Monday, May 30, 2011

Winter in America....

This video of activist Adam Koresh being attacked and beaten by uniformed terrorists is all over the internet right now.

In it we witness the violence of the waning days of an empire. Truly nothing justifies this ridiculous use of state sanctioned terrorism. We now live in a police state where even the most banal and pedestrian manner of protest is met with an overwhelming display of state brutality. Ironically, it all takes place at a memorial built to honor a man who once said "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it."

It brought me to mind of this elegant song by the now departed American hero, Gil Scott-Heron, titled "Winter in America".

The Constitution
A noble piece of paper
With free society
Struggled but it died in vain
And now Democracy is ragtime on the corner
Hoping for some rain
Looks like it's hoping
Hoping for some rain

And I see the robins
Perched in barren treetops
Watching last-ditch racists marching across the floor
But just like the peace sign that vanished in our dreams
Never had a chance to grow
Never had a chance to grow

And now it's winter
It's winter in America
And all of the healers have been killed
Or been betrayed
Yeah, but the people know, people know
It's winter, Lord knows
It's winter in America
And ain't nobody fighting
Cause nobody knows what to save
Save your souls
From Winter in America

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