The following thoughts are my own and to be attributed to no one else.
Hunger Strike Day #29, off the Hill till the murderous cold passes.
1. MAJOR DOD BUDGET CUT CANNOT AND WILL NOT NOW, OR EVER COME FROM INSIDE CONGRESS OR THE WHITE HOUSE. PERIOD. EVER. WHY? FOR THE SAINTS - POLITICAL SUICIDE TO NO PURPOSE, HENCE IT WILL NOT BE DONE. FOR THE SINNERS, the vast majority - THEY ARE OWNED LOCK, STOCK AND BARREL.
2. The forced transfusion from the poor/middle class to $ TRILLION/YR Military Industrial Corporate Elite (MICE) complex will end at one of two times:
A. NOW, February 09, while the US CITIZENRY is in an unprecedented spurt of health / public mobilization associated with Obama and with a rare, sobering look at its own excesses. The half-life of this health spurt is measured in weeks, and the decline began November 4, 2008. At a frenetic pace we are returning to passive observer, arm chair quarterback status.
B. Or, the fatal transfusion will end three - five years from now when there is so little blood left that the MICE complex has little reason to fight - they already own it all, the environmental and civilization collapse are irreversible and advancing rapidly, and it is time to retreat to their walled and/or island communities; security courtesy of Blackwater. This race to get the last drops of blood is exactly what has been at the forefront of the Neocon / Bush / Oil industry Rule for the last 8 years - PEAK OIL. Rape and plunder while the bodies are still warm and some little plunder still exists.
3. The fate of civilization, and the fate of your children and grandchildren entirely depends on cutting the war budget now, $200B as a start. Does that mean we see a bill signed February 2009? It means we take over the emotional, conscience, psychological territory on the Hill and in the White House in February 2009 that makes it a certainty that the Bill is signed within 2009.
4. [To restate,] the potential mobilization, heroism, activism of US Citizenry reached its height 11/4/08 and IS DECLINING AT A GEOMETRIC RATE. IF THERE IS TO BE A MOBILIZATION, NOW IS THE TIME... OR 2-5 YEARS FROM NOW WHEN MOTHER NATURE AND THE ECONOMY HAVE MADE IT TOO LATE.
5. Rock throwing is NOT the sane or appropriate weaponry for the soldiers in Iraq. 2 hour marches, banner drops, 1 day arrests, photo ops... are not the sane, appropriate or hopeful tactics to get $200B out of DOD. And exactly the same dynamic holds for recruiting. 90 pound weaklings are not going to recruit 200 pound Marines. Banner drops and photo ops are not gong to recruit, inspire and spawn the Life-On-The-Line Nonviolent Army that will save America and Save Civilization, now. WE NEED THE HEAVY NONVIOLENT WEAPONRY NOW - LIVES HEROICALLY, UNMISTAKABLY, TOTALLY ON THE LINE NOW...
OR THE MICE HAVE ALREADY WON, WHICH IS CERTAINLY THE STATUS QUO CASE.
I'm not going to concede to the MICE. Not as long as I can take a breath. You?
Failure is not an option. Civilization is entirely at stake.
"This is no day to pay lip service... we must pay life service."
MLK Jr
"Tomorrow, may be too late."
I am sure he was with me tonight, sent on a mission to look out for my health. But it was much more than that too. He said, "I am the man inside Loving; you are the man outside. I need you, and whoever else you can get, to keep standing out here on these corners. Do not stop. And, stay healthy so you can do it."
Among the reasons I suspect that his interest is sincere is the visit I received on a prior Hill Occupation / Hunger strike. He and his wife Elizabeth regularly visited me, making special trips. But on one occasion Dennis sent out his chief of staff to come and thank me for my campaign. I immediately said to her, "Please tell Dennis how inspiring I find him." She instantly replied, "You need to know that Dennis finds YOU extremely inspiring."
"Be the change you want to see." Gandhi. If we want courageous actions from our elected representatives, WE have to demonstrate courageous action. "Example is not the major thing in influencing people. Example is the ONLY thing in influencing people." Albert Schweitzer.I'll paraphrase the rest of our conversation, but I believe I do not take liberties beyond that:
{{NOTE: A NON "DEISTIC" JESUS, JESUS THE NON-VIOLENT WARRIOR WAS GANDHI'S #1 HERO, HIS #1 MODEL, ICON, IDOL. ARE YOU WISER, BETTER THAN GANDHI? I AM NOT.
"I like your Christ.
I do NOT like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
Gandhi}}
Bio: An Austrian peasant, Franz Jägerstätter refused to serve in the Nazi army following Germany’s invasion of Austria. His courageous and singular refusal was based in a deeply pietistic Catholicism. His story, and his reflections, are a moving testimony to the moral responsibility of the individual as opposed to the obligations of the state. The excerpt that follows is from a letter written during his imprisonment.
Quotations from this essay:
"One really has no cause to be astonished that there are those who can no longer find their way in the great confusion of our day. People we think we can trust, who ought to be leading the way and setting a good example, are running along with the crowd. No one gives enlightenment, whether in word or in writing. Or, to be more exact, it may not be given. And the thoughtless race goes on, always closer to eternity. As long as conditions are still half-good, we don’t see things quite right, or that we could or should do otherwise."
"I realize, too, that today many words would accomplish little more than make one highly eligible for prison. Yet, in spite of this, it is not good if ... leaders remain silent year after year. By “words” I mean, of course, instruction; but example gives direction. Do we no longer want to see [activists] who are able to take a stand in the darkness around us in deliberate clarity, calmness, and confidence—who, in the midst of tension, gloom, selfishness, and hate, stand fast in perfect peace and cheerfulness— who are not like the floating reed which is driven here and there by every breeze—who do not merely watch to see what their friends will do but, instead, ask themselves, “What does our faith teach us about this?” or “Can my conscience bear this so easily that I will never have to repent?”
If road signs were ever stuck so loosely in the earth that every wind could break them off or blow them about, would anyone who did not know the road be able to find his way? And how much worse it is if those to whom one turns for information refuse to give him an answer or, at most, give him the wrong direction just to be rid of him as quickly as possible!"
"GIVE ME MILITARY MEN TO WORK WITH ANY DAY.
On the Hill (so I was already totally committed, day 6 of the Huger Strike) on Christmas, I began a book I suspected was essential for me to read. Although obvously I could see why it was time to lay our lives on the line, I had no hope of effectively communicating to you "why," that we were facing calamity worth sacrificing our lives for, let alone communicating to you why it had to be TODAY, NOT TOMORROW. My only opportunity was to do my part in showing you "that" we were facing calamity worth sacrificing our lives for by doing so myself. "Example is NOT the major thing in influencing people. Example is the ONLY thing." Albert Schweiter.
unimportant. We are facing the imminent extinction of Human Civilization, and if by the time you finish this email and the first two (1 and 2 below) "need to do's" below, you still don't "get" that, go find your child, niece, nephew or grandchild and kiss their ass goodbye.