I took the old track
The hollow shoulder, across the waters
On the tall cliffs
They were getting older, sons and daughters
The jaded underworld was riding high
Waves of steel hurled metal at the sky
And as the nail sunk in the cloud, the rain was warm and soaked the crowd.
When the flood calls,
You have no home, you have no walls
In the thunder crash
You're a thousand minds, within a flash
Don't be afraid to cry at what you see
The actor's gone, there's only you and me
And if we break before the dawn, they'll use up what we used to be.
Lord, here comes the flood
We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood
If again, the seas are silent
And any still alive
It'll be those who gave their island to survive
Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry.
HERE COMES THE FLOOD by Peter Gabriel
Like pollution and sewage rising to the surface of Lake Ponchartrain, an ugly face of America emerges once again. More shock and shame below the fold:
We saw glimpses in the divisive rhetoric of the elections as the nation self sorted into Redstate/Bluestate, Conservative/Liberal, and then devolved into "fascist"/"Freedom Hater". We became estranged from the fallout of political and religious differences. And now this obscene devolution in the Gulf is unmasking the last vestiges of our collective self image as the good hearted, generous, courageous believer in ePluribus Unum. The cognitive dissonance thunders across the plains from coast to coast. And the dominant face behind the mask? Self interest, xenophobia, racism and an astonishing disregard for life.
The Freeper comments blaming the victims that we find so appalling are not so much evil deviance but are the prevailing sentiments among many supporters of this administration. All week I have heard the same words repeated in the grocery, in the hardware store, in the schoolyard at pickup time: "I cannot look at it-I won't look at the TV or the papers, I just want it to go away. All those people-why were they so stupid to stay? It serves them right." Their SUVS are left empty and idling, keeping it cool inside for 15-20-30 minutes, while they wait for their kids, shop and chat. Downtown, a stretch Hummer, engine running, sits in front of the Wachovia Bank headquarters ALL DAY waiting for the eventual emergence of the moneychangers, despite the gas lines, the empty pumps, and their President's directive to conserve gas.
There is a riot in the mind but the eye does not doubt or deny. It sees a picture of strangeness and heartlessness and emptiness. Across the great divide, there are many who have assimilated their racism and essential greed into a religious schema that can justify this endless sorrow in the Gulf. The needy on the flickering TV light are predominately black. I keep hearing George Bush's voice during the State of the Union speech, the drama he imparted to the words that Saddam was getting yellowcake from (hushed slight pause for emphasis) AFRICA. The dark continent.
I can no longer assert that America wants to pull together, that it is great and caring. The dominant culture and its kings have judged us all expendable and too expensive. Hastert says it is not worth it to rebuild New Orleans but it is to rebuild Baghdad. The abortion debate, the failure to provide cutting edge contraception, the withholding of condoms to prevent AIDS in Africa and insisting on African celibacy in place of adequate prevention, the "religious" social controls to reproduce white babies while cutting benefits to the poor babies of color all fit nicely in the new religious platform. The coming immigration wars will tidy up the costly mess created from opening our borders and averting our eyes so they could serve the upper classes for an indecent wage in the underground economy. All those who are not with the program shall be "Left Behind" in the Rapture. The opposition is deported to the ideological stalags , political prisoners of the warmongering xenophobes with their greedy grip on the resources of this nation and a hungry eye toward the rest of the planet.
The human mind is a marvel at assimilating information, creating a narrative that rationalizes self interest above all else, and then elevating that schema to the level of divine doctrine. But today, for many Americans, the gods have sung another song much like the first line of the Iliad, "Of wrath sing, O Goddess!" With the Gulf belching images of unbearable neglect and indifference in the face of the excruciating pain, need and anguish of our own citizens, the Carnival mask drops from the national character. Democracy, Freedom, United We Stand, Compassionate Conservatism and Culture of Life are just so many red, white & blue papier mache dolls in the rain, melting before our eyes. And our leaders on both sides of the aisle are MISSING, film at 11. That Gulf in the Great Divide is full of rage. Drink up dreamers, you're running dry. Try to remember what we used to be.