Sunday, June 30, 2013
Friday, June 28, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
Monday, June 10, 2013
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Editorial for Issue #25 of The American Dissident
Democracy? We No Have No Democracy!
Twenty-five issues of The American Dissident have been
published over the past 15 years! So,
where the hell are the trumpets, laurels, and flamin’ kudos? Not a damn sound to be heard. Well, obviously that’s not why I’m publishing
The AD. I enjoy putting together each issue and of
course get to include a lot of my own stuff.
And often there’s too damn much of that in a given issue… and that’s
because poets, writers, and artists generally just ain’t interested in sending
their stuff to a mag like The AD. As for cost, well, I have to foot about half
the bill for each issue. Subscribers, to
whom I’m ever grateful, pay for the other half.
Libraries have been next to impossible to attract. When Dan Sklar was
inviting me and ordering 20 copies for his students that put me over the breakeven
point. So Sklar was a boon while it
lasted, and I was quite thankful. And of
course I enjoyed speaking to his students.
Each issue costs about $450.
Anyhow, let the trombones blow and the jelly rolls fly! The grim reaper is looking at me… and I’m
looking at him… especially when I’m NOT slugging down the merlot… picrate… gros rouge.
What viscerally outrages me is
everyone being so easily offended. The Bill of Rights does not guarantee
citizens from being OFFENDED. And it’s amazing how many citizens
don’t give a damn about issues of freedom of speech. “Note the general reaction to the vast
majority of Wikileaks cables, which are of the lowest classification,” wrote
Diana West. “There was and is a
widespread sense that We, the People, shouldn't be allowed to see this
evidence of instances of lying, ineptitude and concession by our public
servants. A free people, I submit, would instead feel outrage.” Well, I feel outrage!
Many, perhaps even most in
today’s Nanny Nation, would like to replace the First Amendment with
hate-speech and anti-blasphemy legislation and thus follow the dubious example
of Europe and Canada, where a citizen can actually be tried and found guilty
for speaking or writing a fact, as in
the Qur’an calls for the death of all apostates. The offended group simply has to complain to
authorities.
Another thing that viscerally outrages me is
the fine art of demonizing ones opponents, which can be especially effective in
keeping ones partisans uninformed as to the corruption in the party. I’m a liberal; anything a conservative says
is horseshit! Or I’m a conservative; anything
a liberal says is bullshit. Just listen,
read, or watch us and we’ll tell you what to believe and what not to believe. And if you want to know what happened
regarding Benghazi and that infamous video, since the machine is now a liberal
one, the liberal media will explain that nothing at all really happened. It was just politicized. What a crock!
Do they think we’re all stupid?
Perhaps…
Whenever I bump into an Obama or Hillary worshipper,
I’m left dumbfounded. I sensed Obama was
a charismatic liar from day one. Bush,
well, he was a liar too, but not so charismatic. Why are so many Americans unable to sense the
obvious? How can they be so easily taken in by fake
smiles, crocodile tears, and charisma?
How can democracy possibly survive when the citizenry is so easily
duped? Likely, it cannot and will
not.
On another note, it is not always easy to tap into baggage once one
obtains it. Most seek to get rid of
it. But I choose to create from it. The front cover of this issue resulted from
one of my recent pieces of baggage, that is, Sturgis Library’s permanent
trespass order against me for mere written criticism, and my inability to
obtain any justice at all. The front cover depicts real community
pillars indifferent to that authoritarian denial of freedom of speech and
expression. For the record, the two
seated pillars are Karen Wulf (PEN New
England) and Carol Rose (ACLU of Massachusetts), both of whom would not respond. Standing and clapping outside the ribbon on
the right is Cape Cod Times Editor
Paul Pronovost, who refused to print the story.
Inside the yellow ribbon from left to right are Betsy Newell (lawyer and
library trustee), Ellie Claus (realtor and former president of the library
trustees), Anita Walker (Massachusetts Cultural Council), Lucy Loomis (library
director), Daniel Santos (trustee), Ted Lowrie (president of the library
trustees), Thomas K. Lynch (town manager), and State Senator Daniel A. Wolf. Many others of course could have been
added. Perhaps it would be difficult to
find a community pillar who wasn’t apathetic.
After all, free speech exists so that citizens can question and
challenge the pillars.
Vive Pussy Riot (Russian)
and Femen (Ukrainien)! How I admire
those feisty women fighting for freedom of speech. They are the direct opposites of community
pillars. German Chancellor Merkel is
fighting for the freedom of the Pussy Riot members serving sentences in a gulag. But why aren’t our female leaders fighting
for them too? What the hell is the most
admired woman in America, Hillary Clinton, doing? Lying and denying and spinning, beggaring up
the ladder of power! What else? And what about Michelle Obama with her
$10,000 inaugural dress. Well, what else
is new, right?
