It is a time of freedom and fear, of Gaia and of borders, of many paths and the widening of
a universal toll road, emptying country and swelling cities, of the public bought into
privacy and the privacy of the public sold into invisible data banks and knowing
algorithms. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the
planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection.
These are the times when maps fade and direction is lost. Forwards is backwards now, so we glance sideways at the strange lands through which we are all passing, knowing for certain only that our destination has disappeared. We are unready to meet these times, but we proceed nonetheless, adapting as we wander, reshaping the Earth with every tread. Behind us we have left the old times, the standard times, the high times. Welcome to the irregular times. While the press focuses on Bush and Kerry's irrelevant debate over Vietnam service, they've let more recent history fall through the cracks: In August of 2002, Attorney General John Ashcroft disclosed a Bush Administration plan in which United States citizens would be declared "enemy combatants," stripped of their constitutional rights, denied access to courts, and jailed indefinitely in special camps -- all without a trial, the right to dispute the Bush Administration's action, or even any charges. The U.S. Constitution forbids such actions, of course, but that isn't stopping the Bush administration from pursuing their crusade against evildoers, constitutions and citizens be damned. This election is not about what Bush and Kerry did thirty years ago; it's about what Bush and his administration are trying to do now. This November is the time to ask: when will they come for you? (Source: Los Angeles Times August 14, 2002) ![]() ![]() ![]() |