Welcome to the Soapbox. Watch your neck as it crane's higher and higher.

My mom sent me this...


We Are America

As the soot and dirt and ash rained down,
We became one color.
As we carried each other down the stairs of the burning building,
We became one class.
As we lit candles of waiting and hope,
We became one generation.
As the firefighters and police officers fought their way into the inferno,
We became one gender.
As we fell to our knees and prayed for strength,
We became one faith.
As we whispered or shouted words of encouragement,
We spoke one language.
As we gave our blood in lines a mile long,
We became one body.
As we mourned together the great loss,
We became one family.
As we cried tears of grief and loss,
We became one soul.
As we retell with pride of the sacrifice of heroes,
We become one people.

We are
One color
One class
One generation
One gender
One faith
One language
One body
One family
One soul
One people

We are The Power of One.
We are United.
We are America.
######

To which I replied
(subject: see the cat? see the cradle?)

I'm sorry to burst your bubble like this...really...but things like this poem are too jingoistic for me. Kurt Vonnegut (who witnessed the bombing of Dresden in WWII) would call the poem a great GRANFALOON. In Vonnegut's book, Cat's Cradle (read the book!), he writes...

#######
Hazel's obsession with Hoosiers was a textbook example of a false karass, of a seeming team that was meaningless in terms of the ways God gets things done, a textbook example of what Bokonon calls a granfalloon. Other examples of granfalloons are the Communist party, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the General Electric Company, the International Order of Odd Fellows----and any nation, any time, anywhere.

As Bokonon invites us to sing along with him:
If you wish to study a granfalloon,
Just remove the skin of a toy balloon.
#######

When you send me this, it scares me even more that Americans still think like Americans. Still, as if "we Americans" are all that matters.

Dammit! I hate having to step on a soapbox all the time, but here I go again. WAKE - THE - FUCK - UP -AMERICA!! JOIN THE FAMILY OF HUMANITY AND STOP TRYING TO LIVE ABOVE IT ALL.

I rewrote your poem and would appreciate it if you forward it to people. WE, meaning all of us, have to learn about this entire planet of ours. By the way, I'm exercising my AMERICAN right to free expression and dissent! Remember, I love my country too, and I have served it! I'm very proud of that fact. I'm ready to write my congressman and ask him to propose legislation that the Peace Corps become MANDATORY. It would get our insular asses out to see what the rest of the world looks like. That's why it's called the PEACE CORPS. The idea is to end war and terror by going and living among people outside of fortress America (now, horribly, no longer a fortress).

Now, for some GOOD reading (I needed the laughs) look at

The Onion! and especially
God on terrorist bombings.

The entire issue is brilliance and, though a satirical newspaper, full of food for thought. THOUGHT!

OK, off the soapbox again...sigh, well, except for the poem, to wit...

#####
*WE* Are NOT America, *WE* Are Humanity

As the soot and dirt and ash rained down at ground zero in NYC,
We became one color.
But what were we before?
As we carried each other down the stairs of the burning buildings,
We became one class.
But what were we before?
As we lit candles of waiting and hope around the world,
We became one generation.
But what were we before?
As the firefighters and police officers fought their way into the infernos,
We became one gender.
But what were we before?
As we fell to our knees and prayed for strength around the world,
We became one faith.
But what were we before?
As we whispered or shouted or emailed words of encouragement, love, hope,
We spoke one language.
But what were we before?
As we gave our blood in lines a mile long,
We became one body.
But what were we before?
As we mourned together the great loss of life, love, hope, dreams,
We became one family.
But what were we before?
As we cried tears of grief and loss and anger and confusion and fear,
We became one soul.
But what were we before?
As we retell with pride of the sacrifice of heroes,
We become one people.
But what were we before?
As we look at ourselves and who we are and at what do,
We become enlightened together.
But what were we before?
As we search for answers,
We become to understand that WHY is most important.
But why weren't we searching before?
Why aren't we asking WHY more often?

