IIf you watch the movie entitled "Hair" and see the people in the park, not Claude or the ladies on horseback, but, the long haired, draft card burning, drug using, panhandling, streetwise, bluejean wearing, earring having, beaded, flowered, and unshaven folks who lived in the parks like wood nymphs and satyrs in a Greek fantasy. The Christian Ladies would come to see us and try to help us, stand on the bandshell stage and do their thing. We, in turn would yell at them, tell them to leave, laugh, take another drink or hit, and watch the world go by. At first, it was like, kind of a romantic version of how we were living off the land, but in reality, looking back at it, we were the first wave of what we now call "the homeless". But, we carried weapons, got loaded in publicly wantonly, sold drugs, did drugs, stole money from people who were stupid enough to trust us, etc. We lived in the park by day and in a motel room by night. It was like a traveling party all day everyday. I used to think it was just a phase, but I didn't grow out of it. Most of my old partners are dead now. Those of us who are still around got sober, got a life, got jobs, got married, had kids, etc. Life is good now, but some days I look back at those days and think about how great it was when I was young. Oh, well, so much for memories. I can relive them through movies like "Hair".
The movie punch line comes at the end. For those of you who don't remember or never saw the movie there were thousands of extras singing "Let the Sun Shine In" at the end in front of the White House Front Gates. I never was part of the "in crowd" in school, those guys who went like sheep to do whatever they were told was right. I got in trouble, when I appeared at the induction center and explained that I had been arrested for a felony they changed my draft status. Now, several decades later, I wonder what would have happened. But, this is the point. My graduating class from Central High in Phoenix in 1970 was mostly males. We lost a whole lot to the Vietnam War. Some people want to call the people that are against war pussies and communists, or anything but what they are. Being an activist for peace is only bad if you are brainwashed enough to believe the government always tells us the truth. We don't even know all the reasons why we went to Vietnam, and dating back to Eisenhower, we already knew that that communism was already part of the culture and wishes of the people who we were supposedly trying to save. Iraq is no different. We created a few allies who would come on the news and tell us that they actually wanted to be like Americans while most of them find our whole way of life disgusting. Saddam Hussein also, had nothing to do with 9/11 and now even Dick Cheney is admitting there was no Weapons of Mass Destruction. And G.W.? Go figure, the son of a war profiteer becoming a war profiteer. What are the odds of that, huh?
The movie punch line comes at the end. For those of you who don't remember or never saw the movie there were thousands of extras singing "Let the Sun Shine In" at the end in front of the White House Front Gates. I never was part of the "in crowd" in school, those guys who went like sheep to do whatever they were told was right. I got in trouble, when I appeared at the induction center and explained that I had been arrested for a felony they changed my draft status. Now, several decades later, I wonder what would have happened. But, this is the point. My graduating class from Central High in Phoenix in 1970 was mostly males. We lost a whole lot to the Vietnam War. Some people want to call the people that are against war pussies and communists, or anything but what they are. Being an activist for peace is only bad if you are brainwashed enough to believe the government always tells us the truth. We don't even know all the reasons why we went to Vietnam, and dating back to Eisenhower, we already knew that that communism was already part of the culture and wishes of the people who we were supposedly trying to save. Iraq is no different. We created a few allies who would come on the news and tell us that they actually wanted to be like Americans while most of them find our whole way of life disgusting. Saddam Hussein also, had nothing to do with 9/11 and now even Dick Cheney is admitting there was no Weapons of Mass Destruction. And G.W.? Go figure, the son of a war profiteer becoming a war profiteer. What are the odds of that, huh?
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