weapons of mass distraction

today i joined congregants of harlem's riverside church, and other members of new york's faith communities, in participating in a mock funeral procession for the dead and not-yet dead in iraq. the event commemorates the 36th anniversary of martin luther king jr.'s speech against the vietnam war at riverside church. incidentally, it is also the 35th anniversary of dr. king's assassination.

we gathered at grant's tomb at 122nd st. & riverside drive this morning at 9:30, and, led by a new orleans style dixieland band, carried six caskets to bryant park at 42nd st. there, several leaders of the christian, muslim, and jewish communities gave rousing speeches against the war and the bush administration, in support of our troops, and in memory of dr. king.


i served as a pall bearer for the casket representing the social programs which will perish in the wake of increased defense spending. it was not necessarily my choice of cause, but they needed someone on that particular casket, and i offered to help.

on our legal, police-escorted march down 5th avenue, we were cursed at, yelled at, flipped off, and one man in a pick up truck started driving into us while we crossed an intersection. many people engaged us angrily while others threw up peace signs and gave us applause. the majority, however, as expected, reflected indifference. the most resistance came from middle-aged middle-class white men.

here's abc's report / the ny times / cbs / ap / journal news ... i'm waiting to see the rest of the coverage... on the march i was filmed by cnn, nbc, abc, & cbs. when fox news stuck a camera in my face, i proclaimed "FOX NEWS IS BULLSHIT! YOU SHOULD SPELL IT F-A-U-X!" while staring directly into the lens. their reporter started telling me off. i summarily dismissed him and continued on my way. it was a redeeming moment.

hear the rest or read it... part 1 | part 2 ...forgive me, i have a cold

the conclusion i came to, on this march, was that whether or not saddam hussein is a tyrant, or even a threat, is a non-issue. just as politicians attempt to draw attention away from truly pertinent issues during an election cycle, by obfuscating them with non-issues (ever notice no one talks about the failing drug war, or campaign finance reform?), so do the detractors use weapons of mass distraction to draw attention away from the greater issues pertaining to this war, with such non-issues as who provided the chemical weapons, french loyalty and the like. i don't believe that one anti-war demonstrator will contest the fact that saddam hussein is a sick, sick man, that ought to be deposed. the question is as to whether or not we can entrust this action to those who have taken it upon themselves to do so.

why does no one make mention of the fact that dick cheney received $36 million from halliburton just prior to entering office, and soon after 9/11, awarded the company a contract to rebuild guantanmo bay's detention centers and, now, most recently, to put out the oil fires in iraq? the department of the interior took notice—they announced that halliburton could no longer bid on contracts for iraqi reconstruction. however they can still act as secondary contractors—outsourced agents of the winning bidders. is such quid pro quo actually legal?

how many people must die so that companies like halliburton can line their pockets with our tax dollars, or so that others, like the carlyle group, can pad their IPOs? how many american soldiers have to die in defective sikorsky helicopters before we stop buying them by the hundreds? how many more chemical weapons can we test on our own troops to increase the bottom line of companies like monsanto who have 18 former executives holding cabinet positions in the current administration? how many more "blowback enemies" can these "offense contractors" arm before we finally recognize the arms dealers—defense contractors and politicians alike—as the true threat to global stability? the pigs are feeding at the trough, and that trough is a coffin.

they dare to call us unpatriotic, but we're out here fighting for those same americans who are too damn unaware of what's happening around them—too susceptible to the propaganda, too asleep—to recognize and fight for themselves. they try to corner us and call us unamerican... they tell us, "move to france," "you should be supporting our troops!" they try to strangle us with our own words, to shut us up... run us into endless circles of argument. and we can only stare in disbelief, with our jaws agape, as we try to express: "you are getting robbed, snap the hell out of it!" because as long as you're arguing, you're not paying attention to the hand in your pocket. you're too distracted.

we are not endangering ourselves by laying down in traffic because we oppose regime change in iraq, but rather because we are concerned that those who seek regime change do so only for their own financial gain, and not for the reasons which they contend. so many of us would not take such serious action without just cause. do not believe the impressions cast upon us by the media: we are not being foolish.

three columbian women were recently arrested who had "preyed on men by smearing their breasts with a powerful drug and luring the victims into taking a lick, before making off with their wallets and cars." transposed to this moment, that drug, is fevered patriotism, those breasts, the bounty of war, those ladies are supposedly our representatives, and they are making off, in our cars.

thus, i don't even want to hear about saddam, wmd, and all that nonsense anymore. anyone who harps on these points is merely avoiding the real issues. and at this time, i don't have the time nor patience to hear it. i'm currently being robbed, and i intend to do something about it.