We are, and always have been,
One color
One class
One generation
One gender
One faith
One language
One body
One family
One soul
One people
But why didn't we know it?

We can be The Power of One.
We can be United.
We can be Humanity.

But what were we before? And WHY?

"See the cat? See the cradle?"

######
She then sent this...
from a friend of hers

If that letter of disapproval of that forwarded poem from some professor
in Japan, is from your son may I say that the boy is my new hero. If you
don't want him anymore I'll take him.

I know your spirit is the sweet one I've known for too short a time and i
think i know exactly what you are feeling, but there is a flip side to that
put down of Americans.

I appreciate receiving it because it is fodder for a direct answer,
point for point on his issues followed with "but where were we before." I
haven't yet finished the detailed and direct answer. I just have no time
right now. Joyce and I just got back from two weeks of filming on �Gods and
Generals� in Virginia and am now undertaking the meanest Shakespearean play
that SOB ever wrote. It's brutality to actors! (And maybe audience):
�Troilas and Cressida� Anyway I can't wait to find the time to finish my
strong rebuttal to the poem.
Here�s some of the thoughts I�ll be pin pointing in my rebuttal to that
terrible spirited poem:
Where were we? For one thing, we were busy trying to set the tinplate
for a better world. Opening the doors to world trade to better the
conditions in other lands at a great cost to our own and hopefully great
profit for all. We were extending lend-lease to other countries and not
getting paid the rent; we were building and then rebuilding every other
involved country for the damage caused by something they started. Helping
those who believe in the phylosophy stated in �The Onions� wonderful
message.
We were sacrificing our young men in our mutual behalf. We were
magnanimous and opened our doors...perhaps too wide. And when some of you
came and answered us and called us the great Satin, we took a moment for
ourselves to grieve and grieve and help each other. All that stuff....where
we were before...helped make us what we became in the face of this
disaster.
We are the peace corps, the red cross, the salvation army, Christians,
Jews and Islam living and let living and learning from each other. We have
some to go, and we need to look at why the progress is slow...but we�re
getting better. At least we are listening. Our dollars can only go so far,
but it�s a lot to ask for one counrty to carry the load of the whole world.
I would ask a question of that professor. What did they do with money we�ve
been pouring into their coutries. I guess the other countries leaders are
the only ones who can answer that. If they�re not too busy spending it on
themselves and ideas to bomb their benefactors. Were listening. Where are
your questions? How more can we help? Where are you?
The finality of my tome would be, what were those terrorists doing?
Suppressing their women. Keeping them out of sight and uneducated...except
the few that they hold in reserve for their own pleasures. Were they there
backing up the young Chinese students who are fighting for democracy. I
mean, get REAL. If these obvious things I�m citing just off the top of my
head are there ...imagine what a greater mind than mine could do with that
clap-trap!
I hate the implications made by that idiot in Japan and to him I
say,
'HOW DARE YOU!!!!'
#######
My response, after being up all night last nite. Crane your neck for the very high soapbox on this one...

Howdee,

This is an interesting email from your friend. Since
its 4 in the morning here, I won't go into counter
mudslinging yet (oops, looks like I did below anyway),
but I would definitely like to see your friend's
measured response. Also, I'm writing this part AFTER
the part below...It's mainly addressed to your friend,
so you can pass it on to him.

One thing is for sure...he's got a lot of learning to
do. Please read more and learn more. Please please
please! Pretty please. Now, I said pretty please,
right!?

He talks about all the money that we give out to
countries. You might want to mention that we recently
gave the Taliban 42 million United States dollars for
being good folks by chopping off the hands and heads
of all those who would grow opium poppies. That was
Mr. President George W. Bush who did that back some
time in April. How dare they bite the hand that feeds
them. Seems we looked the other way about how the
Taliban treat their women and children, as long as
they get the drug producers. Why wasn't this in the
papers or on TV on CNN? I agree, the Taliban are scum
and they are certainly not Moslems. Allah will deal
with them and the terrorists in hell.

(note: seems that this 42, actually 43 million WAS for humanitarian aid after all!)

