These people can spew the hate (you know those hot button words like Muslim, gay, socialist, Marxist, foreigner) and are so emotionally worked up that they will even ignore what the Tea Party candidates say about eliminating Social Security and Medicare, (even some of the Hispanics will vote for the Tea Party, ignoring their hatred towards anyone not of “European descent”) and the billionaire corporatists (who give lip service to “the little guy”) will quietly behind the scenes continue to spend $$$$$$$$$$ to work up the passions of the afraid, the old, the ignorant, and those who fondly remember the “good old days” when the cards were stacked in their favor, but woe to you if you were a minority, a woman or a child.

And because they are emotional, and easily stirred to fear, they will COME OUT AND VOTE. Yes they will.

And if the Centrists, the Independents and the Democrats can’t be bothered to vote – you know, the minorities, the young people, the women and the gays, it is indeed possible that the Extreme Right Wing of our country, funded by the richest corporate elitists, could conceivably control the laws and the lives of all Americans.

And after the Tea Party hands over our future to the Extreme Right Wing, and those Social Security payments and Medicare payments stop coming, ONLY THEN they will understand that once again, they have been had by the power elite.

Suspicious signs of illegals:

1. The Brian Bilbray “hairdo and shoes” recognition factor:

      a. Straw hats worn by immigrants that resemble cowboy hats.

      b. Cowboy boots.

2. Suspicious food signs of immigrants:

      a. Eggs, cheese and tortillas eaten together.

      b. Refried bean cans.

Note to illegals: avoid #1 and #2 to avoid being questioned by police.

Note to American Citizens: do not be seen eating Mexican food or sporting a Pancho Villa mustache.

Note to All: Be sure and have your papers available when traveling in Arizona.

Thank you Arizona, for your comprehensive solution to the problem of illegal immigration in the United States.

I heard Obama and also one of the Dems at the Health Summit (I believe he was a doctor and I don’t recall exactly who he was without looking it up but I found him to be very impressive) speak of “consumer protections” alternately with the word “regulations”.  Of course the INTENT and the universal understanding is that they are one and the same, but see how much difference a word can make?

Don’t we all just HATE regulations and of course that is the core of the Republican mantra, FREEDOM from REGULATIONS.

But if the Democrats were as crafty as Karl Rove, they would understand the Republicans own the dialog because they understand the power of words.  Which today translate into what we refer to as talking points, one or two word messages that enter the public consciousness and imbed the response required.

If the Democrats were smart, they would frame the dialog about healthcare using the words “consumer protection”; then the message sent in two words or less (because it is a documented fact that Americans have an attention span of less than a minute; we live in an age of instant gratification dontcha know, and if we aren’t hooked in the first minute we move on to the next distraction, every marketer knows that) then the average citizen could know he was voting FOR his best interests rather than against them.

You bet the Republicans are smart.  I wish the Democrats were a little more organized.  Is there no Left Wing Counterpart for Karl Rove or is that an oxymoron?

Words have power.  Particularly since we currently live in an age where much communication is done by text.  Hello?

Something to think about.  Communication is the key.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“I’ll give you my gun when you take it from my cold, dead hands!” is a slogan popularized by the National Rifle Association (NRA) on a series of bumper stickers.

It is a variation of a slogan mentioned in a 1976 report from the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency: “I Will Give Up My Gun When They Peel My Cold Dead Fingers From Around It.”

The original version did not originate with the NRA, but with a rival group, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, based in Bellevue, Washington. It, along with “If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns”, is a slogan that is often used by gun owners and their supporters in discussions of gun control in the United States.

The phrase gained newfound popularity on May 20, 2000, when veteran actor and NRA president Charlton Heston capped a speech at the 129th NRA convention in Charlotte, North Carolina by concluding:

“ For the next six months, [presidential candidate and Vice President of the United States] Al Gore is going to smear you as the enemy. He will slander you as gun-toting, knuckle-dragging, bloodthirsty maniacs who stand in the way of a safer America. Will you remain silent? I will not remain silent. If we are going to stop this, then it is vital to every law-abiding gun owner in America to register to vote and show up at the polls on election day. ”

Near the end of his remarks, Heston paused to pick up a replica of a Revolutionary War musket, and continued:

“ So, as we set out this year to defeat the divisive forces that would take freedom away, I want to say those fighting words for everyone within the sound of my voice to hear and to heed, and especially for you, Mr. Gore: ‘From my cold, dead hands!’ ” — Charlton Heston, May 20, 2000

He repeated the phrase at the end of each NRA convention over which he presided as president of the NRA. When he announced his retirement, he concluded by repeating “From my cold, dead hands.”

^^^^^^^^^^^^

The family of an 8-year-old boy who fatally shot himself at a gun show in western Massachusetts say the Uzi submachine gun jammed twice before he lost control of the weapon and fired into his head.

The family of Christopher Bizilj (bah-SEEL’) of Ashford, Conn., says in a civil lawsuit filed Friday that a 15-year-old instructor who cleared the gun and handed it back to the victim failed to provide proper guidance.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/10/christopher-biziljs-famil_n_351732.html

“From my cold, dead hands.”

So I will close this portion of my journey with a theory regarding 2012 that has guided my thoughts for the last three years. 

We are indeed in a new day, a new century, with a new leader who exhibits integrity and personal responsibility.

The signs of change are among us. While we suffer through economic meltdown, widespread corruption, civil unrest and endless war, I remember that the birth process itself is painful, bloody and intense. However, I feel confident now that on the other side a golden light is waiting, a light of understanding and community, a light of personal power and healing, a light of perfect love and perfect trust, and prosperity and happiness for all. The final destination. Until it all begins over again, of course.

The actual pattern of Creation described by the Mayan calendar looks like a pyramid which consists of nine levels or cycles. The bottom level or cycle in the pyramid represents the longest period of time, i.e., 16.4 billion years ago and is called the Cellular level of Creation (first live cells). The second level or cycle from the bottom of the pyramid is 20 times shorter, i.e., 840 million years ago and is called the Mammalian level of Creation (first live births).

Continuing up the pyramid in this fashion with each level becoming 20 times shorter than the latter, the third level ,i.e., 41 million years ago is the Family level (family relationships). The fourth level, i.e., 2 million years ago, is the Tribal level (Homo Sapiens/tools). The fifth level, i.e., 102,000 years ago is the Cultural level (agriculture/religion). The sixth level, i.e., 5,116 years ago is the National level (sovereign nations/laws). The seventh level, i.e., 1755 AD is the planetary level (internet/global economy). The eighth level, January 4, 1999, is the Galactic level (ethical considerations). And the ninth level, i.e., February 10, 2011, is the Universal level (conscious co-creation).

