To the tune of Casey Jones (with major apologies to the Grateful Dead)
Flying that plane, high on McCain,
Hey Big John, you’d better watch your speed.
Flip flops ahead, no money behind,
And you know that notion just crossed his mind.
Running for office takes all his time,
Straight Talk Express leaves at quarter to nine,
Flying to Baghdad, St. Louis too
At a quarter to ten you know he’s flying again.
[As I prepare for our annual trip to the Mister's folks down in Pueblo for the Fourth (actually waiting for the rest of the family to wake up!), I'm reprising a diary from July 4, 2006.]
In the United States, the term "patriotic music" generally is used to mean the marches of John Phillip Sousa; the National Anthem; God Bless America, I'm Proud To Be An American; and the like.
But I'm of a different bent — I find the above evoke images of martialism and mindless nationalism which are the antithesis to ideals of the United States — our true patrimony.
After the flip is my favorite song about the United States. What's yours?
Something happened this week that makes me wonder if I'm living in the same world I thought I was in - or if perhaps I've warped into some alternate universe. Briefly, here's the gist of what happened:
Our esteemed President goes overseas and visits Israel.
In honor of Israel's 60th birthday he gives a speech to the Knesset - the Israeli parliament.
In this speech he invokes Nazi Germany, the 1939 invasion of Poland, and the "false comfort of appeasement."
OK, up until this point everything seems pretty much like the world I was used to ... George Bush makes moronic statement - nothing to see here ... move along. BUT ... the ensuing week sees a whole host of reactions and yet nowhere can I find a blogger, reporter, or columnist point out the obvious ... I mean, c'mon ... he was standing in Israel, right? OK, let's connect the dots one time, just to see if I've really been transported to an alternate universe.
This primary season has been relentless, and in many ways frustrating. We've seen some hopeful signs, some shattering betrayals, and it's hard to keep it all in perspective. But taking a step back and regaining our composure is essential, so I present this diary.
20 years ago, April 22nd 1988, was when I attended my first Grateful Dead concert. I was only 18 years old, in my first year at UC Santa Barbara. As you might guess, the political scene was every bit as ugly then as it is right now, and this was a much needed break... (more on the other side)
This really isn't much of a diary. No great wisdom here. This video came to me through the blog of my good friend John Farr, and to him through Donita Sparks at FireDogLake. In this day of questioning people's patriotism at the drop of a hat; of hands over hearts, and lapel pins; of measuring who loves their country more, it spoke to me. I don't know. It's not much. Three aging "hippies," one of whom is gone now, singing a song in a field.
" And the politicians throwin' stones,
So the kids they dance
And shake their bones,
And it's all too clear we're on our own.
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Picture a bright blue ball,
Just spinnin', spinnin, free.
Dizzy with the possibilities.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down."
Before the show, the three living Dead faced the press in a curtained-off nook of the Warfield basement; they had just finished a ninety-minute afternoon soundcheck that would serve as the show’s sole rehearsal. "I think that we all knew Obama was the guy for us, but we hadn’t talked about it because we’d all been doing our own thing," said bassist Phil Lesh. Mickey Hart admitted that band members hadn’t seen each other in "years and years." But "we knew instinctively, intuitively that we were all together on this," said Bob Weir. "We came together and we’re doing it."
Lesh was behind the sold out "Deadheads For Obama ‘08″ rally at the Warfield Theater. His eighteen-year-old son Brian has been working as an Obama volunteer and Lesh described seeing Obama speak at a rally last fall in Brooklyn as "one of the most electrifying experiences in my life."
Not only his Obama a Rock star to Dems everywhere he is reuniting them together.
Anyone able to get into the deadheads for Obama stream? For those of us that can't be at the Warfield in SF tonight?
I seem to be shut out, and need a miracle...
Okay, so Hillary's got her coffee clatch tonight, and there are already two or more "live blogs" for her "Town Hall" meeting...sychophants (oops! and I should have caught that)psychophants of the world, unite!
But for those of us who find that option less than appealing, there's hope...
The surviving members of the legendary band, The Grateful Dead, will reunite for a one-time only get-out-the-vote concert to support the campaign of Barack Obama!
3 living Members of The Grateful Dead, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir & Mickey Hart will play at a "Deadheads for Obama" concert Monday at the Warfield in San Francisco.
We've had some tough weeks, some tough months, some tough years.
The struggle remains.
We're in this together.
George Harrison- Give Me Love
Give me love
Give me love
Give me peace on earth
Give me light
Give me life
Keep me free from birth
Give me hope
Help me cope, with this heavy load
Trying to, touch and reach you with,
heart and soul
My book, The Grateful Dead and Philosophy is out! It's real, it's on shelves, and I could not be happier with the book or prouder of my Deadhead cohorts who contributed wonderful, engaging, insightful, and fun essays. As someone who made and sold tie-dyed t-shirts in many a parking lot, questions about the Dead, economics, and rights have always been fascinating. One of the challenges the Dead raised that still lingers is the notion of authorship, ownership, and intellectual property.
Courtesy of an old friend, a seriously thought provoking article regarding a form of spirituality I simply can't deny, because I've felt it deep in my bones on numerous occasions:
It was a clear-cut decision back in the ’60s, either you loved the Grateful Dead, the bluesy folk band that got its start in San Francisco, or you went for the Beatles and the rest of the British Invasion.
Do we always have to choose sides? Do you have to be deaf and blind to the creative wonders of Lennon, McCartney, et al, to thrill to the magic of Jerry and friends? But that's just the writer of the piece. The item that's interesting is the Pastor (if you don't mind calling a Unitarian Universalist that) who's using the Dead as the focus of a series of sermons he's giving and how this ties in to the whole "God is a delusion" idea. In short, he's hitting me in my soft spot and left me pondering.
