Foxes in the Henhouse

- How the Republicans stole the South and the Heartland and What the Democrats Must do to run 'em out -

Steve Harking and Dave Saunders

a good practical book. We have had Representatives who weren't Representatives and who were bent on pillaging the public purse. And we have been witness of one of the great transfers of public wealth to private bank accounts. We have watched a rich man's son drive the country into a wall. All we have to work with initially are our weak kneed Democrats. We must start somewhere. One of the things they suggest is that there was a time when Democrat meant a positive problem solver. If the party can find itself and its self esteem, then maybe ... . Of course the Republicans have had the same problem with their Representatives as have the Democrats. We have that in common. Maybe we have more things in common. A nuts and bolts book. Well worth reading.

Another Link - A Snave

We can cuss. We can beat on it with a hammer. Or, sometimes, with a scapel maybe, or a screwdriver, or photo, or stick, someone will dissect the pain and provide us a little understanding of the problem or ourselves or both. A thoughtful observer with a sense of humor. If you haven't yet, give Snave a look. heh.

Lobbying & Representation

I have started redoing the laundry room. Painting. New linoleum. Moving water heater, washer, dryer. I continue to work half time. It is why we have representative government. It allows me to get work done in two places at once. Or does it? I could call my representative my lobbyist. I expect him/her to lobby on my behalf. My tax money pays his/her salary. But I don't pay for the election process. My lobbyist must spend a lot of time scrounging around, pandering, begging for money for re-election. It takes time away from what and why I elected them in the first place. Pure lobbyists are on payroll. They don't have to worry about being re-elected. They only have to worry about achieving their agenda. Seems a lobbyist on payroll is a more efficient way to achieve an agenda. There are many, many more lobbyists on payroll than are elected. Lobbyists on payroll are not my lobbyists; they do not represent me or even my section of the nation. Clearly their way of life is attractive to representative, like mine, because so many representatives when they leave office go into different sorts of lobbying. Lobbyists live in capitols like representatives and they therefore are closer to my representatives than I am. Not only that, but they like to visit my representatives. They go to lunch together. Not only that but they offer free services -- like drafts of legislation. And clearly, also, offer job opportunities. The outfits that hire lobbyists also are big donors to representatives wishing re-election. Their donations are bigger than mine. I see where I am placing my representatives in a situation where they clearly have conflicts of interest. I would like to see a situation where politicians begged for my vote and not for someone else's money. They only way that will happen is if the electorate (all of us) also covers the costs of election.

Were You There? Part II

November 12, 2007

The greatest and most glorious democratic movement I have seen this year was by lawyers. Not totally surprising because their profession is law. They were marching in their suits and ties, confronted by police, beaten, arrested and carted off. Marching. They were marching for the rule of law. They were marching against a president who arbitrarily was above the law. It was glorious. It was great. It revived my faith in mankind, democracy, the rule of law. In a second I would have marched with them. However, I was in the United States of America and they were in Pakistan.

More Recommendations

Tonight I have three: Al Gore's book, The Assault on Reason. For the United States it is maybe more important than An Inconvenient Truth. I've read a critique by a guy who said he didn't think much of Gore because he should have said these things when he was in Congress and shouldn't have waited. Frankly, I appreciate the truth and I don't appreciate disparagement. Makes one wonder how many more books are unwritten and says tons about the problems of this nation.

The second is War on the Middle Class by Lou Dobbs. It is good. It is not much different from Gore's book. It does get at why it is so crazy now as opposed to fifty years ago. The critique on Dobb's book was that he was "nativistic," which meant he was born and raised in Idaho and that somehow trumped a college education at Harvard with a degree in economics.

The third is Impeachment of a President, Bill Moyers Journal, broadcast on Public Television 7/13/2007 and since rebroadcast by popular demand. On the show he interviews Bruce Fein, the constitutional scholar who wrote the first article of impeachment against President Clinton and John Nichols, author of The Genius of Impeachment: The Founders' Cure for Royalism. Both strongly recommend impeachment of President Bush for many reasons. Both fault Congress for not initiating the process, suggesting to them that Congress is deficient in knowledge of the Constitution.

Simmering I

October 28, 2007

I need to take a break. I need to let my pot simmer. I have added a bunch of ingredients and they need to cook down, blend. I won’t know what I have or am until then.

I have been politically sleep walking. I want to thank our President, Mr. Bush. He did shake me hard enough to wake me up. It took some doing. The dream I was in was far better than this nightmare.

For most of my political life, presidential contests have offered little or no choice. Congressional choices have been a little better, but not much. These “contests,” filled with sound and color, are much like choosing between two different styles of jeans. I cannot tell if either candidate has a relationship to my interests which I see as the nation’s interests.

I am not sure I see any difference in the race to 2008.

When I look over the long haul, my experience, it dawns on me that the opposing candidates have more in common with each other than they have with me. They represent less of my interests than the interests of others.

I have decided that politicians are those attention getters we all grew up with in grade school classrooms. They will do what is necessary to do what they do. When they get older, this means campaign financing. Dollars replace clapping and cheering. They will be attentive to the loudest clapping, the most dollars. To balance this playing field, their source of campaign funds as with their salary must come from me, John Citizen. That is one very important answer. There is no other way. There will still be work to do. Of late, there has been a lot of talk about how teachers should know what they teach. It is equally reasonable that we ask politicians to know the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and what a democracy is.

I am outmatched. A single citizen. In a nation where corporations have the legal status of citizens. I am not rich. Never will be. In a nation where private dollars fund political contests. Because corporations can off shore their headquarters and flow of money and responsibilities to the United States, equity, fairness, and patriotism mean that I should be able to do that also? I do not think so. Not only that, but I think if corporations want to play they should stay.

I can understand how Captains of Industry, with a thousand or a hundred thousand employees, might see things differently than I do. I can understand how they might inadvertently – in their legislative initiatives, in their employee practices -- overlook the welfare of single citizens. On the other hand, when knowingly and with intent, they introduce legislation giving themselves an unfair advantage, combine with other industrialists for the same purpose, employ legions of lobbyists to catch and hold the ears of my representatives, or engage in practices that divide the citizenry, including physically attacking parts of it in many different ways, then I must be opposed.

To the above must be added some of the very rich and some of the less rich.

I problem is that the public discourse of public issues ended some time ago. Our news is managed. It is well managed and it does not represent my interests nor the interests of most I know.

I know we, the citizens, are losing. It is like a war, a war on many fronts, and yet not all of the opposition know they are fighting. Some don’t know they are being fought. Few know they are losing. Few want to say “War.” The issue needs reframing. What if a small powerful part of society decided to declare war on the rest of society? What if the rest of society did not know it? Who is the enemy? How would the battle be fought. Who is winning? Losing? Who are the combatants?

They are winning and taking no loss, and since they are winning and taking no loss, there is no hurry.

Who are we and who are they? And why should I care either way?

When the Captains of Industry (I think they would prefer Generals) increase their salaries by factors of ten and their employees’ wages are stagnant, is this simple greed or is it greed plus a desire to distance themselves from their employees? Or is it distance from their employees-as-a-class. What about gated communities? When President Bush feels free to lie to Congress and the American people to justify a war is he telling Congress and you and I where to go? When he pardons an office staff member who was in instrument in illegally revealing the covert identity of a CIA officer, endangering her and her contacts, what does this say about how he sees the expendability of his staff versus us workaday blokes? When he calls the rich his “base,” does that identify his class as he sees it? When he tries to bring oil contracts to his friends by sending an ill-equipped army to Iraq – forgetting that he already had another war going that was unfinished – what does that say about who he sees as his class and how they are treated and who he sees as peons? And what of the tax breaks for his friends? Does he care for the workaday folks? No, it is war on the cheap. Inadequate body armor, inadequate medical care, inadequate armored vehicles – All Katrina Moments. On the other hand, his friends at Halliburton had no-bid contracts, felt free to lie on their justifications for payment, have sought immunity from investigation, and they deliver gasoline with water in it and deliver water no soldier should drink. It is this matter of who obviously is cared about and who is not. A man who lives in this kind of world and who is so arrogant is very dangerous. He could consider a coup. He could consider introducing a viral infection to the general American populace. He could consider staging an attack on American. He bounds are quite narrow, reflecting his class, and I and the majority of Americans are not members.

It is interesting that most members of Congress also are not members. Yet they do not appear to be threatened. Do you suppose they are still asleep?

Jim Hightower and Molly Ivins

I have added a link to hightowerlowdown.org. Both Jim and Molly are Texans. Both lighten the world with laughter. Like good neighbors they bring to the critique of Bush sharp knives which they truly delight using. Molly lost her last go-around with breast cancer this year. Some of her books include: Shrub, Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? and You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You. They are a joy. Jim's website resembles many of ours, but he has more and better resources. Would we all have his perspective. Would we all relish the fight.

The President's Private Health Insurance

October 3, 2007

The Children’s Health Insurance Bill

This week the President vetoed the above bill after it had been passed by both houses of Congress. He explained that he only believed in private health insurance.

Please tell me, ANYONE, who is the President’s private insurance carrier?

Mr. Smith's Card Company

September 30, 2007

Soliciting Investors to Become Stockholders in Mr. Smith’s Card Company


For those variously embarrassed, angered, frustrated, shamed by the President of the United States, the White House, the Republicans in Congress, Congress, a few odd think tanks, some national newspaper chains, TV, radio, and other entities and persons;

and finding themselves nearly neutered by the same above persons, parties, corporations and so on;

and seeking a way to publicly express their dissatisfaction, chagrin, anger, embarrassment, frustration, and so on;

and recognizing that the United States Government increasingly is in the pocket of the monied interests; and

Increasingly does not represent the People;

We offer the following opportunity to invest in Mr. Smith’s Card Company.

Borrowing its title from the old movie "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,"

It is a simply profit making company that sells a way to express the dissatisfactions described above.

It will exist in both real and virtual reality;
May be formed from an existing card company or formed from scratch;
Will create a series of cards (more fully described below);
By its staff and by soliciting ideas from stockholders and the public;
To be displayed in real and in virtual catalogs;
For consumers to read and from which consumers might order;
A record will be kept of the numbers of orders for any given card;
The number of orders by card will be reported to the public at given intervals;
The consumer may order and may mail their own cards;
Or Mr. Smith’s Card Company will be glad to mail for them; and
Mr. Smith’s Card Company will personally deliver sacks of mail
addressed to Washington D.C..