Here is a quick run through of the previous cycles and the consciousness that each level produced:

Cellular cycle – beginning 16.4 billion years ago, developed the consciousness of Action/Reaction.
Mammalian cycle – beginning 820 million years ago, developed the consciousness of Stimulus/Response.
Familial cycle – beginning 41 million years ago, developed the consciousness of Stimulus/Individual Response.
Tribal cycle – beginning 2 million years ago, developed the consciousness of Similarities/Differences.
Cultural cycle – beginning 102,000 years ago, developed the consciousness of Reasons.
National cycle – beginning in the year 3115 B.C., developed the consciousness of Law.
Planetary cycle – beginning in the year 1755 A.D., developed the consciousness of Power.
Galactic cycle – beginning January 5, 1999, developing the consciousness of Ethics.
Universal cycle – beginning February 10, 2011, will be developing the unlimited ability of Conscious Co-Creation.

Looking at the timing and the product of each of the nine cycles listed above, we can see an orderly progression of the development of consciousness and our abilities to interact with the universe.

During the First cycle, all of the physical laws, chemical compounds, star fields, then solar systems and planets were developed.

In the Second cycle, individual cells which were the product of the Cellular cycle started developing stimulus/response and the survival mechanism. Stimulus/response differs from action/reaction in the amount of consciousness present.

The Third cycle was the recognition of individual consciousness and the establishment of the family relationship (recognition of individuals) rather than a herd, school or flock mentality.

In the Fourth cycle, consciousness developed the tool, which we call “The Mind” to detect the similarities and differences in our experience.

During the Fifth cycle, the leading edge of consciousness was developing reasons for any and every thing. These “Shared Reasons,” are the basis of all culture.

In the Sixth cycle, the concept of law or right and wrong developed.

In the Seventh cycle, which is from 1755 A.D. to present, we have been gathering power derived from natural laws.

Each time that this pattern has repeated it has done so 20 times faster than the previous cycle.

This quite handily explains why time seems to be speeding up. Time is not speeding up. It is creation itself that is speeding up with more and more happening in less and less time.

We now know exactly where we are in this repeating pattern. This information makes it possible to put forth educated guesses as to the content of our future. This is similar to using a map when you are traveling. In this case, we now have a roadmap of time, consciousness and events. Our newsletter, The 3rd Night News, is intended to present insights as to what the Mayan calendar predicts our consciousness will be experiencing.

As of January 5, 1999 we started the Galactic cycle which is the 8th of 9 levels of consciousness described by the Mayan calendar. Each of the stages or days and nights of this cycle last for 360 days each. We are now, as of December 10, 2003, in the 360-day section called the 3rd Night. This section will end on December 4, 2004. On December 5, 2004, we will begin what is called the 4th day of this Galactic cycle.

In the rest of this article, I will be discussing what the Mayan calendar indicates our experience will be during the 3rd Night.

It is now, during the 8th Level – Galactic cycle, that the consciousness of ethics has come forward and can be seen to be further organizing the powers that now exist to ensure the continued survival and evolution of the human race and our playground Mother Earth. So here we are with Ethics overriding Power in this 8th – Galactic consciousness cycle.

What we see around us in the world and the society in which we live, is the exposure of lie after Powerful lie built on top of layers of lies.

Uncovering a lie enables the TRUTH. While this can be very disorienting or disquieting it is very much an exercise of consciousness and should be recognized as such. As this process continues we will come to fully realize that each of us individually is the basis of truth. You are the truth (you the spiritual being) and whatever you have experienced are only reflections.

About two months ago, I received an insight concerning the timing of the Galactic cycle’s – 7 Days and 6 Nights. It came to me that since each of these days and nights consisted of 360 days and since a clock face is also a 360 degree measuring device, that the two could be used together to show the processions of the Galactic cycle as “hours.” 1 Day is 24 hours, I simply divided 360 by 24, which equals 15. That means that every 15 days that happened on the Gregorian calendar, are a one “hour” tick on the face of an a.m./p.m. 24-hour clock of the Galactic cycle’s 3rd Night. Now what we can do is look back at the previous 3rd Night and see what took place at each “hour” to get a good read on what we might experience during this 3rd Night.

Each of the “hours” during the previous Planetary Cycle, running from 1755, were 300 days long each, that is they were 20 times longer than the current 15 day hours.

So what does this mean to us?

This can best be understood by using the metaphor of planting a seed.

During the First Day there is the seed itself–an inception, a new beginning or impetus to change or flow in a new direction where new perceptions become available. That if followed by the First Night which is an opportunity to apply the enlightenment just received from Creation’s flow. This would be the germination of the seed planted in the dark soil or the developments of new points of view.

The Second Day is when duality is put on display. The seed sprouts up out of the ground and displays two leaves. The essential duality is always a new viewpoint that is overriding the “old” consciousness. As it has come down in human history, this has always been a time of civil turmoil. We have just completed the Second Night of the Galactic cycle from December 19, 2001, to December 14, 2002. The Second Night is a period of dark when polarized factions come to blows over their differences.

The Third Day is another period of Light. The seed’s root system develops and the second set of leaves will be a permanent part of the plant. It is the establishment of the new consciousness as viable. In human history lies or failed systems are disclosed so that progress is not blocked. Hold onto your hat as the truths pour forth from mid 2002 through most of 2003. The Third Night is another period of Dark. The seedling set of leaves are dropped from the plant as another set of leaves spring from the top. These are at 90 degrees from the last set. In human history failed systems have been jettisoned, usually by force, during this section.

The Fourth Day, another period of Light and in a plant’s life, the tap root grows deep to firmly attach the plant while the stock thickens and branches form. It is a period of expansion of the foundations laid. In human history the “new” point of view and way of doing things takes dominance. For instance the empire of Greece was built during this section. The Fourth Night is a period of Dark once again or the application of new procedures. During this time a plant is multiplying its leaves and root system like mad. In human history it has usually been a period of rebuilding and a time of healing.

The Fifth Day is a period of Light and, in fact, is the brightest period of light in the entire cycle. In a plant’s life this is when new chemicals are produced that carry the message to form buds. In human history, it was this section when Art was invented, the message of Jesus moved over the earth, Mr. Einstein discovered the theory of relativity and when America rose to world power withthe victory of WWI. The Fifth Night or period of dark that follows is also the darkest period of each cycle.. In a plant’s life this is the growth of the bud. In your history, this was puberty. In all of human history this has been a time of great physical hardship or major conflicts, i.e., the Ilionian Ice Age, the Neanderthals going extinct, Rome falling, and WWII are glaring examples.

