Lost in all the recent weeks of election coverage was another tragedy in Afghanistan involving the bombing of civilians.
An Afghan government commission has said 90 civilians, including 60 children and 15 women, died in Aug. 22 U.S. bombings, a finding that the U.N. backed in its own initial report.
But a U.S. investigation released soon afterward said only up to seven civilians and 35 militants were killed in the operation in the western province of Herat.
Later they conceded it was much high of a death toll. Give me a break.
They call it collateral damage...military and political speak for dead civilians caught in the crossfire..I despise that term since it doesn't accurately describe the real devastating loss of war...
I was reminded that I wrote a poem about the ridiculous notion of collateral damage in reference to the Kosovo bombings in the late 1990s.....
Seems very timely now..
GP
*** STRAY MISSILES
When missiles go astray and innocent lives happen to get in the way, they call it an accident, an unfortunate circumstance of war, collateral damage, a necessary risk.
What is accidental about: torn limbs? bodies mangled and twisted beyond recognition? shell shocked eyes staring silent? hollow faces? lifeless fingers clinging to fading life? bombed out homes? shattered hopes? fractured lives? dreams blown apart?
It's then you realize ideals, ideas, words, apologies are not enough to mend the hearts and minds of those caught in the crossfire, their futures exploded and strewn across the cold ground like bomb fragments, giving new meaning to the word accidental.
Tonight at the GOP Convention I heard more of the same fear, ignorance and lies that have divided this country for the past eight years.
Everyone was impressed with VP candidate Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. However, if you listened closely all you heard was the same fear and hate mongering that has come to represent the Bush Years. Her speech was rife with bile and lies.
Palin couldn't get own record right let alone Barack Obama's. She supported Senator Ted Stevens' "Bridge to Nowhere" before being so called against it. Isn't that what got John Kerry in trouble in 2004 (not to mention Hilary Clinton during the primary campaign) -- his being for the Iraq War before being against it.
Palin characterized Obama's economic plan as intending to raise taxes and expand government. This from the same party that has run our debt to record deficits and decimated our economy, particularly the prospects of the middle class these Republicans profess to care about. What a joke. All their tax cuts favored the rich. It doesn't take an inexperienced governor from Alaska to figure that out. According to some recent reports, Palin also raised taxes as governor in Alaska and left a debt as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.
Worst thing about her speech? She offered no new solutions and wrapped her and her party in the flag with such sanctimonous fervor...that it was scary....like a Dick Cheney speech.
In fact, Palin never mentioned Bush at all as if we had forgotten the damage he and his cronies had done these past years.
Can we afford another four years of ignorance, stubborness, and malice exhibited by these fools that currently occupy the White House as our guests. They treat us as unworthy, blind idiots who don't know any better. They even treat the the other branches of our government with such contempt.
And now the ticket of McCain and Palin want to give us four more years of the same....Will we ever learn as the GOP keeps rolling out their greatest hits of fear and loathing?
I hope so ....here is a poem about the lowlights...of the Bush Years....that won't go away
GP
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YOUR GREATEST HITS OF FEAR AND LOATHING
Is there something you're hiding behind your perfect smile? As your facade crumbles so does our self respect.
You're not a comedian but you are laughable all the same. No one is laughing as you roll out your greatest hits
"9/11 changed us forever." "Freedom from terror." "We fight them there so we won't have to fight them here." "He was a dictator that threatened our security." "We're helping the Iraqis escape tyranny."
In the end, all your excuses and declarations amount to nothing at all except more misery, pain and shame.
You turned freedom into a punch line of a cruel and twisted joke. And the joke is on all of us.
Apparently, President Bush is speaking at the Republican Convention on Tuesday night in St. Paul via satellite. Just what does he have say about his faded legacy?
The GOP is probably not happy as they want to distance themselves from Bush as much as possible. Good luck with that. McCain is nearly a carbon copy of Bush when it comes to his policies
As we slowly but surely come to the close to one of the worst presidential administrations in recent memory (it even rivals Nixon which I thought was by far the worst), Bush and his cronies will still try to spin their legacy -- all to no avail. His idiotic war in Iraq, failed economic policies and misguided response to 9/11 will ultimately be his legacy.
Like McCain, Bush doesn't get it. He works for us not corporate interests and rich contributors.
And just think of all of the lives that could have been saved if we had only talked to and not bombed Saddam. Now, McCain wants to demonize Iran in a similar fashion. Here's hoping he won't be in the White House except as a visiting member of congress.
Thankfully Bush will be gone in January...but his failed legacy won't.
GP
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FADED LEGACY
No one wants to be forgotten even after things turn rotten.
Holding on to that familiar misery becomes second nature. Clapping for yourself and your fading dreams but no one is listening anymore. Don't know what you do it for.