You might want to mention that we pretty much know
where all the terrorist training camps are in
Afghanistan, and we know the terrorists tactics,
because out of the goodness of our hearts, those
former "freedom fighters" (we helped bin Laden get his
start) helped us to bring down the evil Soviet empire
after they invaded Afghanistan. We poured money to set
up those camps. We and the Brits trained them all in
terrorist, sorry, "freedom fighting", tactics. Tell
your friend to look up the SAS of the UK for more
information. Why hasn't this been on TV, etc? Oh,
Afghanistan has 10% of the world's landmines, and they
are found in over 90% of the country. Where were they
made? Actually, I'm not sure. Most likely Russian?
http://www.rawa.org/mine.htm will have more info on
this, but not sure how reputable that website is. It
says Iran is the winner, and Russia second, but who
can trust anything in the media.

You know the American embassy that the Taliban just
sacked in Kabul? How dare they! It had stood empty
since 1988 or 1989. After vanquishing the communists,
for some reason our democracy loving politicians
forgot to install or encourage any type of democratic
government in the country, totally ignoring it until
September 11, 2001...well, except for that 42 million
I mentioned. One reason we haven't "done" anything yet
is that we have ZERO first hand intelligence. Why? Who
cared? We didn't, until September 11, 2001.

Need I mention Kuwait and the evil Saddam Hussein
(created by George senior to counter those evil
Iranians who overthrew our beloved Shah Reza Pahlavi,
another highly repsected lover of democracy)? Is
Kuwait democratic yet? Lemme know when they decide. As
I recall, they tried it for a year or so, but went
back to their autocracy. Saddam wasn't destroyed, lest
we put in a democratic government that would charge us
more for their oil. And how about Saudi Arabia for
that matter: a kingdom of the rich, for the rich, by
the rich. Hey, in fact, all those countries where we
get oil from aren't democratic. Curious. Where's the
US tinplate for them? In the rest of the world, we pay
between 3 to 6 dollars per gallon of gasoline.

OH, I forgot, the Pakistanis are really pissed right
now, also feeling ignored by the US since the demise
of communism. They have nukes, and a highly unstable
government (can you say military coup overthrowing a
democratically elected government?), not to mention a
huge border with enemies India (hey! also have nukes!
but in times like these, we can forget our sanctions
against these two countries and yes, we did just give
BOTH about 40 million dollars each in our new war),
and Iran! The Iranians hate US, and they hate the
Pakistanis, too! Afghanistan is Pakistan's cushion
against Iran and Russia. The Pakistanis still support
the Taliban. Why are we allied with them? Why do we
care now? Why didn't we care before?

Yes, I DO DARE. Why? I'm an American. Born in the
country I love, the United States of America. I gave
two years of my life serving my country, America, as a
member of the United States Peace Corps. That makes me
a hero by your definition, and an American, too. I
lived peacefully in a Moslem village. I lived with
disentary (ever lost complete control of your bowel
movements?), malaria, no such luxuries as electricity
and clean water and lattes, but yes to the threat of
wild animals (lions, baboons, giraffe, hippos,
elephants) and Somali bandits with AK-47s lurking in
the jungles. The shop in town had one brand of
toothpaste, one brand of canned margarine, and lots of
American tobacco! I smoked a pack of Marlboro a day. I
also grew to understand and appreciate Islam and their
love and devotion to their god, and I also know that
those sick, murdering swine who slammed into the WTC
and Pentagon have as much to do with Islam as Charles
Manson and Jerry Falwell have to do with Christianity
and Aum Shinri Kyo had to do with Hinduism.