The Sixth Day we return to a period of “Enlightenment.” This is the time of flowers for the plant. For you personally, it was adolescence. In human history this was the creation of the first tools, the first attempts at agriculture and constructed shelter, the Renaissance and, most recently, the Flower Children Movement of the 60′s. The Sixth Night, one last period of Dark in the cycle follows. In the plant’s life the flowers wilt and die setting the stage for fruit development or of seedpods that will dry. This is what happened to the Maya civilization right on queue. Throughout human history there have been conflicts and revolts during this period, the most recent of these having been the Viet Nam War.

The Seventh Day is once again a period of Light, a time of readiness for something new and different, a time of ascension or going from one level to the next higher level.

The plant spreads the seeds or drops the fruit to begin again a thousand times over. In human history it was during these repeating sections that Consciousness developed Homo Sapiens, agriculture and domesticated herds, signed treaties to establish the sovereignty of nations and their people, and put up the Internet thereby creating a planetary consciousness in 1992.

This pattern of Creation, an action plan, can be seen happening everywhere in the universe–from subatomic particles to galaxies. Over and over: “As above, so below.”

Notice that we go from a Light section to another new Light section. In other words, after the seventh day, there is no seventh night? We begin the next cycle with another day. So, you see the deck is stacked. Creation is on our side and always has been.

It is also important to note that this chart in no way conflicts with either the Creationist or Evolutionist points of view. In fact, it marries the two. No matter how uncomfortable that concept may be at the outset, the facts that Creation has evolved are indisputable because that evolution and schedule continues today. In fact, the evolution of all consciousness has accelerated to such a degree that we can watch it unfold step by step as in time-lapse photography.

To “shed even more light” (pardon the pun), on the events that occur during the days and nights of a particular cycle, let’s use the Sixth Cycle or National Cycle as an example and use religious development as our “event” taking place during each one of the 13 sections or Seven Days and Six Nights. Only, in this instance, we are going to focus primarily on the Days of this cycle since the Days are the periods of enlightenment when new perceptions are gained by Consciousness.

The First Day of the National Cycle occurred from 3115 BC to 2721 BC. This was the time that the Sumerians worshipped An or Anu. Anuwas seen as an omnipotent Creator God who had to share his space with a host of household, workplace, weather and nature gods of all kinds.

The Second Day of the National Cycle occurred from 2326 BC to 2938 BC. During this section Abraham moved to Cana in 2300 BC.

The Third Day of the National Cycle was from 1538 to 1144. This was the time of Moses and the beginning of Monotheism (The Truth coming into sharper focus).

The Fourth Day of the National Cycle was from 749 BC to 355 BC. Isaiah was from the year 748 BC; Buddha from 552 BC; Confucius from 551 BC; Zoroaster from 550 BC; Pythagoras from 550 BC, Deuteron- Isaiah from 550 BC.

The Fifth Day of the National cycle was from 40 AD to 434 AD. During this period Paul took the message of Jesus to the world and Christianity was born. Buddhism started in China in 60 AD and the Talmudic and Judaism religions began at this time.

In 40 AD Quetzalcoatl, the Maya Creator god, appeared in Teotihuacán as a Christ-like personage with a very similar message. (The Fifth Night of the National Cycle occurred from 434 AD to 829 and was when Islam was inspired in 632 AD.)

The Sixth Day of the National Cycle was from 829 AD to 1223 AD. At this time there was a general expansion of Christianity to Northern and Eastern Europe. The Crusades and the development of the Papacy happened here as well as the second Quetzalcoatl where in the Maya/Toltec city of Chichen Itza walked the earth. (The Sixth Night was when the second wave of Islam came in from 1223 AD to 1617 AD.)

The Seventh Day of the National Cycle occurred from 1617 AD to 2011 AD. During this period, Christianity expanded once again starting with the Pilgrims in 1620 AD.) We could go through other events such as scientific principles, communication methods, the development of political ideals, and we would see that the developments in each field conform to this same schedule. In fact, everything we know of what happened when follows this schedule. There is no mistake. This is no 16.4 billion year-long coincidence!

Future Implications

So, what are the implications for our future? Let’s take another look at where we fall on the Mayan calendar. As we have shown earlier, we are now in the Eighth Level or Galactic Cycle of the calendar. Each of the 13 sections or each Day and Night consists of 360 days. And we are now entering the Third Day. What typically happens during the Third Day? If we look at the Third Day in each of the other cycles, we can see that a very important shift in the progression of the evolution of our consciousness takes place. Remember, this is where in the plant the development of a root system and second set of leaves will become a part of the plant. In human history it is during this section that lies or failed systems are disclosed so that progress is not blocked. It is where truths are going to pour forth from mid 2002 to 2003.

During the Cellular Cycle’s Third Day, Consciousness on the level of action/reaction or atomic mind, was receiving the inspiration to organize from clouds of stars into galaxies. During the Mammalian Cycle’s Third Day, there was the Cambrian Explosion, an underwater explosion of evolution where soft-tissue animals were evolving into all sorts of hard-shelled animals at a tremendous rate. The truth about the use of calcium as a survival tactic became known to Consciousness at this time.

During the Familial Cycle’s Third Day, the monkeys that had shown up in the First Day of this cycle evolved into the first tailless apes, Pliopithecus, Drophecus and Ramapithecus appeared. This was a direct step away from “all fours and a tail living” and toward Homo erectus.

During the Tribal Cycle’s Third Day, Neanderthal man came into being all around the Mediterranean and dotting Europe. During the National Cycle’s Third Day, there was Moses and the Ten Commandments as well as geometry and astrology developed by the Babylonians. The Book of the Dead was collected in Egypt, the Stonehenge was built, and obelisks in Egypt were used as clocks. It was the start of the Bronze Age and the four basic elements became known in India as earth, air, fire and water. In other words, certain facts came out during these times that were very basic to our understanding of life today.

During the Planetary Cycle’s Third Day, there was the Abolitionist Movement to end slavery, the first telegraph messages, the first bike and first steam-powered vehicle. Armand Fizeau discovered the speed of light. Carl Steinheilbuilt the first electric clock. Railroads were complete across all major countries and the first negative photography was done. In short, the Industrial Revolution gook a giant step forward with the advent of electricity and steam power. Also the discovery of gold in California started a migration from all over the world that really set humanity in motion.