The cards will have simple two or three tone backgrounds,
not to detract from the message in creative and colorful script
which will be on the front of the cards.
The interior of the cards will be for the consumer to sign or have signed
and may have additional personal messages.

Cost might be $ 5 per card and a break in rates for those who order more than five.

Card fronts might have some of the following messages:

Mr. President, Shame on you.
Mr. President, Shame on you for the attack on a defenseless country (Iraq).
Mr. President, You are a bully and a thug for attacking Iraq.
Mr. President, Is the attack on Iraq pay-off for the promises you made to your oil companies base?
Mr. President, You are a global embarrassment.
Mr. President, You are a terrorist.
Mr. President, You and Mr. Cheney and the oil companies are the axis of evil.
Mr. President, Do you feel safer since 9/11? You shouldn’t be.
Mr. President, Is there one reason why you should not be impeached?
Mr. President, Why do you have the U.S. Army over in Iraq where they are creating terrorists who might attack us here at home?
Mr. President, Your Administration stinks.
Mr. President, The stench of the corruption of your Administration can be smelled around the globe.
Mr. President, Shame on you and shame on us for electing you.
Speaker of the House. Shame on you. When do the impeachment hearings begin?
Senate. Shame on you. When do the impeachment hearings begin?
Wall Street Journal/Times, etc. Shame on you. Where is your daily coverage of corruption hearings in Washington D.C.?
Mr. Senator, Why should you and your family have health care at public expense when my son/daughter/mother/grandmother does not?

Surely, you can add your own heartfelt sayings. Nothing fancy. (In fact we might call this the Heartfelt Series. Later we can add the Stomach Felt and Bowel Felt Series.)

What are your ideas?

Does anyone know anything about any real or virtual card companies that might be interested in this idea? In fact, does anyone know if it isn't already being done?

Do you know any joyful expediters who would like to fulfill this idea?

Robert James Duncan, R.I.P.

September 22, 2007

For a few years now, there has been a story I wanted to write, but it wouldn’t come together. Then Bob died. Bob was my brother-in-law. I will write a story. Maybe this is the story I wanted to write.

Bob died. I had to say goodbye to Bob a long time ago. He was a hero. I love him dearly. I don’t miss him because he is not that far away. Picking out sympathy cards for his children and my sister was particularly difficult: They were simply not appropriate and the Bob I knew was looking over my shoulder, was laughing, and kept making sarcastic remarks about each card I looked at.

The 1930’s. It was a time when there wasn’t so much stuff. I remember guys -- people called them hobos or bums -- would come and knock at the door of the White House, our home, and they would ask to work for a meal. These guys -- all they owned was on their backs -- had no jobs and no place to stay. Leona, my mother, would find something for them to do around the house and would fix them a meal. They would cut wood, stack wood, weed the garden, or cut and rake the grass. Always outside. Leona would set up a card table in the backyard. It would have a table cloth. She might provide soup from leftovers (canned soup was rare and it was too expensive), some bread and butter, maybe a sandwich from leftovers. That was it. Times were tough for everyone. She never turned one away. These guys were common all over the United States. In those days the railroads were the ordinary means of cross country travel. They would sneak onto the flat cars or into the box cars. They were hunting for work and there was no work. It was called The Great Depression. That was the big story of the times.

Then in 1941 came the war. It came late to the United States. In both Europe and Asia the war had been going on for years. I think a lot of people here hoped that the war would somehow kind of pass us by. But that wishful dream ended when the Japanese bombed our fleet in Hawaii. This united the country. President Roosevelt declared war on both Japan and Germany. Our war lasted about five years. That was a big story too.

In 1941 and 1942, when I was six or seven years old, I looked around and there were no young men. None. As soon as they were of age they all joined the army, navy or air force. I mean there were no young men. If for some reason a young man could not be in the service, you still did not see him. He kept out of sight. If seen, he would be asked why he wasn’t in the army, navy or air force. It was shameful if you weren’t.

After the war started, there weren’t any more bums and hobos. Most were either in the military or in industry. Transients who came through eastern Oregon could be shanghaied by ranchers needing labor. A nice man offers to buy you a drink and in the morning you wake up a hundred miles from anywhere. No telephone and maybe not even any electricity. The rancher explains he will be glad to take you back to town as soon as haying season ends.

We had a blackout every night where all lights had to be turned out so enemy airplanes could not see our location and bomb us. Then we were able to have blackout curtains so that lights could be on inside and not be seen outside. Outside there were air raid wardens who patrolled, checked this lighting business, and would knock on our door and tell us when we had any leaking light. Everything was rationed: Meat, butter, eggs, sugar, chocolate, gasoline, alcohol, tires, and on and on. How many gasoline stamps you had depended upon what your job was. Traveling salesmen got more stamps than factory workers. Locally the Hines Sawmill workers walked miles to work each way. Some things simply were not available. There were no new automobiles, or motorcycles, bicycles, scooters, skates. Very few toys. Trading second hand toys was a serious business. No candy bars. There were few traveling salesmen because there was very little to sell. If you had a flat tire you fixed it with your tire repair kit and by hand you pumped air into the tire until you could drive on it. As tires wore out, there were more and more flats and more and more patches. We had Victory gardens where we patriotically grew vegetables. We recycled all our tin cans and paper, carrying them down to local collection points. Sand piles would be nearby and we would carry pails of sand back to our homes because sand was the only way one could put out fires caused by incendiary bombs.

A Japanese submarine fired upon a fort here in Oregon. There was all sorts of gossip about this attack and that attack. Me and my friends got a book on identification of enemy airplanes and we sat out on the woodshed roof and looked and looked and looked. We rarely saw any airplane. When we did, it wasn’t a military plane. There was no change in the skies over Burns, Oregon.

Over time things became less patriotic and maybe a little more realistic. Wait a minute! We are never going to be bombed by Japanese airplanes in Burns, Oregon! Blackout curtains were ridiculous! There was very little one could buy so money was saved. Poker and slot machines grew in popularity. (Ten years later we learned that this meant an organized crime inroad.) At night, after supper, I went with dad and watched him play poker at the Palace Café. It was far more interesting than grade school. But I think some teachers complained that I was sleeping in class and dad stopped. Moonshine became more common. A person could trade rationing stamps and some were better traders than others. Somehow the kids whose dad had a gasoline station seemed to always have enough gasoline for their cars. Damned few kids had cars. The Black Market, a second economy, arose. One might pay or trade to get things on the Black Market -- if you knew the right people.

I went to a Fourth of July celebration at the public park. They had different kinds of games of chance sponsored by different civic clubs. The money went to buy war bonds. I spent all of my money trying unsuccessfully to win a candy bar. After the celebration and everyone had gone, some of my scrounging friends discovered candy bars had been dumped into the garbage cans. I found two. They were left over from the games. They were old and the chocolate was turning white but were the first candy bars I had had in years. Candy bars! Thrown away!? Where did they come from in the first place?

Those young men who had physical disabilities or were indispensable at home and therefore were not drafted often had relatives or friends on the draft boards. Ten years after the war, people still talked about these young men. Somehow the ones from poorer families always got drafted. I remember a young couple who moved in next door. He was very pale and walked with a limp. There was gossip that he had shot himself in the leg to avoid the draft. It was embarrassing. They did not stay long in the community.

Meanwhile the war effort rumbled right along. It seems all that stuff we didn’t have on the Home Front we converted into stuff to throw at the enemy on the War Front. After a few initial scares, we started winning. We won battle after battle. There were lots of new weapons, and airplanes, and ships and tanks. A lot of young men died.

Year after year, there were no young men in my home town. In 1943 -1944, when I was eight or nine my grandmother died and Mom took some of us kids to the funeral. We had to travel to Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington and then across Puget Sound. There was no gasoline available for our car. We went by Trailways bus to Portland and had to stay all night there because the next available seats on a bus to Seattle were the following afternoon. The buses were relatively small. They had no restrooms onboard like the buses now. The buses were mostly filled with young soldiers. There were no rooms at the hotels in Portland. They were all reserved and taken by the military. They did allow us to sleep on the carpeted floor of the second floor balcony. The carpet was dirty. We were grateful. The hotel was very, very busy with the comings and goings of soldiers and sailors and airmen. Train travel was all reserved for the military. Travel for civilians, because it was all taken, was very difficult.

There was a great stirring of the people, a mixing. It started with the Dust Bowl. Then the Depression. Then the War. People from all different parts of the country entered the service and were sent here and there and many times also overseas. With the young men gone, women became the workers in the war industries. Big companies didn’t think twice about funding onsite day care for their working women.

In Harney County we had an army come for a few months for maneuvers. Some said it was preparation for the invasion of North Africa. So we had tanks and jeeps and airplanes and all kinds of soldiers running around the county. One can still find .50 caliber shell casings in the Alvord Desert. I personally watched young men in fighter planes buzz the White House so closely their propellers chopped the tops of the poplar trees. Leaves and twigs fell like rain into our yard. So close you could see the pilots grin.

By 1945 half of my life time had been spent in a world war. I was beginning to think that my turn to join would be coming soon. This was about the time the European War was ending and the Pacific War was getting really vicious. There was a time when I looked forward to being a soldier. No longer.

During the war, my oldest sister, Dolores (we called her Dee), had been in high school. Each new year she was in school there were fewer and fewer boys in her classes. She wrote to many who joined the service. That was a lot. Dolores, even when 10 years old, had money making projects going. In high school she started working in a beauty parlor. She needed the money to pay for all that stationery and all those stamps. And nail polish and hair conditioner. I never saw my father in church nor would I ever have expected to see him there, but like a religious fundamentalist he was adamantly opposed to “beauty” and beauty products. Which meant that one of the many tensions in our home was between Sandy, my father, and Dolores. He really thought women ought to stay in their place -- wherever and whatever that was -- and he had a wife and three daughters who did not agree with him.

I don’t remember if she was a junior or senior but Dolores spent the summer with her Aunt Hazel in Seattle. (She might have gone both summers.) Now, Aunt Hazel was a real Rosie the Riveter who was really a riveter putting together B-52 Super Fortresses for Boeing in Seattle. But that is another story. When Dolores returned she had in tow a young sailor.

His name was Bob Duncan.

