RAFE'S PLACE

* * * RAFE PILGRIM * * *
*POET * COMMENTATOR *

* BROKEN HEARTED VOICE FOR PEACE *

PLEASE share Rafe's poems and commentaries
in any and every way that will promote the cause of peace!

Guess what? There's a way to stop this and all other Bush terror. It's called the Power of the Purse, and it is endowed or denied by a majority of the Senate, and that majority is now Democrat.

Of course I appreciate that everyone with the mentality above that of a gnat knows this. But what many have not come to grips with -- buried in their habitual partisan persuasion -- is that a political coward is as bad as a political snake, perhaps even worse since snakes often exhibit what cowards lack: COURAGE.

I have not forgotten for a nanosecond that it was votes from a majority Democrat Senate in 2002 that gave Bushido Banzai his license to commit atrocity upon the Iraqi people and to submit 4000 of our soldiers to slaughter, while his cronies grovel in a frenzy of greed.

And now, since regaining the majority of both houses of Congress by virtue of our votes in 2006, the Democrats have once again trashed our trust by their obeisance to the world's most feared despot by financing his every treacherous whim, abiding the eradication of the Bill of Rights, corrupting the voting process, bugging our telephone conversations, opening our mail, abolishing the Rule of Law, and even -- by God! -- to countenance torture.

Of course you, my intelligent friends, know just as much about this as I do. We can agree that the Democrats have disgraced themselves and our trust. There may be a difference between us, however, and that is that I WILL NOT FORGIVE them.

........Insisting upon champions, Rafe Pilgrim

Yeah, poets hear screams

perhaps others

do not hear,
see the dark shadows of truth

behind public luminaries,
sense the pretensions

beneath

prescribed attitudes,
and are not spared

even by sleep --

dream come true
.
three young soldiers enter
the train station of my nightmare
and someone asks
how long will you be away
.
and one responds
for twelve months
and the second says
if the promise is kept
and the third adds
if we make it
then I begin to weep
.
and now I awake
hand to face surprised
to find my tears are real
and then to comprehend
the nightmare too is real
.
Rafe Pilgrim

March 2, 2007

American Treachery:

Does It Matter? And If It Does -- Then What?
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Does it matter what the bloody details of the war in Iraq are when there is NO PLACE to take the treachery and the madness for redress or just to stop it?
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Was it the Republican senators sucking up to a bloodlusting electorate and a morally bizarre and incompetent executive who are responsible for starting all this in 2002? Or was it the cowardly Democratic senators who crossed the boundaries of courage and integrity to side with the warmongers?
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And are we now to consider for the NEXT president of the world's sole superpower any with this blood on their hands?
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Will our church leaders never emerge from behind their stout oaken doors to speak against this mass atrocity? Will they insist continuing to stifle their own Prince of Peace?
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Will mothers and fathers never stop beseeching "Support Our Troops" while delivering their sons and daughters to be fed into the carnage by greed mongers, warlords and power maniacs?
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All this matters, of course, but the honest and decent among us are frustrated by the demonstrated impotence or perversion of the conventional devices of government and morality that we have always depended upon to protect us from such treachery and historically gross immorality. Our Constitution, our governmental checks-and-balances, our two-party system, our churches, our traditions, our very decency and morality have all fallen at the feet of this treachery, with most citizens sitting in silence, and with some of the more deranged cheering it on.
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But to at least a few of us, this is unacceptable, and the question is germinating: In light of the current atrocities, will the devices which served us in the past serve the purpose of a humane and pleasant future, or perhaps lead to the destruction of us all? Is such a question disproportionate? Consider: Is the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocent people half-way around the world for a pottage of crude oil disproportionate?
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Popular sophistry has it that anger serves no useful purpose. This of course is nonsense; anger can and does inspire action and change. And beset as we are with the current tyranny, change is not only highly desirable but NECESSARY if we are to regain decent governance that serves the best interests of the people and an America we can once more take pride in, an America not feared and viewed with contempt by the world community.
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It is uncertain how many of us at this time are sufficiently angry to find the way, to do the work, to take the risks to make the necessary changes. Whatever our numbers, make no mistake in underestimating our determination -- We will do this!
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And we invite all to come from behind your partisan barriers, to emerge from your fortress churches and to help us to determine and to take the path back to America. If you choose not to join us, then we will perforce find that path without you.
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Support the Troops to Die for Big Petro? Not this Veteran!

