"Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history"

By accident most strange, bountiful Fortune —
Now my dear lady — hath mine enemies
Brought to this shore; and by my prescience
I find my zenith doth depend upon
A most auspicious star, whose influence
If now I court not, but omit, my fortunes
Will ever after droop.

"The Tempest," William Shakespeare


Good heavens. Here is a newly discovered poem by Carl Sandberg that could have been written yesterday--or more to the point, on the night of February 26, 2012.

A Revolver

Here is a revolver.

It has an amazing language all its own.
It delivers unmistakable ultimatums.
It is the last word.
A simple, little human forefinger can tell a terrible story with it.
Hunger, fear, revenge, robbery hide behind it.
It is the claw of the jungle made quick and powerful.
It is the club of the savage turned to magnificent precision.
It is more rapid than any judge or court of law.
It is less subtle and treacherous than any one lawyer or ten.
When it has spoken, the case can not be appealed to the supreme court, nor any mandamus nor any injunction nor any stay of execution in and interfere with the original purpose.
And nothing in human philosophy persists more strangely than the old belief that God is always on the side of those who have the most revolvers.

Wow. Talk about prescience.

"He Who Fights With Monsters"

"Gun control? We need bullet control! I think every bullet should cost 5,000 dollars. Because if a bullet cost five thousand dollars, we wouldn't have any innocent bystanders."  ~ Chris Rock

The Absolute Last Word on the Colorado Shooting, by Jim Wright.

This is the cost of civilization, right? Twelve more dead kids in a movie theater. That’s freedom, right there. That’s liberty. That’s America goddamn it. That’s what I spent my whole life in uniform defending, the right to have twelve more slaughtered innocents and blood running in the streets. 

You just can’t stop it.  Crazy people with guns and random carnage are the price you pay so that the rest of us can be free.

Seriously? That’s your solution? 

Armor up and shoot it out?

Read. The. Whole. Thing.

Liberty, Incorporated

“I prefer liberty with danger than peace with slavery” ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau

TSA forced woman, 95, to remove adult diaper for pat down, daughter says

You know, there are probably a lot of Americans--and I count myself among them--who would be quite willing to feel a little less "safe" and get all of our rights back.

If the issue of "safety" is even the case, nowadays. I don't think it is. Osama bin Laden is dead, al-Qaeda is in disarray--I don't think the TSA's ridiculous procedures are even necessary anymore. Focus on scanning and/or searching the cargo instead of the passengers, give me a disclaimer to sign if the airlines feel like they have to protect themselves against lawsuits--hell yeah, I'll sign it.

As Benjamin Franklin once said: "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

I know which one I want.