Post #151: Random Thoughts

The following are an unconnected hodgepodge of thoughts that I gathered from my notebook for no other reason than the fact that I was bored senseless:

POT SHOT
By the time one gets to be my age (Madonna and I will be fifty on August 16) one has personally known - at the very least - one hundred people who have died as the result of the intake of too much alcohol, and another hundred who have died from too much nicotine. Now ask yourself the following question: how many people have you known in your lifetime who have died as a result of the abuse of marijuana? Not only have I never known anyone to die in that manner, I am not aware of it happening in all recorded human history. Sure, there might be a debate to be had that it is a "gateway drug" that leads inevitably to harder substances, but that argument is defeated by the undeniable fact that your average junkie started his or her life of addiction by drinking beer. Although I quit smoking pot a long time ago (sometimes I wish I hadn't) I find it hard to believe that seventy-one years after grass was made illegal, we're still having this stupid debate over its decriminalization. I am not advocating the use of marijuana. I am only stating the obvious: it is a relatively harmless drug that has been proven to have some very real medicinal benefits. Sentencing people to long stretches in prison for its use is not only counter productive, it is criminal. Truth be told, I would sleep better at night knowing that a child I loved was a pot head rather than a alcoholic. BEEN THERE, DONE THAT....

THE DEATH OF AMERICA: AUTOPSY RESULTS
When the coroners report is finally made available, the cause of death will be crystal clear: the American experiment died of starvation. America could have been a paradise. And now our very survival depends on us keeping the world supplied with weapons of death. Think about that. Were world peace to suddenly envelope the Planet Earth tomorrow, the United States of America would whither and die overnight. Oh, no. We cannot allow that to happen, can we?

JUST WHAT IS IT ABOUT TEXAS?
For the second time in a generation, a halfwit from Texas has led this country into an untenable quagmire in a far away land. Come to think about it, that last sentence was grossly unfair to Lyndon B. Johnson. For all of his faults (and there were many) at least his heart was in the right place in most respects. For all of his epic flaws, a lot of good things came out of his administration. When the dust is finally settled and historians are able to objectively search through the wreckage of the last seven and a half years, it will be said that not one positive thing was achieved for the American people during the eight wasted years of George W. Bush's reign of terror and error - not one.

LOSE, LOSE OR DRAWL
On the night of April 24, Chris Matthews reported on MSNBC that the president of the United States made an appearance on a TV game show called, Deal or No Deal. A GAME SHOW! Can you imagine - in your wildest, weirdest dreams - Jack Kennedy, Dick Nixon - or even a moron like Ronald Reagan - doing something as foolish and demeaning as that? How much further is this fucking idiot determined to trivialize the presidency? Enquiring minds want to know.

HOW MUCH MORE EVIDENCE DO WE NEED?
This week it was reported in the New York Times that the Bush administration used taxpayer dollars in order to propagandize the American people into signing onto a war that has proven to be the worst military blunder in American history; a war that has left over one million people as dead as an infinite pile of door nails. If I am not mistaken, that is a crime, is it not? The law clearly says as much. Call it a hunch, but my suspicion is that anyone who might be found to be behind such hideous machinations would be more-than-eligible for a very long, permanent stretch behind the walls of a federal prison.

That we were lied to is no state secret. What is astonishing is the effort they put into the spreading of those lies. As John Stauber asked in an excellent piece on AlterNet this morning [see link below], who in their right minds could have imagined the extent of the deception? The fact that the main stream media is ignoring what can only be described as the most important news story in years is disturbing and shameful. That is why the next president and congress needs to re-regulate the FCC. The future of our democracy depends on nothing less. Don't expect that to happen if John McCain or Hillary Clinton are elected in the Autumn.