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(Note: According to British media, the new Iraq hydrocarbon law opens the door for international investors, led by BP, Exxon and Shell, to siphon off 75 percent of Iraq oil wealth for 30 years, by means of a Production Sharing Agreement. This incorporates a 75/25 split, with the Anglo-American oil companies taking 75 percent of the country's wealth and leaving just 25 percent for the devastated Iraqis.).
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Now that the lies re WMD et al were exposed, Bush says we went to Iraq to bring democracy to its people. Consider the tab: 650,000 Iraqi dead, several million more emigrated, infrastructure destroyed, government in chaos, bombings and slaughter continue with no end in sight, and now Anglo-America corrals the oil and the hefty portion of the profits. Hey, this kind of "democracy" comes at a steep price!
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And with this all, we still hear from our so-called leaders and from citizens on the "other side of the street" that we need to "Support Our Troops!" Support our troops for what? To do more of the same treachery as directed by evil masters? The mind boggles at what it takes for Americans to get their heads out of their patriotic backsides!
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The most recent exposure of the support-our-troops canard involves bringing back war amputees and wounded psyches to a vermin infested Walter Reed Hospital and requiring all those ambulatory to fallout for a seven o'clock outdoor formation each morning!
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But it gets worse: The so-called loyal opposition, a.k.a. Democrats, are falling over each other to claim which of them supports our troops more than the other. And Democratic presidential candidates -- Hillary, Biden, Edwards -- who in 2002 deserted their constitutional responsibility to decide upon war by giving it away to Bush -- they support those troops that they put in harm's way more than anyone else! Edwards says he made a mistake. Slick Hilly refuses to even own up to such, and I believe that in fact she did not make a mistake at the time, but a calculation that voting against the war powers resolution risked her losing the opportunity to take political advantage of the bloodlust so rampant across an electorate thirsty to revenge the Twin Towers attack. In the longer term, her mistake was that we caught on.
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Perhaps worse yet, Madam Speaker Pelosi advises in advance that impeachment is "not on the table," and has apparently persuaded the formerly stouthearted Congressman John Conyers, the new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, not to present his already assembled 350 page indictment of the Bush cabal -- the strategy apparently being that an impeachment process will not win the Democrats as many votes in '08 as would the issue of a treacherous and STILL ONGOING WAR !
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Where does this now leave honest citizens? Well, the hard-boiled Republican vote will go the way it always blindly goes, and that of course will not benefit the people. Non-partisans will tend to go in the direction of hope and what they perceive to be honest agents. Rock-hard Democrats will do their customary partisan dance.
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Where does that leave us, those who want and need and have worked for peace? Are we to support Democrats who betrayed or disappointed us in the past? Are we to go a third way? Could we possibly persuade the Democrats that peace and good governance are more important to us than simply putting down the party of Bush Inc? There are, after all, Democrats who had no hand in the making of this war, Democrats who have not disappointed us and who are quite respectable. Whatever could persuade an honest peace advocate to support a war-contributor over, for instance, Al Gore, Russ Feingold, Dennis Kucinich, Barak Obama, and others who in no way contributed to our disgraceful war?
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This is the approach which to me seems most favorable to getting our government into hands that we might finally trust once more. Let's give the Democrats an opportunity to respond to this. But at the same time, we need for them to know that we expect them to look into the mirror of truth, to explore their very souls, to galvanize the integrity and to muster the courage to not present us with war boosters, not present us with war mistakers, not present us with political opportunists -- but to present for our approval and support Champions, candidates not besmirched by the disgraces of the past four years either by intent or error, but to give up to us for our precious votes candidates of intelligence, courage and goodwill who we are confident will do the RIGHT THING.
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Anyone less worthy will not merit our support, will not get our votes. Let them know!
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Not one of us who is SERIOUSLY against this treacherous war can in good conscience support anyone WHO IN ANY WAY was responsible for it or who did not lift a voice loudly and clearly against it.

February 2007

In the news: Report Says Pentagon Manipulated Intel

The dance goes on: Point-counterpoint-point-counterpoint, as it has for years. The Republicans lie or are blinded by misplaced partisan loyalty. The Democrats whine, appear a bit smarter, have all the investigative and budgetary powers to end this treacherous war, but frankly lack the integrity and the guts to chance offending the electorate, and in so doing are in fact offending every intelligent person who wants peace.
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This cannot go on forever. If that appears to be the course, however, the people must resort to other means. Third party? Hostile confrontation?
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We need a new Democratic two-step: (1) Stop the infernal bullshit, (2) Muster the requisite integrity and political courage to employ their majority powers to stop the war.
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I need no small-point rebuttal to this abundantly clear proposition. And very little more windbagging and hypocritical posturing by Democrats should be necessary to convince us that what many Dems seek are not solutions but merely offices.
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OK, Democrats: Speak up! And make sure it's the Right thing! Or you're outa here with that other bunch!
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....Justifiably impatient and fed up -- Rafe Pilgrim

History Is Being Made, Again!

History and its morality are largely the record of the winners, whether they were good or evil, and the product of authors who write books for a given audience.

The Crusaders were good, in our books and traditionally in our hearts and minds, because they represented us European Christians against the "infidel" Muslims, whom the Crusaders slaughtered to the glory of our god. The fact that the Muslims were invaded and the aggrieved party, and also had a god, arguably perhaps the same one, is irrelevant. Onward Christian soldiers!

The American Indians were "bad" because we European-Americans killed them off, thereby validating our historical goodness. The fact that General George Armstrong Cluster, actually a vainglorious madman, fell to a smarter "general," Chief Crazy Horse, slowed us down a bit but fortified our justification for the ultimate annihilation of the American Indian nations, who of course were the legitimate owners of what is now the Forty-Eight States, but always the bad guys in my childhood history lessons and Saturday matinee westerns. The Seventh Cavalry was staunch historical competition indeed for the Crusaders!

And today -- If we ultimately destroy Iraq and turn it into our petro colony and fortress in the Middle East, we will once again ascend to history's heroic pedestal and be honored even in our churches. The dark motives and the lies that persuaded us into the war will then be transmuted into legends of inspirational leadership. God bless this ship and all who sail upon her!

At the cost of discomfort with a naked self-image, America could accrue some advantage in the fullness of time by getting its just desserts for the Iraq enterprise.  Imagine a rare correct chapter in history that could lead us to a valid assessment of ourselves. Very few may readily grasp the benefit of such an unusual reality, but perhaps one of those will be the Prince of Peace, of whom today our churches are ominously silent. Are they waiting for the winner to be declared?

How can we remember what we do not see?

How can we remember what no one will speak of?

How can we remember what they died for when they are dyiug for lies?

The bodies of our soldiers killed in Iraq are flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, then forwarded for burial.  The mortuary operations at Dover are surrounded by the tightest security, not as protection against terrorism but to minimize exposure of the war's grisly price.

in perpetual migration
like monstrous ravens
from some obscene myth
come the night planes
from the East to Dover
shrieking to alight
then gaining unholy silence
while to gape their ebon maws
to disgorge their crated cargo
no bands blare
no mothers,fathers, wives
no pretty girls attend
not a camera
no reporters
thus are our sons
returned to us
boxed and putrefying
then to bury
with full honors
costuming our belated shames

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Message for the War Supporters
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You who stand in support of the war across the public square from this nine-year veteran and my fellow peace workers are perhaps unaware of the sympathy and understanding with which we view you. It's likely that you have yet to face the soul wrenching experience that we've suffered, an agonizing ordeal that flies in the face of much we all learned to love and respect.
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One day it all comes together: There were no "weapons of mass destruction," no massive inventories of deadly gases, no biological agents, no viable nuclear program, no threat from Iraq against America, and no justification for the war that has cost us the precious lives of 2500 of our young soldiers, 20,000 more seriously wounded, and perhaps 100,000 Iraqis killed, mostly civilians. And then our own government taps our phones, spies on our e-mail. And then there is (my God!) torture, and then the execution of Iraqi mothers and children within their homes.   And we and our so-called leaders can see no end to it.
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One day, we who love our country and mourn the daily losses, suffer to comprehend that we are all the victims of a mendacious and an ever amazingly more incompetent leadership, apparently driven by greed, lust for power or by some other equally dark purpose.
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When that day dawns on today's war supporters, we will be there for you. And if you are of the Christian persuasion, also with you will be the Prince of Peace.

