bring democracy to Iraq, and then change -- they altered the plan a little bit. No, I don't think they're so big anymore into democracy in Syria or Iran, they just want to get regime change. I think moving Wolfowitz out was a sign of sort of diminished ambitions. And it's good. I'm happy. I'm one of those people that said, "Yes, World Bank, yes." Then you can just, you know, starve people, change societies, change economic structures, force everybody from any socialist program to private enterprise, but he's not killing people, and that is a plus."

"So, [Bush] can't be reached by us. Not just me. I mean, they can ignore me, but the networks, any time there's a good story, not a blip. And what does that mean? That means, you know, the body bags aren't going to stop him. This is a guy who is convinced for whatever reason that even 1,000 or another -- you know, the body count goes on. It just goes on. Of course, nobody counts the Iraqis. I love the stories -- every time you talk about Vietnam, it's always -- the Vietnam war is summarized this way, "58,000 American killed and anywhere between 2 and 3 million Vietnamese." There is a distinction between 2 and 3 million, but that's okay. I used to joke all the time -- racism in America, you know, is so endemic and so hard to see, but I was always -- I used to joke that I was very proud of Bill Clinton because he was the first president in Kosovo, the former Yugoslavia, since World War II to actually bomb white people."

"I have a friend who is a major player who went to Iraq recently. There's been a series, unreported, a series of missions in Iraq that have all been there to study the war -- where are we? -- and they've all come back pretty negatively. This guy came back and he saw the President months ago. And he said, "Mr. President, we're losing the war in Iraq." And there was a sort of a three-second beat and Bush said, "You mean we're not winning"."

SAM SHEPARD ON THE AMERICAN DREAM

Nobody has actually ever succinctly defined "the myth of the American Dream." What is the American Dream? Is it what Thomas Jefferson proposed? Was that the American Dream? Was it what George Washington proposed? Was it what Lincoln proposed? Was it what Martin Luther King proposed? I don't know what the American Dream is. I do know that it doesn't work. Not only doesn't it work, the myth of the American Dream has created extraordinary havoc, and it's going to be our demise. I mean if you want to--and I'm not an historian--but it's very interesting to trace back this European imperialism, this notion that not only were we given this land by God, somehow, but that we're also entitled to do whatever we wanted to with it, regardless of the consequences, and reap all of the fortunes out of the land, much to the detriment of everybody "below" this rampant, puritanical class of European colonialism. If you read in the journals of Lewis and Clark, it's just amazing how these guys approached the Plains Indians, particularly the Sioux, who were not very welcoming to them, as opposed to some of the other tribes to the North who got along with them better. But the Sioux couldn't care less about these jokers. They'd mess with them, they'd fool with them, they shot arrows at 'em, and Lewis and Clark hated the idea of going back through Lakota country because they knew they'd get the shit kicked out of them by these "crazy" people who they considered many notches below the European standard. Now if that's the American Dream, then we were in trouble from the get go; if that's the way the myth of the American Dream was established, we were in deep shit. Granted, Lewis and Clark and these other guys were somewhat heroic, they were vigorous, they had all this vitality and they had all of this adventure of going into strange territory and all of that stuff, but behind the whole thing is land-hungry Europeans wanting to dominate. That's behind the whole deal. So, again, there are so many definitions of the myth of the American Dream. I mean, now you could actually say the American Dream is the computer. It's presented like that: the computer is the American Dream, the computer is the Answer. The Internet is the Answer. OK? Where does that leave you? I think we've always fallen victim to advertising from the get go. From advertising campaigns. The move westward was promoted by advertising. You know, "Come West!" "Free land!" "Manifest Destiny." So we've always been seduced by advertising, and now we're even more seduced by the computer and the Internet. We've fallen into that thing, you know. So the American Dream is always this fantasy that's promoted through advertising. We always prefer the fantasy over the reality.