In sum, the Third Day of each cycle, including our current Galactic cycle, is the statement of the truth for the coming changes in evolution of the organization, structure, function, innovation, knowledge, power and to come soon) the ethics of Consciousness in our three dimensional universe. The foundations of these changes are built during the Fourth Day of each cycle and manifested on the Fifth Day of each cycle. During the Sixth Day of each cycle there are the blooming or vast advancements of the intent of the cycle. Finally, during the Seventh Day of each cycle a new cycle is born to begin the next stage of evolution’s overall intent.

The intent of the Evolution of Consciousness is to rejoin our Creator as co-creators in exactly his image, as himself, as our true selves. During the Galactic Cycle’s Third Day we will be seeing the true value of ethics and integrity like never before. The truth will be in your face at every turn. “Good” truth and “bad” truth will be on display everywhere as well as the most blatant lies you could ever imagine choosing to believe.

Consciousness is getting an up-grade and we will be able to watch it happen. As in any birth or rapid growth there are some pains, so expect them. This is the time that your intuition will be held up and shown to be trustworthy. It will be a time when Truth and Ethics in all situations will become the most important factor. And whether or not that truth is told and ethics are present will be just as important as any outside appearances, circumstances, or events. Basically we are now going to be given a clear view of the final choice of a future – EVOLUTION or EXTINCTION.

Lungold goes on to tell us that when we have achieved our evolutionary goal, we will be ready to meet the neighbors.

A hopeful but naive youngster, I really believed that once my generation (baby boomers) gained age we would take over the government and correct all the wrongs of the past administrations.

Bill Clinton was the first of the boomers to fill the most powerful position in the world. What the heck? His legacy went down in an embarrassment of misguided sexual acts that undermined his presidency.

George Bush was the second boomer to take this most powerful position and he pushed things even further in the wrong direction. Two wars, a divided nation, economic chaos around the world; equal rights STILL an issue.

Was the Age of Aquarius just an accident of timing with no real connection to events on our planet? I understand free will, but why were we barreling in the wrong direction? Was humankind CHOOSING destruction? Does the Universe have any effect on what was happening to us? Was there any hope left or have we made our choice and are now working towards our own end?

A few years ago I read a book entitled “Mysteries of the Dark Moon Goddess” that shed some light on the influences of Astrological Ages throughout the history of mankind. The author explains the effects of the Age of Pisces (which we are just leaving) and the expected influences of the Age of Aquarius.

Prior to this time an understanding of the connection between death and rebirth was the teaching of the cyclically renewing Moon Goddess who was worshiped by ancient peoples. The Goddess’s teachings held that death was but the precursor to rebirth, and that sex can be used not only for procreation, but also for ecstasy, healing, regeneration, and spiritual illumination. When humanity shifted its allegiance to the worship of solar gods, the symbols of the Goddess began to disappear from culture and her teachings became forgotten, repressed and distorted.

The new belief systems of the conquering patriarchal solar tribes denounced cyclical renewal, thereby disrupting the Moon Goddess’s cycle of birth, death, and regeneration.

Mytho-historical sifting and archaeological digs tell of the violence and destruction that occurred during this transitional period in the habitats of the Goddess-worshiping peoples around the world. They were raped and slaughtered, their homes and communities pillaged and burned, their values and beliefs suppressed. They were enslaved, exploited, and exiled. Women in these cultures were stripped of their positions of political authority and decision-making powers as leaders, and they were deprived of their spiritual authority as priestesses. Banned from functioning in their professional and healing capacities, they were progressively dis-empowered from expressing their sexuality, intelligence, and self-sufficiency.

The mythological tales of this transition between cultures tell of the emergence of the young God, first as the son/lover/consort of the Goddess. Then, as he grows in power, he eventually supersedes her to become the God/King and her creator, husband and father. The myths actually relate how the conquering men supplanted the women as religious and political leaders, and how they used the queens and priestesses as pawns to establish the divine right of kings and patriarchal succession and inheritance.

The dependent status of the Goddess was later intensified when she was made the daughter instead of wife of the omnipotent Father God and inherited his characteristics. This pattern was symbolized in the birthing of Athena from Zeus’s head, she maintained her elevated position as her father’s favorite by denying that she ever had a mother at all and by destroying her matriarchal antecedents, such as Medusa and Pallas.

The final victories of this transition are found in the Indo-European myths of rebellion, which abound with accounts of the patriarchal solar heroes slaying the dragons and serpents. The serpent and dragon are primal animal representations of the Goddess or her son-lover, and are a symbol for the old religion of the Goddess.

This movement culminated in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam with the attempt to banish the Goddess altogether.

Matriarchy and the worship of the Goddess were smothered into the dark of prehistory and the realm of fanciful legend. The remnants of the matriarchal teachings that survived can be found in the mystery religions of the cults of Demeter in Greece, Isis in Egypt, Kali in India, Cybele in Asia Minor, and the witches and faeries of old Europe.”

The cosmology that developed during the reign of the Goddess arose from the kinds of thought processes that originate primarily out of the right brain. The right brain is feminine in polarity, circular in motion, intuitive in nature, and audial in emphasis. The right brain is relational and unifying; it focuses on a wholistic view of how things are similar and interconnected. When the right brain is predominant, then humans, animals, plants, and the physical world upon which they all live, the skies, the land and the seas, the underworld, and the spritual world of deities are all seen as interdependent aspects of one living being. The universe is alive, operating with intelligence, pattern and purpose.

The right brain also sees time as cyclical. Humanity then worshiped a feminine lunar deity who circled and ever-renewed herself. She illuminated the mystery where the end and beginning are the same point, touching back-to-back. Peoples thus understood death and sex as precursors to rebirth. And they did not fear the darkness of death, the ecstasy of sexuality, or the goddesses and her priestesses, who faciliated their transition between lifetimes.

Princeton University professor Julian Jaynes, in his controversial study of human consciousness… document(s) the catastrophes and cataclysms that started to occur in the middle of the second millennium BCE. In addition to the volcanic eruptions, tidal waves, and massive flooding, he sees widespread warfare and dislocation that we have previously identified as the partriarchal invasions. Jaynes suggests that the rational, logical, analytical mind, all functions of the left brain, was developed in order to assist humanity through the increasing complexity of their changing world.”

Everything old is new again, eh? It appears that there was great calamity in the world as the Age of Pisces was ushered in.

Marketing communication strategist, creative director, copywriter, author, speaker, trainer and consultant

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brent-green/40-years-after-woodstock_b_260304.html

Why is Marijuana Illegal?

A brief history of the criminalization of cannabis

7000-8000 B.C.
First woven fabric believed to be from hemp.