He was young, brash, outspoken, cocky, a wise-ass -- all of the things that were all the sailors in all the movies and newsreels I had seen over the past four years. These guys were winning the war! Looked pretty sharp in his neat, clean uniform, polished shoes, wearing his cap at a cocky angle!

Besides, he gave me quarters. With a quarter I could buy an ice cream soda. I did. Chocolate. I believe it was the second one I ever drank. I bought it at the same Home Drug Store where my sister Dorothy sometimes soda jerked. With a quarter I could also buy six glazed doughnuts at Herman’s Bakery. I did. The very best. One time Bob gave me a silver dollar! It was the first one I ever owned. He had battle stars on his campaign ribbons. I thought he was another one of those American heroes.

He tried to join when he was too young and too small. The Coast Guard took younger persons, but he was still too small. So he gorged himself -- was it bananas? -- barely met the weight minimum. I have heard this story so many times from so many men I am unsure this is Bob’s story. Yes, the Coast Guard. If the Coast Guard, how did he get into the Pacific War? I asked him. The Navy used the Coast Guard in their Pacific campaigns.

His ship was a destroyer escort. I had heard of destroyers; not escorts. They were smaller. When they got this small, one heard about PT boats. Of course, I had been following the war on the movie newsreels. It was all about the Navy. A destroyer escort was probably about the biggest ship the Coast Guard had. He said he was a cook who if under attack manned 20 millimeter aircraft guns. Ever fired them? Yes.

Over the years I learned that Bob knew his way around a kitchen, but I am not sure he ever respected cooks or cooking. From him I learned it was okay for a guy to cook but maybe not to be a cook.

My mind gets foggy. The war ended. Dee and Bob ran off and got married.

After the war there were all of these military guys -- millions -- coming back to be civilians. Frankly, the stay-at-homers were a little concerned. The jobs weren’t available. The housing was not available. Industry was going to take some time to shift from war footing back to peace footing. They were millions of young men! Not only that but they had been trained to kill and many had seen violence. Alarm! Alarm!

It all worked out. Senator Wayne Morris of Oregon sponsored the G.I. Bill that provided money for these guys to go to school. The women who were building ships and tanks and planes were persuaded to leave the factories for marriage and motherhood. Those veterans scarred by the war tucked it in, kept their mouths shut. Those badly scarred veterans often felt they were a danger to society and sometimes to themselves. They tended to take their selves away from society, often moving to the few remaining frontiers of North America. Alaska looked good. There was talk of free land in Canada. They had trouble getting close enough to real emotions to be real fathers.

Later I learned that it doesn’t take a war or violence to dull a soldier. Military service itself, providing effective training, will deaden sizeable chunks of a man’s or woman’s humanity.

Pretty soon all that stuff we were throwing at the enemy was converted into stuff to throw at civilians. We went from not much stuff to too much stuff. Then the problem was how to get people to buy it. But American marketing ingenuity, with its new psychological insights and manned by ex-G.I.’s with their discipline, military planning and tight lips, soon figured in out. Soon, with a far greater impact that the Atomic Bomb, the arrival of Television introduced a whole new, far more powerful, way to create consumers and markets. It is a story that needs to be told.

Bob had to start with his G.E.D. -- like so many vets. And then college. And the babies started arriving -- not just the Duncans, but a flood of babies across the United States. Dolores can tell you about delivery rooms or the hallways outside delivery rooms. That is her story. This was the beginning of what was later called The Baby Boomers.
That is Dolores’s kids’ story.

In my life the Duncans came and went. They were mobile. I mostly stayed in Burns, Oregon. Later, I sometimes spent summers near or with them. They would come to Burns and then they would leave. Thinking about it, it seems they were moving all of the time. I honestly don’t know of any family who moved so many times as the Duncans. It is surprising that the kids all ended up in college and finishing college. (Yep. I’m sure that is another story.)

Bob is what you could call one of my significant others, meaning I liked him a lot, learned a lot from him. Sometimes he was like a big brother. Rarely was he like a father. Sometimes he was like one of my hell raising friends. I had three significant others. Not surprising, my father, Sandy, was one. The third was Jack Evans, another returning vet, who married my sister, Dorothy. I have always said that Bob was my Blue Collar Significant Other. I learned to work hard, drink beer, go fishing and tell dirty jokes. On the other hand, Jack, who had been in the Army Air Force, was my White Collar Significant Other. I learned about wine, cheese, poetry and literature. All different in some ways, all the same in different ways; all far more important to me than I have implied. I am deeply grateful for these guys. Another story.

My father died in 1985. Jack died last year. Bob died a few days ago.

There was just not enough money to go to school and raise a family at the same time. Bob tried clerking at a Safeway store, but couldn’t handle school and the store. He tried entry level forest service work. Again there was not enough money.

Early on, there was a summer when Bob and I painted the White House. With brushes. With white marine paint. I’m sure it was 50% lead. Day after day in the heat of the summer. I got blisters on my hands from using the brush. All day. The brush became like an extension of one’s arm. One day we were taking a rest, sitting on the scaffolding at the second floor level. A mosquito lit on Bob’s right cheek. He slapped it with his paint brush. There, in the white coat of paint beneath his right eye, was the mosquito. He had forgotten he was even holding the brush.

I learned some dirty songs. I learned some dirty jokes: Herbie came home. His mother asked him, Herbie I hear you been dating a new toots. Is she a Gentile-toots or a Jewish-toots. Herbie said, Neither, Ma-ma, she is a prosti-toots. My family was surprised and a little alarmed when I proudly shared what I had learned.

I learned that smokes and booze were cheap in the Coast Guard. I learned that even more astounding than the Second World War were the strip joints in Panama.

After the war when a person could again buy a baseball and a mitt, Bob and I played catch. He could throw curves and so fast I often missed the ball and ended up running after it. I soon tired of catch. I never got around to appreciating baseball.

I remember -- it seemed forever -- a period of time when we dug out under one of Leona’s rentals. It did not have a foundation. The ground was hard. Eventually I gave up. Bob did the job. I don’t know how. He also did some interior renovation. Before all the common carpentry power tools one sees now, Leona bought a table saw for Bob to use. I didn’t know such a thing existed. It was the first time I ever saw one in use. I have one now, but rarely use it.

Later, I believe, the family lived in this same house for awhile. It was across the street from the plumber, Neil Smith, who had a son, a Navy pilot, who survived the war and became a postmaster in Burns. It was the place where Dee found the sack of kittens in the street; raised them. One calico, named Mehetabel, ended up mousing for Leona. Her first litter was twin yellow toms. Several stories here.

I was still in grade school when the county had an overpopulation of jack rabbits that were doing serious damage to hayfields and haystacks. Bob and I went hunting. I borrowed dad’s .22. Eventually, the goal was to each have a box of .22 cartridges, holding fifty, and to each kill 50 rabbits. Many times we did. More often, we shared a box. I think the cost was a penny a cartridge or fifty cents. That was pretty pricey then. We could have hunted every day all day. There were that many rabbits. It was too expensive to go too often. On occasion Bob provided some driving lessons. On occasion Bob provided some beer.

I wanted my own .22 rifle. I had to wait until I was thirteen to buy it. The summer I turned thirteen my dad sent me out to work for a rancher, haying. All summer. There were lots of positive things about working on ranches on and around Steins Mountain. I worked summers on ranches for many years. I earned enough that first summer to buy my own .22. It was only while writing this story that I realized that Sandy might have farmed me out to get me away from what he thought was a bad influence. Could be. I will never know.

Bob always had trouble with pretension. He could not help but stick pins in bubbles of phoniness. My sister Donna was, what we politely called, theatrical. A drama queen. As a teenager, she also tended to sleep late. Bob, after the actress Tallulah Bankhead, started calling Donna Tallulah Bunkhead. She hated it. Really hated it. I am not sure she ever forgave him. However, we all live in glass houses. Pretension can be kind of like lipstick, something we hide behind when presenting ourselves to the world. We may think what we are hiding is pretty sensitive, pretty delicate, fragile. It is why we like good portraits. I never saw Bob pop his own pretensions. Through the years I often wondered if this wasn’t -- in some way -- his youngest son’s role. Another story.

There was the time when Bob became a delivery driver for Truxton Dalton. Trux was a beer wholesaler. Sometimes I went along. For my age I probably knew more bars and saloons than any other boy in the county. He would finish his distributing route and we would go fishing. Bob taught me to tie my own hooks, do away with spinners, and consider using leader -- less than 20 lb. test line -- for ten inch fish. Often he would bring along a six pack and he would share. Good fishing was less than two hours away. Sometimes I was home for supper. He was a good fisherman.

After I learned the rigging, streams and the fish, I got pretty good also. Then I discovered Bob was a competitive fisherman. He would chortle when he caught bigger fish or more fish than Sandy. But Sandy with his spinners and 40 lb. test line and impatience was not much competition. When I caught bigger or more fish he was pretty quiet. So was I: I never chortled. He told me when he was a teenager that home was tough. There were stepfathers or other men who he didn’t get along with and he would take off, just go fishing, days at time, alone. This would be Bob’s story. It also is what fishing is about. Fishing is also a way to prove things. It is also a way to catch answers. One might fish to find peace. Fishing is many things to many people.

Somewhere along here Bob got a job in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and I visited.
I remember eating antelope meat. I remember a natural soda spring where people would come and fill up containers. At the forest service location there was a reservoir. The water was very clear and very cold. I remember spending one day with Bob where he had set up a checkpoint to stop cars to see that they were properly equipped for fire season: ash trays and so on. And he would remind the drivers about fire prevention. He was driving his old second hand Army Jeep. It had a wooden cab that had been built to provide cover for the driver and passengers. After a long, boring, hot day, he was driving home and we were passed by a guy who as he went around us pitched out a lit cigarette. Bob growled, “God damn,” and ran the man down. It was pretty scary. The jeep was slow. The jeep did not have a window one could roll down so Bob had to open and flap his plywood car door and scream. I was always surprised the guy didn’t think he was about to be attacked by some crazy person and simply outrun the slow jeep. Turned out he was a local mill foreman. Bob wrote him up.

