Are you a terrorist?

I pretty much figured this was coming:

FBI, ATF address domestic terrorism --Officials: Extremists pose serious threat

The Bush administration and law enforcement officials, having now spent in excess of $50 billion on "Homeland Defense" to "fight terrorism," particularly to modernize and tie together all of the national and local law enforcement agencies and databases, and thus protect us poor citizens from the big, bad world out there, is now starting to openly declare that the next big threat is...domestic terrorism. Specifically, environmental and animal-rights groups. Damn tree-hugging liberals, they're going to destroy us all! Clearly, every one of 'em should be pre-emptively locked up ('scuse, "indefinitely detained") in Guantanamo without access to that bastion of left-wing liberalism, the court system (and for anyone who hasn't yet had to deal with the "liberal courts," that was irony...)

Insane. On the one hand it's a transparently ludicrous attempt to continue to whip the American people into fear-induced frenzied giveaways of our freedoms and liberties in the name of "safety" and "security." And on the other hand, it's a deadly serious attempt to take advantage of sensational or unpopular causes to increasingly criminalize dissent and "bad behavior."

Bush & the neocons in congress are now trying to float more bills designed to stiffen the penalties for protest and other forms of "domestic terrorism." I got news for ya, bubbie -- he's not really aiming at a few wild-eyed SUV-burners (tho' I have sympathy for those as well)...no, we're talking about ordinary people like thee and me. I daresay most of the people reading this have either been on the "wrong side" of a police line, or know people who have.

So the process is simple. First, get the public to support "fighting terrorism" by inflaming fear and insecurity, in the same way that useful old bugaboo, the International Communist Menace, used to be trotted out and applied. Next, acquire the funding and tools to "fight terrorism," particularly to centralize information flow and control of domestic law enforcement as much as you can get away with. An efficient police force is an effective police force, and knowledge is power. It's no accident that so much money and effort has gone into making domestic surveillance legal and easy, and into centralizing law enforcement databases in the hands of the federal government. Lastly, declare anyone who opposes you as a "domestic terrorist," and use the tools you've developed against the "terrorists" until they're all in jail or merely too afraid to fight.

I used to think those people who compared the U.S. to the Weimar Republic, or who used the term "fascist" with respect to any aspect of U.S. government were being hysterically overdramatic, and perhaps should go live in a genuinely dictatorial or fascist-style government for a while to appreciate this country a little more. There's been a lot of room for improvement, but it seemed that the chance of actually descending into totalitarianism were minimal. We wouldn't let that happen here, we're not like that, our Founding Fathers carefully and with intention put many valuable checks and balances in place precisely to prevent dictatorial power-grabs by any one party or ideology. Paranoid people who see government conspiracy everywhere are ignoring the power of the people, and the fact that government is generally way too bureaucratically snafued to pull off anything so organized. Right?

As Bush & Co systematically, intentionally dismantle those checks and balances, and proceed with consolidating their power over all three branches of government, on both the national and state level (at least if you live in "red" states), for the first time it seems plausible to me that we could be seeing the beginning of the end of American democracy. The inevitably approaching energy price spikes and the economic disruptions that shift is likely to induce may just hasten this movement, as people look for a strong central government to save us from the chaos we've brought on ourselves, and return us to the "good old days" of artificially cheap energy and unsustainable consumption.

Maybe I've become one of those hysterical people screaming "fascism" at the drop of a hat. I wish that were true, and I hope I'm wrong. But the signs are there, the pieces seem to be in place for very ungood things to happen. Will it happen? Only if we let it.

The difference between "them" and "us," is that "we" (sometimes) tolerate dissent -- in fact, many of "us" actively value dissent and see diverse opinions as part of the richness and strength of the human condition. "They" don't tolerate dissent, and there is only one Truth, one opinion that matters, one way in which power flows -- from the top down. Divinity, grace, freedom, bread, all trickle down upon us from on high, and it's not our hands on the tap. To suggest that power, divinity, freedom, ever come from the bottom-up, from you and I, is purely, fundamentally heretical. Terroristic, even.

Practice your heresies while you can, and use your freedoms while you still have them. It's not too late to change the world. In fact, it's easy, it's natural and it's normal. It's not even a choice -- whatever you do will change the world, so you might as well make those changes count, use them to build the world in which you wish to live, in which you wish your children to live. You can do it, one day, one act, one choice at a time. Hold the intention of making a positive change, choose your acts with care, and know, really know, that dissent, hope, protest, knowledge and action are not terrorism. They're our birthright, and the tools we all are freely given by the divinity which lies inside each of our hearts, minds, bodies and souls. It's time to use them.

Are you a terrorist, pt 2

AP story on the wire: Early Version of New Patriot Act Gives Administration Everything It Asks for, GOP Aides Say

I'd *never*...

A random bit of magicko-psychological theory --

A number of people I know have noticed that one of the surest ways to provoke a response from the universe is to utter the fateful words (especially in the presence of witnesses), "I'd never..." or "I could never," followed by a statement of something which is supposedly personally impossible or unimaginable. More often than not, the universe conspires to make just exactly that imposible thing happen, in some unexpectedly perverse way or another. I've noted this to be true, for myself, and many others I know. Maybe you have too. So why is this?

