Strawberry Fields Forever (2001)
Much has been written and said this week in commemoration of today's 25th anniversary of the death of John Lennon. I don't really have anything to add...
...except I remember how many people, especially those in my parents' generation, reacted to Lennon. Something about him just set them off -- whether comparing the Beatles to Jesus or just the whole Hair Peace Bed Peace Instant Karma round robin. Lennon was the poster boy for their straw man of the "wild-eyed" hippie -- prone to imagining no countries and no wars -- and accused of aiding enemies and subverting the troops in the process (sound familiar?).
So, all I want to do today is give you a short multiple choice test -- a study in contrasts. The test is called: Leader or Radical.
Ready. Got your tin foil helmet thinking cap on? You may now open your test booklets.
Choice A: John Lennon
[John Lennon (2004) by Peter Szabo]
In his own words:
I don't believe in killing whatever the reason!
If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace.
Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one.
Love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once given never forgotten, never let it disappear.
My role in society, or any artist's or poet's role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.
Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it.
The more I see the less I know for sure.
You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.
All we are saying is give peace a chance.
Please mark your ballot:
____ LEADER
____RADICAL
Choice B: Dick Cheney
In his own words:
We have to be able to do what is necessary.
The days of looking the other way while despotic regimes trample human rights, rob their nations' wealth, and then excuse their failings by feeding their people a steady diet of anti-Western hatred are over.
There comes a time when deceit and defiance must be seen for what they are.
We will, in fact, be greeted as liberators.
I had other priorities in the 60's than military service.
The plan was criticized by some retired military officers embedded in TV studios. But with every advance by our coalition forces, the wisdom of that plan becomes more apparent.
Let us rid ourselves of the fiction that low oil prices are somehow good for the United States.
I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.
We now know that Saddam [Hussein] has resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons.
Please mark your ballot:
____LEADER
____RADICAL
and...for extra credit...
Choice C: George W. Bush
In his own words:
Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.
See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.
Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB/GYN's aren't able to practice their love with women all across the country.
Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.
There's an old...saying in Tennessee...I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee that says Fool me once...[3 second pause]... Shame on...[4 second pause]...Shame on you....[6 second pause]...Fool me...Can't get fooled again."
One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures.
I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe -- I believe what I believe is right.
Our nation must come together to unite.
I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully.
I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family.
Please mark your ballot:
____Leader
____Moron
Yeah. Okay. So I changed the choices in the last multiple choice question. Blogger's poetic license.
And if you need an upside down listing of the correct answers, well, then you haven't been paying attention in class.
1 comment:
The Tennesee-fool quote is funny. Bush could be quite a comedian, he reminds me of Chuck Barris, the guy who hosted the Rah, Rah show and the Gong Show. They even look alike.
As for John Lennon, a friend of mine in the early 80's who was into the British Punk scene and New York one too woke up to the news of John's death, and while still in bed, picked up a pen and wrote on the wall, "Here I first learned of John Lennon's death."
I could never figure out why someone like John Lennon, who had songs in the top ten, would be admired by someone whose tastes in music where so different.
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