In Harney County, out on the Blitzen River there is a place called Burnt Car. Then, the roads were not all that good. One could drive in to a rim above the river, camp, and then walk down into the river early the next morning. Sleeping in the bed of the pick-up was hard. Mornings were cold. On one trip, after bacon and eggs, we started walking in. I was barely awake, following Bob’s heels in front of me. I watched his stride take him over a coiled rattlesnake. He never saw it. I called his name twice to get his attention. He turned around. I pointed at the snake. He always wore a .22 pistol. He took it out, pointed, and with one shot killed the snake dead. He never said anything. Nor I. We walked on down to the river. We fished. Later that morning I got quite a bit upstream from him. I heard shooting. Bang-bang-bang. Then, bang-bang-bang. I figured a snake and I figured he killed it. Then, bang-bang-bang-bang. I started heading back. Silence. Silence. He got it? What was it? Then, bang-bang-bang-bang-bang. He must have reloaded. Bang-bang-bang. I walked faster. When I got there, Bob was fishing. He seemed kind of nonchalant so I asked, Snake? He nodded. Where? I expected a see a snake shot to hell. He motioned over there: a brush pile. No snake. The snake got away!

The last time I was out on the Blitzen with Bob, his sons were along. It was also Sandy’s last trip to the Blitzen. We went to a place called The Crossing. Bob caught a 26 inch rainbow where Little Blitzen runs into (Big) Blitzen. On that trip, I watched Bob involuntarily jump into the river and float down the river, losing his hat, one hand holding his pole and the other hand holding a willow holding his fish. I don’t know why he didn’t drown. I don’t know how he got out. That story has to do with two rattlesnakes. The story belongs to his boys, Bob and Marc.

On the way out to Burnt Car, before one arrives at the little town of Frenchglen, most of the Blitzen River is in the Malheur Bird Reserve and fishing is prohibited. On one trip Bob showed me a place where he and his vet friends (and drinking buddies) poached fish. He said they preferred to go in at night. It is called Grain Camp and it is a place where there is an irrigation dam. Below the dam is one of the finest fish holes ever seen by man. Looking over our shoulders, in the mid afternoon, we fished less than an hour. Lost one and caught three. All over 20 inches. Rainbow. Beautiful fish.

We also poached geese. I remember one occasion there was no approach to get up close to the flock. All Bob had was a .22 rifle that fired shorts. He would fire and then one could hear the bullet bounce off their wing. We never disturbed them even enough to make them fly.

To this day I am convinced that the only way to hunt a Canada goose is with a .22. Long rifle.

About a year afterwards it was this same spot that a State Policeman stopped us. I was fifteen years old because it was the day after I got my learner’s permit. Bob was driving. Bob quickly had me scoot under him and get behind the wheel. He didn’t want to be caught driving with a Washington driver’s license. The officer said we had a burned out stop light. I was given a written warning. This experience bothered me a little.

The proximity to so much beer was not good for Bob. He would make deliveries and the bar tenders would offer him free beer and bullshit. As the representative of a dealer, how could he refuse? Delivering beer is hard work. At the end of the day he would be tired and swacked.

One night -- I was in high school, the Duncans were in another apartment -- Dee got knocked around by Bob. The apartment was across the street from Sandy and Leona. Leona called the sheriff and a deputy came and talked to Bob. Leona was pretty steamed. Like Sandy, I think Bob thought women ought to stay in their place -- wherever and whatever that was.

The last time I visited the family was in Montana in 1965. Bob was a forest ranger. The kids were all finishing high school, going to college. We visited a buffalo jump and dug up a few buffalo skulls. Bob took us up to a high meadow where we counted nearly three dozen different species of wild flowers. In that meadow one could see indentations in the meadow floor, places created by buffalo when they wallowed not all that long ago. He really loved the forests. I have an abiding love for the outdoors.

There is so much I have left out. I could have written about annual trips Sandy, Bob, Jack and I made to Burnt Car. Or, about me driving while Bob would shoot the hell out of road signs. Many things. Importantly, this whole story could have been about Bob’s career path, the struggle to raise a family, everyone sacrificing, struggling, while returning to school again and again, the family moves from one national forest to another, until he finally achieves the status of USFS Ranger. He did and the family did. Everyone has a right to be damned proud. They are damned proud.

But he pissed it off. He did some dumb things (you can imagine) and was pressured into early retirement.

Bob always had the tendency to piss into the wind. On occasion maybe we all need to, but Bob didn’t seem able to help himself.

Like Sandy, he loved the outdoors, mountains, forests. Sandy would even hunt deer in the desert. Sandy and Bob were much alike and, though I haven’t presented the argument, I think that is why they didn’t get along. Sometimes the things we don’t want to see in ourselves we find easy to see in others. I think that is the problem Bob had with his youngest son. It might be part of the problem his youngest son had with Bob.

Bob could be a mean drunk and do things he knew was wrong, and he could sincerely apologize, and drink again and.... so on. It hurts to see yourself hurt the ones you love, don’t want to hurt, see yourself apologize, and do it all again. You watch others watch you and see them over time start to disbelieve, become hardened and cynical. Time passes. Sometimes, if you can’t stop, you just say, What the hell! You too become hard and cynical. Stuck. I met Bob when he was young and when he still apologized. I hope all of his kids knew him then and remember.

With addictions, like booze, tobacco or other drugs, the addiction is primary: Once in the bottle it can be hard to get out. The addiction is what others see and think is you. No, just a guy in a bottle, just a smoke, just a needle, a pill. Meanwhile the real you is somewhere else, fragmented, stuck. Others and you never get to meet the real you. But others can catch glimpses of what might be the real you. I think that is what is so tough about knowing someone like Bob. There were times, behind the pretensions, when I would catch glimpses of the real Bob. I never got to meet that person. Maybe Bob caught glimpses also. It is too bad that Bob never got to meet and be that person. But that is another story.

Staying Off Course

September 14, 2007

Yeah, the guy who was his college fraternity's social chairman and who evaded the draft (meaning he didn't want to go where the fighting was) -- like so many other priveleged young men -- stands before us asking for our "patience," and telling the world that Iraq needs our "enduring presence." He stood, like a pious country preacher, tongue in cheek -- like a plug of tobacco -- and a snake's glitter in his eye. First, "patience" means me agreeing to put up more of this nation's blood and treasure. I don't think so. Second, maybe you didn't feel it, but when he talked about our enduring presence I felt a chill sweep across the Muslim world. It is a world awash in the many dollars we give them for oil. We will pay more for that oil and a greater percentage of what we pay will go to their "patriots" who are in Iraq, Iran, Afganistan, the United States, Germany and a dozen other countries. Hey! Did you hear the price on a barrel of oil just hit $ 80.00, a new high! And what I did not hear is he did not talk about the law we have sponsored before the Iraq legislature giving Big Oil ownership of two-thirds of Iraq's oil fields. (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela all have control of their own oil drilling and extraction.) The "War in Iraq" is just another name for "armed robbery." I'm going green. Finally, many in our Congress say it would be "dishonorable" to leave now. As a voter, I have to assume that all of the above is just too complex for our Representatives and Senators to understand or that they are increasingly experiencing cold sweat, and neither is relevant to the young soldier or Marine in Iraq who will die today and tomorrow. As a voter I do not want craven cowards. We can do better.

On the Cheap & Follow the Money

September 10, 2007

Have you noticed how the Iraq Battle has been war on the cheap? There were shortages of flak jackets and other military accessories which the soldiers or families or friends put up money for. The humvee was not too suitable for urban warfare or roadside bombs. Makeshift repairs were needed. It has been years before appropriate vehicles have appeared. Few spoke Arabic and few do now (and don’t ask me how one fights when one cannot communicate). Bush drew upon the National Guard who often did not have adequate training or equipment. The administrative integration with the regular Army was inadequate. Many went without pay for months. Home with injuries Military care was often not available. National Guard armories are now without adequate equipment and it is not being replaced. Wounded piled up at Walter Reed while private contractors did not get the job done and Army overseers looked the other way. Care was inadequate. When Mr. Bush visited he was only shown the happy façade. When generals recommended more troops for the invasion of Iraq they were told more troops were unnecessary and the recommending generals were demeaned and many retired. Soldier's stays in Iraq are extended. They are quickly returned again and again. Violence takes a toll. This is all war on the cheap. (I have not addressed the cheap manner in which research was done to justify the war: Instead of footwork, the sellers merely echoed the opinions of each other.) The bill for this war on the cheap is now above one trillion dollars. It is going to be much higher.

(Consider: What if we had not invaded Iraq and had initiated an energy self sufficient crash program and had spent 250 billion a year for five years. Would we be ahead of where we are now? More secure? In Iraq? At home?)

(Consider: If we really invaded Iraq for their oil, to keep it for ourselves, and scare the Middle East, what does this say about capitalism and market economics? And what does it tell the rest of the world about the addiction the United States has to oil and the fear it has about having its supply cut off?)

On the other hand, private security firms in Iraq may have no bid contracts, are paid very well indeed, seem to have no oversight, may kill at will and may over bill. One accusation includes selling weapons on the black market. What about those private interrogators that would come to Abu Garib prison and seemed to outrank all the soldiers there? Mr. Brenner misplaced 9 billion dollars during the short stay he had in Iraq. Other billions have disappeared since. Our present general in Iraq has talked about the many weapons, U.S. weapons, which fell into insurgent hands during his first tour of duty there. Halliburton, who performs logistics for the U.S. military in Iraq, also has big contracts that were no-bid, has been accused of over billing, poor service, etc. Is it true that they have contracts with the government that hold them blameless in the event of seeming criminal conduct, etc.? For the past several years their stock has been a shinning light on Wall Street. They are considering moving their corporate headquarters outside the continental limits of the United States. All quite lavish.

Or shall we talk about lobbyists and Congressional corruption. Also lavish.

I have just skimmed the surface. Now, folks, for you this all may be business as usual. But for us old folks this is corruption on a scale beyond belief. It is corruption on a scale that is not only unpatriotic but may well be considered sabotage of the effort of the war on terror.

As noted above, all recipients of the above American largess (that is, billions of dollars) are not equal. Some get more than others. Some less. Some are more accountable. Some hardly accountable at all. It is as if the Pentagon has preferred persons to give lots of money too, and the CIA, and the White House, and different Congressmen and women. It is your right to know, and mine. All those people there in Washington D.C. are supposed to be there to help us. Where are our patriotic Congressmen and women now? We need some investigating. A man said years ago in another smaller scandal, Follow the money. I suggest we should do no less now.

Do You Hear What I Hear? See What I See?