1619
Jamestown Colony, Virginia passes law requiring farmers to grow hemp.

1700s
Hemp was the primary crop grown by George Washington at Mount Vernon, and a secondary crop grown by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello.

1884
Maine is the first state to outlaw alcohol.

1906
Pure Food and Drug Act is passed, forming the Food and Drug Administration. First time that drugs have any government oversight.

1914
Harrison Act passed, outlawing opiates and cocaine (taxing scheme)

1915
Utah passes first state anti-marijuana law.

1919
18th Amendment to the Constitution (alcohol prohibition) is ratified.

1930
Harry J. Anslinger given control of the new Federal Bureau of Narcotics (he remains in the position until 1962)

1933
21st Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, repealing alcohol prohibition.

1937
Marijuana Tax Act

1938
Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act

1951
Boggs Amendment to the Harrison Narcotic Act (mandatory sentences)

1956
Narcotics Control Act adds more severe penalties

1970
Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act. Replaces and updates all previous laws concerning narcotics and other dangerous drugs. Empasis on law enforcement. Includes the Controlled Substances Act, where marijuana is classified a Schedule 1 drug (reserved for the most dangerous drugs that have no recognized medical use).

1972
Drug Abuse Office and Treatment Act. Establishes federally funded programs for prevention and treatment

1973
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Changes Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs into the DEA

1974 and 1978
Drug Abuse Treatment and Control Amendments Extends

1972 and 1988
Anti-Drug Abuse Act. Establishes oversight office: National Office of Drug Control Policy and the Drug Czar

1992
ADAMHA Reorganization. Transfers NIDA, NIMH, and NIAAA to NIH and incorporates ADAMHA’s programs into the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

Many people assume that marijuana was made illegal through some kind of process involving scientific, medical, and government hearings; that it was to protect the citizens from what was determined to be a dangerous drug.

The actual story shows a much different picture. Those who voted on the legal fate of this plant never had the facts, but were dependent on information supplied by those who had a specific agenda to deceive lawmakers. You’ll see below that the very first federal vote to prohibit marijuana was based entirely on a documented lie on the floor of the Senate.

You’ll also see that the history of marijuana’s criminalization is filled with:

Racism
Fear
Protection of Corporate Profits
Yellow Journalism
Ignorant, Incompetent, and/or Corrupt Legislators
Personal Career Advancement and Greed

These are the actual reasons marijuana is illegal.

Background

For most of human history, marijuana has been completely legal. It’s not a recently discovered plant, nor is it a long-standing law. Marijuana has been illegal for less than 1% of the time that it’s been in use. Its known uses go back further than 7,000 B.C. and it was legal as recently as when Ronald Reagan was a boy.

The marijuana (hemp) plant, of course, has an incredible number of uses. The earliest known woven fabric was apparently of hemp, and over the centuries the plant was used for food, incense, cloth, rope, and much more. This adds to some of the confusion over its introduction in the United States, as the plant was well known from the early 1600′s, but did not reach public awareness as a recreational drug until the early 1900′s.

America’s first marijuana law was enacted at Jamestown Colony, Virginia in 1619. It was a law “ordering” all farmers to grow Indian hempseed. There were several other “must grow” laws over the next 200 years (you could be jailed for not growing hemp during times of shortage in Virginia between 1763 and 1767), and during most of that time, hemp was legal tender (you could even pay your taxes with hemp — try that today!) Hemp was such a critical crop for a number of purposes (including essential war requirements – rope, etc.) that the government went out of its way to encourage growth.

The United States Census of 1850 counted 8,327 hemp “plantations” (minimum 2,000-acre farm) growing cannabis hemp for cloth, canvas and even the cordage used for baling cotton.

The Mexican Connection

In the early 1900s, the western states developed significant tensions regarding the influx of Mexican-Americans. The revolution in Mexico in 1910 spilled over the border, with General Pershing’s army clashing with bandit Pancho Villa. Later in that decade, bad feelings developed between the small farmer and the large farms that used cheaper Mexican labor. Then, the depression came and increased tensions, as jobs and welfare resources became scarce.

One of the “differences” seized upon during this time was the fact that many Mexicans smoked marijuana and had brought the plant with them.

However, the first state law outlawing marijuana did so not because of Mexicans using the drug. Oddly enough, it was because of Mormons using it. Mormons who traveled to Mexico in 1910 came back to Salt Lake City with marijuana. The church was not pleased and ruled against use of the drug. Since the state of Utah automatically enshrined church doctrine into law, the first state marijuana prohibition was established in 1915. (Today, Senator Orrin Hatch serves as the prohibition arm of this heavily church-influenced state.)

Other states quickly followed suit with marijuana prohibition laws, including Wyoming (1915), Texas (1919), Iowa (1923), Nevada (1923), Oregon (1923), Washington (1923), Arkansas (1923), and Nebraska (1927). These laws tended to be specifically targeted against the Mexican-American population.

When Montana outlawed marijuana in 1927, the Butte Montana Standard reported a legislator’s comment: “When some beet field peon takes a few traces of this stuff… he thinks he has just been elected president of Mexico, so he starts out to execute all his political enemies.” In Texas, a senator said on the floor of the Senate: “All Mexicans are crazy, and this stuff [marijuana] is what makes them crazy.”

Jazz and Assassins

In the eastern states, the “problem” was attributed to a combination of Latin Americans and black jazz musicians. Marijuana and jazz traveled from New Orleans to Chicago, and then to Harlem, where marijuana became an indispensable part of the music scene, even entering the language of the black hits of the time (Louis Armstrong’s “Muggles”, Cab Calloway’s “That Funny Reefer Man”, Fats Waller’s “Viper’s Drag”).

Again, racism was part of the charge against marijuana, as newspapers in 1934 editorialized: “Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men’s shadows and look at a white woman twice.”

Two other fear-tactic rumors started to spread: one, that Mexicans, Blacks and other foreigners were snaring white children with marijuana; and two, the story of the “assassins.” Early stories of Marco Polo had told of “hasheesh-eaters” or hashashin, from which derived the term “assassin.” In the original stories, these professional killers were given large doses of hashish and brought to the ruler’s garden (to give them a glimpse of the paradise that awaited them upon successful completion of their mission). Then, after the effects of the drug disappeared, the assassin would fulfill his ruler’s wishes with cool, calculating loyalty.

By the 1930s, the story had changed. Dr. A. E. Fossier wrote in the 1931 New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal: “Under the influence of hashish those fanatics would madly rush at their enemies, and ruthlessly massacre every one within their grasp.” Within a very short time, marijuana started being linked to violent behavior.

