The Furious Spinner

Just some quick thoughts. I listened to Robert Kennedy, jr. on "Fresh Air" the other night. His assessment of what our so-called president has done to the environmental health of this nation is staggering. According to Kennedy, essentially all federal environmental laws are now dead. Although some still may be on the books, there is now absolutely no enforcement. He has three children with asthma. I think he said childhood asthma has increased by 50% in the last five years. I was stunned. And so depressed.

I was even more depressed listening to the woman from the Heritage Foundation (or whatever they're called—they're a rightwing think tank) who came on after Kennedy. Like many neo-cons, this woman distorted everything. Double-spoke everything. And Terri Gross didn't call her on any of her misrepresentations. I kept thinking, "What can I do? What can I do?" I try many things, but Bush and his cohorts are in power, and they are decimating our environment. How can the American people be so ignorant and allow this to happen?

I remember asking my liberal father how his generation could have allowed the McCarthy era, and he shrugged and said, "We trusted the government. And we figured if someone was a communist, that was a bad thing." Now I'm wondering how it is that my generation is allowing our civil rights to be eroded—right along with our environment.

Later, we listened to Garrison Keillor interviewing Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the great poet who co-founded City Lights. He's 83 years old now, and he's still got the fire in the belly. He's horrified by war. By definition, Ferlinghetti says, poets are non-violent enemies of the state. They have to be. It was wonderful listening to him, but I kept wondering: is it enough? During these difficult times, is it enough to be a non-violent enemy of the state?

I'm not sure. Not sure what to do about it all. Except howl. Right now I'll just howl.

On that confusing road again.

Boom! 0 comments

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

All photographs and written material copyright © 2003-2008 by Kim Antieau unless otherwise indicated. May not be used without permission.