The Petro Dance        May 10, 2006

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     The issues of the latest energy crisis cannot be allowed coloration by the conventional proposition of political Neanderthals that all criticism of Bush Inc. is the unpatriotic malevolence of "these Liberals." We need to get off partisanship but to keenly focus on what causes and effects our government has influenced in this serious problem and what role it should take in solutions.

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     The President proposes to ease up on environmental (one of his favorite sacrificial areas) fuel blending, and to suspend provision to the nation's strategic petroleum reserve, a move which would provide some temporary measure of additional supply to the market but which does not address the long-range problem, and which also runs counter to the very reasons the strategic reserve is necessary, i.e., to provide petroleum in the face of natural emergencies and as needed to defend the nation against military aggression and Bush's favorite bete noir, terrorism.

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     The Administration has also pushed to open Anwar to drilling, an approach which would provide a small measure of relief eight or so years hence, and which they claim could be accomplished without contaminating the ecology of Alaska -- this could be, but it won't be, as illustrated by the recent spill of hundreds of thousands gallons of oil from an existing pipeline, which puddles yet atop the heretofore pristine tundra.

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     Other suggestions: from the Republicans, a $100 rebate to all citizens, which would contribute to yet more demand and have the effect of a transfer payment from the tax coffers (our money) to the Petro marketeers; and from the Democrats, a suspension of the federal tax on gas, which would have the same effects.

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     Then there are the things the government should have done before, such as promoting new energy technologies and alternative fuels, elevating the auto makers' gas-economy standards, and providing more incentives for hybrid autos, but no, this Administration has viewed such as interference in the marketplace, and such measures now could not be expected to provide substantial relief within the next five years.

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     Proposals of reverting to the 55 mph speed limit also raise (this time rightly) questions of interference with trade and commerce. Should we perhaps ban all pleasure driving, a la W.W.II? Or perhaps restrict Monday-Wednesday-Friday driving to persons whose names begin with the letters A through H, and Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday to all others? Just kidding, but that's no goofier nor more disingenuous than much which is offered from Washington.

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     My local newspaper sagely advises that the "real culprit" is the various current problems around the world which "tipped the delicate balance of supply and demand firmly in favor of demand."   This is as much hogwash as the other causes and cures enumerated above, all of which obfuscate the foul amniotic fluid that nurtures the crisis. In a word, the supply-side is rigged, and fortunes are made at the expense of the American middle-class and, while clearly known, little is said and nothing is done to correct supply-side abuses.

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     Of course, in the fullness of time, we must come to grips with alternative fuels, more efficient autos and advanced technologies, but the crisis is now upon us and we must deal with it now with the means now available, some of which require no science whatever. To do this we must first face the truth, as regrettable as this may be for the champions of the (nonexistent) free market, the exploiters both foreign and domestic, and the plastic patriots of the "American way."

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     The nearer term corrections lie in fully illuminating and addressing the following supply-side influences on the availability of gas at reasonable prices at the pump:

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o       There are only a handful of gas companies now in the United  States. Price-fixing in such a noncompetitive arena requires no dark conspiracy where a wink will suffice. Early in the past century we busted up the petro cartels. Time again? Venezuela, Russia, and most recently Bolivia responded to their problems by  nationalizing petro interests. Wow, Wall Street, think about that!

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o       In the face of the hardship imposed upon American consumers by high gas prices, the petro giants are raking in all-time record profits, whereas in most businesses the first effects of higher prices in raw materials will result in profit erosion. This pricing exploitation could be transmuted into price reductions at the pump or an excess profits tax that in effect returns the excess margin to the public's use.

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o       Recently, Exxon's chief retired with a $400 million package on top of his last year's salary of $192,000 a day, seven days a week. "Good men," the industry argues, must be attracted and compensated by "competitive remuneration." A hundred fold the compensation of our most skilled brain surgeons? A thousand fold the reward of our finest artists? Here again, another opportunity to transfer wretched excess into pump price reduction.

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o       Across the past twenty years, many marginal refineries have been shut down because their profit margins were unattractive when gas retailed at $1.25, whereas they could make a go of it at upwards of $1.75. The petro giants have no incentive to reopen these facilities since they enjoy the prerogative of simply raising the prices in response to a supply-side shortfall, even of their own making.

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o       Surely, with all the investment of our soldiers' lives, our treasure and slaughter of tens of thousands of Iraqis, we should come out better than we have thus far in gaining some advantage over the formidable petro resources that country offers. Something is simply wrong here. We need to fix it and get some oil thereby.

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o       And now for the biggest "real culprit" of all: OPEC.   The sheiks are chauffeur driven in Rolls Royces and Mercedes limousines from their palaces to their lavish resort conference sites, and deserving of no reward other than for the accident that they own the sand under which others found for them the world's largest deposits of black liquid gold, they sit and construct the supply-side, deciding upon what is the happiest confluence -- for themselves -- of the crude oil they will permit to be pumped and the market price that quota will generate. And should they suspect that this will inconvenience the nation which consumes more oil by far than any other, they will send a prince to the home of the leader of that nation, to literally hold his hand while describing        -- never explaining -- what they have done. And should that leader take        pause in consideration of what he has been advised, he will discuss it with his second-in-command, and he will always emerge from that small conference confident that all is well with oil, God, and country.

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     Much of this could be dealt with productively by our government. What is the probability that an Administration umbilically connected with the petro biggies will leap at the chance to set the course for responsible corrections? Realistically, extremely remote. What are the chances that a Republican congressional majority can shed their indenture to big business and do the right thing? Very slim indeed. How about the Democrat congressional minority, could they possibly rise from the ashes of their fecklessness and learn how to spell "opposition" to the course of a government they have not had the gumption to stand up to for five years? They have given us little reason to suspect that they could.