CUTTING OUR LOSSES
Those who babble on about the consequences of America losing this war if we withdraw miss a crucial point: this war was lost in March 2003 the moment the first boot set foot on Iraqi soil. This war was lost when the FIRST FOOL stood on the deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, with that stupid, perverted smirk on his face, under the banner which proclaimed, "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED". Looking at that footage today, it is almost touching how gut-wrenchingly ridiculous our commander-in-chief looks. Show me a person who still thinks that sending this disgusting piece of shit to the White House was a good idea, and I'll show you someone who has overdosed on Stupid Pills.

The assault on the men, women and little children of Iraq is going to end disastrously for this country. It matters not whether we pull out in 2009 or in 2109, we will lose this war. We lost it years ago. Wake up.

McCAIN ISN'T ABLE
It is clear that unless the Dems come up with a compromise candidate that the party can unite behind, someone who isn't damaged goods like Clinton and Obama, a McCain administration is all-but-certain come January of next year. John McCain is a doddering old fool. The best thing that can be said of the man is that he is a shade smarter than George W. Bush. Seriously, that's not much of an endorsement, is it?

2008 is going to be a nightmare. At no time since 1932 has the need to go in a new direction been as painfully evident as it is at this moment. And yet it seems that November of 2008 is only going to bring more of the same. Good going, America!

BY GEORGE!
"Senator Obama, who is more patriotic: you or Reverend Wright?"

Congratulations are in order to George Stephanopoulos for asking the dumbest question thus far in this campaign. All one has to do is watch a video of the 1960 Kennedy/Nixon debates to be shaken awake as to how dumbed down America's national political conversation has become in the forty-eight years since. The American Broadcasting Company's April 16th debate was beyond embarrassing - it was a disgrace.

JAIL TO THE CHIEF(?)
Truth be told, I don't want to see George W. Bush go to jail (or "gaol" as the English spell it....what's up with that??) for his crimes against the human race. "Jail" is where you go to when you've had one-too-many on a Saturday night and you accidentally back your car into the plate glass window of the local pharmacy. I want to see George W. Bush sent to prison for the rest of his life.

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THE DEMOCRATS ARE WORTHLESS

The 110th Congress will be remembered as the most cowardly, pathetic legislative body since the invention of dirt. Never has there been such an abundance of evidence that warranted the impeachment of a sitting president. Ten years ago Bill Clinton was almost removed from office for telling a little white lie about having a fling with a half-witted intern (It is helpful to remember that he never actually had sex with "that woman, Ms. Lewinsky"). Why, then, are Bush and Cheney still in power? Why have they not been impeached? What the hell has happened to the party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt?

Once again, the Democrats have been handed a bottle of finely aged, twelve-year-old scotch and these gutless assholes have turned it into donkey piss.
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There. I feel better already,

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net

Link to the John Stauber piece on AlterNet:
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/83541/

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Special thanks to brother Pete Degan for the Harry Truman photo.

And now a word or two about Capital Punishment

NOTE TO THE SECRET SERVICE AND THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY:
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The purpose of this little essay is to make a plea against state sanctioned murder and is not meant to advocate the execution of the president of the United States nor any of his esteemed underlings.

