Knots and Crosses
we've made. The money, we hung an innocent man,
and we didn't finish the job.
We can't undo the first two. . . but we can still finish the job
--Hang 'Em High (1968)
I like to be in America!
O.K. by me in America!
Everything free in America
For a small fee in America
--America, West Side Story
___________
Consider Bush's recent take on lynching ("Noose Displays 'Deeply Offensive,'"):
"President Bush said Tuesday that recent displays of nooses are disturbing. . ."
"The era of rampant lynching is a shameful chapter in American history," Bush said. . ."
"The noose is not a symbol of prairie justice, but of gross injustice," the president said. "Displaying one is not a harmless prank. Lynching is not a word to be mentioned in jest."
We especially like the last one. Do not mention it in jest -- presumably, one should talk of one's lynchings with the utmost reverence (?) Perhaps, one ought just to keep the deed under wraps, since Bush did state it is the "display" which is offensive. Perhaps a more circumspect practice would not be so repugnant.
The take home is, lynching is no longer an American value, at least not one to be practiced on the homeland. Instead, we now export that hallowed pasttime to our new democratic client state of Iraq. What were the lynchings of Saddam and Barzan Ibrahim if not intimidation of the Sunnis and an exhibition that the Shiites could control them via unbridled violence? Saddam's execution was medieval theatre, held by torchlight in front of a madding crowd.
The U.S. leaders are a double-talking bunch of hypocrites claiming to espouse brotherly love but quick to allow frontier justice to transpire when hysteria grabs the reins. Just watch the executions after the projected Gitmo kangaroo courts. To live up to their proud Christian heritage, they might consider saving wood by hanging them two at a time -- one from each arm of the cross.
How far has the United States come since witch trials and Red hunts? Does President Bush ever even think about the implications of his words and actions?
posted by Lisa at 2:43 PM
2 Comments:
Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.
Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.
(i couldn't pass a chance to honor both the memory of the great lady day, billie holiday, and our own lurch. the music lives on inside us)
MB,
I wrote a piece called "Strange Fruit" last year, I believe. Apropos.
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