September 10, 2007

When 9/11 happened the nation was shaken. Certainly I was shaken. The shock. How could this be? Here? New York? The planning! The execution! The many people killed! The many families damaged! When the President spoke to us the news and everyone I spoke to said they were reassured. Some said it was his finest hour. I saw the President repeatedly on TV, I heard him, and I was not reassured. He frightened me. I saw a man following a script and I could not see the real man.

What do you mean?

I saw a man playing a role that I had seen many times before. It was the sheriff (not necessarily the leading role) in the many western movies I saw as a child. He was earnest, sincere, full of old clichés. “It was a dastardly deed.” “We will leave no stone unturned.” “He can run but he can’t hide.” “We will track him down and we will get him.” Clearly western. Because of the script it was a B movie. Is this the way they talk in Texas? After the first few speeches, I only heard/saw The Sheriff two more times. Each time, it was “Got the man.” But he didn’t have the man. Instead it was, we won: “We won the war in Afghanistan,” and “We won the war in Iraq.” Except neither war was won. The Won the War in Afghanistan speech was so stagy -- reminiscent of the Hitler propaganda before World War II (I am that old). Instead of a western movie set or a political rally it was an aircraft carrier. I must admit I was impressed by this bit of theatre. But I spent a short bit of time in the Army and so focusing on an airplane and pilot and aircraft carrier in the water did not resonate well with me. There was too much glitzy hype. It did however register with me that Mr. Bush had served in the air force reserve (maybe poorly) and was one of many kids who avoided the draft and were protected from the draft (his VP avoided it also through five exemptions).

It is that old Army bias. You only win a war with boots on the ground. If you march an hour you only cover a few miles. Slow. A pilot might cover 600 miles in an hour. A pilot might drop a bomb and be done for the day. A soldier is on the ground, and at the end of the day he just digs in. War is viewed as a significant, slug it out undertaking. The air force too often views war as a breeze. (Did I mention that our Secretary of War, Mr. Rumsfield, had some experience as a Navy pilot?) The Shock and Awe that heralded the beginning of the Iraq war was a quintessential Air Force show: “sound and fury signifying nothing.” Each explosion, all for show, cost millions of dollars, and they went on and on. Such chest thumping. Why I asked, did the United States need to chest thump? It was a deliberate burning of million dollar bills. Who thinks they have the right to burn this kind of money -- public money -- your money and my money? (Did I mention that the rich got tax cuts?)

Shock and awe was a great big show to divert attention from a little tiny army that could reach Bagdad, defeat the Iraqi army, but could not occupy the country, could not hold the country.

When did President Bush frighten you?

It bothered me that he was using the same words used in old B movies by sheriffs. The words were not 2000 or 1990 or even 1980 or 1970, but movie houses in the 1960’s and 1950’s. I wondered if he had words of his own. However, it was when he started to talk about how mean and evil al-Qaeda was and how it would be necessary for us to fight down and dirty that I realized the sheriff was afraid and cowardly. The strong and courageous have no need to fight dirty. For it is scared and cowardly people that are arrogant and brag and fight down and dirty. Why should this nation be afraid? I looked again. It shouldn’t be. If not the nation, then that meant it was he who was afraid. Of what? That made me afraid because I knew he would, like all fearful people, see things that were not there and make very bad mistakes, and he would be easily manipulated by those who saw him in his true colors.

Radio and television and newpapers said how forceful he was and how reassured they were.

Instead of saying the threat to us is real and we will have to sacrifice and delineating the sacrifices we need to make, he said don’t worry, go shopping. How strange. My view was befogged by all of the support he had in the media. Where our media was not present, in other countries, Mr. Bush was quite naked. A coward with all this firepower to hurt people. Like a rattlesnake pitched into a camp fire, he attacked in all directions. He attacked Iraq, he attacked Afghanistan, he attacked the CIA and he attacked every citizen of the United States.

You said he rarely played sheriff.

That is true. The other big role he played, again a B movie, not a leading role, was the country church pious pastor role. This was the role he used to lead us into Iraq. Again I had to wonder if this how pastors talk to their flocks in Texas. I have never seen, in real life, a preacher talk this way. It is the same B movie role of the bluffing gambler. Pushing the chips, upping the ante, watching your eyes. I have seen it in real life: the spinner of tale tales. In the hay camps I have watched Okies (that is what they said they were called) work new, young crew members -- from clean white collar homes. “Have you ever heard of a hoop snake? (eye lock on the young man) No. (sincere) Will there are lots of them all over the United States. Poisonous. (informative) One bite will kill you. (matter of fact) You have to be careful in hoop snake country. When a hoop snake is going to go after you he will bite his own tail, make a hoop, and roll right after you. That way they are faster than ordinary rattlesnakes. They can go faster than you can run. (reflective ) (young fella’s eyes get big) But that is the secret. They can roll real fast down hill but can’t roll at all up hill. All one has to do is simply stay above them.” Pastor Bush, sober, sincere, fatherly, a glint in his eye, explained, “can’t wait for the smoking gun... mushroom cloud in America... Hussein and 9/11... Iraq and al-Qaeda... .’ All bluff. Pretense. He did deceive. Is it that no one watches those old movies anymore? Is it that people think Presidents don’t play roles? Hook, line and sinker: a lot of people still believe there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, that Hussein had something to do with 9/11, that Hussein was in cahoots with al-Qaeda. Or is it like I last heard about Congress: Yes we made a mistake but it would be dishonorable to admit it! Dishonorable! What planet do these people live on? At this time, September of 2007, the glint in the pastor’s eye is back and where did those $15 million dollars come from for that ad campaign for the U.S. to stay in Iraq? In whose personal interest is it that we stay in this war? Why?

Were You There?

September 8, 2007

Were you there: The March on Washington? Some said there were three-and one-half million people. Never so many people. So many people, the march lasted, three days, day and night. Marching. In the year two thousand-and five, pastors, preachers, men and women, teens and babes, from pulpits, across the land, heard the call. It rang out. The United States is not a felon, not a thief, not a mugger of non-threatening, defenseless Middle Eastern countries. We do not use armies to break down the doors of homes, scare women and children. We do not use bombs and cannons on civilians. We can make mistakes. We can apologize. We do take responsibility for our own behavior. We do not lie to American citizens. We do not waste tanks and helicopters and the lives of young military men and women. We do not “out” CIA operatives who are undercover. We do not allow private contractors to kill as they please and bill as they please. We do not approve of tax cuts for the rich and then have a military without adequate equipment and without adequate medical care and national guard troops without adequate training, botched pay checks, and states left to fire and flood without manpower and without equipment. Our Army in Iraq is not defending us at home. There was no enemy and no threat in Iraq. With our Army in Iraq we are left defenseless at home. The costs of our Army in Iraq is an attack on us at home. Were you there? After all the grand Presidential promises and fanfare, New Orleans was left to the mold and rot. After the President announced victory in Afghanistan and after the President announced victory in Iraq the battles wage on -- years later. With a United States army in Iraq, battering in the doors of homes, al-Qaeda, across the Muslim world, gains volunteers. That is a big world. And this President calls for the army to stay until victory. What victory? Whose victory? Unbelievable! It was as if someone had switched a switch and across the United States, all fifty states, plus the territories, and a light went on: Oh! Got It!

Pastor Jones or was it Smith or Baptist, Quinn, a small church, Lutheran, L.D.S, Schakowsky, Anglican, conservative, Catholic, fundamentalist, Presbyterian, Moravian, a huge church, Church of Christ, Wong, or shiny modern, Herschel, Church of God, new age, Pentecostal, Christian, Christian Science, Liddell, even the Salvation Army, a country church, Muslim, Lundquist, Hindu, Pulaski, Sabatini, Beauchamp, started the service by asking that all windows be opened. Let some fresh air in, he said. There is a stench in this room. A stink in this nation. Pollution. Let some air in. The time has come, he said. We must march. Truly we do have the very best politicians money can buy, but it is not your money. Nor mine. The overpowering stench of Washington D.C. has reached California, Maine, Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, every state in the nation. Plan to be gone for five days. Pack accordingly. We no longer thrive. In the competition among nations, we are not living as long, we are shorter, less healthy, we have more disease, less medical care, our children are fatter, more prone to diabetes, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, our jobs are in India or China, our bridges collapse, our President speaks and nothing happens. It is all hot air. His friends are doing very well. Clearly, we are not among his friends. Mammon rules. We will not bow before Mammon. Per capita we have more guns and more people in prisons, more cars and more privately owned homes, more gated communities than any other nation on earth. There is a problem here. We have a problem. We will go by car, plane, train, bus. Walk if you can. Transportation will be provided for those without. We must go. All who can. All of us.

It is our money that pays for the salaries of our Representatives and Senators, but it does not buy much time or allegiance. Elections cost a lot of money and it is not our money that pays for their elections. We vote them in but they are not ours. They have become the hired hands of private interests. But our interests are both private and public. We must begin to pay for their elections and their salaries. We do not want our Representatives and Senators spending all of their time ass-kissing to fund their elections and re-elections. They have day time jobs with us and we have work for them to do.

Render unto God that which is God’s. Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s. A godly person might walk away or run away from a corrupt Caesar in a fascist state, or communist state, or a monarchy, or an oligarchy. They might run to a democratic state. Many did. Many came to the Promised Land: they came here. But in a democracy one cannot run. It is our country. Each person owns a share of the state, each person is a part of the state. In a democrary Caesar also wants your voice as well as your vote. This is our country. Now, power can corrupt both church and state. Always has. Always will. From time to time people have to clean things up. Always have. Always will. Citizens must participate or Caesar becomes too powerful and too corrupt. We must go to Washington. The time has come to march. If not now, like to many, soon we will be in prison and will be unable to march, unable to vote. The godly must march, but we must go as good citizens. It is as citizens that we and the church down the street can march together. If Caesar gets more powerful there will be no church down the street and then Caesar will need our block for another police station or sports stadium or as a condo for his friends.

You and I and we are our brother’s and sister’s keepers. We must care for one another and that includes the government we have in common. Otherwise, my good friends, you and I and we are prissy-assed hypocrites.

Heavens be! Our President is inciting and providing for the training of al-Qaeda terrorists in Iraq. They only came to Iraq after he invaded. Who is the terrorist? Where is our greatest threat? This nation needs help. We must march.