Cool photo, though, huh??
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It boggles the mind to ponder the extent to which the United States is so out of step with the rest of the world. It is tempting, I'm sure, for the half-witted flag waivers to shout that we are a step ahead (or several for that matter) of the rest of the planet. But the undeniable fact of the matter is that we're several steps behind. Or, to put it in terms of a tangible timeline: Over half a century behind the rest of the free world. Whether it be health care or gun control, the good old U.S. of A is in a class by itself. Stated more concretely: we're at the bottom of the class. Look at it this way: if our health care system is as good as the plutocracy claims it to be, why then has no other country on the face of the earth bothered to copy it? Why have they all copied the English system? The answer to that question is embarrassingly obvious: health care in this country sucks. No doubt about it: America has much to learn and a long way to go.
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No where else is this nasty little truism more crystal clear than in regard to the topic of the Death Penalty. Why did other civilized societies abandon this barbaric practice decades ago? Why are we the last holdouts? Why?? HELLO??? We're Americans! WE LOVE TO KILL!!! When states all over the country abandoned the electric chair a number of years ago for the seemingly more "humane" method of lethal injection, a lot of us got pretty upset. The only thing the needle did was make a victim go to sleep. But all you had to do was strap one of them onto ol' Sparky and those bastards suffered, baby! Oh yeah, we love to inflict pain, don't we? At this very moment your government is in the process of inflicting torture against men they deem as prisoners of war - in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions - and the overwhelming majority of us just don't seem to give a hoot in hell. We're Americans, dammit! We can do anything we want! The rest of the world doesn't dig it? The hell with 'em!
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The main problem with capital punishment, in my opinion anyway, is the fact that it is so grotesquely unfair. It is always the poor and uneducated who are executed. Can you remember the last time a multimillionaire Yale grad went to the death house? No, neither can I. Is it because the rich are above murder? Are you kidding me?? The rich kill other human beings all the time! They do it for fun and profit! More often than not, they're able to hire an army of high priced lawyers who then obtain a neat and hasty acquittal.

Not long ago, one of the heirs to the Max Factor fortune was convicted of a particularly grizzly killing. Not only was he not even considered for the death penalty, he was able to escape for a time to Mexico (He could afford the bail). And if you're black??? Cast ye hope to the wind, brother. The reason so many Americans favor the Death Penalty is because so huge a percentage of its victims are African American. That is not merely my own opinion, that is an undeniable fact. If tomorrow, a federal law was passed that guaranteed that anyone convicted of murder would be executed - no exceptions - capital punishment in this country would cease to exist overnight.
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And while we're on the subject, what living American is a more perfect candidate for the noose than our nitwit commander-in-chief? You may find that to be an extreme example but think about it for a minute: The guy ordered the U.S. Military into the sovereign nation of Iraq in order to plunder the second or third largest oil reserves on the planet. As of today, over a million Iraqi men, women and little children (not to mention over four-thousand American troops) have died as a result of this hideous little guttersnipe's greed and incompetence. Sixty years ago, we were sending Nazis and Japanese war lords to the gallows for as much and - in some cases much less!

