Monday, August 14, 2006

There is an endless supply of White Men

transferred from old blog dated 4-7 02

Watched the last ten minutes of 1970 film from book by same name, "Little Big Man"...

"There is an endless supply of White Men, but the trouble is, there has always been a limited supply of Human Beings*."

*Cheyenne referred to themselves as human beings.

(Little Big Man, by Thomas Berger...I'm quoting from the movie made from the book, so this may not be accurate)

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Watched "Rendez-Vous" on library video yesterday, 1985 (6?) French film, reminded me of one of may favorite poems, later put to wonderful music, and wonderfully interpreted by Juliette Greco:
"Je suis comme je suis,
Je suis faite comme ca,
Quand j'ai envie to rire,
Oui je ris aux eclat.

J'aime celui qui m'aime,
est-ce ma faute a moi,
Ci ce n'est pas le meme,
Que j'aime chacque foix?"

"I am the way I am,
That's the way I'm formed,
When I laugh,
I laugh till I burst.

I love the one who loves me,
Is it my fault if
I don't love the same one
Every time?"

Jacque Prevert

Open letter to Al Gore

Sat Aug 12 06, I received a generic fundraising letter from Al Gore, soliciting funds for the Democratic party because "...the overriding task before us today is to do everything in our power to ensure that when America wakes up (sic) on November 8, 2006, the Democratic Party is back in control of the U.S. House of Representatives."

I just composed and sent an email to Al, don't know if I had the correct email address (actually it bounced, anyone know?) and here it is:

Dear Mr. Gore:

Just received your midterm fundraising letter dated "Tue morning".

I switched my allegiance to the Green Party some time ago and I am considering switching back to the Democratic party out of sheer desperation...and out of admiration for your film.

I have never thought of the Democratic Party as being a true alternative to the Republican Party (I'm 57 and long time far-left radical), since American Imperialism has been with us from the start, first with the genocide and invasion of the continental USA and thereafter, our "protectorates" (or whatever we choose to call 'em) and our transparently aggressive wars and battles of imperialism beyond the north american continent since the late 19th C.

Nor has the DP shown any spine throughout the Bush dictatorship, nor did you yourself, when you did not stand up to protect your own election.

As far as I can tell, the only thing that makes the DP look "good" now or in the past, is the GOP.

Primarily, I fault our two party system. Messy as it is, only a parliamentary system gives credibility to the idea of the actual implementation of a genuine, working democracy. Otherwise, all we get is a perpetual swing between bad and worse.We have had just as much adventurism (if not more) under Dem. OR Rep. sway.

But lately you've been showing some courage, my suggestion, why not go all the way and stand up for:

1. Exclusively paper ballots on fed and state levels (as a fed. mandate).
2. A parliamentary government. I know I'd be preaching to the choir to tell you about how much safer (for the planet and the nation) a parliamentary government is. You know why parliamentarianism is the only way to fly, and I know you know it and any literate and minimally educated person in the USA knows it (ok, ok, maybe not, but you could make ANOTHER MOVIE about it...or even a website.

Yes, we stand on a precipice (several, actually) today...and I think that a nuclear winter still stands as the most likely resolution for the planet, nevertheless, a Democratic majority in Congress is only a bare beginning.

One last thought, could you have a little talk with Hillary Clinton? Please, if she becomes the front runner, the Republican won't even have to bother stealing the next presidential election.

In sum, I think your heart is in the left place (even if you are fabulously wealthy and have a wife name Tipper) and I urge you to become part of a solution that goes beyond "saving" Congress. Life is short, why not go All the Way?

Sincerely,

Frank Poliat