Let's turn this British celebration into our own institution!
In England, Nov. 5 is celebrated as Guy Fawkes Day. Guy Fawkes was a Catholic accused of sedition in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, wherein a space beneath the Parliament building was crammed full of explosives and rigged to be detonated. It is not unreasonable to suspect that the plot may have been some kind of set up or entrapment of the alleged conspirators, since the political climate was extremely hostile to Catholics. It is unknown if the explosives would have really gone off, and it is possible the government wanted an incident such as this so as to have an excuse to continue the persecution of Catholics. The whole event may be akin to False Flag Terrorism.
Whatever the truth of the allegations against him, Guy Fawkes was executed for treason and every Nov. 5 in England there are bonfires and Guy Fawkes effigies burned. Also on the day, children go from house to house begging for money or perhaps treats and say "Penny for the Guy."
Guy Fawkes may be known to you if you’ve ever read the fantastic and seminal graphic novel ‘V For Vendetta’ by Alan Moore, wherein the mysterious hero declares war against a dystopian fascist British government. Throughout the novel, the hero always wears a Guy Fawkes mask. Two or 3 years back a not-bad movie version of the novel was made, but the book is far better.
[The author of ‘V For Vendetta,’ Alan Moore, wrote another dystopian graphic novel, ‘Watchmen,’ which features a protofascist U.S., rather than Great Britain. A major part of the action in ‘Watchmen’ is concerned with a devastating and deadly False Flag attack on New York City. ‘Watchmen’ is a truly peerless work of fiction and art, and I strongly recommend you read it before Hollywood completes the movie version, because the odds are against the movie containing 1/32 of the meaning of the book.]
November 5, 2008, is now a celebratory day, a day the home-grown American fascist movement was dealt a severe, perhaps decisive blow. It will hopefully be remembered as the day when Americans began to repudiate the war, torture and cruelty of the modern Republican party.
Whatever crimes Guy Fawkes did or did not commit, they pale in comparison to the atrocities of the last 8 years. What is the death toll from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? How many people were wrongly imprisoned? How many tortured? And how about 9/11? Do we really believe that no one in the Administration had foreknowledge?
Considering the magnitude of their crimes, would it be so awful to burn effigies of W., Cheney, Rummy, Gonzales, Condi? Probably we shouldn’t go there, forget I said that. But how about bonfires, burning the Executive Orders, Signing Statements, Wiretap Authorizations, etc., the Leaves of Fascism.
Let’s make Nov. 5 our own Bonfire Day, that we never forget the nightmare of the last 8 years, that we never let our guard down again.