The original version of this song, performed by John Lennon, first debuted over a decade before I was born. Still, my mother was a huge Beatles fan, and so hearing this song served for one of my earliest childhood memories.
That version, of course, was bright, dreamy, optimistic. It carried, deep in its lyrical folds, the promise of a better tomorrow. This updated cover, performed by Maynard Keenan side-project A Perfect Circle, carries truck with none of that. It is mournful, bare, angry. It prays for peace, and knows that it will find none.
On the evenings before mission, laying in bed as my comrades slept, I used to listen to this song and dwell what might await me once I left the safety of the wire. I remember the pain of my separation from Anne, the dread that I might never see her again, the guilt of feeling that I had doomed my marriage to end in widowhood, and I found something I knew in the tones of Maynard's voice. I used to look up, squinting, as the F-16s roared skyward over my motor pool, and think of that clanging piano. I thought of the American people back home, some who wanted me home, some who wanted me to stay, and I felt abandoned to a loneliness I had no ability to understand.
This song helped me "get it."
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Monday, March 31, 2008
Actual Conversation
My husband was in line at the bank the other day and an older man was in front of him with a little bag full of the new dollar coins.
The man said, “I was collecting these, but they don’t have “In God We Trust” on them.” The older guy went on, “I cannot have that. I won’t have that.”
My husband, collecting the coins himself, and curious if these might not be the misprinted ones that were worth a lot more than the dollar,
asked him “They don’t have it on the edge?”
Irritated that he might not seem ‘with it’ enough to figure out the truth behind his own outrage, the man replied, “Nope. I checked!”
Prior to 1864 I guess this guy might have traded in horses.
Coming up with a good question for the guy, after they had parted, my husband wondered if the man had “in God We Trust” imprinted on his debit and credit cards.
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Let the Balls Roll Where They Fall
It's no secret that this blog and it's mothership have a certain disdain for the echo chamber that passes for a blog at Daily Kos. However, I do read it every weekday morning for one reason - Bill.
I know there are several problems - I'm hetero, he's not. We're both married to our particular spouses already . . etc. But I think you get the idea.
Bill raised a good point today:
What happened to that bit of wisdom about how the American electorate really doesn't pay attention until the fall? Well, it sounds a bit hollow when literally hundreds of thousands of new caucus and primary voters have shown up this year at the polls, setting incredible records and scaring the pants off of the GOP establishment. People are paying attention. And the possibility of a historical landslide election equivalent to 1980, 1976 or even 1932 is exceptional. So is the wisdom still valid? Will there still be the same time after the summer conventions?
Obama, on campaign in PA, went bowling yesterday. Apparently he sucks at it, like most of us, but he took it in stride, focusing on the message and not the gutter balls. But I tell you, the AP photo just looks . . odd.
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I know there are several problems - I'm hetero, he's not. We're both married to our particular spouses already . . etc. But I think you get the idea.
Bill raised a good point today:
I remember hearing back in '04---and the Very Serious People in Journalismland were adamant about this---that "few people really pay attention to the race until after summer vacation." If there's even a shred of truth to that, we can let the primaries play out to their scheduled June conclusion just fine. If Hillary's chances haven't risen to at least 50-50 and she stays in anyway, that's when she'll have jumped the shark and her support will naturally crumble.
What happened to that bit of wisdom about how the American electorate really doesn't pay attention until the fall? Well, it sounds a bit hollow when literally hundreds of thousands of new caucus and primary voters have shown up this year at the polls, setting incredible records and scaring the pants off of the GOP establishment. People are paying attention. And the possibility of a historical landslide election equivalent to 1980, 1976 or even 1932 is exceptional. So is the wisdom still valid? Will there still be the same time after the summer conventions?
Obama, on campaign in PA, went bowling yesterday. Apparently he sucks at it, like most of us, but he took it in stride, focusing on the message and not the gutter balls. But I tell you, the AP photo just looks . . odd.
Read more!
F.N.G.
Odelay.
My name is Milo Freeman. You might know me from my blog 'The Calm Before the Sand" (See blogroll at left). I'm 24 years old, soon to be 25, which I imagine makes me the young whippersnapper of this crew, but don't worry--you won't find any lack of life experience here.
First off, I'd like to thank the motley sea-dogs of Low and Left for inviting me onboard. I've been an OG reader of this blog since back in the day, and I was genuinely saddened when the site closed down. However, now that we're back up, I'm happy to be here. Big ups to iamcoyote for inviting me to the roster, as well as to Seven of Six, himself a wartime vet. SoS could be described as my "Blogfather." So anyway, thanks again, and I hope that I can prove a valuable member of this team.