I suspect on one level it has to do with Time, with synchronicity. What I do *not* believe is that there is some all-powerful cosmic deity of Irony sitting up there, saying, "oh YEAH? We'll just SEE about that..." As much as it often appears to work this way (and it does appeal to my rather dark sense of ironic humor), I'm not quite so self-centered as to envison ultra-powerful beings who have nothing better to do than keep tabs on me and mess with my head, any more than I believe in an individual personal karma adjudicated by all-powerful deities watching our every move, noting each act into infallible books of cosmic accounting. Karma does happen, no doubt about it, but it's a natural, self-perpetuating law, that operates on an environmental rather than a personal level, not requiring outside intervention (and that's another topic...)

What I suspect is happening with the "I'd never" phenomenon is that that part of myself which is timeless is sending me a message that I'm entering a new probability field. I'm being given an opportunity for growth (dammit), by working on a place where I'm closed, where energy is tangled up and constricted. It's not that saying "I'd never" instigates the event, it's more that the fact that the "I'd never" thought came into my head is a signpost or a warning that something's on the way. I'm learning to pay attention to these thoughts, as perhaps the clue-tap that comes prior to the apearance of the clue-slap and the clue-brick, the clue-by-four, etc.

Another, more psychological way of looking at it is that the statement "I'd never..." indicates that whatever is being thought of matters to me, that there is energy invested in it, and it's close enough to the surface to bring it to mind in the form of an unambiguous and forceful asssertion. Energy seeks its own release, and so that particular topic is one where some amount of internal stress or pressure has been created by a constriction of energy (that constriction or boundary may be positive or negative, but either way, it's there). If I didn't really care about the topic, if some part of me wasn't actively wrestling with it on some level, the thought would not have come to mind.

There is also power in utterances, in oaths, in boundaries, sometimes a great deal of power. But it occurs to me that "I'd never..." is a negative assertion -- it states what I do not desire (or believe I do not desire), what I am against, not what I am for. Knowing what I am not, what I will not do, can be useful, but that same energy might be more productively put into a positive assertion of what I Will do.

As a very dear friend of mine who is going through her own deep turmoils right now said to me some years ago, when it was her turn to counsel and support me, and I was bitching that I couldn't believe someone I cared about had acted in very hurtful ways -- she noted that anyone is capable of anything, under the right (or wrong) circumstances. It's quite true, we're all capable of acting in ways which are very hurtful and damaging to ourselves and others, just as much as we can be constructive and healing. There is demon and angel in all of us, and intention, inclination and circumstances all play key roles in determining what comes forth at any particular point in time. Knowing myself in all of my parts includes knowing those parts of myself capable of acting in ways I may not like or be proud of.

That realization feeds my compassion, for myself, and for others. Which is not to say that it makes for a perpetually blank slate, forgiveness doesn't equal forgetfulness, and someone who doesn't use their past experience to affect future actions is a careless fool, not a saint. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, etc. But still -- compassion, forgiveness, for oneself and others, is an essential tool which can be used to free up energy trapped in old patterns of pain and grief, so it's possible to move on and not be bound by chains of sameness. Perhaps, in some sense, that's the real purpose of "I'd never..." -- to show where some of those patterns exist, and indicate an opportunity for growth (dammit).

All of that said, I will say here in front of whomever witnesses it, "I'd never win the lottery and have millions of dollars" ;> so there.

a good laugh

Okay, I really needed this today. Check it out, I can almost guarantee it'll put a smile on your face. I love MoveOn.org.

Humor can help save us. That's going to be a core of the path I'm co-teaching at Vermont Camp this year. It's going to center around shadow-work through the path of the Trickster and the Fool, drawing upon and working with the powerful bardic craft of Satire, calling upon the Cheshire Cat and our other trickster allies (the Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass stories are the camp's theme this year) to pierce the veils of illusion, see What Is, and speak Truth in ways which can actually be heard, and inspire change and growth.

The bard, the trickster, the sacred Fool, are at times the only ones who can speak the obvious truth that the emperor has no clothes, who can wield the foolish, razor-sharp wit that pricks and lets the air out of people, organizations and situations which have become overblown. Through pointed, wicked humor, the trickster/fool shows clearly to all what is real and what is illusion. Satire was one of the essential tools in the Celtic bard's repertoire, and the most feared, even by kings, who would do almost anything to avoid being satirized by an eminent bard. An effective satirist could literally kill with their art, and worse than that, could make sure that whomever was satirized would die a lingering death of their reputation, lasting long after their physical passing. Powerful stuff, indeed.

The satire of the trickster and the fool is related to the old witch's adage (and chaos magick axim, and Erisian "belief," as in the Turkey Curse) that "banishing by laughter" is one of the most powerful tools you can use. Laughing at something often robs it of its glamour or illusion, shows its true form, and if there's nothing real there, causes it to fade away. All you have to do is look throughout history to such as the Revolutionary War broadsides by Franklin and others, and more modern-day satirists like Arlo Guthrie, George Carlin, Gary Trudeau and Bill Hicks to see the enduring power of this Art. The Fool teaches us to laugh at what is foolish. And that is good. In cards, the Joker is the wild card who can beat the King.

Humor is our ally, laughter can be a savior and sure proof against the grim, grey fatigue of the soul that can weaken will and sap our strength. May we all know laughter, and when to wield the wisdom of cunning foolishness.