If and when George W. Bush is found guilty of serious capital offences and war crimes, I'm all in favor of sending the disgusting little twit to the Hague. He won't be put to death there. Then again, maybe we need to put him on trial in this country. The American people would never tolerate the execution of an ex-president - even so vile a cretin as Bush. Maybe his certain demise at the tip of a poisoned-laced syringe is just what this silly country needs to come to its senses. Maybe the very sight of the First Fool on the gallows would force the people to come face to face with the inhumanity that is capital punishment. On second thought, this could be a great test case. From this day on, all people who believe in justice should demand that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney pay with their lives for their crimes against humanity. What the hell! Let's see what happens.
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Some may read this piece and say out loud, "Tom Degan doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. He'd think differently if he ever had a loved one murdered in cold blood!" Well, in fact, I have had a loved one die in that very manner - not to mention a couple of friends. My position is that the killing of people who commit such horrible crimes solves nothing. Why add to the carnage? What earthly sense does that make?
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What has always tickled the heck out of me is the position taken by so many "Christians" with regard to the death penalty. They remain totally blind to the obvious contradictions between state sanctioned murder and the teachings of Jesus Christ. John 8:1 tells us of the day a woman (referred to in the scriptures as a "prostitute") was caught in the act of adultery. Mosaic law required that she immediately be stoned to death. Jesus, who was teaching at a nearby temple, told the mob that was descending upon the poor gal:
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"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
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One by one, they placed their stones on the ground and walked away in shame.
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Don't you see what Christ was saying there? He was preaching against capital punishment! There is no room whatsoever for misinterpretation - NONE! So how do we get the practice of state sanctioned murder to conform to the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth? It's quite simple, really: It should be mandated - by law - that from now on, the person who "throws the switch" (so to speak) has to be someone who has never committed a sin in his or her entire life! Someone like....Oh....I don't know....Barbara Bush maybe? Or how 'bout Phyllis Schlafly?? You see the utter absurdity of this, don't you? I knew you would. I just knew it!
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In 1992, Bill Clinton abruptly left the campaign trail to head back to Arkansas to oversee, in his capacity as governor of that state, the execution of a man who was so severely retarded, he had the I.Q. of a three year old. During his years as governor of Texas, George W. Bush would refuse to commute the death sentences of people of even questionable guilt. The 2000 campaign was just around the corner and he had to prove to the knuckleheads who tend to vote in Republican presidential primaries that he was "tough on crime". In a 1999 interview with Tucker Carlson, he mocked the recently condemned Karla Faye Tucker. Quivering his lips, he jokingly implored, "Please don't kill me, Governor Bush." Both Bush and Clinton are self described "Christians". Go figure.
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"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
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In the words of the late, great Lenny Bruce: "Thou shalt not kill means just that!" For the record, Lenny was an agnostic Jew. Yet he had a better understanding of the meaning of Christianity than Dubya and Bubbah combined.
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And finally there is the inconvenient truth that in a country where American Idol is valued more than the American Constitution, to say that a jury of twelve, average men and woman is going to be somewhat flawed is kind of an understatement, don'cha think? We'll never know precisely the number of innocent people who have been condemned to death by a jury of their peers - but it is safe to assume that it is an unacceptable number. Historical hindsight tells us that Mary Surratt (photo left) who was the first woman in U.S. history to be executed by the federal government for the part she was accused of playing in President Lincoln's assassination, was more than likely innocent of the crime she was charged with. She was hanged along with three co-defendants on July 7, 1865. The murder of Mrs. Surratt did not bring Abraham Lincoln back from the dead.
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"Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do."
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Forgive them for what? I think it is worth noting that when Jesus Christ uttered those words, he was being put to death by the enemies of righteousness. Not to worry, though. On the third day He rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures. NICE!!!
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The total abolition of the Death Penalty is an idea that is long overdue. That this inhuman practice is being committed on an almost weekly basis inside the walls of prisons all over the country only demeans us as a people. It is un-American and un-Christian. Or at least that is how my civic and religious upbringing forces me to interpret it. My Jesus was a man flowing with love, mercy and compassion. What was your Jesus all about?
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Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net
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The sleeping giant of the Religious Left is awakening from a long and troubled slumber.
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SUGGESTED READING:
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Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander
by Thomas Merton
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Penny Per Copy:
Assorted Writings of Dorothy Day and The Catholic Worker
1933-1994
edited by Tom Cornell

PLEASE NOTE:

For more recent postings on this perfectly subversive blog, kindly go to the following link:

DAS RANT by HEIR DEGAN

Didn'cha just figure as much?

Experience

This morning I was watching the film, RKO 280. In 1941, RKO Pictures made news when they gave an unprecedented contract to a 25 year old "boy genius" named Orson Welles. Welles, a product of the New York stage and radio, was to write, direct and star in a film, the script of which hadn't even been written yet. A year and a half earlier he had made national news when his radio adaptation of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds, written as an ongoing, "live" newscast, had much of the country believing that the planet Earth was being invaded by Martians. When Welles and company arrived on the RKO sound stage to commence with the production of his film, he had absolutely no idea how to make a movie. All he had was a vision and he needed to translate that vision to the crew that would be working with him. As a result of his lack of any preconceived notions regarding the mechanics of film making, he would merely ask RKO for the seemingly impossible and think nothing of it. The technicians responded to the challenge. The result was Citizen Kane, undoubtedly the greatest American movie ever made.

