Madness, whether sought or unsought

"Who's the first President you can remember?"

Born in 1949, I choose to use my 49th Presidential post on 11/11; Veteran's Day 2007, to explain why this question was important enough to be the first asked during SO SAY WE ALL.

Before Icke, I liked IKE.

I remember seeing Eisenhower on a very small black & white TV, and I heard him warn of the Military-Industrial Complex, which has surely evolved into the Military-Economic Complex of today.

I have said that George Bush is no Jack Ryan. He's no Dwight D. Eisenhower either. Try to imagine him making the speech linked to the weapons system above. A speech everyone should read at least once, especially on this day. Here's a quote: "Any failure traceable to arrogance, or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us grievous hurt both at home and abroad. "

Sound familiar?

The "Greatest Generation" is almost gone. When I picked up the book of the same name, I went straight to the chapter on George Herbert Walker Bush. There was no mention of his father's support of Adolf Hitler, Skull & Bones, or Bush 41's bragging during the '40's that he would be President some day. So much for Brokaw.

Tom, however, is back. Trying to do for/to my generation what he did to/for the one the Baby-Boomers owe so much to. I went straight to the index of BOOM! to search for references to LSD. They were all vicarious mentions of the experiences of others.

As for comprehension and readiness, I'll stick with Captain Clearlight; the Henry Ford of Acid, who was 13 when WWII started, but flew on SAC B-36 Peacemakers during the Cold War - before expanding the consciousness of anyone that ever actually took a hit of windowpane during the Summer Of Love.

More on the Captain, and STRENGTH THROUGH PEACE later.

While in BOOKSTAR, I was led to the NEW AGE section where I planned to scan the index of DARK MISSION. It didn't have one.

Re-reading Jack L. Chalker's LORDS OF THE MIDDLE DARK, I find that Art is once again, able to sum up the betrayal of one generation by another with the paraphrased description of how a member of the Elite, tries to save their offspring from the perils of beating the Master System - or as the Hippies knew it - the System: "No. The System can be cheated, which is not the same thing at all. It knows we cheat. Unless we are incompetent enough or brazen enough to allow ourselves to be caught at it, It doesn't seem to mind because we cheaters do not threaten the system. The fact that we can cheat and get away with cheating is our moral authority to be the leaders and our badge of office."

SOUND FAMILIAR?

Tonight, I'll leave you with Brokaw's telling quote that ends the chapter on the leader of the Free world's father: "He believes he is owed nothing. In fact, he believes that World War II was such an overwhelming threat that those who served did so out of an obligation that should not require special treatment forevermore. He believes some veteran's organizations are wrong to keep asking for more and more benefits."



... watch your parking meters.

My Name is Michael Sterling, and I approved this page.