Alcohol Prohibition and Federal Approaches to Drug Prohibition

During this time, the United States was also dealing with alcohol prohibition, which lasted from 1919 to 1933. Alcohol prohibition was extremely visible and debated at all levels, while drug laws were passed without the general public’s knowledge. National alcohol prohibition happened through the mechanism of an amendment to the constitution.

Earlier (1914), the Harrison Act was passed, which provided federal tax penalties for opiates and cocaine.

The federal approach is important. It was considered at the time that the federal government did not have the constitutional power to outlaw alcohol or drugs. It is because of this that alcohol prohibition required a constitutional amendment.

At that time in our country’s history, the judiciary regularly placed the tenth amendment in the path of congressional regulation of “local” affairs, and direct regulation of medical practice was considered beyond congressional power under the commerce clause (since then, both provisions have been weakened so far as to have almost no meaning).

Since drugs could not be outlawed at the federal level, the decision was made to use federal taxes as a way around the restriction. In the Harrison Act, legal uses of opiates and cocaine were taxed (supposedly as a revenue need by the federal government, which is the only way it would hold up in the courts), and those who didn’t follow the law found themselves in trouble with the treasury department.

In 1930, a new division in the Treasury Department was established — the Federal Bureau of Narcotics — and Harry J. Anslinger was named director. This, if anything, marked the beginning of the all-out war against marijuana.

Harry J. Anslinger

Anslinger was an extremely ambitious man, and he recognized the Bureau of Narcotics as an amazing career opportunity — a new government agency with the opportunity to define both the problem and the solution. He immediately realized that opiates and cocaine wouldn’t be enough to help build his agency, so he latched on to marijuana and started to work on making it illegal at the federal level.

Anslinger immediately drew upon the themes of racism and violence to draw national attention to the problem he wanted to create. He also promoted and frequently read from “Gore Files” — wild reefer-madness-style exploitation tales of ax murderers on marijuana and sex and… Negroes. Here are some quotes that have been widely attributed to Anslinger and his Gore Files:

“There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others.”

“…the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.”

“Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death.”

“Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men.”

“Marihuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing”

“You smoke a joint and you’re likely to kill your brother.”

“Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.”

And he loved to pull out his own version of the “assassin” definition:

“In the year 1090, there was founded in Persia the religious and military order of the Assassins, whose history is one of cruelty, barbarity, and murder, and for good reason: the members were confirmed users of hashish, or marihuana, and it is from the Arabs’ ‘hashashin’ that we have the English word ‘assassin.’”

Yellow Journalism

Harry Anslinger got some additional help from William Randolf Hearst, owner of a huge chain of newspapers. Hearst had lots of reasons to help. First, he hated Mexicans. Second, he had invested heavily in the timber industry to support his newspaper chain and didn’t want to see the development of hemp paper in competition. Third, he had lost 800,000 acres of timberland to Pancho Villa, so he hated Mexicans. Fourth, telling lurid lies about Mexicans (and the devil marijuana weed causing violence) sold newspapers, making him rich.

Some samples from the San Francisco Examiner:

“Marihuana makes fiends of boys in thirty days — Hashish goads users to bloodlust.”

“By the tons it is coming into this country — the deadly, dreadful poison that racks and tears not only the body, but the very heart and soul of every human being who once becomes a slave to it in any of its cruel and devastating forms…. Marihuana is a short cut to the insane asylum. Smoke marihuana cigarettes for a month and what was once your brain will be nothing but a storehouse of horrid specters. Hasheesh makes a murderer who kills for the love of killing out of the mildest mannered man who ever laughed at the idea that any habit could ever get him….”
And other nationwide columns…

“Users of marijuana become STIMULATED as they inhale the drug and are LIKELY TO DO ANYTHING. Most crimes of violence in this section, especially in country districts are laid to users of that drug.”

“Was it marijuana, the new Mexican drug, that nerved the murderous arm of Clara Phillips when she hammered out her victim’s life in Los Angeles?… THREE-FOURTHS OF THE CRIMES of violence in this country today are committed by DOPE SLAVES — that is a matter of cold record.”

Hearst and Anslinger were then supported by Dupont chemical company and various pharmaceutical companies in the effort to outlaw cannabis. Dupont had patented nylon, and wanted hemp removed as competition. The pharmaceutical companies could neither identify nor standardize cannabis dosages, and besides, with cannabis, folks could grow their own medicine and not have to purchase it from large companies.

This all set the stage for…

The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937.

After two years of secret planning, Anslinger brought his plan to Congress — complete with a scrapbook full of sensational Hearst editorials, stories of ax murderers who had supposedly smoked marijuana, and racial slurs.

It was a remarkably short set of hearings.

The one fly in Anslinger’s ointment was the appearance by Dr. William C. Woodward, Legislative Council of the American Medical Association.

Woodward started by slamming Harry Anslinger and the Bureau of Narcotics for distorting earlier AMA statements that had nothing to do with marijuana and making them appear to be AMA endorsement for Anslinger’s view.

He also reproached the legislature and the Bureau for using the term marijuana in the legislation and not publicizing it as a bill about cannabis or hemp. At this point, marijuana (or marihuana) was a sensationalist word used to refer to Mexicans smoking a drug and had not been connected in most people’s minds to the existing cannabis/hemp plant. Thus, many who had legitimate reasons to oppose the bill weren’t even aware of it.

Woodward went on to state that the AMA was opposed to the legislation and further questioned the approach of the hearings, coming close to outright accusation of misconduct by Anslinger and the committee:

“That there is a certain amount of narcotic addiction of an objectionable character no one will deny. The newspapers have called attention to it so prominently that there must be some grounds for [their] statements [even Woodward was partially taken in by Hearst's propaganda]. It has surprised me, however, that the facts on which these statements have been based have not been brought before this committee by competent primary evidence. We are referred to newspaper publications concerning the prevalence of marihuana addiction. We are told that the use of marihuana causes crime.

But yet no one has been produced from the Bureau of Prisons to show the number of prisoners who have been found addicted to the marihuana habit. An informed inquiry shows that the Bureau of Prisons has no evidence on that point.

You have been told that school children are great users of marihuana cigarettes. No one has been summoned from the Children’s Bureau to show the nature and extent of the habit, among children.

Inquiry of the Children’s Bureau shows that they have had no occasion to investigate it and know nothing particularly of it.

Inquiry of the Office of Education— and they certainly should know something of the prevalence of the habit among the school children of the country, if there is a prevalent habit— indicates that they have had no occasion to investigate and know nothing of it.