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     Our only chance for salvation lies with the base of our democracy, with us the citizens, us the voters. And our opportunities to impose rectitude in our government exist in the elections of 2006 and 2008. If we are to succeed, we need to put aside all the Republican and Democrat bazzfazz. We need desperately to look the candidates we would consider directly in the eye, dissect their minds, plumb their character, gage their courage, explore their souls, penetrate their heart of hearts, and to require responses that will convince us that they will do the right thing for us and for America.

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     It is time to kick the rascals out and to install trustworthy marshals of America's energy future, and indeed the future of America's democracy. Only you and I can be trusted to do this.

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Let's go for it!

SALVATION OFFERRED OUR DEMOCRAT CONGRESSFOLK

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Now listen up, Democrat Congressfolk, y'all supposedly representin' our opposition to the current maladministration, but constantly befuddlin' us by such as votin' to give Bushido Banzai war powers an' the like -- My peace-worker leader tells me that y'all soon to be votin' on emergency funds to further support the historical disgrace in Iraq which you complain about, but persist in sneakin' in "aye" votes on Repukian initiatives whenever our backs are turned -- NOW I GOT GOOD NEWS FOR YOU: YOUR REDEMPTION IS AT HAND !

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It is appropriate, but admittedly difficult for me, to quote the Devil for our own purposes, but it is time to trot out some sage advice from the Book of Nancy (Yeah, that Nancy!) More on this later.

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Now listen carefully, this is important: First you gotta somehow suck up some courage. I know that can be difficult for y'all, but if you're really excited about it, I can send in just about any of my peace-worker compadres or commadres to help you with it. It may be challenging for you to think, talk or walk courageously, but they're quite good at all three simultaneously, and can do it in the rain, totin' signs, and even when being threatened by passing motorists.

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Awright! Second, this might be a bit more difficult for you, but recalling that help is at hand -- Y'all need to trash completely any fear of retribution for violatin' such scriptural passages as "Freedom's on the march!", "Stay the course!", and especially the most insidious "Support our troops!" -- or in plain talk, all that stuff the Devil himself uses to kill more innocent people including our own sons and daughters in uniform. Now get this right, it's important -- You must totally trash this Bushshit, because if'n you don't, you'll not need to worry about getting re-elected because WE are gonna put you in jail for complicity (How does Gitmo sound? Another disgrace, incidentally, perpetrated on your watch.)

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Awright, keepin' the positive tone -- Third, y'all need to reach down and find your cajones, which is Hispanic for "courage." If'n you have trouble findin' yours, do not panic! In-House help is available, mostly among your black and female colleagues, and especially your black female colleagues. (No, this is not the race card. These are the folks that needed cajones to gain the basic rights that we white guys always had or whose daddies gave us. They are today's heroes in the struggle to bring back American government to America.)

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Y'all can find John Conyers in the basement (Not kidding!) where he was consigned for exhibitin' cajones so large they embarrassed his lesser endowed colleagues upstairs. Other outstanding cajones resources are Maxine Waters and Sheila Jackson Lee, and if that aint enough just try any black or female Democrat, or listen to what they say and watch how they vote. Yes, courage can be difficult, we understand that. It's difficult for me and my peace-worker friends too, but dammit, we suck it up and display it anyway! Y'all can do it, just try it one time!

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Awright, back to Nancy -- Her idea was to tell kids tempted to go the wrong way to "Just say No!" Hey, if it works for kids it might work for you! Here again, it sounds easy, and we know it can really be difficult, but you weren't elected to do easy stuff. When we chose you we expected you to have some integrity and some guts, not to cower in the dark corners of the Capitol in fear you won't get re-elected. So get with the cajones, compadres, or be warned that you'll not have to worry about re-election -- we'll take you out in the primaries. The way it turns out, guts aint gonna cost you anything but maybe a little perspiration -- and Damn you're gonna feel really good to do the right thing one time!

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Finally -- now pay very close attention here -- this is what we the good people who put you in office with all those neat benefits, prestige an' all, need you to do -- what we your electors instruct you to do is to stand tall and vote NO, that's N - O on emergency funds for the Iraq atrocity. Don't be conflictin' the issue with bullpucky 'bout stayin' any suicidal course, freedom on the march to more IED's, supportin' the more troops to die in Fallujah -- we've been through all that and don't need anymore of it. What we instruct you to do -- listen up now! -- is just vote NO on emergency funds for the Iraq disgrace to our history.

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Now, you may lose this vote, and we'll understand that. The main thing is that we'll finally know that you mustered the courage to stand by us and to give us hope for the future. That's what's been lacking all this time. We the people need to know that you our chosen representatives have the courage to stand by us and give us some hope.

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So, you need to vote NO on those funds. Now go do it. We'll be watchin'. And in November we'll be votin'.

Patriotically a Peace-Worker, Rafe Pilgrim

The following was sent to the St. Petersburg Times April 19th. It is a matter of conjecture whether they will decide to publish it to "prove how really fair" they are, or summarily trash it along with the journalistic responsibilities and ethics they and their fellows of the press have abandoned over the past five years.

"The Real Al-Arian" (St. Petersburg Time's editorial, April 19, 2006)

In demonizing Prof. Sami Al-Arian, the St. Petersburg Times sank to a new low in journalistic defamation, the linchpin of your personal verdict being that he finally signed a plea bargain in which, under duress, he "admits to secretly helping jihadists and lying about it."

The pertinent and public facts are these: (1) Prof. Al-Arian has been jailed without conviction of a crime for three years. (2) He was the subject of a massive federal investigation which included electronic surveillance and wire tapping. (3) He and three co-defendants were placed on a prolonged jury trial in an American court for 51 counts, which reportedly cost millions of dollars and featured a multitude of federal law enforcement witnesses. (4) He was personally charged on 17 counts. (5) A jury of Americans found him innocent on 8 counts and could not reach a decision on 9 others. (6) Two of his three co-defendants were found innocent of all charges. (7) There were a total of 51 counts against Prof. Al-Arian and his three co-defendants -- the jury returned not a single guilty decision on any count. (8) But with all this, the Times now charges, "He lived a vulgar lie."

The way America is supposed to work is that Prof. Al-Arian should now be a free man, but in today's America the government will do as it pleases because it can, because we --unaccountably and to our ultimate peril -- permit it to do so. And, I suppose, we "old Americans" could be considered "quaint" to ever consider that the press -- formerly the last bastion of freedom -- would today intercede on the side of justice.