Thought you could turn your little battles into a private war All meaning eludes you All understanding defies you Never realized all the damage you've done
Looking to history that won't record your deeds with the affection you believe. Under siege by your legacy of lies no matter how you try you can hide from your failed schemes.
No one can tell you anything. Stubborn to history's bitter end. You can only break. Never will bend, but some hearts will never mend no matter how much political capital you spend.
Tonight's Democratic presidential nomination acceptance speech in Denver by BarackObama was remarkable. He showed why he is the nominee with a visionary and tough performance about what he will do to turn around this country. He is truly an inspiration.
Three years ago today Hurricane Katrina made landfall near the Louisiana-Mississippi border, and it soon became apparent what happens when the federal government is unprepared or indifferent in time of need.
With the advance of Tropical Storm Gustav across the Caribbean Sea this week - it presents an opportunity to consider how Democrat BarackObama or Republican John McCain would have handled the Katrina disaster. I believe Barack would have been on the ground within hours and would have marshaled the government's resources to save lives. Barack even mentioned the government's tepid response to Katrina in his speech. He wouldn't have made excuses, but instead took the action that was needed. Lame fools wouldn't have been in charge of FEMA either.
I can still vividly remember the embarrassment and rage I felt as I watched the events unfold on my TV screen the horrible suffering in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.
These were fellow Americans, human beings neglected and forgotten, left to wilter away in the hot, humid sun. Many dying or being preyed upon.
And where was the government?...where was FEMA? Those are the questions that haunted a lot of us.
They were nowhere to be found...making excuses...passing the blame...passing the buck...
yeah..."Good job...Brownie"...you saved NO ONE....
New Orleans is still dying a slow death today...a great city and its people neglected...by fools that have turned our heritage and great culture into a cesspool of rage and disappointment...
we're in this thing together...when will we (and the politicians!!) ever get that point...
This city has given us so much...so much great music and great culture...
and yet we can just let it die? we can just turn our backs and ignore it??
I don't think Obama will let that happen....
In the meantime...here's my feelings about this tragedy...in a poem..
GP
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POLITICIANS MAKING EXCUSES
No relief. No one had our backs. No safety net.
Now, we know we're truly on our own.
Listening to politicians making excuses as we fester and burn our homes washed away.
Our lives in ruins. Got no hope.
Our dreams reduced to devastation. Scenes of a third world country in the heart of America.
And still politicians making excuses.
Our hearts in ruins.
Living like animals in the Superdome. No room. No air conditioning in the suffocating heat. No water. No food. No hope.
A sweltering hellish nightmare.
And still politicians are making excuses as our city lies in ruins.
Tomorrow will mark the start of the Democratic National Convention where we soon witness political history as the first African-American candidate, Barack Obama, will secure the Democratic nomination. He has run a superb campaign so far and his recent addition of Senator Joe Biden was another wise move.
Despite the recent polls, Obama has a strong chance of securing the presidency as he's faced with John McCain alias McBush who embraces the failed policies of the current president.
Obama's message has been one of hope and change, but I think it is a lot deeper than that. His speech on race relations a couple months ago was one of the most remarkable speeches I've ever heard a presidential candidate give. It was honest, understanding and open about our country's sorry human rights track record without sounding bitter or entrenched in the past. Still, Obama's candidacy has been met with intense hostility and disrespect by the Clintons. The Republican slime machine has already starting slinging a lot more ugly slime and dirt on Obama and his aspirations.
I can't remember the last time I've been inspired by a political candidate like Obama. But in the end, Obama's message of hope and looking for something beyond business of usual will win out I believe.
Still, it troubles me that someone trying to change our troubled country in a positive manner could met with so much hostility.
I hope his speech on Thursday night starts to change people's minds about Obama and just how important this election is after eight horrible and damaging years of the Bush Administration.
This poem reflects some of disappointment in the politics of hate and my hope that we can get past it. This year marked the 40th anniversary of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination in L.A. He was another candidate trying to change things for the better in a dark time.
Let's hope we learned our lessons from the past.
Watch the convention, think about our future...and vote...
GP
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WORSE THAN APATHY
History weighs us down with despair. Suspicious of hope. Pretending not to care, living by rote.
So many trials and tribulations that lead nowhere.
Half baked solutions with nothing real to share.
You call it politics.
Just another excuse to do nothing at all.
Worse than apathy. It is resignation and an early death.
Is there anything worse than dying inside before you've actually died?
Been thinking a lot about our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan lately and wondering what will happen to them when they finally come home.
Will they be taken care of and appreciated or will they be forgotten and marginalized like the Vietnam veterans were?
The signs are already heartbreaking. Just this week they found mold in another veteran's hospital.