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This got me to thinking about the argument that has been made in some political circles - Right and Left - with regard to Barack Obama and his lack of experience. If history is to be any guide (and it usually is a very reliable one) Senator Obama's so-called "lack of experience" might be just what this troubled country needs at the moment. As the legendary New York Governor Al Smith used to say, "Let's look at the record":

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Dwight D. Eisenhower was the last Republican president worth a damn. It was he who, in the waning hours of his term of office, had the foresight to warn the American people of the dangers of "the acquisition of misplaced power, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex." Ike had absolutely no political experience before he was elected to the presidency in 1952. He had never held elective office before in his life. He was a military man! And yet (domestically anyway - we won't get into his atrocious foreign policy) he is thought of today as a fairly good and competent chief executive.

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Barack Obama has more experience than Franklin D. Roosevelt had when he took the oath of office on March 4, 1933. Roosevelt's total background as far as elected office is concerned, consisted of a brief stint in the New York State senate - twenty years before his presidency even began - and a single, fairly uneventful term as governor of New York. At the time many people were viewing Roosevelt's election as an accident of history. His own cousin Alice Roosevelt Longworth (Teddy's daughter) would famously dismiss him as "a feather duster". Like Orson Welles, Franklin Roosevelt came to his vocation with no preconceived notions as to what constituted a successful presidency. The first few months of his administration were noted for its broad and bold experimentation. It worked. Although the New Deal was not without its flaws, it was responsible for the creation of a middle class that had not even existed before its implementation. FDR is, I believe, one of the greatest presidents in American history.

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Theodore Roosevelt, is also in the pantheon of great American presidents. It is not by accident that his image is carved for all eternity into the side of Mount Rushmore. TR's accumulative political and legislative experience was a as a New York State Assemblyman and, like his distant cousin Franklin, serving a single term as governor of New York. (Coincidentally, both men would also serve as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, TR under William McKinley; FDR under Woodrow Wilson). Roosevelt had been serving as vice president for a mere six months when in September of 1901, McKinley's assassination elevated him to the presidency. Theodore Roosevelt was the last great Republican president. It was his strong and unwavering belief that big business existed at the pleasure of the people - not the other way around. That is why he has been forgotten by the GOP. TR is today held up as an icon - not by the Republican Party - but by progressives. Life is funny that way, isn't it?

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And while we're on the subject of "experience", let's take a look at the career of the only other great Republican president, Abraham Lincoln. Hillary Clinton is fond of saying that she and John McCain have years of experience between them and that all Barack Obama has is "a speech". Yeah, right. He does have a speech. Guess what old Abe Lincoln had in 1860 when his party nominated him to be their standard bearer. You guessed it: a speech. On June 16, 1858, in front of a thousand or more delegates at the Illinois State House, Lincoln proclaimed that:

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"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free."

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That speech, which was carried in newspapers all across the country, did more than anything to cement Lincoln's national reputation. His total experience had been a single term as a congressman from Illinois a full twelve years before the commencement of his administration and a couple of years in the Illinois legislature nearly three decades before. And yet, this totally green, obscure, prairie lawyer from Illinois would save this country from its darkest inclinations.

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One-hundred and forty-eight years later, we have come face-to-face with another obscure, inexperienced politician from Illinois. Who knows? Maybe he is just what we've been waiting for.

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Hillary Clinton's main talking point has been that she was a major player in the Clinton White House. I'm sure that's true. The only problem with that is the uncomfortable fact that her husband's two terms in office were a disaster for the country in general and progressive politics in particular. America does not need a second Clinton administration. If she is handed the nomination at the Democratic Convention in Denver this summer, John McCain, beyond any doubt, will be the next president of the United States. But let's give the poor, pathetic woman the benefit of the doubt and say that she does have a chance at being elected in November. What would that mean? Just look at all of the scandals that have been brewing at the surface of one of the most disastrously run campaigns in recent memory! Do you really think that these silly people are going to get their act together by January 20, 2009? Think again.