Prof. Al-Arian copped a plea and yielded to deportation because it was the only way he could see -- though convicted of no crime -- to ever get out of prison. It is unconscionable of the Times and personally repugnant to me that our major newspaper found it necessary to add its personal log atop the funeral pyre of American justice.

....................................Rafe Pilgrim

IS THIS A GREAT COUNTRY, OR WHAT?

The newspapers recently report that after incarcerating Prof. Sami Al-Arian for three years, charging him with sixteen crimes, and after a very long trial, costing millions of dollars, and featuring an array of our federales and massive wire-tapped "evidence," then being unable to find him guilty even of jay-walking, it is now decided that he in all likelihood will be deported.

This is an issue that really gravels me. I am uncertain why since it lacks the moral proportions of our use of torture, our employment of "extreme rendition," our killing of tens of thousands of civilians in Iraq, the shameful waste of 2400 of our soldiers' lives, and the constant ugly images of our sneering lying "leadership."

I suppose what galls me is that once again our government will do what it pleases because it can. And the so-called people's representatives will sit voiceless, fearing perhaps to take a stand for Constitutional rights might paint them as unsupportive of our troops or some other variation of bully-patriot madness.

Moving on, from the business section we learn that Exxon's chief will get a $400 million retirement package, after having earned $192,000 a day (seven days a week) for the past year, only to read in an adjoining economics note that our $2.89 price of gas is a function of supply and demand, all the while recalling our President's stroll through the garden holding hands with the Saudi prince. Smells a little? Smells a lot.

Yesterday, a Democrat Senator dined with local constituents. This is an "opposition leader" who voted for the historical disgrace in Iraq and who has not been heard to offer any criticism of the petroleum greed machine or of the bloodlust to punish an unconvicted professor in the state the Senator represents. He will in all likelihood be re-elected in November.

The answer to my original question is "or what." This is all rotten. The incumbent political machine has no incentive to imperil their gravy train. And the so-called opposition has lacked the integrity and the courage to oppose anything that might cost them an oily dollar in campaign contributions or a Fundamentalist vote.

What to do? Look in the mirror. This is still a democracy, at least for the time being. You and I need to make it right while we still have the chance.

This might mean no more cozy lunches with senators. No more mutually reinforcing political evenings. It will mean finding good people who know what doing the right thing means and who have the courage to actually do it. We, the people, need to rouse ourselves to the mission: the need to rescue America from the political machinery of greed, ineptitude, and power freaks and restore our country to decency. We need to take back America for ourselves and for our children.

Why should we worry? Unlike Prof. Al-Arian, we are not Egyptian, Palestinian, or Muslim. But are we Iraqi, Iranian, Korean, Venezuelan, "Old Europe," Quaker, Unitarian, or, who knows, are we the next entry on the list of undesirables to be subjected to "extreme rendition," deportation, bombing and -- heaven help the world -- nuclear preemption?

Be aware, you need not "send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee".....and for me.

..................................Rafe Pilgrim, Easter Day, 2006

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Illegal Immigration April 12, 2006

When one has always sympathized with the liberal persuasion, it takes more than the usual objectivity to deal with the issues of the Mexican "invasion." Of course these poor devils deserve some sympathy, along with the 3 or 4 billion other unfortunates in this world, and one can also say that it -- at least the Southwest -- was their land in the first place, but we have laws and those laws need to be upheld or changed, unless we decide that a revolution is in order (that will take another column, and is also multifaceted).
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There are so many sides to this situation. One issue is that US employers, especially big agribiz, have been enticing Mexicans across to exploit them, and at the same time depress American wages across the spectrum of the service and brute work sector, which in turn migrates to constrain wages in Walmart, McDonald's, construction, manufacturing, et al.
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The national security issue is obvious: terrorists of any stripe can simply stroll into the United States unimpeded, without even removing their sandals as American grandmothers must at our airports.
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Another problem is public health and public services. There is no medical routine to stop the importation of communicable disease, TB, syphilis, etc.; they often lack routine inoculations, and since they cannot afford doctors they must rely on emergency room care at $400+ a pop (to us) and it goes on and on.
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I am persuaded that the first step is to stop the penetration of the border so not to allow the problem to get worse for us, the second is to review what kind of entry we want to have and tailor our laws thus, the third is to crack down on "illegal employers," and the fourth is how to deal humanely with the 12 million illegals we already have -- there is no way we are going to cattle-car them back to Santa Louisa, or wherever -- people like you and me would not permit it and we don't even know how to find them!
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All four of these measures can and should be dealt with simultaneously, which gets to the current American conundrum: how to get the American body politic off its ass and to suck up the courage to deal rightly with the necessary!
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Then we need to start enforcing our laws, which is not really that big of a problem -- we'll just bring those 140,000 troops home from Iraq and send them southwest! That would solve two of the most serious problems facing our country with one stroke.

The Message

It seems to come up from the dry brown leaves and the small brittle twigs
my soft soles depress into the humus when I walk with my oId dog
in the quiet woods behind our home, and though it frizzles at the edges
the articulation is unmistakable ..... stop them ... stop them ... stop them ...

I sense it issues from the surfaces that my life contacts, as if it were from
another sphere, separated from me by the cement of the sidewalk or
the manicured turf of the putting green, and the surface is the conduit,
an interface with elsewhere.

The message is crystal clear from the freshly buffed vinyl alleys of the supermarket and fairly crackles as I inadvertently touch the glass of the butcher's display case, but always the same incantation ..... stop them ...

It is my habit when entering the darkened movie house to step respectfully
soft down the carpeted aisle, and yet it emerges, somewhat muted, muffled,
but quite discernible ..... stop them ...

My psychiatrist neighbor was troubled by my abrupt reaction
to the formica surface of his cocktail bar,
and suggested that perhaps more rest was in order or
maybe a vacation, as I vainly struggled to stifle the vocal compulsion
..... stop them ... stop them ... stop them ...

My pastor's response to my long deferred disclosure was that he had no expertise in this arena and could offer no advice. I could not help but notice his furrowed brow all the while and his eyes assumed an aspect I never saw in them before, and all the time there was the reverberation ..... stop them ...