Don't want to live with terror? You might like to know
that Aum thought they had acquired some virulent
anthrax, and set up a factory inside of Tokyo, and
were releasing what they thought was the virus through
their factory's chimmney. This went on for about 4
days, until the neighbors complained of the smell, and
they were caught. Seems that had acquired an antedote
serum, and not the virus. Their plan had been to kill
as many as 3 or 4 million people. Darn, they didnt get
it right that time, so a short time later, they gassed
a subway train killing a mere 11 people before MOST of
them were caught. They used Sarin, which Hitler used
so well against the Jews. Mixed it right up in another
factory that they set up. There are still several at
large and surely planning to do it right the next
time. This was back in 1995. For three weeks, the city
I lived in was swarming with police. I rode the subway
with three police officers in every car! In Japan, the
potential for this horrific terror is still around. I
feel a little safer where I am now, but then again, I
live within shooting range of North Korean scuds, one
of which flew over Japan just a couple of years ago in
a small "accident".

How many of your Moslem friends did you write to in
support of their lives. How are they living now in the
US? I have a Bangladeshi friend there and he is, to
put it lightly, nervous. But when Tim McVeigh blew up
the federal building in OKC (It is a very sad and
sacred place indeed. I've mourned and prayed there,
have you?), did you look around at other white people
with suspicion, or kick them out of rent-a-truck
agencies? Are you saying HOW DARE YOU to the people
who have refused to ride on planes with "Arab looking"
people?

I've lived here in Japan, where racism is pervasive,
understanding the difficulty of never really being
accepted as a full fledged member of this society.
Now, I see the same old same old in the US, especially
in the guise of a SIKH, of all people, murdered in
cold blood by someone getting revenge "for America". 8
year old kids being called "terrorist" in primary
schools. Hundreds of hate crimes reported. Where's
your HOW DARE YOU sign?

At least George W. Bush's spinners have been getting
him to say this is not an attack on Islam and Islam is
not at fault here. I fully support how he has risen to
this occassion and I even support a military solution
to bringing these "folks" to justice...if evidence is
submitted to the world courts and Bin Laden and his
scum are found guilty (and I think they did it). But I
think Giulani has exemplified best the spirit of our
great country. I couldn't eat for two days after the
attacks, mainly because I was flying on an airplane a
mere three hours after the attacks had happened...CNN
was playing and replaying the attacks in the airport
(in Malaysia, a mostly Moslem country...do you know
where that is?). Giulani said, let's get back to life,
and I have...to the extent that I can...and my
Japanese colleagues have done the same.

I met a guy here in town last week, a Japanese, who
worked for 8 years in the WTC. A Japanese librarian in
my school had Japanese friends who got out alive.
Another local Japanese friend also knew people in the
area, but all were safe. Me? Just one friend there,
who is ok.

What bothers me most, with letters like yours, are the
misinterpretations, and the inadequacies I have as a
writer trying to get my message across. I am saddened
that it takes something like this madness, this
atrocity...(what is the most appropriate word?) to get
Americans in touch with the rest of the world, and to
get Americans to know that we Americans have led a
very charmed life. I thank God daily that I was lucky
to be born in the US, but I'm always appalled by
Amercian insularity. The WTC is in NYC...of course!
Mostly Americans died and were targeted...of course!
But people from 90 different countries were vaporized.
100 brits, 100 Moslems, 50 Japanese. People from half
the world converged on our great city. The WTC
embodied a lot of hopes for a lot of people around the
world. The attack's results actually affected a lot
more than just Americans. So why limit the poem to we
Americans? Most of the world mourned the loss of the
myth, I think. I guess that's my problem...I knew it
was a myth all along, but I don't think most Americans
thought the same way. The poem simply says to me that
Americans STILL DON'T GET IT!

Anyway, I wait for a more detailed response from you.
I don't consider myself an idiot, by the way. And my
impartial mother (wink wink) will assure you that I'm
not. But I will say HOW DARE YOU NOT ASK WHY!!

With great respect,

Yeah, things are getting busy, but it wouldn't hurt to jot down things here, too.

I will perhaps use the events of 9-11 in class, but not sure how yet. More on this later.

The first day of school, already a lot to do and a lot of interesting things to write about, but who has the time, people!? Not I.

I'll do my best to keep up with the madness of everyday life from now on, but will surely be sporadic and uniformative more than not, I think.

No other interesting tidbits for today. SORRY!