The police in the Capitol and in Washington D.C. and the Secret Service knew we were coming. They couldn’t believe how many! They said, Don’t come. Congress is in recess. The President is in Texas. It is too much of an opportunity for terrorists. There will be too many people. It will get out of hand. Everyone said, We are coming. You can’t. We can. The planning started. This route. That route. A million people here. A million people there. A day here. A day there. We will march. Earlier marches had been downplayed or not reported by the few major newspapers and television. This time all of the churches everywhere became news outlets for their communities. The few major newspapers and television didn’t know what was going on. We will be heard. We want the President, we want Congress to be accountable to us and not to oil, coal, steel, agriculture, sugar, utilities, Saudi Arabia, Bulgaria, your friends and lobbyists and cousins and sons and... .

FDR brought a little accountability to government and business, empowered the little man a little, fought a war, and also cut a deal with the devil. He said the Democrats would work side by side with those taught from the handbook, Masters and Slaves. This book teaches one to be fearful of others and to make others fearful. With Civil Rights, the Democrats said we are not that afraid. It drove the angry and fearful (have you noticed that they are often the same?) off to the Republican Party. Pappy said, Nothing good could come from siding up with Republicans. Like old slave owners they were fearful of the slaves. Some became Righteous Republicans. They wanted to legislate and judicate the personal soul-wrenching decisions made in bedrooms and doctor’s offices, protecting womanhood, and so forth. As long as they had their vote, this was fine with the other Newt Republicans who for a little more power and money put their souls and the country up for sale. The Democrats were envious. Purveyors of private security and prisons benefited from the argument that there was more crime and that they were the answer. Citizens became convinced that it made sense to spend more money on prisons than on schools. Master Bush decided he and his friends ought to own a little oil in Iraq. None cared if the little people -- those privates and sergeants and lance corporals and families -- died. It makes my brain ache. We must march.

Back then when the Republicans despaired of ever having majorities again, before Civil Rights, knowing even in the 1930’s that the Democrats were corrupt, evil, and didn’t know their place, they decided that the end justified the means. Anything to discredit Democrats. Even voting for wasted money. Even sabotaging working programs. They declared war on the Democrats. Then they decided that it was big government that was bad. They declared war on government, Big Government. No one said, Wait a minute! If it is the government that is bad then it is our job and yours to make it better (a tougher proposition that requires a little responsibility, a little accountability). When elected, they made big government bigger. We discovered it is not a war at all. It is just another raid on the public treasury. An old story. A fraud. A con. After a few trillion dollars, the Righteous Republicans are starting to catch on. Big government is not bad. Government is only as bad as the people running, operating it. One cannot use any means to justify an end. People who do are dangerous to all other living creatures. Lost souls.

We must march. I am about to retire, my baby needs shoes, medical care, my wife is sick and we have no insurance, transportation, power brownouts, I need Wi-Fi and the big companies won’t invest in rural areas, bridges, security, the big transportation companies do not want to invest in port security, water pollution, how many years after 9/11 were flight attendants given instruction in self defense, the globe is cooking, our newspaper/radio/TV station is owned by a conglomerate who does not know us and does not care to know us, we have long ago lost those who would speak for us, we have gained those who would fill your heads and mine with lust, greed, envy and anger. Bush will blow nearly a billion a day in Iraq and let New Orleans rot. I see the light. Do you see the light? We must march. We must march together. If not now then when? My breath catches as I feel the Freedom in this nation shrinking.

We are all Christian or Muslim or Hindu or Jewish or Druid Warriors and we are all in exile in Eqypt. It is time to go home. Not Jerusalem. To The Promised Land: The United States. The capitol dome needs polishing and we will polish it even if we have to use the seats of pants of lobbyists and Representatives and Senators and a few bureaucrats to do it.

An early administrator in Iraq did not see nine billion dollars disappear. We have “lost” more billions since then. We have “lost” thousands upon thousands of weapons and ammunition. When we invaded the Army was instructed to secure the oil ministry but not the many munitions depots, not museums, hospitals, schools, utilities. Tons of weapons went to the underground, the insurgents. Private contractors have had no-bid contracts and have over-billed. They have also killed and the Army claims no responsibility for their actions. The President says, Mistakes were made. The above are the President’s responsibility. Mistakes? Mistakes! Do you see, do you hear a pattern here? If not, what then do you smell? This pile of manure is so deep and so wide its stench has spread around the globe. So bad, so vile, it can no longer be covered up. Congress is working at corruption with teaspoons when they should be using bulldozers. Pardon me Lord, but we have a problem here a helluva lot larger than initiating impeachment.

I wish there was some other way. I wish I could say that Congress is working hard in our best interests and though it is slow right now things will pick up. I don’t think so. I don’t think we can wait any longer. It is time. We must march. Go home. Pack. You will be given an instruction sheet as you leave the church. Pack for five days. We will be leaving ten days from today.

We marched. I never felt so proud. So many people. Placards. Banners. Singing, Onward Christian Soldiers. Singing, We shall overcome. Buses, planes, trains. So many. Although the President was not in town, Congress was in session and our Representatives and Senators found time to meet with us, listen to us. I met so many people, from all over, with so many of the same concerns I had. And, now, we shall see. But I stood tall and I am proud. I hope I never have to do it again.

A Non-Event, Yes Sir!

September 7, 2007

At this point in time -- September of 2007 -- we are awaiting the report of a general in Iraq and for some reason this report is going to somehow have bearing on whether or not we keep our armed forces in Iraq or bring them home.

I won’t deal with such issues as the majority of the American public wants the army home or by countering this desire (arrogantly) the U.S. President demeans American citizens, implying they are dependent, ignorant, childish. I won’t deal with the issue of the United States being criminal because it invaded without good cause a relatively defenseless country, has established bases there, continues to subject it to violence, and is now blaming that country for not being more welcoming, for not being more democratic, for not more effectively attacking and subduing those of its citizens who disagree with all of the above. But the following will provide clues why the Army tends to vote Republican and why, in the Army, there are distinctions between the Soldier-Soldier and the Citizen-Soldier.

The Soldier: There is no issue. If the President wants the Army to stay then the Army will stay. If the President wants the Army to pull out then the Army will pull out.

Why?

Because the President is Commander-in-Chief, head of all armed forces, and they will do what he says.

Would they do this knowing that the President was wrong and that they might die because of it?

That is not the issue. Any soldier might die at any time. It is not the job of the soldier to question the President. What the President says is an order. The job of the soldier is to obey. If the President says go, you go.

Without debate, thought, research?

Yes. But if the President asks for debate, thought or research, then there will be debate, thought or research.

Then such activities might counter the President’s wishes?

Only if the President allows that to happen. Only if the President asks for a report -- an objective report -- of the debate, thought, research.

You mean such debate, thought, research might simply be employed to support the President regardless of objective evidence to the contrary?

Absolutely. If he so orders.

The President gets what the President wants?

Sir, Yes, Sir!

So, the President, if he or she wants the truth, must specify: Must ask for the report (1) of an objective opinion (2) made by an objective effort (3)?

Yes.

This seems very absolutist, very monarchical? Not very democratic?

It is not democratic. It is the Army way. The Army is not democratic.

What if a general, an officer, were to go to the President , or his equivalent commanding officer, and disagree with the President’s opinion?

He can but he is putting his head on a platter. The President may ask him or her to resign (or worse). You see, in a less democratic country he might be shot.

What if a Private or Sergeant were to go to his commanding officer and disagree?

The same. The President or commanding officer might agree, but even then ask the soldier to obey. If the soldier did not, then the soldier might be punished, discharged, even imprisoned. An officer might be given the out of resigning, but lower grades are given fewer choices.

"If I want your opinion I will ask for it?"

Exactly.

Do they ever ask?

No, Sir.

What does it mean, then, that the newspapers and television are all awaiting the report of the general in Iraq?

It means the general will report what his commander-in-chief wants him to report. If he cannot then he will have reported to the President beforehand that he cannot. The President might ask him to resign or report what he the President wants anyway or order him to tell the public that the President has ordered him to be objective and then report what the President wants anyway.

To lie?

Of course.

Then all of the hoopla about the general’s report -- implying that it is the general’s honest, candid, objective opinion -- is meaningless? Is it this way always?

Fundamentally, yes. Some Presidents might establish a pattern of allowing their generals -- some levels -- or chiefs of staff -- some level -- to be open, candid, objective with the public. In this case, where we have seen so many generals disagree and they are long gone, it is clear that the President wants strict discipline. There have been too many retired generals.

Then this is not the American public’s war? But it is truly the army’s war and will always be -- must be -- as long as it is President Bush’s war?

Sir, Yes, Sir!

(If I have left you curious about the military mentality, I will elaborate in a future dialogue, called Yes Sir! Part II.)

Preemption

K.R. said, We call it preemption. It means that if we say it first then others will not be able to say it. It frames reality. It lays a false trail. It reduces criticism.

I said, I thought preemption is, like, when you invade a country because you have good reason to believe they are about to attack you.

KR: No, no. Preemption is a way of doing what you want to do while keeping any criticism at bay. It is a way to attack without being hit back.

Then, the U.S. invasion of Iraq was preemption because...they had weapons of mass destruction?

No.

They worked with the terrorists on 9/11?

No.

They weren’t democratic? They weren’t Christian?

No, no. You don’t get it. Bush wanted to invade Iraq before 9/11. He needed to establish a reason. So, weapons of mass destruction. That wasn’t quite good enough because they might have WPD but have no reason to attack us. So, that was the beauty of 9/11. That provided the link. So, he said Hussein was working with al-Qaeda Once the link to al-Qaeda was made, no one could disagree because then they would be siding with the terrorists -- al-Qaeda. No one wanted to be a traitor or unpatriotic after 9/11. Pure genius.

But Powell could not sell the U.N. on WPD or al-Qaeda.

Right. But so what. It did not matter to Bush. He was going to invade anyway. The U.N. thing was just a bummer idea that Powell had. Bush couldn’t fool the U.N., but he could fool the U.S. Congress.

But there was no WPD and no al-Qaeda.

Right. That was after the fact of the invasion. Once those unpatriotic Frenchmen said no, and once we said we were going to invade anyway to get those WPD and al-Qaeda then the invasion was on. It was a little embarrassing for everyone that we could not find them, so by then Congress was pleased with the idea of making a democratic society of Iraq. What Congressman or woman is going to admit they were lazy and were suckered because they were scared the President would say they were soft on terrorism, unpatriotic.

So we are spending, like, five billion bucks a week because we have these grown up people back in Washington D.C. who are children.

