Dissent 41
January 18, 2000
Red Emma’s Poetry
Korner
“It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the
press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It
is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to
demonstrate. It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the
flag and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn
the flag.”
—“A
Poem to a Soldier” by Father Dennis Edward O’Brien.
U.S. Marine Corps Chaplain (Read at the Dec. 13 Board meeting.)
The assault on the body politic comprises, to put it militarily, a
two-pronged strategy. Its onslaught on spirit is often as fierce as on the
intellect and occasionally, as above, it is a simultaneous offensive, sublime
in its total(itar)ity. The above poem (sic), offered in strict tones by a
presumed member of the Sons of the Revolution (a solemn daughter, actually),
the local citizen PR militia which bivouacked briefly at a recent SOCCCD Board
Meeting, leaves even this hardened political reporter breathless. And keep in
mind that Red has experienced actual personal conversations with Steve Frogue
(alum, USMC) and Lee Walker, himself a member of the Fife and Dumb Corps which
entertained the Board of Trustees that night.
Where to begin? As an educator and
writer, I’ll resist the urge to explicate this bit of martialistic Ann Landersite
barber shop inspiration. Its many errors speak for themselves, and loudly:
single cause fallacy, either/or fallacy, cause/effect incongruity,
ahistoricity, illogic, and so on. Just one observation: As much as Red Emma
opposes militarism and the military and soldiering generally, it’s important to
note the good father’s utter contempt for the actual soldier, who is reduced,
like the reporter, poet, and organizer, to a sad cartoon. Can’t soldiers also
be poets, organizers, or reporters? No, not in the unvivid and fabulously
one-dimensional civilian vs. soldier world of Padre Dennis, U.S.M.C. Frankly,
this kind of writing gives war a bad name.
That the War Boosters show up at
public education venues at SOCCCD Board meetings speaks both to their contempt
for intellect and their commitment to a right-wing esprit de corps or, in this
case, esprit de corpses. They toss up the moldering cadavers of victims of
patriotic state terror in an attempt to intimidate the rest of us. Francis
Scott Key. George Washington’s teeth. Paul Revere’s horse. This works in South
Orange County. Watch the Cox Communications video and be amazed: A group of
off-key Minutemen staggers around the board chambers. Everybody pledges
allegiance to Old Gory. An illiterate student reads a high school style
chronology of George’s life: Born. Killed others. Elected President. Became a
god.
Dorothy basks in the Burt Parks
role. Marcia pulls a bugle out of her ear. Drummer Lee nearly trips over the
camera tripod. Embarrassed, frightened, or reduced perhaps to stunned
disbelief, board members who might otherwise resist or object cannot,
presumably for fear of being put in stocks, tarred and feathered—or otherwise
politically attacked—by this minority of bunting-clad necrophiliacs.
Of course, the spectacle pretends to
be about the idea that foreign powers might take over and deprive Orange County
citizens of our sacred rights. A modest perusal of the record of recent U.S.
wars indicates that none in the last 50 years has been anything other than a
war of empire. Even WWII is today seen as something less than the “good war”
once imagined by many.
But that’s not the point, is it? The
point is to consolidate political power by wrapping everybody up in the flag, a
tried and true strategy.
Here, then, is a modest corrective
to the sadistic, cloying and repugnant versification of the Sons of Revolution
and their dimwit spiritual leader. It’s a real-life song sung by real-life
(later, real dead) British soldiers marching to their doom during World War I.
You can hear it performed on CD by Red’s favorite band, Chumbawamba, a musical
cooperative with perhaps a more realistic assessment of the war Game.
Hanging on the Old
Barbed Wire
If you want to find the General, I know where he is. He’s pinning another medal on his chest. I saw him pinning another medal on his chestIf you want to find the Colonel, I know where he is. He’s sitting in comfort, stuffing his bloody gut. I saw him, I saw him, sitting in comfort Stuffing his bloody gutIf you want to find the Sergeant, I know where he is. He’s drinking all the company rum.I saw him, I saw him, drinking all the company rum. If you want to find the Private, I know where he is. He’s hanging on the old barbed wire. I saw him, I saw him, hanging on the old barbed wire.
Finally, two poetic suggestions from Red. First, insist on Board
pre-meeting ceremonies which more accurately reflect the values of most South
County voters. Upcoming events which might merit acknowledgement by our elected
education officials: Martin Luther King Day (January 17), Angela Davis’s
birthday (January 26), Bob Marley’s birthday (February 6), Susan B. Anthony’s
birthday (February 15), Women’s History Month (March), Cesar Chavez’s birthday
(March 31). You get the idea.
Speaking of Cesar Chavez (a United States Navy veteran!), somebody
needs to ask the SOCCCD Board to weigh in on the current effort to make the
birthday of this internationally recognized fighter for justice and peace a
state holiday. A resolution from our school board could only help the campaign,
headed by state senator Richard Polanco to pass Senate Bill (SB) 984. Many
local governments and school boards across the state have publicly backed the
bill. An earlier measure was passed by the California Legislature but vetoed by—surprise!—former
Gov. Pete Wilson. Red Emma attended a weekend rally in Santa Ana supporting the
effort and was impressed with a college president I like to call the
anti-Mathur. Rancho Santiago College President Enriqueta Ramos is some kind of
dream. She’s elegant, competent, and her roots are community-based, not
corporate. In short, she’s on the right side, not the far-right.
Second, check out PBS’s upcoming
“P.O.V.” airing of “Regret to Inform,” the documentary story of a recent U.S.
war widow whose pilgrimage to Viet Nam explores the real meaning of organized
state violence.
Peace. —RE
Andrew Tonkovich
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