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Between you and me and the lamp post, both Senators Obama and Clinton have been so damaged during this primary season, the Democrats would be smart to come up with a "compromise candidate" that the convention could unite behind. But that's not likely to happen. Why? Because the best thing that can be said about the Dems these days is that they are not quite as dumb as the Republicans. That being the case, I'll take newcomer Barack Obama over the "experienced" Hillary Clinton any day of the week.

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"The consequences of war are dire, the sacrifices immeasurable. We may have occasion in our lifetime to once again rise up in defence of our freedom, and pay the wages of war. But we ought not travel down that hellish path blindly. Nor should we allow those who would march off and pay the ultimate sacrifice, who would prove the full measure of their devotion with their blood, to make such an awful sacrifice in vain."

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Barack Obama

October 2003

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Yeah. The only thing Barack Obama has going for him is a speech. And do you know what? It's a damned good one! Honest Abe would be proud.

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Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

tomdegan@frontiernet.net

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SUGGESTED READING:

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With Malice Toward None:

The Life of Abraham Lincoln

by Stephan B. Oates

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Photograph to the left of column is of Orson Welles, circa 1942.

Martin Luther King 1929-1968

"Today, the choice is no longer between violence and nonviolence. It is either nonviolence or nonexistence. The Negro may be God's appeal to the age."
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Martin Luther King, Jr.
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I can still vividly recall where I was the night I learned of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King. April 4, 1968 was four months and twelve days before my tenth birthday. I was in a car, coming back from a long defunct business in Middletown, NY called Lloyd's Shopping Center. The moment the news came over the radio, we were going up the ramp on exit 122, the Fletcher Street exit off of the Quickway, at the very edge of the village of Goshen. I don't remember who the other passengers were. I don't remember who was driving. The only thing I distinctly remember is that bulletin.

It's hard to believe that he has been dead longer than he was alive. To put it another way, had a person born on the day Dr. King died lived as long as he lived, that person would have died on June 24th of last year. It's just a reminder as to how young he really was when he was taken from us by some half-witted yahoo with a high powered rifle. The night of the assassination, cities burned all across America, resulting in the deaths of 110 people. One of the few that was spared the violence and bloodshed was Indianapolis, Indiana, where the soothing words of Robert Kennedy sent the people back to their homes, transforming thousands of potential rioters into prayerful contemplatives:
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"So I ask all of you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King....but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love - a prayer for understanding and compassion....Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world....Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and a prayer for our country and our people."
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What is the most awe-inspiring thing about Kennedy's remarks that horrible evening is the fact that he spoke without notes - it was entirely extemporaneous. Two months and one day later, as if the nightmare of King's death was merely a sick prologue, Bobby Kennedy, too, would be shot and killed in Los Angeles, California. 1968 was that kind of year.
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One can only imagine what Martin Luther King would have made of the America of 2008. True, there is little doubt that he would have been thrilled that an African American had a real shot at the presidency - and a woman too for that matter. It goes without saying that he would be pleased at the progress blacks have made in some areas of American society. But it cannot be denied that the progress that seemed to be moving with such great momentum throughout the sixties and seventies, came to a dead stop in 1981 when the American people foolishly sent an inarticulate racist by the name of Ronald Wilson Reagan to the White House. He would be working overtime at this very moment to correct that situation.
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It' s also a fairly safe wager that Martin Luther King, whom at the time of his death was in the process of organizing a Poor People's March on Washington, would have been rendered righteously indignant by the war on the poor and middle class that has been going on in this country unabated since the dawn of the so-called "Reagan Revolution" twenty-eight years ago. And it's not a serious stretch of the imagination to conclude that Martin Luther King, who on April 4, 1967 (exactly one year before he died) began to speak out against the war in Vietnam, would have been outraged by the immoral and illegal assault on the men, women and little children of Iraq.
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No question about it, the America of April 4, 2008 would have broken his heart,
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It's hard - if not impossible - to imagine what he would have thought of the decline of America's political oratory in the ensuing four decades. What would the man who declared, "I have a dream" have thought of George W. Bush? Can you even imagine?
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From:
"I have a dream that one day my children will be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
To:
"Bring 'em on!"
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Yeah, we've fallen about as far as we can, haven't we? To paraphrase the great Mort Sahl, when a nation goes from John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King to the likes of George Bush and Dick Cheney it only proves one thing: DARWIN WAS WRONG!
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From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
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And if America is to be a great nation, this must be true.
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And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire!
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Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York!
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Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
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Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado!
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Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
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But not only that -
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Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
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Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
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Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi!
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From every mountainside, Let Freedom ring!
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It really doesn't get any better than that, does it? We are a kinder, gentler nation today - if only somewhat - because for a time, Martin Luther King walked among us - as tragically brief as that time might have been.
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I have a vinyl LP of some of Dr. King's speeches. Whenever I listen to it, whatever my frustration level may be when I drop the needle on Side One, by the time the tone arm of my turntable edges its way down the play-out groove of Side Two, I always end up feeling a little better about this country. That America can produce a man such as this is cause for hope. Maybe, just maybe, such a person is within out midst at this very moment; gently reaching out to the better angels of our nature. Maybe we're just not listening.
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Shh....Listen....
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Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net
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"Like everybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned with that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the Promised Land. And so I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!"
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Martin Luther King
April 3, 1968
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SUGGESTED READING:
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Let The Trumpet Sound:
The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Stephen B. Oates