A bit about me: I'm a United States soldier, currently on Active-Duty in Germany. For security reasons, that much is all I care to divulge for now, but I am also proud to state that I am a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On the domestic front, I have a wife, "Anne," whose posts can be seen at my main website. We've been married for nearly three years now, and we share our home with an attention-starved cat, Allie. We have no children.
My career with the Army is approaching an end. I've decided, after much debate, to leave the Army and move back stateside to Idaho. I'm an aspiring writer, and I plan to focus more on my blogs in the coming months, as well as on starting a family. I'm also in the final stages of writing a novel for young adults, and plan to be seeking out agents by fall. In addition, I'm in the process of applying for membership with Iraq Veterans Against the War, and I've been invited to write as a columnist for their publication, SITREP. This latest is a new development, but I am very excited at the prospect. More news on those areas of interest as events warrant.
I am proud to have served my country. I am proud to have earned the title of "soldier." But I am also a proud progressive and Buddhist, and I am deeply opposed to what I witnessed in Iraq. I plan to use this new blog to voice my thoughts on foreign policy, war as a construct in the American consciousness, and yes, conditions for troops on the ground. I still have several years remaining on my Army contract, and so for the next four years or so, I will be a member of the Individual Ready Reserve. This means that I will live and work as a civilian, but may be subject to a call-up again at any time. To be truthful, I don't care for this option, but its better than trying to serve my faith and my wife within a war-machine whose agendas I no longer champion.
Make no mistake: my posts will not be uplifting. They may be informative, meditative, even humorous at times. But I will always try to punch my readers in the gut. This is an unpleasant war, in an unpleasant time, during an unpleasant period for American politics and life. I love my country, but I always be first to hold up her sins to the light. I do this, lay bare her failings, her secrets, because I love her, and because I believe that she can be better. We deserve better, America, and there is no greater trigger for my outrage than all the ways in which we daily sedate and delude ourselves: with sound-bites, with talking-head platitudes, with--yes--little yellow magnets on the sides of our cars.
We deserve better America. Our troops deserve better. You deserve better.
To close up, thanks again, Pretzelheads, for bringing me in. It's an honor and a privilege. Everyone else, strap in and put your heads between your knees.
We will be experiencing turbulence.
Read more!
My name is Milo Freeman. You might know me from my blog 'The Calm Before the Sand" (See blogroll at left). I'm 24 years old, soon to be 25, which I imagine makes me the young whippersnapper of this crew, but don't worry--you won't find any lack of life experience here.
First off, I'd like to thank the motley sea-dogs of Low and Left for inviting me onboard. I've been an OG reader of this blog since back in the day, and I was genuinely saddened when the site closed down. However, now that we're back up, I'm happy to be here. Big ups to iamcoyote for inviting me to the roster, as well as to Seven of Six, himself a wartime vet. SoS could be described as my "Blogfather." So anyway, thanks again, and I hope that I can prove a valuable member of this team.
A bit about me: I'm a United States soldier, currently on Active-Duty in Germany. For security reasons, that much is all I care to divulge for now, but I am also proud to state that I am a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On the domestic front, I have a wife, "Anne," whose posts can be seen at my main website. We've been married for nearly three years now, and we share our home with an attention-starved cat, Allie. We have no children.
My career with the Army is approaching an end. I've decided, after much debate, to leave the Army and move back stateside to Idaho. I'm an aspiring writer, and I plan to focus more on my blogs in the coming months, as well as on starting a family. I'm also in the final stages of writing a novel for young adults, and plan to be seeking out agents by fall. In addition, I'm in the process of applying for membership with Iraq Veterans Against the War, and I've been invited to write as a columnist for their publication, SITREP. This latest is a new development, but I am very excited at the prospect. More news on those areas of interest as events warrant.
I am proud to have served my country. I am proud to have earned the title of "soldier." But I am also a proud progressive and Buddhist, and I am deeply opposed to what I witnessed in Iraq. I plan to use this new blog to voice my thoughts on foreign policy, war as a construct in the American consciousness, and yes, conditions for troops on the ground. I still have several years remaining on my Army contract, and so for the next four years or so, I will be a member of the Individual Ready Reserve. This means that I will live and work as a civilian, but may be subject to a call-up again at any time. To be truthful, I don't care for this option, but its better than trying to serve my faith and my wife within a war-machine whose agendas I no longer champion.
