http://www.swans.com/
July 31, 2006 -- In this issue:
Note from the Editor: "The terrorists are afraid of democracies," says
George W. Bush, to justify Israel's bombing of Lebanon. As we all should
be. Twenty-first century democracy is characterized by sham elections,
installed leaders, gerrymandering, ballot trashing, and land grabbing.
Democratic societies are at liberty to wage disproportionate wars (no one
in their right mind would start a proportionate one), killing civilians
at will and destroying the infrastructure of entire nations. If you can't
catch a leaflet warning you to evacuate, or don't have the means to do
so, you're as out of luck as a Katrina victim -- with bombs. What will it
take to stop the utter madness? While it's tempting to withdraw and seek
the sanctity and safety only offered to embryos in a freezer, each of us
must face the harsh realities of the collective suicide under way and
take some kind of action. Deck Deckert, Michael Doliner, and Milo Clark
share their respective approaches, from the political, to the humorous,
to peaceable means.
With evidence that change can be imposed from the ground up, Louis
Proyect reviews Mark Lause's "Young Americans: Land, Labor and the
Republican Community" and the many examples of working people acting on
their class interests. Such political movements are nearly unimaginable
in a time when the 3-year phasing in of a whopping $2.10 increase in
minimum wage will only be considered by the Congress of Millionaires if
they can throw an estate-tax-decrease bone to their wealthy
constituents... For an inside peak into the panoply of psychopathologies
of such a mindset we go straight to the top, with a review by Ted Dace of
"Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President." And while it's
unpalatable to even begin to think about the 2008 US presidential
elections, it's even more unpalatable to imagine another Al Gore
candidacy; but Charles Marowitz thinks he may just have the right
stuff...next time. (Wethinks Swans will pass on these elections
altogether. Enough sham!)
Anyway, all this talk of war, death, and politics is depressing and
besides, it's summer. If you've always fantasized about a trip to Venice,
Peter Byrne gives a creatively entertaining, inside look into this
revered and troubled island city, as seen through the eyes of writers and
Venetians themselves, along with a fictional account of the experience of
two American tourists. More words come from Italy in the form of the
dramatic poetry of Guido Monte with thoughts for the exiled. Finally, the
Blips decry the calamity of Israel's attacks on innocent Palestinian and
Lebanese civilians, and your letters illustrate the dichotomy of opinion
on these unjustifiable assaults.
As always, please form your OWN opinion, and let your friends (and foes)
know about Swans.
*****
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/rdeck067.html
Banality Of Evil - Deck Deckert
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/ga213.html
Collective Suicide: The American-Israeli "New" Middle East
- Gilles d'Aymery
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/mdolin18.html
Country Joe And The Fish - Michael Doliner
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/mgc188.html
Other Ponds - Milo Clark
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/lproy39.html
Mark Lause's "Young America" - Book Review by Louis Proyect
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/tdace01.html
Welcome To Schizoia - Book Review by Ted Dace
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/cmarow52.html
The Next President - Charles Marowitz
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/pbyrne09.html
Venice: Nobody's Town - Peter Byrne
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/pbyrne10.html
Post Cards - Short Story by Peter Byrne
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/gmonte04.html
Into Exile - Poem by Guido Monte
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/desk038.html
Blips #38 - from the Martian Desk - Gilles d'Aymery
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/letter96.html
Your Letters
#####
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Swans
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