My dearest friend kindly offers it is a gift, some kind of signal I am chosen
to receive, and that I should not worry but put it to some personal advantage,
though she has no specific recommendation.

Just this morning at 4 a.m. I awoke sweating in total body contact with the finely woven surface of the percale sheets screaming at me ..... stop them ... stop them ... stop them ... stop them ...

Am I perhaps punished for some individual transgression? Or for the basest sin of all humanity? Am I summoned to a heroic mission I feel inadequate to perform and incapable even to determine?

Adrift, I am somehow led to imagine ... them ... traversing the thick marble corridors of government. Do the hard surfaces of those cold passageways harbor a persistent message? What are the words it employs? And does anyone there suffer to hear it?

Rafe Pilgrim, 2003

Today's (March 25, 2006) Citrus County Chronicle featured the headline: "Did Russia Help Saddam ?"

Well...how prudent of the Chronicle to employ the question mark. But, reading on, we find that this information (including actually quite a few question marks) was released from the Pentagon, and as all true Americans who support our troops are fervently aware, such a source deserves the highest respect for veracity, and to toy with the possibility that perhaps we're being set-up to re-visit justification for the Iraq-attack is just, well, beyond unpatriotic and very likely treasonable, certainly along the dirt roads and palmetto forests of my neighborhood, east of Crystal River, and quite possibly throughout the Evangelical nation.

How could anyone who calls himself or herself an American possibly hesitate to grasp what's happening here? Our Pentagon, the defender of our liberty, the matron of our national integrity, and the protective mother of our precious troops -- has just alerted the citizens (voters) to a new menace. In such a circumstance, we sneer at any suggestion that what we have here is a distraction from our President's incomprehensible recent drop in the polls, but rather an alert to the American people that our President and his team are once again protecting us against terrorism and all other stuff against America!

Of course the Russkies were in with Saddam, and therefore were complicit in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Hey, it's not a stretch to conclude that they even helped with the hardware, box cutters and such. And, my fellow Americans, we do know that Russia has the Weapons of Mass Destruction. I mean, we know they REALLY have WMD's.

Briefly, what we have here is a bona fide case for preemption. We need to hit 'em with all we got. Nuke out those lousy Commies! Teach 'em a lesson! Don't mess with Uncle! And God bless America!

(Ahhh...hey...wait a minute... they have an army larger than ours, a big navy, a huge air force, ICBM's, and they REALLY DO HAVE WMD's! Maybe we should think this over. I mean, perhaps not a good idea now...I mean maybe get some more information...like maybe we should do Iran first, and then there's Venezuela...yeah, Venezuela...)

. .....................................................................................

COMING SOON TO A THEATER NEAR YOU

We have witnessed the truth being twisted for four years. We have waited for the questions. We waited for the courage, the courage to challenge the reasons to attack a people in a distant desert where we have no place, a people lacking the weapons of global warfare, but then...they did have oil.

2300 of our soldiers have been killed. We waited for the courage from Congress and from the opposition Democrats to ask why. We did not get it. What we got was rendition and torture.

We have slaughtered tens of thousands of Iraqis, most of them innocent civilians. We waited for the courage from the press to insist upon validation. We wait yet. What we got was government eavesdropping and habeas corpus trashed.

We worry about where our forces will strike next. We fear the extent we will be deprived of our constitutional rights. We wonder what kind of a society we'll be left with.

But now from perhaps the last source we would expect, the world of film, the movies, comes: "V for Vendetta," a film that asks the questions and presents images of the world we could inherit, and finally sounds the tocsin: The people should not fear the government; the government should fear the people. And the key to this necessary state is courage.

Go see this film.

Peace be with us, Rafe Pilgrim

Angry at the Madness (A letter to fellow troublemakers)
March 20, 2006.

Dear M.,
.

    Thank you for your fine work and encouragement. You and we footsoldiers are doing the best we can in this terrible business of opposing our own government to bring an end to its disgraceful behavior.
.

    I am having difficulty in trying to determine what good, honorable and courageous Americans can do next to stop further descent into flagrant despotism, which sometimes now appears to be as inevitable as the law of gravity.
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     We parade with our signs -- THEY are smart enough not to attack us, too newsworthy! But they attack everyday around the world with impunity, then lie about the results and glorify the mission.
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    The media have caved to treachery in fear of losing the precious press passes that permit them to sit obediently absorbing not news, but words describing inventions intended warp our minds to view treachery as patriotism, madness as prudence, liars as apostles, and villains as saviors.
.

    The party which was to represent our opposition sits pathetically compliant as torture is exposed, then reserved -- despite limp protest -- as the prerogative of our head of government and whatever agents he may choose to commission, for whatever ends he deems appropriate. He actually announced this, and our representation let it pass with the silence of a leaf alighting on a bed of moss in an uninhabited forest!
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     Brave John Conyers was consigned to the basement of the Capitol with less than thirty mostly blacks and women of a Congress of 535, in an endeavor to bring this maladministration to task. Where was Hillary? Kerry? Durbin? Reid? Dorgan? Pelosi? And Florida's own Bill Nelson? Where was any Floridian? We're walking the streets in Citrus County with signs while eight or nine hundred miles away these misfeasors can't recognize the hero who sits literally beneath their feet!
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    Now B. -- another of our all too precious and rare heroes -- wonders this morning if we must beg an audience with our own senator or mount some stunt in a desperate bid for his attention. Ah, perhaps once again we'll be accorded the reassurance by an "aide" that the Senator feels our pain and is assiduously at work in ways beyond our imagining to save the ship. BULLSHIT ! He's at work assiduously not to offend anyone, perchance to lose a fringe vote or two. Whatever happened to the good old Cracker admonition: God hates a coward!
.

     M., we spend a lot of time and effort and anxiety preaching to the choir (bless them!) and I am morphing into a bigger scold every day, but I am really struggling to find a more productive way to contribute to the cause. Don't give up on me, and I will not give up on it!


Angry at the madness,

Rafe Pilgrim

THE MIRROR OF TRUTH 2-27-06

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It is time for Americans to find the courage and to grasp the good sense to look at ourselves in the mirror of truth.

