To hear House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R. TX) talk is always an instructive experience. The bonhomie of the man would make a rattlesnake look pet-like. According to this congenial biped, the cause of the North East blackout is to be put squarely on the "banana democrats," the "banana environmentalists," and the "banana extremists." No banana terrorists just yet on the horizon, but they are in Iran and Syria for sure and should be removed by any means necessary, which is quite exactly what the consensus happens to be in Washington: a generational -- yes, generational -- commitment to transform the Middle East, as eloquently advanced by another good-natured biped, NSA Condoleezza Rice. Hey, the U.S. is the master of the world; so, why not an American caliphate? It'll only take fifty years. By then Phil Greenspan will remind us once more that the famous Four Freedoms promised by FDR in 1941 were nothing more, or less, than a figment of the imagination, a cleverly concocted PR device to lead the herd into yet another war.
Various observers, like Richard Macintosh, smell the odor of blood around the Whore House Resident, and see the sharks circling for the kill. If they are correct, we should expect a new military engagement, somewhere, anywhere....or the banana terrorists will rear their ugly heads right in the nick of time. Of course, America could choose a different path, as Michael Stowell suggests, and unite behind a decent man, or woman, for the common good. Indeed, what will America do?
The pessimists will find solace with creativity and look into music, be it that of Woody Guthrie, or even a Britney Spears, for their own freedom, as Phil Rockstroh illustrates with all the power of his quill. And who knows, that very freedom, leading to an entire people uniting for the common good, would, at last, drive the prejudices related by Scott Orlovsky and Vanessa Raney into oblivion.
And thinking of Tom DeLay, we are offering you two oldies but goodies from the archives. You'll find the reproduction of an 1850 internal regulation of a French company, just the kind of a generous world Mr. DeLay and his henchmen want to go back to, with the help of family values -- but of course! Rilke's sixth letter to a young poet brings this edition to a close.
As always, please form your OWN opinion, and let your friends (and foes) know about Swans. It's your voice that makes ours grow.
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Gilles d'Aymery: The American Caliphate: US Establishment Bipartisan Strategy
Summer is here. The month of August, as we learned last year, is not the time to launch another political marketing blitz (viz. Iraq). So we are left with the usual assortment of bland news, sprinkled with a blackout on the East Coast and a front-runner in California whose "good" friends, beside the Kennedy and Bush families, include people like Ken Lay of Enron fame and Kurt Waldheim of Nazi past -- no doubt, a perfect mix to become California's next Terminator, err, governor... Meanwhile, left widely uncovered in the main media was the significant announcement of a quasi-official bipartisan foreign policy strategy that calls for the remaking of a region made of 22 countries and a combined population of 300 million -- the Middle East; a strategy that, we are told, will require a generational commitment. More...
Philip Greenspan: Broken Promises Of World War II
On January 6, 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his annual message to Congress, the first after his unprecedented third term electoral triumph. Six months earlier, the French Army had been defeated and Great Britain was standing alone to fight the formidable German military. Roosevelt was convinced that the U.S. would have to enter the war if the Axis was to be defeated. More...
Richard Macintosh: The Tweedle Brothers
The Tweedle boys are getting nervous. The image of their current point man, George W. Bush, is showing signs of weakening. The "populace," it seems, is beginning to see through the cabal's machinations, distortions and outright lies that supported the war against Iraq. There is even a hint that the president is a clueless legacy who merely repeats what his handlers write for him. More...
Michael W. Stowell: What Will You Do?
Now what will you do, America, all of you who consider yourselves Americans? Now that billions of people, all around the world, are subjugated, suffering, and dying to feed your pleasures and the pleasures of those who run your government, now that your government has pushed the human race to the point of self-emulation, just what do you intend to do about it? More...
Phil Rockstroh: Blitzkrieg Of Bullshit: A Fable
Winston Churchill and Aldous Huxley got very drunk one night in an uptown bar in Valhalla. As the evening sloshed along, Aldous proffered and Winston accepted a hit of acid; then, at closing time, they staggered into a time-portal, thinking they were hailing a London cab. More...
Scott Orlovsky: Perspectives
conservatives often view me as a radical
a communist
a socialist
a homosexual
and other labels
they believe denigrating enough
to invoke a public outcry of ostracism
More...
Vanessa Raney: Step Back
Do you know
the word discrimination?
Means to take away
Means to be a stereo—
type of meaning
to confuse
to alienate
to identify
in a discriminating context
More...
Rainer Maria Rilke: Letters to a Young Poet (Letter Six)
I don't want you to be without a greeting from me when Christmas comes and when you, in the midst of the holiday, are bearing your solitude more heavily than usual. But when you notice that it is vast, you should be happy; More...
Gilles d'Aymery: Generosity And Regulations
How not to like Jack Kemp? He is such a wonderfully gregarious man. He talks with his heart and his soul, embracing the American people, especially when they are the poor and the trodden ones. More...
Jan Baughman: The Rhetoric Of Values
I am ruminating over the meaning of family values. When various parties and religious groups use this slogan, they undoubtedly use it differently. So I consulted Webster's dictionary. More...
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