Why We Fight, Against the War, Against a Culture of Fear, And For Barack Obama

[Ichingcarpenter]

Why We Fight, 2008: Against the War, Against a Culture of Fear, And For Barack Obama


By: John Eskow is a writer and musician. He wrote or co-wrote the movies
Air America, The Mask of Zorro, and Pink Cadillac, as well as the novel
Smokestack Lightning. His work has appeared in Esquire, Rolling Stone,
The Nation, Playboy, and many other magazines.


As we stagger out into the middle of the ring for Round 1,293 of this heavyweight title-fight between two battered contenders for the Democratic Party crown, the cumulative effect of all the punches, head-butts and knockdowns has been to make us all feel soul-weary and half-concussed. As one who's become an Obama supporter, I've even found myself, in recent days, half-ready to toss in the proverbial towel --just give it to her already, we all know Don King appointed the judges, they'll award her the "decision" on points anyhow...As if I'm steeling to prepare myself for another corrupt, home-town decision, delivered by bought-and-paid-for judges.

But when that weariness beckons, I know it's more important than ever to remind myself why it's worth fighting on, no matter what. So here's an off-the-top-of-my-head list of reasons -- a kind of Why We Fight, circa 2008 -- that keeps me, and hopefully others, from saying "no mas" and abandoning the struggle:

--Because while hatred is a cancer, gnawing the hater from within, a righteous indignation is aerobics for the soul; and, between the two-bit cartoon-figures posing as political experts on TV, who've made this campaign feel like an endless re-run of Are You Smarter Than A Third-Grader (Tim Russert, Wolf Blitzer, et al), and the Clinton operatives who ceaselessly exploit those cartoon-figures (Mark Penn, Howard Wolfson, Sidney Blumenthal, etc.)--and those with a poseur's foot in both camps (like James Carville and George Stephanopolous)--we have much to be righteously indignant about.

--Because we know that all the candidates need to think deeper, harder, and more compassionately about ending the criminal occupation of Iraq -- visiting that country's hospitals to see the damage first-hand, apologizing to our victims, and working to make reparations for the horrors we have visited on the innocent men, women, and children there -- and we sense, from everything we've seen, that Obama is more likely to show that kind of honest compassion than any other candidate.>>>snip

--Because we are women, old and young, who feel that if Hillary Clinton's casual threats of genocide represent a victory for feminism, then where do we go to un-burn our bras?

--Because in the same week that Clinton made that genocide threat -- perpetuating a George Bush style that is not "cowboy" at all, with that word's overtones of tough-ass heroism, but instead the epitome of prissy, fey cowardice -- Obama openly considered the possibility of the war-crimes trials for torture that are already overdue.

--Because we know the Clintons extremely well (Bill Richardson, Ted Kennedy, Cris Dodd, Joe Andrew, Robert Reich, etc.); and, rather than earning our loyalty -- which is historically almost always the case in American party politics -- amazingly enough they have earned our distrust and suspicion instead, and we have reached out to a new candidate with no favors to promise us except a chance at a fresh start...>>>>snip


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-eskow/why-we-fight-2008-against_b_100089.html

[Ichingcarpenter]

1. I thought H2O man would like this metaphor

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. Rare self kick

I thought it was a well written piece.

[FrenchieCat]

4. It was. Brought tears to my eyes.

Why we fight!

Excellent.

Thanks!

[Zachstar]

3. I look forward to the culture of fear being washed away by the wave of change.

[intaglio]

5. and a boot up the MB