Moreover, there is in the Treasury Department itself, the Public Health Service, with its Division of Mental Hygiene. The Division of Mental Hygiene was, in the first place, the Division of Narcotics. It was converted into the Division of Mental Hygiene, I think, about 1930. That particular Bureau has control at the present time of the narcotics farms that were created about 1929 or 1930 and came into operation a few years later. No one has been summoned from that Bureau to give evidence on that point.

Informal inquiry by me indicates that they have had no record of any marihuana of Cannabis addicts who have ever been committed to those farms.

The bureau of Public Health Service has also a division of pharmacology. If you desire evidence as to the pharmacology of Cannabis, that obviously is the place where you can get direct and primary evidence, rather than the indirect hearsay evidence.”
Committee members then proceeded to attack Dr. Woodward, questioning his motives in opposing the legislation. Even the Chairman joined in:

The Chairman: If you want to advise us on legislation, you ought to come here with some constructive proposals, rather than criticism, rather than trying to throw obstacles in the way of something that the Federal Government is trying to do. It has not only an unselfish motive in this, but they have a serious responsibility.

Dr. Woodward: We cannot understand yet, Mr. Chairman, why this bill should have been prepared in secret for 2 years without any intimation, even, to the profession, that it was being prepared.

After some further bantering…

The Chairman: I would like to read a quotation from a recent editorial in the Washington Times:

The marihuana cigarette is one of the most insidious of all forms of dope, largely because of the failure of the public to understand its fatal qualities.

The Nation is almost defenseless against it, having no Federal laws to cope with it and virtually no organized campaign for combating it.

The result is tragic.

School children are the prey of peddlers who infest school neighborhoods.

High school boys and girls buy the destructive weed without knowledge of its capacity of harm, and conscienceless dealers sell it with impunity.

This is a national problem, and it must have national attention.

The fatal marihuana cigarette must be recognized as a deadly drug, and American children must be protected against it.

That is a pretty severe indictment. They say it is a national question and that it requires effective legislation. Of course, in a general way, you have responded to all of these statements; but that indicates very clearly that it is an evil of such magnitude that it is recognized by the press of the country as such.

And that was basically it. Yellow journalism won over medical science.

The committee passed the legislation on. And on the floor of the house, the entire discussion was:

Member from upstate New York: “Mr. Speaker, what is this bill about?”

Speaker Rayburn: “I don’t know. It has something to do with a thing called marihuana. I think it’s a narcotic of some kind.”

“Mr. Speaker, does the American Medical Association support this bill?”

Member on the committee jumps up and says: “Their Doctor Wentworth[sic] came down here. They support this bill 100 percent.”

And on the basis of that lie, on August 2, 1937, marijuana became illegal at the federal level.

The entire coverage in the New York Times: “President Roosevelt signed today a bill to curb traffic in the narcotic, marihuana, through heavy taxes on transactions.”

Anslinger as precursor to the Drug Czars

Anslinger was essentially the first Drug Czar. Even though the term didn’t exist until William Bennett’s position as director of the White House Office of National Drug Policy, Anslinger acted in a similar fashion. In fact, there are some amazing parallels between Anslinger and the current Drug Czar John Walters. Both had kind of a carte blanche to go around demonizing drugs and drug users. Both had resources and a large public podium for their voice to be heard and to promote their personal agenda. Both lied constantly, often when it was unnecessary. Both were racists. Both had the ear of lawmakers, and both realized that they could persuade legislators and others based on lies, particularly if they could co-opt the media into squelching or downplaying any opposition views.

Anslinger even had the ability to circumvent the First Amendment. He banned the Canadian movie “Drug Addict,” a 1946 documentary that realistically depicted the drug addicts and law enforcement efforts. He even tried to get Canada to ban the movie in their own country, or failing that, to prevent U.S. citizens from seeing the movie in Canada. Canada refused. (Today, Drug Czar John Walters is trying to bully Canada into keeping harsh marijuana laws.)

Anslinger had 37 years to solidify the propaganda and stifle opposition. The lies continued the entire time (although the stories would adjust — the 21 year old Florida boy who killed his family of five got younger each time he told it). In
1961, he looked back at his efforts:

“Much of the most irrational juvenile violence and that has written a new chapter of shame and tragedy is traceable directly to this hemp intoxication. A gang of boys tear the clothes from two school girls and rape the screaming girls, one boy after the other. A sixteen-year-old kills his entire family of five in Florida, a man in Minnesota puts a bullet through the head of a stranger on the road; in Colorado husband tries to shoot his wife, kills her grandmother instead and then kills himself. Every one of these crimes had been proceeded [sic] by the smoking of one or more marijuana “reefers.” As the marijuana situation grew worse, I knew action had to be taken to get the proper legislation passed. By 1937 under my direction, the Bureau launched two important steps First, a legislative plan to seek from Congress a new law that would place marijuana and its distribution directly under federal control. Second, on radio and at major forums, such that presented annually by the New York Herald Tribune, I told the story of this evil weed of the fields and river beds and roadsides. I wrote articles for magazines; our agents gave hundreds of lectures to parents, educators, social and civic leaders. In network broadcasts I reported on the growing list of crimes, including murder and rape. I described the nature of marijuana and its close kinship to hashish. I continued to hammer at the facts.

I believe we did a thorough job, for the public was alerted and the laws to protect them were passed, both nationally and at the state level. We also brought under control the wild growing marijuana in this country. Working with local authorities, we cleaned up hundreds of acres of marijuana and we uprooted plants sprouting along the roadsides.”

After Anslinger

On a break from college in the 70s, I was visiting a church in rural Illinois. There in the literature racks in the back of the church was a lurid pamphlet about the evils of marijuana — all the old reefer madness propaganda about how it caused insanity and murder. I approached the minister and said “You can’t have this in your church. It’s all lies, and the church shouldn’t be about promoting lies.”

Fortunately, my dad believed me, and he had the material removed. He didn’t even know how it got there. But without me speaking up, neither he nor the other members of the church had any reason NOT to believe what the pamphlet said. The propaganda machine had been that effective.

The narrative since then has been a continual litany of:

Politicians wanting to appear tough on crime and passing tougher penalties

Constant increases in spending on law enforcement and prisons

Racist application of drug laws

Taxpayer funded propaganda

Stifling of opposition speech

Political contributions from corporations that profit from marijuana being illegal (pharmaceuticals, alcohol, etc.)

… but that’s another whole story.

This account only scratches the surface of the story. If you want to know more about the history of marijuana, Harry Anslinger, and the saga of criminalization in the United States and elsewhere, visit some of the excellent links below. (All data and quotes for this piece came from these sources as well).