Make no mistake: my posts will not be uplifting. They may be informative, meditative, even humorous at times. But I will always try to punch my readers in the gut. This is an unpleasant war, in an unpleasant time, during an unpleasant period for American politics and life. I love my country, but I always be first to hold up her sins to the light. I do this, lay bare her failings, her secrets, because I love her, and because I believe that she can be better. We deserve better, America, and there is no greater trigger for my outrage than all the ways in which we daily sedate and delude ourselves: with sound-bites, with talking-head platitudes, with--yes--little yellow magnets on the sides of our cars.
We deserve better America. Our troops deserve better. You deserve better.
To close up, thanks again, Pretzelheads, for bringing me in. It's an honor and a privilege. Everyone else, strap in and put your heads between your knees.
We will be experiencing turbulence.
Read more!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Ain't gonna study war no more...
Milo's got a new post up, go take a look.
As for those depictions of war, they've always been romanticized by artists from the first cave drawings all the way up to Band of Brothers. Even Picasso's Guernica - for me, one of the most vivid and visceral depictions of the horror of war, is an abstract, as if we can't bear to look at the profound devastation of life, land and hope straight on. I can understand why you aren't interested in war movies anymore, Milo, you've seen the real thing day in, day out, and any depiction from here on in is going to seem like a lie and a betrayal.
Read more!
It's true: I DON'T watch war movies anymore, or partake of any entertainment dealing with military life. At first, I figured it was simply for lack of a need--after all, I AM military--but then I realized that it was something more. These war-movies, these wargames, all attempt to depict a body of experience alien to most people. For most, the reactions I have seen to these forms of media are not disgust, fear, or introspection, but rather envy.From the Keyboard Kommandos to Bush himself, who blatantly said he was "envious" of the troops in Afghanistan:
"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks."It all boils down to penis envy. These guys don't actually want to do what the soldiers are doing, they want to be as adored by history as the real soldiers are (as depicted in film and on tv). They want to be seen as heroes, and believe that somehow, by fetishizing the troops as heroic avatars, and cheerleading a continuation of military conquest, they'll somehow become warriors vicariously, and history will paint them victorious and noble. Fat chance.
As for those depictions of war, they've always been romanticized by artists from the first cave drawings all the way up to Band of Brothers. Even Picasso's Guernica - for me, one of the most vivid and visceral depictions of the horror of war, is an abstract, as if we can't bear to look at the profound devastation of life, land and hope straight on. I can understand why you aren't interested in war movies anymore, Milo, you've seen the real thing day in, day out, and any depiction from here on in is going to seem like a lie and a betrayal.
Read more!
Saturday, March 29, 2008
The Only Way to Watch W - Stoned.
Oliver Stone's new movie:
The American Dream, baby! I already had some looks at the script:
"They can't impeach me for bombingCambodia Iraq. The president can bomb anybody he likes."
"Just get me the election; I'll give you your damn war."
"Excuse me, sir, Who's flying this plane right now?"
"You can take yourVietnam Afghanistan and shove it up your ass"
"Thevillage country, which had stood for maybe a thousand years, didn't know we were coming that day. If they had, they would've run. Dubya was the eye of our rage. And through him, our captain Ahab, we would set things right again. That day we loved him."
And the best for last:
"The richest one percent of this country owns half our country's wealth, five trillion dollars. One third of that comes from hard work, two thirds comes from inheritance, interest on interest accumulating to widows and idiot sons and what I do, stock and real estate speculation. It's bullshit. You got ninety percent of the American public out there with little or no net worth. I create nothing. I own. We make the rules, pal. The news, war, peace, famine, upheaval, the price per paper clip. We pick that rabbit out of the hat while everybody sits out there wondering how the hell we did it. Now you're not naive enough to think we're living in a democracy, are you buddy? It's the free market. And you're a part of it."
Read more!
Stone has said that the film, which will focus on the life and presidency of Bush, won’t be an anti-Bush polemic, but, as he told Daily Variety, “a fair, true portrait of the man. How did Bush go from being an alcoholic bum to the most powerful figure in the world?”
The American Dream, baby! I already had some looks at the script:
"They can't impeach me for bombing
"Just get me the election; I'll give you your damn war."
"Excuse me, sir, Who's flying this plane right now?"
"You can take your
"The
And the best for last:
"The richest one percent of this country owns half our country's wealth, five trillion dollars. One third of that comes from hard work, two thirds comes from inheritance, interest on interest accumulating to widows and idiot sons and what I do, stock and real estate speculation. It's bullshit. You got ninety percent of the American public out there with little or no net worth. I create nothing. I own. We make the rules, pal. The news, war, peace, famine, upheaval, the price per paper clip. We pick that rabbit out of the hat while everybody sits out there wondering how the hell we did it. Now you're not naive enough to think we're living in a democracy, are you buddy? It's the free market. And you're a part of it."
Read more!
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