Thom Hartmann

Yesterday afternoon at 12 noon, I was traveling south on the New York State Thruway. As I was getting off exit 15, merging onto Route 17 and entering New Jersey, I had the radio tuned to Air America, waiting for the Thom Hartmann Program to begin. Thom can only be described as an island of wisdom in an ocean of stupidity. His is the most enlightened and informative program in the history of the medium. His calming and cheerful voice has been conveying the Progressive message since he replaced Al Franken in the 12 to 3 PM time slot almost two years ago. He is articulate; he is passionate; and he communicates his ideas minus the venom and anger that has become the norm in recent years as far as talk radio is concerned.

So you can only imagine my shock and anger when - at three o'clock sharp - they announced the premiere of....the Ed Schultz Show....HUH??? Surely this must be a mistake! Right? Right??? I grabbed my cell phone and called the two numbers that are listed in the Manhattan directory for Air America Radio. No answer. Fine. I then called the "on the air" line. The guy who answered the phone told me in no uncertain terms that Thom Hartmann was no longer being broadcast on W-WRL (Air America's New York affiliate). "Call up the station and lodge a protest", he told me. "You bet I will", I replied. He was obviously as outraged as I was.
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Last night I emailed Thom and asked him the musical question: "What the hell is the matter with Mark Green???" Green is the general manager of Air America Radio. In reply, Thom told me that it wasn't Mark's idea to give him the sack. The blame there belongs to a company called Access 1, which owns W-WRL: "Mark assures me that they are working on finding a station in New York to carry my show....As soon as that happens, we'll announce the heck out of it." I can't tell you how flattering it is that a person whom I consider to be one of the most important living Americans would take the time to personally answer an e-mail from a regular schlep like me. And it's not the first time he's done so either.
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For the Record, let me say that I am not trying to besmirch the reputation of Ed Schultz. "The Fat Red Head", as he calls himself is a staple of the talk show circuit on cable television - MSNBC in particular. He is bright, funny and well-informed with respect to the issues that matter most to regular Americans. I've listened to his program before and it cannot be denied that he is good - very, very good. I look forward to listening to him on Air America Radio. Having said that, let me say this:
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As good as he is, the the guy is no Thom Hartmann - not even close. That should not be held against him. There is only one Thom Hartmann. Like the man on Madison Avenue once said, "Accept no substitutes".
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Thom's encyclopedic knowledge of American history is one of the reasons why his program is so important. It amazes me that so many of these half-witted right wingers who have held a monopoly on the people's airwaves in recent years have not even the most basic understanding of the history of this country and the lessons that may be drawn from a careful study of it.

