[Peace] Riley vs bush

[Dorothy Martirano]

This is a letter from Terry Riley, prominent American Composer.  If
you're interested in hearing his music, he has written many string
quartets for the Kronos Quartet.
Dorothy

***************************************
Regarding the present Puppet Government of the United States of America
and
it's Citizens,

Dear friends,

Out of the frustration that I have been feeling watching our government
take
us deeper and deeper into an endless quagmire of violent actions applied
to
political and social problems,
please allow me to try and sort out some thoughts about the quite
serious
predicament that we Americans find ourselves in today. And please let us

open a dialogue between all men and women of good will  to find ways to
use
all our creativity to reclaim our powers as citizens of a Democracy.
I have used some strong words in my anger and frustration, but those
words
are needed when so many future precious lives are at stake.
I know that all of you who regard all life as sacred must feel as I do
when
we stand by and witness the steady stream of senseless violence man
heaps on
his fellowman.  We who feel this way must know that we are not alone and

that there is an alternative course for humanity.  We must try to
restore
the Arts, Music, Poetry and Philosophy as guiding principals and real
values
of mankind  and build on the brilliant ideals of democracy that allow
our
highest aspirations to flower.
When I was growing up in the 30's and 40's there was a definite sense
that
we were living under a government that was comprised of elected
officials
who although human and made mistakes gave us the impression that the
citizenry's  well being was at least marginally being considered.
Of course there have always been overt and covert plans to overthrow and

strong arm and dominate our weaker neighbors but the central direction
of
policy was considered by the public to be one of "goodness."  Of course
our
disenfranchised citizens knew this was hog rot for as in the case of
African
Americans and Native Americans,  their rights were denied them from the
get
go. However in terms of our aggression towards other nations we most
often
required an act of congress to move our war machine against them. It was

often stated that the USA would never start a war unless provoked.  How
far
that perception has shifted!!! Judged by the course our nation is
currently
pursuing,,  citizens now accept blatant corruption by politicians and
corporate executives who are often wearing both hats.  One doesn't have
to
raise one's head very far out of the sand to observe that thieves such
as
Bush and Cheney have only extended their corporate strong arming into
the
the highest levels of government which at the moment would make Mafia
leaders choke in a jealous rage.

Time is running out!

While most of the country seems to be mesmerized by the drone of the
corporate media that dishes out it's propaganda on Radio, Television and
the
Press, only those watchful souls who are exposed to the Alternative
Press
and Radio such as KPFA in Berkeley are getting some sense of what is
really
going on here...and...... IT IS FRIGHTENING.
The courageous voices of Noam Chomsky, Cornell West, Amy Goodman, Jim
Hightower, Howard Zinn and many others have kept the flame of hope alive

during this particular dark time in our history. We must also take hope
from
those activists who are political prisoners, such as Geronimo Pratt,
Mumia
Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier and who  yet fight on from their prison
cells.
We must all add our voices to theirs in every way we can during these
most
critical days when the war drums are beating with a most singular and
fierce
intent.        While Bush say's there are no war plans for Iraq on his
desk,
this week the Foreign Relations Committee of Congress invited "expert
testimony" in to present the pros and cons of a massive armed forces
strike
against this country. Of course one could imagine that Bush does not
even
use a desk as the very idea of him "thinking or working" is a bit of a
stretch .  But he is a master at stirring up trouble and
opportunistically
building his power base.  Watching these hearings one gets the definite
feeling that the scales are tipped towards war no matter what the
outcome of
the debate by the current spineless congress.  It is a frightening
prospect
that rooms full of old men graying from greed, not wisdom, and smelling
of
cigar smoke and stale fart's from overstuffed belly's are laying down
the
doom of tens of thousands of innocent and hungrey Iraqi men, women and
children. They quite possibly killed over 4000 Afghan citizens, yet did
not
get Osama bin Ladin. He is hiding in some unsuspecting place. Perhaps in

Laura Bush's bedroom. Although they may bomb Bhagdad back to the stone
age
they probably won't get rid of Saddam either and yet the US is still
willing
to pay this incomprehensible price in loss of life and the added loss of
the
cultural and historical treasures of Iraq.
When Ex General Thomas McInerney gets up and testifies that we should
get
rid of Saddam by staging a 72 hour air and rocket blitzkrieg such as the

world has never seen, it instantly freezes my blood with it's maniacal
heartlessness.  Do these beasts advocating massive slaughter in Iraq,
have
no grandchildren  who will have to stare down a possible nuclear
aftermath
of such actions; are they willing to subject everyone to the risk of a
World War 111 that this kind of reckless cheerleading can lead to.  The
Senate Foreign Relations committee even had to drag out a senile Caspar
Weinberger to happily testify in favor of war!  Didn't he do enough
damage
the first time around?