Recently, it was found nearly one in five, or about 300,000, soldiers who has served in Iraq or Afghanistan has post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression -- illnesses that could cost the U.S. as much as $6.2 billion over two years in care, lost productivity and lost lives through suicide, according to a RAND report. This is tragic.
The wounds of war are not always visible and stay with soldiers for the rest of their lives.
One day while driving to work a few years ago, I saw one of our brave veterans at the side of a freeway off ramp homeless and begging for food.
And I wondered what kind of society turns its back on its soldiers that fought for our so called freedom?
That question haunted me and sparked this poem...
GP
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A HOMETOWN REFUGEE
He's lost. A refugee of this country.
Forgotten, dumped and discarded at freeway exits like trash.
His grizzled broken face is expressionless as he holds up a cardboard sign which reads HOMELESS VET NEEDS HELP.
He has a million mile stare, gazing beyond the passing cars, the freeway and concrete into a world only he knows.
It's a place beyond sadness, beyond anger.
His is a soul obliterated beyond recognition.
His tattered clothes hang loosely from his bony frame.
He's waiting, hoping, searching for some sign of charity.
On patrol, he springs into action, deceptively quick, grabbing meager offerings from the drivers waiting at the stoplight.
His reconnaissance continues throughout the day.
There are no cameras documenting his plight as with the refugees in far away lands.
Where's CNN and all the other cable and TV channels?
Here's a refugee in a country he once defended.
A defender of our broken shame even if he no longer has a home to defend.
Just what does the ultimate sacrifice mean to him now?
I originally wrote this post last year to Dave Marsh and Lee Ballinger at Rock and Rap Confidential -- a great, honest and compelling online music publication:
I thought I would also post it on my blog. Seems appropriate.
…..
Recently, I experienced a musical revelation at the end of an excellent recent movie, "Children of Men."
As the movie closes and the credits start to roll, a slide guitar signals the start of a raw song I thought I had never heard before. I recognize John Lennon's voice ringing out ... so timely it stuns me ... "we don't care what flag you're waving ... we don't even want to know your name ... we don't care where you are from or where you are going ... all we know is that you came ... you're making all of our decisions ... we just have one request of you ... free the people right now...."
It is all the rage and heartbreak I've been feeling over our Iraq debacle and so many foolish mistakes this government has made in our name now and in the past. However, at the same time this is a call to stop the killing in Darfur, in the Congo and all over the world.
Later I discovered I had heard the song -- "Bring on the Lucie" -- before in a different version on the album “Mind Games.” Not sure why the song didn't hit me the same before.
But the version on the Children of Men soundtrack is a rehearsal take full of passion and rage that the Mind Games version mutes with slicker production and back up singers.
When he shouts out "so while you're jerking off each other … you better keep this thought in mind … your time has come … you better know it … maybe you can't just read the signs."
It is for me a howl at this administration and all the others that forget they work for us not the corporations and the special interests.
The clincher is the final lines of the song..."well...you were caught with your hands in the kill … but you still got to swallow your pill as you slip and slide down the hill on the blood of the people you killed … stop the killing now!”
How can this song be any more timely? Written more thirty years ago and we are still experiencing the same heartbreaking problems by the descendants of the same people who tried to crush John Lennon and deport him in the early 1970s, but ideas are hard to kill.
I played the end of this DVD over and over to listen to this song … before I got the soundtrack.
Then it hit me -- the movie is about a society that discovers the value of life the hard way by completely losing the ability to reproduce.
While in this current world...people can't call genocide "genocide" even in Darfur where so many have lost their lives and life is cheap.
But it is Lennon's biting lyrics and this raw version's slide guitar that haunted me for weeks as I probably drove my neighbors crazy ... playing this song over and over as it fed my own writing … my own musings about our current situation of paranoia, hatred, death, war and fear.
In fact, I sometimes wonder if the fear has become us in wake of such 9/11 paranoia.
Yet Lennon's shout from the past once again shows me not only his greatness, but how important it is not to cave into to despair and to realize that through voicing our rage, our concerns, there is a first step toward resolution or as I try to always remind myself … in action ... there truly is resolution.
Passion drives me. Life to me is a journey full of discoveries and intriguing journeys. Some good, some bad, but you can learn from everything in the end.
My real passion is writing and exploring life as a
novelist, poet and lyricist.
Please check out my recent novel "Monogamy Sucks." It is kind of an edgy male version of "Sex in the City." It makes some interesting comments about monogamy, relationships, casual sex and world of swinging. I launched the first chapter on this blog on May 1. I will then launch a chapter or two each month toward the goal of eventually bringing out the entire book.
My first novel, "Letters from Cyberspace," detailed a twentysomething Mormon woman's Internet sex journey. It is featured on Amazon.com among other sites.
I have also completed the first draft of my third book which has an interesting celebrity twist to it.
Anyway...suffice to say creativity is a huge part of my life...