Exactly. That is the genius of Bush. He knows. All of the grown-ups left Congress decades ago. There is important money going to a lot of influential people in a lot of different countries. They are pretty excited.

Let me see if I have got this right. Bush wanted to give a lot of money -- not his -- to friends. He could not say that to the American public. He could say that Iraq -- a rich, military cupcake country was linked to the al-Qaeda terrorists and had weapons of mass destruction which al-Qaeda might use against the U.S., sucker Congress, and invade. They are like shells in the shell game -- sleight of hand -- and if you follow the moves you miss the real action: the disbursement of billions.

You still don’t understand “preemption.” Only half. Who had the weapons of mass destruction? Who was the real threat? Who invaded? Who was the real terrorist in Iraq?

Why, it was the United States!

Exactly. Because Bush used the words first, it preempted the dialogue. Once he had said “they are the terrorists” no one is going to say “No, you are the terrorist.”

I think I see.

It works very well. Like: “Axis of evil,” once he has said it, no American churchgoer is going to think he is talking about the White House and a Republican Congress. Of course it is finesse, like bluffing in poker. You must keep a straight face. It is how you tell a gullible child the story of the hoop snake. You must be serious. You want persons to know that you believe the bullshit. You cannot let people know what is going on behind the scenes. You might have to threaten people and hurt a few.

Okay, so now we have “the surge.” What does that mean?

Well, the reality is that the war in Iraq wasn’t a war. It was only a invasion. The plan was that they were going to hand their oil over to us. But we stayed too long, the Iraqis were too suspicious of us, we stumbled, and al-Qaeda quickly saw the many opportunities we were giving them. So the real War on Terror moved to Iraq. The longer we stay the worse it will be for us and the better it will be for al-Qaeda. But Bush ‘reality’ is his Iraq War, and he does not want to lose it. He is not concerned about cost or casualties or al-Qaeda. There are a lot of big bucks riding on oil leases. He would be prepared to move out as soon as oil leases were signed by his friends and oil production was secure. It ain’t going to happen. At least while he is still in office. So the purpose of the surge is to prolong the war so he can leave the Iraq War to the next sucker who gets to be President. Bush and the Republicans can then blame him or her -- whoever is President -- for losing the war. (You see he really doesn’t care if Hillary gets the job. It is a trap.) So the “surge” is really a retreat: It is to cover Bush’s retreat. There weren’t enough whole American troops left to make a ripple much less a surge. But everyone will talk about “a surge.” Meanwhile, Bush goes heavy on the “retreat” mentality of the Democrats who have the mandate of Americans to pursue a withdrawal. Not one Democrat is saying, “No, it is Bush that is retreating.” No Democrat is saying, “Bush is poisoning the well.” Preemption! Beautiful!

Cheney's Daisy Chain

Early on the first term of the presidency, the vice president invited a group of guys from the energy industry to meet with him. He has said it is no body’s business who and what and why they were. How many of those guys’ companies are now negotiating oil leases in Iraq? Regardless of your opinion, do these guys think it is necessary for the U.S. Army to stay there to insure the viability of the Iraq oil business? Can you look into everyday news and see the kind of pressures the President of the United States and certain members of Congress, including Hillary, are putting on Iraq to cut a deal with our oil interests?

There was also oil in the countries bordering on Afghanistan. Afghanistan is where the United States had such initial military success. Why did the United States so quickly abandon Afghanistan for Iraq? Conversely: If the United States had grabbed easy oil in Afghanistan, would they have bothered with Iraq?

Relative to Iraq, Afghanistan was: farther away, there were no easy pipelines, no nearby markets, and Russia was maybe too close and too interested.

Of course, by abandoning Afghanistan and running off to Iraq, the White House clearly told Congress and the American people what its priorities were for 9/11, for the Taliban, for Al-Qaida, and for stimulating the economy, honoring campaign pledges, and their definition of patriotism.

Here is a thought: Imagine how impressed the Russians were with the initial success of the U.S. in Afghanistan, driving the Taliban out. Imagine how baffled and unimpressed the Russians were with the departure of the Americans from Afghanistan to Iraq. As U.S. choppers fall in Iraq and as the Taliban regains control of parts of Afghanistan, imagine the Russians’ rueful smiles -- given their defeat in Afghanistan not that long ago.

The Big C: Welcome, welcome! It is good to see all of you guys again. Bet you never thought the next time would be in the White House!

How is it going?

Much better than expected. With the experience Dick and I share, our many contacts, we know who to put where. In breadth and depth, our administration will be the fastest up and running ever.

With Congress in our pocket, we are planning -- like a military campaign -- broadly, across all issues and agencies -- a rollback -- many defeats -- of the Democratic Party -- a rollback to the 1800’s. You guys will all be getting tax breaks, and refunds, and industry incentives, and rebates -- your due. If you want we will send you public servants to be your chauffeurs. After all we have a couple of trillion dollars to get rid of.

Do you think they will catch on?

Those pansy asses? Not a chance. We will be going in so many different directions -- all at once -- they won’t know what hit them -- they won’t be able to catch their breath. Hell, they haven’t even figured out our language -- the old master-slave stik. Domination. My daughter tells me Democrats are all a bunch of "bitches".

The election was closer than expected.

That was good R&D investment money. If we hadn’t started our campaign against global warming and Al Gore 20 years ago we might have lost. I thought you guys should have simply photographed him with a whore in his bed, doctored some photographs, put some drugs in his car -- you know. But I think you were right and I was wrong. Tarring him and global warming the same as Tobacco did the doctors, that was simple, effective and brilliant. Just create doubt: “...Al Gore is not as smart as he thinks he is... you know he takes credit for other people’s ideas ... a Senator's son. ...raised in a hotel room. ...you know he says he invented the Internet. ...a nerd.” and so on. It got to a place were newspaper reporters couldn’t recognize the real Al Gore even after they had just sat down and interviewed him.

Now, gentlemen, the reason you are here: The President and I appreciate how you supported the campaign. We owe you. Let’s talk about our priorities and your priorities and profits for the next 10 years...

I'm Confused. Can you help me?

G.B., can you help me? I am confused.

Sure, compadre.

You invaded Iraq because they had weapons of mass destruction?

Yes.

Did they have weapons of mass destruction?

Yes.

Even though several of our sources and many international sources said no.

Yes. What do they know?

You said Iraq’s Saddam Hussein was linked with Al-Qaida and therefore indirectly involved with 9/11?

Yes.

Even though several of our sources and many international sources said no?

Yes.

You said the war was over in Afghanistan and that we had won in Iraq?

Yes.

Even though the war effort has increased and the dying goes on?

Yes.

When there was no WPD and no link to Al-Qaida, you said we were in Iraq to bring democracy?

Yes.

Then when the dying continued year after year, you said we should stay because we had to honor those who had already died?

Yes. But don’t forget, the Al-Qaida are in Iraq.

Even though they were not there before?

Yes.

Let me see. Although Iraq was not part of the War on Terror, we decided to invade because ... weapons of mass destruction? no... Al-Qaida.... no... We are creating democracy and all the Muslim countries will want democracy? And democratic Muslim countries will not engage in terror? This is the war on Terror?

Yes.

Democracy created by an outside army knocking on civilian doors at night? Democracy through the barrel of a gun?

Yes.

But , as the years have gone by, and the Muslim countries see the violence, the terror, in Iraq -- our democratic violence and terror -- won’t this chase them back to their own and other forms of government?

No.

How long will the war go on?

A long time.

As the years pass I have noticed that it has become the Iraqi’s fault for not more effectively and quickly defending themselves and our forces against the attacks of Shiite, Sunni and Al-Qaida dissidents or insurgents?

Yes. We give them the opportunity and they need to make the most of it.

Are they dissidents, insurgents or patriots?

It doesn‘t matter.

Do you think they need a stronger prime minister?

Maybe. They need to know we are thinking about it.

I have noticed that their oil infrastructure is resisting repair and production. I have noticed that they have refused to accept some of the big and beautiful things we have built for them. Do you think this is because they think we invaded to get their oil and if they accepted the expensive things we have done for them that would mean they accepted the costs and maintenance -- the long term payment of big debts to us?

This is Mr. Cheney’s turf. Of course we expect them to be grateful for the many things we have done for them. We expect them to be a responsible, democratic nation.

My brain aches. Do you think that another person might see all of the above differently?

Of course. (smiling) Others don’t understand. Congress is just a bunch of pussies. They will do what I say. A few may question, but it does not matter. I am the boss. Father knows best. It is in the genes. Some people give orders and some people follow orders. It is as simple as that. I say what the facts are. The facts are what I say. I answer to no one. I am the Big Fact-tor. Get it? The big dick. The dic-tay-tor. Yeah!

The Saga of Capt. Bush and the Battle of Box Canyon

M. Anderson RA19611953


July 1870 - somewhere in southwestern United States

The Generals’ Review Committee is now in session. The issue before us is the matter of Captain Bush and the Battle of Box Canyon. Captain Bush is the commander of Fort Custer. Why was this meeting called?

“The Al Ki-da tortured and killed every last member of the Tower Ranch. We authorized a declaration of war on the Al Ki-da. We authorized Captain Bush’s attack on Box Canyon. The Battle of Box Canyon has now been waging for five years.
A battle going on for five years! Wait a minute! The Tower Ranch is nowhere near Box Canyon.

Why did we do that?

“He reported that the Al Ki-da near the Tower Ranch were defeated and that we now needed to take care of these Al Ki-da who were in cahoots with the other tribes in the Box Canyon area and that they had Gatling guns and cannon and were going to destroy all of the railroads and towns west of the Mississippi. We diverted a major part of our western forces to Box Canyon to stop them.

Did we stop them?

“Well... No.
Were the Al Ki-da there?

“No.

What about the Gatling guns and cannon?
“Never found.

What about the Al Ki-da that attacked the Tower Ranch?

“They have grown in strength and now appear stronger than ever.
Then, why, in the good Lord’s name, are we still in Box Canyon? Why didn’t we order a withdrawal from Box Canyon when it was found that the Al Ki-da were not there and that there were no Gatling guns or cannon?

“Captain Bush, Lieutenant Cheney and their friends argued that since we were there we ought to make Christians out of these barbarian Indians. (From the 5th century through the 19th century, Christianity instead of Democracy was a common argument for invasion and annihilation of Indians.)