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To start, the constant blathering between Republicans and Democrats, "those conservatives" and "these liberals" serves no purpose but to obscure the issues and to indulge partisan fantasies. We need to get out of our straight-jacketed political prejudices and comprehend that there is such a thing as good government, and such a thing as bad government. Bad government is incompetent, serves vested interests rather than its people, and is capable of lying to achieve its ends. Good government may stumble in its efforts, but will try to serve the best interests of its people with the truth as its guide. Should we need help in objectively assessing the "goodness" our current government, we might profit from asking a resident -- or perhaps now, a past resident -- of New Orleans for his considered opinion.

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The next candidates for our mirror of truth are our compulsive flag waving and plastic sloganeering. We put "Support Our Troops" stickers on our cars, having sent our troops into harm's way to kill other innocents in a distant desert where we have no honest place and serve no decent purpose for our own people. It is really important to support our troops honestly, and we know in our secret heart of hearts that this must be done by bringing them home to their families. And in today's newspaper, we must not ignore that our government now proposes to triple the premiums that veterans must pay for their medical care provided by the Veterans Administration. So, do we content ourselves with smug slogans, or do we want and demand our children back and affordable medical care for our veterans?

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Perhaps the most troubled by the reflection in the mirror of truth would be those among us who loudly and ardently voice their adoration and support of the Prince of Peace within their sanctuaries each Sunday. They could well profit from the insight that the Prince of Peace preferred the streets to the temple, and favored good works far higher than ceremonial words, however reverently intended. It is time to come from behind the thick oaken doors of our churches and into the real arena of our Prince's eternal struggle for peace, and to demand it of our government.

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The mirror of truth rejects our indulgence in political posturing, our bumper-sticker morality, and our Sunday hypocrisy. Its gift is to show us what we really are and to reflect what a good people can be. If we really want to know, we'll give it a try. And if we have the courage, we'll tell others what we see, and -- whatever else we do -- we must follow its dictates to explore our conscience and challenge our mentality to identify and vote next November for the best people to provide America with the good government it so desperately needs.

.........................................................................................................................................

A Letter to My Norwegian Friend Who Worries

           about Her Country's Involvement        February 2006

Dear Eva,

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I assume that Norway's decision to aid the US unjustified occupation of Iraq was a misguided political gesture, but hold that Norwegian leadership is guilty of complicity for each day longer your troops remain there. I am astonished that Norway ever agreed to participate -- however symbolically -- in this criminal misadventure, but I am certain that the decision was not endorsed by the majority of the Norwegian people.

.

Of course, the initial fault rests with Americans, Americans who lied and -- perhaps worse -- the gullible and stupid Americans who believed the lies, and the pathetic political opposition which did not raise its voice in outrage, fearing that the electorate would find them "unpatriotic" and perhaps threaten their political future.

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Now that the truth is evident to any intelligent mind, everyone of any courage and respect for mankind and the decency of our future history, this atrocity must be disavowed and brought to a prompt end. I work and write to that end here, and the number of Americans who believes as I do is increasing daily. I hope that Norwegians join in the effort.

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The crime's been done; that cannot be changed. Our task now is to stop the madness, stop the killing, and to bring the troops home.

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As for the future, we owe a debt to humanity. We owe the world help in the healing and a solemn dedication to never allow this kind of atrocity to happen again.

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My message to Norway is that there are some good Americans who are working to do the right thing. And that we are impatient for peace, but we will not stop working for it, however long it takes, whatever the costs, whatever the threats. And that we will win, because we are right.

.

Please tell your Norwegian friends.

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All men are brothers, and so are Norway and America, and so are Christians, Jews, Muslims, and all who work for peace. Bless us all -- Rafe

* * * * * * * * * *

Recently the GOP held their annual Royal Ball. Rafe wasn't invited. These are his observations about reporter Levins' article on the gala event:

Ruth Levins on the Ball

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    I've always liked Ruth Levins. Her enthusiasm and her ebullience are just too vivid to ignore.

.

     Ms. Levins' report (Chronicle, 1-31-06) on the Republicans' Third Annual Royal Ball may well serve as the hallmark of Ruth's expository brilliance and irrepressibly positive outlook.

.

     She dazzled with her account of a "sumptuous dinner" followed by "karaoke, doo-wop to hip-hop, big band to boot scootin' music" (?) Also featured was a Royal Ball Court Jester and the crowning of the Republican King and Queen of the Ball, a process reportedly fraught with nail-biting suspense. Then the King and Queen "positioned themselves upon the velvet thrones, as cameras flashed, recording their fame for the occasion." It was at this point that I realized how precisely Ms. Levins had captured the Republican essence of the occasion.

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     Next came the dancing, featuring such pertinent songs as "Crazy," "Urban Cowboy" and "Electric Slide." Really!

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     Then all the Republicans "joined hands and raised them high in sincere appreciation for the freedoms we enjoy in the good old U.S.A." I did note a minor omission here in that there was no mention of wire tapping American civilians without the court order prescribed by law, the trashing of habeas corpus at the will of the administration, nor of such misfeasance and malfeasance as the tax break for the wealthy causing a historically high deficit, Bush's involvement with Enron's "Kenny Boy" Lay, the scandals involving Tom Delay and Cheney's right-hand man Libby, and the emerging Jack Abramoff super scandal, nor was there mention of the FEMA failure to address the Katrina disaster, nothing of torture, and nothing of the WMD's, chemical inventories and nuclear programs which never existed but which put us to war at the cost of 2300 young American lives. Apparently, the ball was not to be dampened by such trivia.

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     Ms. Levins, as usual, ends her story on a high note, advising of the "dedication of the participants' efforts to continue to work for candidates that will serve the needs of all peoples in the quest for peace."

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     In appraising Ms. Levins reporting job, one could do no better than to paraphrase the words of a famous Republican: "You're doing a heckofa job, Ruthie."

What Seeking Peace is About

This is intended for those who speak and write with such conviction -- at times approaching rancor -- of "those liberals" and "these Democrats" who seek peace, who would not "stay the course," not "finish the job," and who do not "support our President."

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There is no "course" without a defined path to a destination. Our President has identified no path, no destination other than amorphous platitudes about "bringing freedom to Iraq." History tells us that freedom is never "brought" to a people. It must be struggled for, earned, sometimes by the death of those who would seek it, and always deserved by those who would themselves enjoy it. Freedom is a gift we are -- anyone is -- incapable of presenting to another people.

