stars and stripes forever

it's the fourth of july. yesterday i went to a very nice party where seemingly everyone brought a dessert. there were pies and tarts and plates of cookies and brownies, overflowing from the table to the nearby bookshelves. the conversation was pleasant, the crowd intelligent, and i heard nary a word spoken about the war et al. it was nice, actually. felt like something from a different time. what a luxury we do enjoy, however -- to be able to turn world events on and off as needed. well, to idle away a few hours, drinking wine and talking about comedy, music festivals, crazy siblings -- i suppose that's as american as anything. as american as not really being able to think too much about what this day represents -- liberation -- and by contrast what this country now represents to so much of the world -- oppression.

but i am certain that, right now all over the country, in many places the red, white, and blue -- the same colors that drape the coffins of those who died for this current big lie -- is being wielded like a weapon or just blindly revered as something that stands for capital-r right. for those places i offer the words of one of san francisco's only great punk bands, in one of its finest moments, a song from nigh on three decades ago that still sadly rings true, from sea to shining sea.

the amerikan in me

it's the amerikan in me
that makes me watch the blood
flowin' out of the bullet hole in his head
it's the amerikan in me
that makes me watch TV
see on the news, this is what the man said.
he said, ask not what you can do for your country.
what's your country been doing to you?
ask not what what you can do for your country.
what's your country been doing to you?
it's the amerikan in me
says it an honor to die
in a war that's just some politician's lie.
it's the amerikan in me
that makes me watch TV
see how they burned the SLA, they said
ask not what what you can do for your country.
what's your country been doing to you?
ask not what what you can do for your country.
what's your country been doing to you?
in the USA
in the USA
it's the amerikan in me
that makes me watch the blood
flowin' out of the bullet hole in his head
it's the amerikan in me
that never wonders why
kennedy was murdered by the FBI
ask not what what you can do for your country.
what's your country been doing to you?
ask not what what you can do for your country.
what's your country been doing to you?

--the avengers