Back in 2000, I literally had to pull over to the side of the road while I listened, jaw agape, as one of these brainless twits criticized the current Chicago Mayor, Richard Daley, for his actions during the Democratic Convention riots of 1968! This knucklehead didn't have the sense to realize that the Mayor Daley of 1968 was long dead - having died over two decades before - and that the present Mayor Daley was his son! I'm not makin' this stuff up, folks! That's the beautiful thing about the Right: They're soooo dumb! That is what makes these silly bastards so entertaining! I'm gonna miss them when they go.
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What makes the Thom Hartmann Program so valuable is because Thom knows where the United States has been and - more importantly - he has a pretty good idea where it's heading. He can intelligently explain the all-too-real parallels between the America of 1929 and the America of 2008 - and why we are spiraling towards a similar economic meltdown that crippled this country for the entire decade of the 1930s.

He can tell you why Theodore Roosevelt was the last real Republican "maverick" and, a moment later, he will produce an actual audio recording of Teddy's voice from his ill-fated Progressive Party campaign of 1912, speaking of, "a square deal for every man and every woman in the United States...."

Unlike the Sean Hannitys, the Rush Limbaughs, the Michael Weiners and the Ann Coulters, Thom has not only read the Constitution, he understands it! He can site any amendment, quote it verbatim, and explain, simply and with great insight, why that particular amendment might or might not have been a good thing for the country he loves so well. Thom does not attempt to inflame our emotions. He seeks to appeal to our reason and common sense - much in the same way another "Tom" (Paine) attempted to do over two centuries ago....
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Which reminds me: What's with the "h", Thom???
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He is a thoughtful, fair and polite debater who will not go into the gutter with a guest - no matter how strenuous his opposing argument may be. Last week, a woman espousing some silly economic theory argued the merits (or lack thereof) of her case with Thom for an entire fifteen minute segment. Later on in the broadcast, after the debate had ended, a listener phoned in to rake the poor, misguided gal over the coals. Thom would have none of it. "She's no longer here to defend herself", he gently explained to the caller. He refused to criticize her in her absence. That's what I call "class". Thom has it in abundance - a gentleman to the manor born.
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If you appreciate Thom Hartmann's contribution to the national political dialogue half as much as I do, give the good people at W-WRL a shout and voice your displeasure. Don't get crazy and threaten an advertising boycott - that would only be counter-productive. For all its faults, let's not forget that the place is an oasis in a desert of disinformation and propaganda. Just let them know that you're saddened by this turn of events and that Air America in New York has been severely diminished by his departure. Here are some people you can get in touch with:
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W-WRL:
(212) 871-8100
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Program Manager, Rennie Bishop:
bishop@wwrl1600.com
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Access 1 Communications:
(212) 714-1000
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Thom is a national treasure. His is a voice which desperately needs to be heard and the American people are desperate to hear it. As he says at the closing of every program:
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And remember, my friends:
Democracy begins with you!
Activism begins with you!
TAG! YOU'RE IT!!!!
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Thom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net
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Here is a link to Thom's website:
http://www.thomhartman.com/
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SUGGESTED READING:
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"Screwed"
by Thom Hartmann
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"Cracking The Code"
by Thom Hartmann
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Anything by Thom Hartmann

POSTSCRIPT, 4/17/12:

Sadly, four years later Air America is no more. But W-WRL is still here, and Thom Hartmann can be heard every afternoon from three to six. His program immediately follows the Ed Schultz Show. The best of both worlds! Immediately following Thom's broadcast is the Randi Rhodes Show which I also highly recommend. The gal is a scream.

For more recent postings on this site, please go to this link:

"The Rant" by Tom Degan