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The End of the Bush Years in the Presence of Leonard Cohen
 international |
miscellaneous |
opinion/analysis
 Thursday November 06, 2008 19:35 by Ciaron O'Reilly - Catholic Worker/Ploughshares Glasgow, Scotland
"Democracy is Coming to the U.S.A."
clip -Leonard Cohen
http://noolmusic.com/yahoo_videos/leonard_cohen_-_democ...y.php
I've been in Glasgow the past few daze catching to my godson Seanoidh and his parents Brian and Babs. I met B & B when I accompanied my friend Richard, who had just been deported from Genoa as he was trying to make his way to the G8 2001 demonstration, down to the Italian embassy in London to register our protest at the killing of Carlos,
Brian and Babs had likewise been immediately deported after landing at Genoa Airport and had missed the demonstrations in which Carlos was subsequently shot dead. The only thing Richard, Brian and Babs seemed to have in common is that they had been arrested in the very fluffy blockades of the British Trident nuclear submarine base in Faslane Scotland. This has been one of the most disciplined campaigns of nonviolent resistance in Eng/Scottish history so it seemed to me the authorities were keen to weed out the fluffies from Genoa!
Babs had shouted me a ticket to see Leonard Cohen in Glasgow. Cohen is someone I have listened to for years growing up in Australia. We use to joke his music and lyrics were a good soundtrack to slash up by as opposed to Nick Cave who some friends thought was good music to shoot up to!
The previous night I had stayed up watching the U.S. election results and texting an American friend in Hungary who claims to be an anarchist except in U.S. election year! My friend had come out of Michael Harrington's tendency in the U.S. Democratic party. Harrington had jumped ship from the Catholic Worker movement in the 1950's for reasons of political pragmatism and had written "The Other America" that had a significant influence on the Kennedy administrations "War on Poverty"
I didn't want to ruin his night with the Ammon Hennacy quote "When you choose the lesser of two evils, you soon forget your choosing evil!" I don't know much about Obama. I haven't tried that hard. What friends, who have taken more of an interest than me, say is he has been formed in black liberation theology and I was impressed with him equating civil disobedience as significant as civil war in bringing change in America (even though it was a speech in which he was disassociating from his black liberationist pastor). I had also been disappointed that he isn't an opponent of the death penalty which must be the most premediated acts of taking life.
I knew I was going to be more depressed if the Republicans won than excited if the Democrats won. So it was a good result I guess?
The feeling I had the next morning was that a storm had passed (this could be premature as I was still in the U.S. when George Sr. did a one more time drive by attack on Iraq daze before the handover to Clinton.) I had a been a prisoner under George Sr. for nonviolently resisting Gul Massacre 1 we ANZUS Plowshares had disarmred B-52 Bomber and shut downa U.S. Air Force runway on the eve of that assault.
I could not believe George Jr. became the President of the United States! I was present in London, placard in hand, the day George Jr. first visited Europe. George Jr. did not have the curiousity to visit Europe before he became President of the United States. This is a rich kid without a big work record and free time and plenty of money who did not bother to "do London" or "do Paris" or "do anywhere". This was man with no curiousity about the world who got to run the world for 8 years! That can't be good.
So it was great to be in the presence of Leonard Cohen within hours of the Bush-Cheney neocon period lapsing in total economic disarray while losing wars simultaneously on two different fronts. Nice work lads! 74 year old Cohen's 3 hour stage presence was so digniified, gracious and self depreciating. I saw a lot of Buddhist, Catholic, Jewish imagery in there and the spiritual over the political (but hey that's just me there were a couple ofother thousand at the gig so you'd have to ask them!).
I had to meet a friend of Babs in a bar to pick up my ticket. Big guy and the head of a Glasgow Rangers FC supporters club. Nice guy/ the other. Meanwhile Celtic were doing well against Man U at Parkhead. It was great to hang out with the 'Gers guy, only the second one I've ever met!. It was great to hear Cohen deliver "Democracy is Coming to the U.S.A. introduced as "his love letter to the U.S.A." with no reference to Obama. Obviously not a man to jump on any bandwagon is our Leonard!
http://noolmusic.com/yahoo_videos/leonard_cohen_-_democ...y.php
Good luck in the daze ahead...check out what good friends are doing in Chicago www.camphope2009.org and at the White House www.witnesstorture.org
Keep the faith
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Comments (8 of 8)
Jump To Comment: 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Medialens critique the depolyment of Brand Obama to cleanse the record and carry on with business as usual. Powerful stuff:
http://www.medialens.org/alerts/index.php
These reflections by Pilger resonate. It's disturbing how the dissident memory of radical nonviolent revolutionary
Martin Luther King was co-opted in this presidential campaign. As though the election of Obama is the fulfilment
of MLK's (I have a) Dream.