Time is running out!  The current time table for the invasion of Iraq is

October.  (curiously before the November elections!) We who oppose this
course of War, that is only being pursued to increase the power of Bush
and
his gang of ne'er-do-wells, must have a blitzkrieg of our own in the
form of
massive demonstrations on Washington such as the world has never seen.
How
about a 30 million Men and Women march on the Capitol?  BUT....The
arrogance
of these  politico's CAN  be broken.  They are only riding the on the
crest
of popularity fueled by September 11 and the steady stream of scare
tactics
that have followed in their almost daily press releases.

The same Bush who stole the election is now holding the nation hostage
in a
climate of fear under the pretense of going after terrorists.  If there
is
an axis of evil, these days it is surely based in Washington and
choreographed  by the highest public non-elected officials.
"Hey Georgie-boy, Surprise! Wake up!  The real big time terrorist, who
the
world most fears is the one you see first thing in the morning while
shaving!"
The ease with which Bush sanctioned the execution of hundreds on Death
Row
in Texas when he was governor and sanctioned the ruthless bombing of
thousands of innocent Afghanistan civilians during the recent assault on

that country, would put him squarely in the front row of the top  serial

killers and war criminals of modern times. This is a man whose seeming
reverence for fetus's in the womb does not seem to extend to those who
have
already taken a human birth, and especially if that birth has handed
them a
brown skin. This is a man whose pot-shots around the globe seem
primarily
aimed at disadvantaged people of color.
 This is a man whose complicity in the September 11th attacks has not
been
sufficiently investigated to satisfy most inquiring minds.
qThe administration and the military are posing as protective saviors of
the
American people when in fact their greed is driving them on a course of
destruction that could take the whole world down in a finale of nuclear
fireworks. Europe does not want this War on Iraq, nor does Russia, nor
China, nor African nations and certainly the Middle East  does not want
this
War.  What we do need to do is extend America's powerful resources to
help
those countries who are struggling to feed their peoples and to help
clean
up a planet struggling with problems of pollution, disease and
overpopulation.  A four hundred Billion dollar budget for the military
of
the USA is a travesty.  It is a boon for the US arms manufacturers
(Bush's
corporate buddies and even Daddy)  and a nightmare for people of the
third
world who must live under the continuing US rein of bombs.

Remembering how the opposition brought the Washington war mongers to
their
knees to end the Vietnam war, gives me hope that we can do it again.
People
must realize that the Military Establishment no longer protects us from
harm
but is actually the greatest threat to our safety. The out-of-control
military spending is robbing us from the ability to educate our children
and
take care of our sick and needy and put in place badly needed social
programs.  We must also see that the West's endless consumerism is
turning
the Sacred Earth into a massive garbage dump and take responsibility for

that.  Most of all we must  go deeply inside and visualize the kind of
world
we do want to live in.  Let us look deeply into our own actions and way
of
life that allowed our country to be taken over by bandits and thugs. Let
us
humbly ask the Universe for guidance and wisdom to replace the enormous
suffering we are causing to ourselves and others and send us a roadmap
to
deliver us out of this mess.

I wrote the following back in 1968 when war was raging in Vietnam and
this
was my vision for a world then.   I am still hopeful we can create a
planet
where the world's peoples can live as brothers and sisters in a new
dimension of Love.

Terry Riley / A Rainbow In Curved Air

And then all wars ended / Arms of every kind were outlawed and the
masses
gladly contributed them to giant foundries in which they were melted
down
and the metal poured back into the earth / The Pentagon was turned on
its
side and painted purple, yellow & green / All boundaries were dissolved
/
The slaughter of animals was forbidden / The whole of lower Manhattan
became
a meadow in which unfortunates from the Bowery were allowed to live out
their fantasies in the sunshine and were cured / People swam in the
sparkling rivers under blue skies streaked only with incense pouring
from
the new factories / The energy from dismantled nuclear weapons provided
free
heat and light / World health was restored / An abundance of organic
vegetables, fruits and grains was growing wild along the discarded
highways
/ National flags were sewn together into brightly colored circus tents
under
which politicians were allowed to perform harmless theatrical games /
The
concept of work was forgotten


Respectfully,

Terry Riley