Positive Universe Abstracts

Roving Around North Carolina (m) By Connie

In front of a North Carolina High School there is a sobering reminder of days gone by–a Vietnam Veterans Memorial plaque–honoring four youths who died in that tragic war.  Under the four names is a quote: “Freedom has a sweet taste those who haven’t fought for it will never know.” 

Right now, on this shimmering spring day, Mr. Karl Rove has just begun speaking to the Republican party.

The event has been billed as open to the public,  so I decide to enter. I soon find out that I would have needed approval–by the Party–at least a week and a half ahead of time.  An elderly couple were also turned away.  I asked them why they wanted to hear Mr. Rove.  The woman said, “I want to hear him because he’s honest like his boss.” I thanked her for telling me. Then I asked if she would mind telling me what news she recommended. “Fox,” she said, ” I listen to Fox news.”

Across the street, a dozen or so women and men stand with protest signs. Some are in support for the troops.  One sign reads, “Stop the War”. Another reads, “Fire Rove”. And there are other signs–a slight bit more confrontive–questioning  both Rove and the war.  Channel 13 is also here shooting news.

Among the first folk I speak with among the protestors are former veterans of war.~~~~~

~~~~~One older man told me he had just become a Veteran for Peace a couple months ago.  He said, “If Mr. Rove and Mr. Bush had even served one day in a war–then they might have a different picture.”  Another veteran said that the war was all about oil.  He said that Bush Sr. had bombed Iraq for years trying to make the Iraqis give up the oil.

One woman in her mid-sixties, I would guess, said she had a lot of family and friends who were conservative but “were not narrow-minded. Conservatives are intelligent, moral people just like the rest of us.” she said and added that it was just a matter of getting the right information out in the right way. Certainly not news like Fox news she and others indicated. 

An energetic young woman said “There should be thousands from the community out here with us!” 

Another said she’s upset that the troops haven’t been better protected–with the right kind of vests and all. “My heart goes out to them and their families–and all of the innocent Iraqi families and their children too–all those who’s lives have been destroyed.”  She said she recently visited the wounded at Fort Bragg and tried to comfort them. ” We need more stories,” she said, “real stories from real people so we will understand better what we are doing and what still needs to be done.” She and another woman said how worried they were about all the military who are not getting the mental help they need when they need it. (Many locally, I’ve been informed must wait for help for about a year after applying at the VA hospital.)

Several women were part of both the Women in Black, an international peace group, and the Dept. of Peace Campaign which is calling for support for new House Bill #808 in order to establish a true cabinent level Dept of Peace in the USA. One of these older ladies, a 70-year old grandmother, said with deep emotion, “We’ve ruined Iraq, we’ve killed their babies–detroyed their innocent lives. We have to stand up and say ‘Stop!’”  A 75-year-old grandmother  said “We so desperately need in our government: Diplomacy, Dialogue and Debate.”

Three or four women present represented a local woman’s organization and had attended West Henderson High in their youth. They had children currently attending. “We need to fire the ‘criminals’ in the administration,” one said, controlled, yet visibly angry, “It’s disgraceful that he (Mr. Rove) was invited to this town and allowed in our schools. What are we supposed to tell our kids about this?” she asked.

One woman protestor thought for a long time and said the effect of Mr. Rove is that of a “dangerous political operative who represents a blatant attempt to subvert The US Constitution and American ideals.”

A man among the protestors said that he had formerly been in the Aerospace industry. He said he had a PhD in Theoretical Physics. He told me he believed that going to Afghanistan was the right thing to do but that the invasion of Iraq was completely the wrong action. ~~~~~~.

Later, on my computer a front page article catches my attention:  “Bloody Saturday”  the headline reads for April 28, 2007. I read on…” 156 Iraqis and 9 GIs killed, 164  wounded and 5 Red Crescent Workers shot dead”  (All on this one day).

I’m hoping an item I see next isn’t really true…that Mr. Rove said– even in jest, that he likes to go home and tear off the heads of small animals–he didn’t really say that! Or other items I’ve heard from all too many: that Rove is misusing young boys, that he is harrassing Democratic, especially newly-turned democratic offices around the country and that he is lying about the fired attorneys and other things. Surely someone of his position in our land would not be doing even one of the above! If even one of these terrible things, what a disgrace he is and needs to be fired along with Cheney and may others.

~~~~~~ On the radio going home, Ret. Lt. General William Odom is saying that President Bush is going “AWOL” over the war and that we needed a real leader.   I switch channels.  A radio announcer, in between religious pep talks, is saying that Iraq is getting much better and some important areas had no killings at all. This is hard to stomach after just reading about today’s bloodbath in Baghdad and the rest of Iraq. Then a brief news update comes on, “FOX News”, the announcer said, “fair and balanced news”. I feel the wry sad smile.

The world appears to be a nightmare today, despite the shimmering sunny, bird-singing world of Western North Carolina. Perhaps  I should find solace in some poetry, some sense of meaning? Maybe pick up my present favorite volume of poetry–Rilke’s “Book of Hours” poetry? 

“The privileged ones…boast of their wealth–yet they are not rich…You who know, make it so the poor are no longer despised and thrown away…They will grow like the sweet wild berries..They will outlast the pomp and the power of lawmakers…”

(excerpts from end of Rilke’s -Book of Hours: Love Poems to God- with Joanna Macy and Anita Barrow, translation)

We need to sometimes roam around to see what folk are doing…to see who is roving around in our neck of the woods…We need to roam around the radio to see what the media is telling us about the truth, about what folk are doing in our name.  And finally, we need poetry to help us survive the hell  done in our name.

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