We approved that?
“Yes.

Well, shouldn’t they all be dead or all be Christians by now?

“No. Captain Bush and Lieutenant Cheney have argued that it will take more troops and more time.

When he first went into Box Canyon, didn’t he argue that no more troops were needed?

“Yes, but now he wants more troops.

Which: To kill them all or to make them all Christians?

“One or the other: Victory has never been defined.

Well, why aren’t they all dead? It has been five years! Isn’t Captain Bush leading his troops at Box Canyon?

“No. He is back at the fort. He was trained to be a cavalry officer (sort of like a 20th century air force pilot). Too young for the Civil War. He has had no combat experience. (In the 20th century he would be called a “ninety day wonder.”) His troops are mostly foot soldiers. Captain Bush is a member of the rich, has gone to the schools of the privileged and believes therefore he is privileged, entitled to rule. He is the son of General Bush, retired. He has no sense of accountability. He is petulant. He is stubborn. He says God speaks to him. He is very well connected and can bring a lot of heat to bear on Congress.

Is this who Congress is calling King George?

“Yes.

Then, is his first lieutenant there in Box Canyon?

“No, Lieutenant Cheney is also back at the fort. He has even less combat experience than Captain Bush. He was an aide to General Nixon, then he was a politician, and then he made his living as an Indian trader. Now, primarily, he is dealing with logistics. Because the fort is so far away a lot of local purchases -- both commodities and services -- are being made there. Many of the contracts are no-bid. Money has disappeared. Weapons have disappeared. We have asked about it. Bush and Cheney say it is none of our business, it is unpatriotic to ask. For example, the fort is being protected by the Blackeye Private Security Agency. These people are getting rich, are not accountable to anyone and are in constant contact with Congress. The Lieutenant is old, sick and sadistic. So is his team. He scares people. He also is very well connected and can bring a lot of heat to bear on Congress.

Was that the General Nixon: The one who resigned before he was fired?

“Yes.

Then, are there any officers at Box Canyon?

“Not really. At the beginning his officers questioned his judgment. They said there were not enough troops and incomplete planning. Others said there was no threat. He had them sent away. Their replacements had to be in agreement with him. They couldn’t win the battle. Now those replacements have been replaced.

The mission has not exactly been made clear. If the Al Ki-da are not there and if we haven’t killed all of the Indians, then some of the remaining must be the ones we are making into Christians?

“Not exactly. When Captain Bush attacked there weren’t any Al Ki-da. Now, the Al Ki-da and other surrounding tribes have shown up. Our scouts have reported that the Al Ki-da fully understand what box canyons are. They could not believe any military force -- much less the vaunted United States -- would deliberately make themselves surrounded. If we could have made it happen, if we had had the troops and the firepower, then it truly might have been an audacious, maybe even brilliant tactic. But without the troops and firepower, they (as did the world) realized we were a paper tiger, a pop gun, full of hot air. A waste of men and equipment and money. He announced victory and then the Americans did not leave. The Al Ki-da, and others, decided to join the ‘fun.’ So the U.S. Army is trapped in a box canyon so the United States is trapped in a box canyon.

And the other Indians? Christians?

“When Captain Bush and Lieutenant Cheney argued their attack in the first place they said we would quickly and easily defeat the barbarian Chief Hus-say. They said that the Indians had been oppressed and that we would be received as saviors. The Indians would reimburse us for our costs and we could go home. That did not happen. The Indians split into three major tribes and many smaller ones. We were not welcomed. The tribes started fighting each other and many started fighting us. And over time, other tribes have arrived and are helping their friends. They are not helping us. Most are not Christian.

Are there any Christians?

“Some Indians were Christians before we arrived. Most of these have left the Canyon.
The other Indians -- we are not sure. It is kind of like the United States: The Box Canyon Parliament we set up appears to be controlled by special interests. In their government the politicians are doing favors for their own tribes. Other tribes are left out. They fight each other. We have civil wars. They have civil wars. No one is looking out for the common man, the welfare of the whole country. But most of them do not like us being there. We are seen as invaders. And that’s a fact: We are there. We are invaders. They refer to us as “crusaders.” It was voiced by Captain Bush. The word “crusade” is offensive to the Indians.

Someone could write a book but no one would believe it. Gentlemen, we have a basic problem here. Why would we ever have given approval for anyone to make an attack into a box canyon? A box canyon! Wasn’t anybody looking at a map! Even Captain Bush’s own father, General Bush (ret.), had the option of entering that very same Box Canyon in pursuit of renegades and he told everyone if he did it there would be a helluva mess. He felt he had punished them enough and let them go. He knew. We knew. We approved. Were we assuming that Captain Bush read his father’s book and was in agreement with his father? Why?

“We were told and chose to believe that the attack would be without opposition, over quickly, at little cost, we would make friends -- throughout the west -- and our costs would be offset by a little gold from Oily Creek. We could go home. None of these things have been borne out. Just the opposite.

Did we know there was gold in Oily Creek?

“Yes.

Have we gotten any gold?

“No. Both friendly forces (if we have any) and enemy forces have made that darn near impossible.

Would we leave if they would sign their gold over to us?

“Probably.

What, in fact, has been the result of our attack?

“We are still surrounded. We have made many enemies. We are making more enemies. Many of them are smart. We are being out-thought. (Pictures of exploding humvees are on the Internet worldwide nightly.) Our remaining close friends are embarrassed. The wounded are piling up at Fort Custer. They do not have adequate medical attention. We can see no end to the loss of soldiers and dollars. Civilians (meaning some our corporations) are doing very well and still might get a little gold from Oily Creek. Some of our corporations and some of our rich people are making money hand over fist. The word is out internationally: We are torturing, creating a civil war, and literally burning the treasure of the United States upon the bodies of our dead soldiers. Reporters from London, New York, Moscow, Istanbul, Paris and Bombay are now at the fort.
The battle in Box Canyon is not the war. Never was. What isn’t working is the battle: Our soldiers are being wounded and killed. Five years. No end in sight. Our Nation is young and has many pressing needs, but with a Republican Congress and a war, our money is running down a dozen different rat holes. What is working is the war: Bush and Cheney are taking very good care of their rich friends -- here and abroad -- at the expense of the Nation. Are they that dumb or are we that dumb? Are they really that stupid in the management of a war? Or have they exploited every opportunity to enrich their rich friends? Whichever way, the Nation is left holding the bag.

“Does Congress know? Some do. They are scurrying around like rats on a sinking ship. They would rather spend a million dollars on bullets than a million dollars on reparations. Good lawyers that they are, they do not want to imply that the United States made an error and has some liability in the deaths of thousands of people and the destruction of billions of dollars of property.

“Captain Bush wants more troops.

Is he serious?

“As serious as he has always been.

What do you think he is up to?

“He has always had public relations people who advise him. I think he is planning his retreat. And from the very beginning, even before Box Canyon, he retained legal advice. He has legal opinions on issues that have yet to be raised. He knows he has violated the law variously and repeatedly. To protext himself, he has conscientiously had built a fortress of law. I believe he knows he cannot win the battle. In a year or so his enlistment will run out and I think he will be gone. He has made fortunes for so many people they will take care of him and his family for the rest of their lives. If he can just keep the battle going until then the responsibility and the blame will fall on whoever replaces him. (War crime tribunals will have to wait for the 20th century.) (But everyone knew what impeachment was in 1870.)

I see: Poisoning the well.

“Yes. Normally we would have members of the Officer Corps volunteering for this duty. There are no volunteers. The word is out.

Doesn’t he realize he is corrupting the army, the nation, the bankers, business, families, children...

“I don’t think so. I think he believes all of these are already corrupt. The wimpyness of the Democrats and the in-your-face corruption of the Repuplicans surely suggests he is right.
Gentlemen, we approved. Whatever we do we will be blamed. We can stand with those who already have lost their jobs and reputations because they tried to stop this man. We can try and stop him. We might be destroyed. Or, we can let him get away with it: See more die, more destroyed, more corrupted, the loss of public wealth, loss of international reputation, blood, the slide ... Either way, it is something we let happen. We bear some responsibility.

“What about the Indians?

God forgive us, among the many, many sins we have committed against Indians, here is the most recent example. They never asked for this. We clearly, with foresight, intent and planning, are the invader, the aggressor. Maybe we need to ask for their forgiveness and to offer restitution. In the long run that would be less expensive and offer more security than continuing this sad farce.

“What about the Al Ki-da?

We seem to have forgotten that that is the war and Box Canyon is not. We certainly need smarter men than Bush and Cheney to fight them. Our purpose is not to make friends rich or Christians happy or even both. Our purpose is the security of our nation. We need those plans. We need those tools. And we need those friends. Across the globe, we need real friends.

“What do we tell the soldiers who are now disabled, mangled?

Tell them the truth. Tell them they fought a good fight. Tell them our strategy was horribly flawed. Tell them the war is not over. There will be many more battles. The battles won’t be in Box Canyon. Our nation’s honor demands that we take responsibility. We will do better. Tell them we will never forget the lessons of Box Canyon, and we will never forget them and the sacrifices they have made.

“What do we tell the parents who lost their children in Box Canyon?

Tell them the truth. Tell them their children where good soldiers who fought a good fight. Apologize because it was the wrong battle, at the wrong time, in the wrong place, with the wrong enemy, with the wrong army, with the wrong equipment, with the wrong leadership, that created more enemies than it eliminated. We need to wake up, leave this nightmare, get back to the real battle and stop making more enemies. We will investigate every bullet and every bulletin, every decision, every responsible person, under every rock, and we will hold them and us all accountable. If we do not clearly discover why and how so many stupid errors were made, then these soldiers will have died in vain. We must learn from our mistakes. To survive, we must. We must to honor these children and their children. Their sacrifices must not be in vain.

“What about Bush and Cheney?

Have them post to Washington immediately. Before they get on the stage coach, have them spend five minutes with Army Scout John Wayne. He knows what a box canyon is. Have him draw a map. Have him tell them what a box canyon is. Order the withdrawal from Box Canyon immediately. Initiate a full investigation into Bush’s behavior. Report your progress at our next regularly scheduled meeting.

Gentlemen, a house cleaning stirs up dust and will initially make some people choke, maybe even puke, but it is better to have our children live in a clean house than a pig’s sty.

Gentlemen, I hope that none of us are casualties between now and the next meeting. This meeting is now adjourned.