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Now, "to finish the job" is a difficult proposition to handle. What exactly is "the job"? If it is to avenge the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, then we should be pursing Osama and his gang (now a minor priority) or invading Saudi Arabia, the home of fifteen of the nineteen attackers, none of whom was from Iraq. If finishing the job means to protect our country from "terrorism," we would do well not going halfway around the world to pursue a fight that has wasted the lives of 2300 of our troops and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, but rather to set upon the task to shore up our own porous borders, an issue that generates much rhetoric but precious little action by the Administration. Sad to say, "the job," as it appears to many in the world community is a grab for oil, the assertion of arrogant power, or an adventure in madness.

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As for our President, your attention is drawn to the record of his administration over the past five years: a foreign war which proceeds without plan for its ending, the restriction of long-treasured civil liberties, employment of torture, the loss of long-standing friends and allies, tax reductions for the wealthy at the expense of a historic deficit that threatens our economic future, an ill-conceived prescription drug program that is widely incomprehensible among seniors and the needy but clearly beneficial to the pharmaceutical and insurance companies, inept emergency management of the Katrina disaster along the Gulf Coast, many other mistakes (lies?) always blamed on others, an emerging scandal of corruption throughout the executive and elective branches, but most of all the futile deaths of our soldiers and the killing of others for no defensible purpose. What more is there to say about the record and the President in charge of such matters?

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As for those you criticize for pursuing peace -- you would serve the truth to comprehend that we do this not from partisan politics or for personal advantage. We do it to stop the killing of our troops and others. We do it for our children, for our country, for the world, and we do it for you.

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Our mission pursues no other agenda than to walk in the path of the Prince of Peace. We have no funds, no offices or buildings; we have only our convictions, our volunteer efforts, a passion for peace, and the streets.

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We ask you to lay aside the partisan politics, and to emerge from behind the oaken doors of your churches to help us end the killing, to help us spare our children, and to help us save America.

************************************

Preview of Coming Distractions

I and my fellow seekers of peace (a.k.a. "traitors" to the war boosters) quite frankly celebrated the expose of the scandals afflicting our Republican masters, now surfacing in Washington, and are confident we can expect more, much more to come as one greed merchant after the other turns upon his brothers.
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But now we must take pause to reflect that a beast is never so dangerous as when cornered. The lights are burning in the Administration's offices tonight. Those entrusted to do the people's business are working hard and late, and they're perspiring.
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Are they working on a strategy to declare their innocence, to defend the guilty, to demonize their prosecutors? No, that will be handled by some brilliant young albeit partisan mind from the Justice Department, and delivered summarily by history's most disingenuous press secretary.
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What they're sweating over tonight is diversion, a diversion so monstrous that even you and I will forget about a "little thing" like a multi-million-dollar buyout of our government, because the security of our nation is about to be threatened anew by an international (or should we say out-of-Washington) menace. This menace may have been kicking around in the background someplace just waiting for the opportunity or the necessity to be trotted out. Well, it looks like the time has come for it (whatever it is) to take top billing, certainly higher billing than a little old political corruption scandal.
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Is someone about to attack us? Will we launch a preemptive attack? Will it involve North Korea? Iran? Syria? Goodness, China? Luxembourg? Kansas City? What exactly will be the threat? Where will it come from? Who will the enemy be?
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Not to worry. These and other questions will be clearly answered by the overtime crew just as soon as the scandals assume sufficient proportions to threaten their job security.

Rafe Pilgrim                                                                                                          January 6, 2006

* * * * * * * *

January 2006

Good People Must Demand Good Government

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When I was a young boy, during World War II, I remember a rare few people saying that there were some good Germans. Of course, I doubted it.
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Then as a young man, some years after we learned of the atrocities: Dachau, Bergen Belsen, Buchenwald, and the rest, and of the countless trains going east filled with Jews, and then returning always empty to the Fatherland, and then of the gas chambers and the furnaces  -- Damn! They had to know!
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But now I wonder. Did their government lie to them? Did they desperately need to believe what they were told? Were they not patriotic? Did they not support their troops? Did they not go to their church each Sunday and pray for the victory which would give them the safe return of their sons?
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And now, as an old man, I wonder of Iraq. I wonder of the cause which has cost us between two and three thousand dead American soldiers, perhaps one hundred thousand dead Iraqis, and of the reason for it all. I wonder what triumph, what virtue we will we gain if we "win"? Are we desperately clinging to the same lies as did the "good" Germans in WW II?
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We must look this beast in the eye. We must require the truth of our government and examine what we are told. Then, put aside our political prejudice, resurrect the Sixth Commandment, recall where the Prince of Peace stands -- then demand we do the RIGHT thing!
.

Or -- are we to be the "good" Germans of the 21st Century?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

On Tuesday, January 3, 2005, a dozen people from throughout the 5th Congressional District showed up at Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite's office in hope of getting a brief audience with her during an appointment that had been prearranged. Back in November, a number of individuals called her office and began requesting appointments. Similar requests were sent by mail and FAX. This single appointment for a maximum of four people, was finally set up and hopes were high that she might even come out in the hall to address the larger group of people. Instead, the visit turned ugly and Brown-Waite's accusations about being sabotaged by this "unapproved" group of people suggested she couldn't trust us. We allowed that we wre there for that very reason, our belief that we couldn't trust her to do what is in the best interests of her constituents, our soldiers, or America.

A reporter from the St. Pete Times wrote an article the following day. This is Rafe's reply to that reporter's assessment of the meeting.

Mr/Ms Loder,

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Being uncertain of your gender, I know not how to address you. After reading your account in today's St. Pete Times, re peace workers meeting with Brown-Waite, however, I do know that you deserve no respect as an objective reporter.

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Your starter, describing this group as "Left-leaning local activists" set the tone of all of the biased reportage that followed.

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I personally know a good many of these people and am familiar with their objectives to bring a stop to a war wrought by lies, fraught with disastrous blunders, a war which has killed over two thousand young Americans and tens of thousands innocent Iraqis.

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These people have no hidden agenda, no "left-leaning" plot to subvert the republic. They don't work for warmongers or greed merchants, they don't take bribes from Abramoff or steal money from the Indians. And, most of all, they do not lie, unlike the masters of the historical disgrace of the