I recall Jan 15 '91, being ensconsed in Catskill County jail, NY, USA, when the opening B52 delivered cruise missile shots were unleashed in Gulf massacre 1 on MLK's birthday....now a public holiday in the USA. It was informative that the person who was due to lead the MLK parade in MLK's hometown that day couldn't make the gig because he was too busy bombing a 3rd. World country. Take a bow Colin Powell...what happened to MLK radical nonviolence and opposition to the Vietnam War (which did much to marginalise him at the time and get him shot)? It is though that radical dissident memory of MLK has been downsized merley to represent the promise of upward mobility in the system. Yes even though you are black or a woman or have a disability...you too can make it in America find your place in the imperial system at the highest echelons and work for the man.
This battle over memory is real in our own (anarcho pacofist) Catholic Worker movement since Cardinal O'Connor (R.I.P. navy man) put forward Dorothy for sainthood. their is an attempt will be to prune her of her radical analysis of capitalism and opposition to war and downsize her to privatised piety and good works.
This aritcle by Pilger is worth the read. For anything real to be achieved with this presidential paradigm shift a proactive grassroots movement is needed now to pile onthe pressure like www.soaw.org like Camp Hope in Obama's Chicago neieghborhood kincking off New Years Day, like the nvda 100 days to Close Gitmo www.witnesstroture.org
Speakng to a frined activist/organiser in Chicago yesterday there is evidence that many who were active in the Obama campaign will broke no criticism and seem to be spellbound....we need to be up and active to help these good folks snap out of it!
check out Pilger's reflections....
http://www.johnpilger.com/page.asp?partid=511
The lesser evil, very likely, but we're spared 'Oven Chips' McCain & Caribou Barbie Palin! There wasn't much in the media about Ralph Nader. At least it shows that skin tone is less important in the USA now, even if it is about damn time.
& Leonard Cohen is great; a fascinating voice, though it's not so tuneful, & a marvellous poet.
David Rovics thoughts on Obama election
http://songwritersnotebook.blogspot.com/2008/11/some-th....html
• He ate dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper while living in Indonesia
• He can speak Spanish
• While on the campaign trail he refused to watch CNN and had sports channels on instead
From: 50 facts you might not know about Obama http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection20....html
We really gotta keep tabs on this guy.
and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.
It's here the family's broken
and it's here the lonely say
that the heart has got to open
in a fundamental way:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
all lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/leonardcohen/democracy.html
vids:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OETwbVBPI1U
other vids using the music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFrMU8wmQ9k
Dedicated to community organizers--past, present and future.
Caption: Video Id: OETwbVBPI1U Type: Youtube Video
Embedded video Youtube Video
What is Obama likely to do in his first term?
(1) Restore American global economy dominance.
(2) Withdraw American troops from Iraqi in stages leaving a pro-US pupper government in place protected by a "fire brigade" of US troops in permanent military installations if violence kicks off again.
(3) Flood Afghanistan and the Pakistani tribal border regions with American troops.
(4) Begin negotiations in Iran but backed up by the threat of the air carrier fleets poised in the Persian Gulf and Israeli airstrikes and commando raids on Iran's nuclear installations.
(5) Restore bruised relationships with NATO allies and extend NATO membership to all former members of the old Soviet bloc and engage in a nuclear stand off with the Russians forcing them to back down and accept the establishment of the anti-missile shield in Eastern Europe.
(6) Compete economically and militarially with India and China and Russia. Obama might announce a new space race perhaps a mission to Mars? It worked during the Kennedy era to boost national pride and the US economy by providing jobs in the high technology sector.
(7) Continue the War on Terror in order to extend American influence globally.
Obama is an utterly ruthless man, even more so that Bush and more importantly there is a razor sharp intelligence, the ability to inspire adulation from the American and European and global public.
Because he is the "change" candidate his position is unimpeachable.
For anti-war demonstrators he is a nightmare.
The same people who once shouted "No Blood For Oil" are now bleating "Yes We Can."
Michael Moore on Obama victory
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=240