Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

When John Lennon penned that song, he was accused of using code for an acid trip--Lysergic Acid Dithylamide--LSD.  It used to be the best way to fly, certainly better and with less hassle than today.   The Establishment, back in the 60's and 70's, were terrified of the psychedelic and alleged mind-altering effects of acid, as it was called.  Jerry Rubin and Abby Hoffmann, leaders of the Youth International Party (Yippies) threatened to taint the public drinking water supply system with the drug to get the Establishment to become enlightened and free, or at least to loosen up and maybe enjoy a colorful diversion.  The government actually put troops around reservoirs to guard against this heinous act.

So today---- Picture yourself on the Washington Metro/With auto execs and lobbyists there/Someone is speaking/He's asking for money/A liar with lots of black hair...

Or is it the Senator he appointed who told the Illinois legislature he didn't get involved with Blago fundraising, there was no "pay for play", he deserved the appointment did Mr Burris and he was honest and clean and on and on and on and on...

OR---Picture yourself with a job in California/Where the State is cutting out benefits/You feel you're safe after all it's a state job/Then along comes a Senator/Wanting state jobs cut...How about those CA Republicans??  First they get a slew of cuts to Medi-Cal, unemployment and health benefits as part of the "budget deal"then they refuse to vote for this devil's bargain because there aren't any job reductions in state agencies like the ones in private industry!!!  

Does anyone out there think that maybe the Yippies really pulled off that injection of LSD into all the drinking water sources and the reaction is just delayed and we are all on an acid trip right now??  Anyone got a better explanation for this lunacy????

I remember purple snow and really neat color wheels. I much prefer those visions to the ones in my checkbook, 401-k statements, and savings account rates.  What, after all, is the purpose of government but to provide some safety net and some recourse for the average citizen after the markets fail?

  Oh Lucy, why hast thou forsaken us?????

Time Travel

Driving on the highway the other day, a perfect confluence of events punctured the space-time continuum and transported me back to when long hair for men was ok and my guitar strap was red with white doves alternating with white peace symbols.

The radio was playing Ohio by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. As the vocal wailed "Four dead in Ohio" I passed a pick-up with a bumper sticker reading America, Love It or Leave It. Serious flashback, man.........................Today, we'd say Blue or Red, Joe the Plumber or "palin around with terrorists". ( I meant to spell it that way!!!!)

Why there are people who "'oppose your interests' and 'really believe that if they can make you afraid enough or angry enough, you can be tricked into voting against yourself. It is all part of the same contempt, and [on Election Day] you can show them the mistake they have made.' The debate wasn't between left or right, but between 'the politics of fear and the politics of trust. One says: you are encircled by monstrous dangers. Give us power over your freedom so we may protect you. The other says: the world is a baffling and hazardous place, but it can be shaped to the will of men...cast your vote for trust, not just in leaders or policies, but trusting your fellow citizens, in the ancient tradition of this home for freedom and, most of all, for trust in yourself."

If that don't sound like the Bush/Cheney era and the tone of the 2008 presidential campaign, I don't know what would. Divisiveness, the culture wars, an unpopular military action overseas, fear of terrorism and crime......The above is from Nixonland by Rick Perlstein on pgs.536-537. The context is a televised speech by then Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine exhorting voters to cast their ballots the next day for Democratic candidates. The fear-mongers were Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew. And their speeches and approaches would be so familiar to John McCain and Sarah Palin----because they are the same. And for me, Edmund Muskie's words ring as true today as when he spoke them on that evening in 1970.

Vote early if you can (I did) and please vote with your head, not your fears!!!!!

Pirate Dog Song Help

There are 3 pirate dogs. I'd like your help with their theme song. Done to the tune of Bob Marley's Redemption Song I came up with the first 2 lines:
"Three Pirate Dogs they rob I
Take the food and all the chips"