The History of the Non-Medical Use of Drugs in the United States by Charles Whitebread, Professor of Law, USC Law School. A Speech to the California Judges Association 1995 annual conference.

THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT AND THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE: AN INQUIRY INTO THE LEGAL HISTORY OF AMERICAN MARIJUANA PROHIBITION by Richard J. Bonnie & Charles H. Whitebread, II. VIRGINIA LAW REVIEW. VOLUME 56 OCTOBER 1970 NUMBER 6

The Consumers Union Report – Licit and Illicit Drugs by Edward M. Brecher and the Editors of Consumer Reports Magazine

The History of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 By David F. Musto, M.D., New Haven, Conn. Originally published in Arch. Gen. Psychiat. Volume 26, February, 1972

The Report of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse I. Control of Marihuana, Alcohol and Tobacco. History of Marihuana Legislation

The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. The history of how the Marihuana Tax Act came to be the law of the land.

Marijuana – The First Twelve Thousand Years by Ernest L. Abel, 1980
http://marijuana.drugwarrant.com

Redeemed: Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Medgar and Charles Evers, Jackie Robinson, JFK, RFK, Teddy Kennedy, LBJ, Hubert Humphrey, Earl Warren, Jessie Jackson, Andrew Young, John Lewis, The Freedom Riders, James Meredith, Emmett Till, Thergood Marshall, Tom Bradley, Shirley Chisholm, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas, William Lloyd Garrison, Abe Lincoln, The Battle of Antietam, Col. Robert Shaw, The 54th Massachusetts Infantry, Bill Pickett, Issac Murphy, Mrs. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, Cesar Chavez, Vernon Jordan, Michael Jordan, Henry Aaron, Frank Robinson, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, Arthur Lee, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Pete Segar, Big Joe Turner, Louis Armstrong, Richard Wright, Bo Jangles, Hattie McDaniel, Lena Horne, Dorthy Danridge, Sidney Portier, James Baldwin, Spike Lee, The Underground Railroad, the millions of slaves who’s blood, sweat, and toil help build this nation, those that marched and sat and indured the fists and fire hoses and police dogs and night sticks, the 13th Admendment, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, The Voting Rights Act of 1965, and many more too numerous to mention.

We are now on the mountain top and seeing the promised land!

Barack Obama is the 44th President of the UNITED States of America.

Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’.
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin’.
Please get out of the new one
If you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin’.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’.

~ Bob Dylan

In recent months, I’ve written several editorials examining the challenges we face leading up to and beyond the election. I’ve expressed more than a little skepticism that any meaningful improvement can come from any candidate from within America’s corrosive two-party system. Rather than over-relying on our representatives, I’ve argued that we the public must view ourselves as a source of wisdom from below, guiding with our mandate the crucial decisions that will be made in the months and years ahead.

Yet, after all the editorializing and with the day of decision upon us, we face a moment that could of course, under the right circumstances, prove to be one of majestic national poetry. Accordingly, though I am no poet, it seems appropriate at this time to express myself more in poetic than editorial terms. So here goes.

* * *

Though today is yet unknowable, let us for a moment imagine that when we wake tomorrow it will be a new day in America.

Let us appreciate the poetry that once upon a time, a one-term congressman from Illinois became President of the United States and freed four million African slaves and, 145 years later, an African American first-term senator from Illinois – borne not of the rapacious legacy of that compulsory migration but rather of a voluntary choice by two adults – should become President of that same land.

Let us imagine that a nation once built on the scarred backs of black Africans could, in arguably her darkest hour since, be rescued by the son of a Kenyan exchange student and a white American woman from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Let us imagine that that man and woman could have met and married amid the sweltering heat of Jim Crow America and, just two weeks before the courageous freedom rides of 1961, produced a child whose very birth would seem a hopeful reminder of America’s long-deferred promises – of racial harmony, of social courage, and of the power of love to free us from the shackles of our self-annihilating prejudice.

Let us imagine still that that young child should, through hard work and self-acknowledged providence, have become the figure of serenity, fortitude, vision, and grace who has stood before us for 21 long months and kept his dignity.

Let us imagine that beside that graceful man has walked his true and intrepid partner, co-parent of two confident and glowing children, who likewise has conducted herself with poise, substance, and candor — cognizant of yet unspoiled by the toxic air of Washington.

Let us imagine that, opposite them, an opportunistic campaign of division, viciousness, and ideological bankruptcy was overcome by one of decency and depth — that an effort to appeal to our lesser selves, to that in us which is divisible, was defeated by one that appealed to the best in us, to that which is indivisible.

Let us, though, not be fooled.

Let us not allow ourselves to be lulled into false comfort.

Let us go to sleep tonight and luxuriate, yes, in one night of hopeful rest.

And let us in those hours of sleep not plumb the darkness of the cynicism and doubt that have become a national affliction.

Let us sleep not with anger but in peace, secure in the hope that our hope shall endure and even prevail.

Yet let us wake tomorrow more vigilant than ever to ensure that the new day upon us shall not become the elusive phantom of a dream.

Let us commit ourselves – each of us individually and in concert — to whatever it will take in time, energy, and resources to demand that promises made along the way will be kept and that compromises struck will be weighed against the greater gravity of the challenges we face and, if judged inappropriate to the moment, be replaced by enterprises of greater courage.

Let us not forget that today’s triumph can become tomorrow’s loss if the battle won dulls our resolve to fight the larger war – a war not of bombs, machines, hubris, corruption, and shortsightedness (we’ve done all that) but rather one of souls, humanity, decency, justice, and, longevity.

Let us recognize that no single man – no matter how talented or well-intentioned — can possibly be a substitute for the much-needed chorus of a democracy.

Let us recognize that for that man to fulfill his promise to realize the kind of change we seek — in the care of our bodies, our minds, our children, our planet, our streets, our livelihoods, and our security — that we ourselves must be the agents of such change, whose unrelenting commitment to fundamental reform will be needed to give him the fortitude to battle the disfiguring forces of Washington.

Let us not forget

a government not of men but of laws,
a government of separated powers not arrogant ones,
a government of checks and balances honored not suspended,
and finally, a nation that is ever a work-in-progress, at her best when she recognizes and seeks to mend her frailties and at her worst when she denies them.

Let us not forget that, without accountability for the trespasses of recent years – the errors and wrongdoings that have cost tens of thousands of lives and shattered millions more — there is insufficient motivation for real and systemic change.

But of course, there will be time for all this.

For now, let us join with those around us in jubilation, with family, friend, and stranger alike, and commit ourselves that we shall all meet again — daily, weekly, in whatever ways our waking moments allow — to build the community, nation, and world we seek.