As last week’s somber Vietnam Veterans Day luncheon at the San Moritz Lodge fades into the past and with Memorial Day quickly approaching, it reminds me that freedom is not always free and that war is never an acceptable way for a civilized society to settle its disagreements.
With that thought in mind, I’ve just about had it with all this fussin’ and fightin’ goin’ on over in Ukraine with madman Putin, or “Pootie,” as Dubya (George W. Bush) liked to call him. As if that’s not enough, now we have the Israelis and Hamas, and everybody and his brother (or sister) goin’ at it.
This has gotta stop before the so-called “Genie in the Bottle” gets loose. In fact, I can see him peekin’ out from under the lid right about now. And what’s all this talk about the Gaza Strip? I always thought that was some kind of Band-Aid.
One time ago, a crazy dream came to me, I dreamt I was walkin’ into World War Three. I went to the doctor the very next day to see what kinda words he could say. He said it was a bad dream, I wouldn’t worry ‘bout it none, though, them old dreams are only in your head. I said, hold it, Doc, a World War passed through my brain. He said, nurse, get your pad, this boy’s insane. He grabbed my arm, I said ouch, as I landed on the psychiatric couch. (Talkin’ World War Three Blues – Bob Dylan – 1963)
Au contraire, folks – Dylan’s not insane, he’s just a very observant poet. How is it that I know that you ask? Why, I once heard Bob proclaim, “I’m a poet and I know it, hope I don’t blow it.”
War is never the right answer, it only festers and feeds on itself as it gnaws away at civilization and destroys everything in sight. It injures, maims and kills the very people who carry it out. Back in the 60s, we had a little sayin’, and it went kinda like this… “War isn’t healthy for children and other living things.” And who’s fault, is it? Is it Oppenheimer, Pootie, Netanyahu or is it you and me?
He’s five foot-two and he’s six feet-four, he fights with missiles and with spears. He’s all of 31 and he’s only 17, been a soldier for a thousand years. He’s a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain, a Buddhist, a Baptist and a Jew, and he knows he shouldn’t kill, and he knows he always will. And he’s fighting for Canada, he’s fighting for France, he’s fighting for the USA, and he’s fighting for the Russians and he’s fighting for Japan, and he thinks we’ll put an end to war this way. He’s the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame, his orders come from far away no more. They come from here and there and you and me, and brothers can’t you see? This is not the way we put the end to war. (“Universal Soldier” – Buffy Sainte Marie – 1964 – Donovan – 1965)
Keep it flyin’,
Uncle Mott
0 Comments