Reflections and response to the Sanctimonious Rhetoric of that Edumacated Prick

What is the compelling voice? Moving us to a critique beyond critique. Not merely cynical sine qua non. Beyond the boundaries that are marked by the intelligentsia's stuck up noses. The self righteousness piety of the fringe dwellers unable to connect with the Joes, Janes, Kims, and Lees.

Bringing clarity to that blind spot between the romanticized easiness or the impossible goal of collapsing the fabric and foundations of things.
Between genocides and debilitating cynicisms. An underlying perception of the reality of progress and hope.

Yet they seem nonnegotiable in their place. Looking down from their heights, prescribing to us what authenticity and compelling-ness should be. Failing to sift the virtues from the insanities. Condescendingly charging us as a stupid herd, who mindlessly follow the symbols in exchange for the sugar mixed opiate. As if culture is in their hands in its unadulterated form. Reveling in the otherness of their radicality, heralding their rhetoric of political trend. Unable to recognize their own shelter, a hypocritical dialectical materialism that is sheltered in the neutered abstraction of that tower painted in ivory. As if they were never plagued by the same nonsense.

Who determines the substance of things unseen? That identifiable substance behind the avant garde. That connects to a type of collective consciousness that transcends the mass hysteria of mob mentality. That perceives power, and potentiality, authentic dignity in the ebb and flow of a path that is marked with struggle.

Protestantized . . .

Protestantized . . . Hallelujah!

Another label

slapped

unto our collective forehead!

Adding to the repertoire

of names we've accrued

over the years.

A lovely circulation of

perceptions that paint

Koryo folk

in the way that makes us all happy?

Perhaps, we asked for this

a long time ago!

After all who

was the one that littered Main street

with the tickets to Heaven?

Yet you who jeer,

you too

should have considered

the consequences of shoving your magic

on us a long time ago

Some Reflections at the U.N. when the President was visiting

"Do you really believe you are making a difference today?" asked the reporter. You can detect the cynicism in his voice, as if directed towards our convictions presuming that his single shot exposed the foolishness of our endeavors with relative ease. Revealing us as fringe optimists, Don Quixote attacking the windmills and romanticizing the by-gone days of Chivalry!

"Is that a fair question?" we shot back. Another way of asking "whose mind are you fucking with?" Annoyed by the vast misrepresentation of such a remark. Flaunting ourselves for the sheer image . . . that awful romanticizing of radicality, which shouts in misdirected zeal and anger for the sake of. Or perhaps painting us as a bunch of naive optimists who will singlehandedly end all war and suffering on this planet by singing "Imagine" or "Koombaya" on a Manhattan street!

"Did you get any pointers from the President's speech writer?" Remember those God awful statements that lulled the many into believing that victory in Iraq will take a short time. That the masses who see the war machine on their soil will naturally fall in love with our packaged democracy. In similar mindset, as if the effectiveness of a grassroots movements can be judged by a single moment on the street. As if its pragmatic value can be assessed by a few meetings on the street and the fact that the war isn't over, we are all wasting our times.

Most of us are aware of the nature of the forces around us. And the need for a constructive movement of dissent, that expresses itself in a multiplicity of ways, maintained for the long hall. So in answer to the reporter's question, we can answer "no," if his question is asking us if we think the current administration will see our march and suddenly see the fucking light! We are aware that the opposition is real, and we are always sobered by the possibility that we could lose the fight. Perhaps we are more aware of this then those who perceive us from the outside.

But if perceived in a growing movement of dissent in this country, where the determination of common folk to move to the very end at the risk of losing battles, then the question is different. Beyond quick fix utilitarian results, is the bottom line of conviction. This is where the we fix our attention to. We believe that the war is the worst decision made by this administration, and we will oppose it. Though we may look quite foolish to some, we are willing to endure the critique, to express that conviction unapologetically.