Tiny curtains open and we heard the tiny clap of little hands
A tiny man would tell a little joke and get a tiny laugh from all the folks
Sitting drifting around in bubbles and thinking it was us that carried them
When we finally got it figured out that we had truly missed the boat

Oh, and we carried it all so well
As if we got a new position
Oh, and we owned all the tools ourselves
But not the skills to make a shelf with
Oh, what useless tools ourselves

————Modest Mouse

Nine years, this “war” has been going on.  When it started, Michael Jackson was not only still alive, he was also still black.  MySpace, the social media dinosaur now buried under Facebook’s remnants (which is in the process of suffering the same fate courtesy of Twitter) was still two years away from its inception even.

And still today, here we are,  no closer to victory then we were before we implemented the brilliant war plan to blow up civilians indiscriminately and then bribe whoever’s left not to attack us. I don’t mean to disparage such strategic brilliance, I’m just trying to point out that for Afghanistan’s locals, the decision de jour has become “getting killed for no reason at the hands of the infidels” or……  “saddle up to familiar faces, their goatskin pouches flush with the heroin poppies”

Hmmm…

What were my choices aga—?———— KABOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!

Fuck it!  Gimme the life/heroin combo, Mr. Khalhandihmhihnistahkalhiniwitz! (He’s the one Pushtun Jew.  Since there’s no banks to control in Afghanistan, he’s got all the poppies…)

I don’t want to say I saw this bottomless pit of ineffectiveness coming, but I did…

What’s sad is that we lost this war by starting it. It wouldn’t have mattered if instead of cluster bombs we dropped gummy bears, flowers and pink unicorns on their heads, we still wouldn’t have had a prayer. In a country where they remember transgressions like elephants and celebrate defeating invaders like we celebrate Jersey Shore characters, war technique nuance is irrelevant…

Just ask Russia. In nine short years in Afghanistan, they slingshat themselves from co-planet ruling superpower to glasnost fueled bankruptcy…

Don’t speak Russian? Ask Britain then, now officially the war equivalent of the Buffalo Bills, having ridden our coattails to their 4th trip to the loser’s locker room in Afghanistan. Until they hogtied themselves to our “Operation Closed History Book” for their current decade long trip down Dumbass Lane, it looked like they were figuring out their untenable plight there; their first losing effort lasted 3 years from 1839-1842, their second try was a year shorter from 1878-1880, and their last blunder came and went in the summer of 1919, a whopping three months…

ARE YOU FIGURING OUT YET YOU ARE THE BLOOD SAUSAGE,  YOU BLUNDERING IDIOTS?!?!?!?!

I hope so, because over here on this side of the pond, we’re not even close… But as of last week, thanks to American hero Bradley Manning,  at least we are closer than we’ve been in nine years.

Kudos to you kid. I don’t think much of the sub-humans* in our armed forces, but you are a real-life hero, and don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.

If you think it takes bravery to mindlessly pull a trigger when told while standing next to 20 other auto-matron jarheads doing the same, try being strong-willed enough to avoid the Army’s attempts to brainwash and drug you into submission and standing up alone against the endless parade of war crimes you see unfolding right before your eyes, year after year after year; try putting your life on the line not to commit war crimes for oil money like the rest of your “brothers” and instead put your life and freedom on the line to end an un-winnable war before even one more soul, US or Afghani, dies a pointless death.

Look at his face, and in it you will see a killer. A killer of injustice, unnecessary death, suffering and limitless wrongdoing. Behind that face is a conscious, working brain, fueled with motivation to stop what is wrong by any means necessary, regardless of personal cost and uninhibited by the perils of self sacrifice. Look in this kid’s face and see resistance to what is unjust, a true American trait if there ever was one.

And as for all you shitheads calling his brave act “dangerous to US troops” or “treasonous?” You might as well be the guy pulling the trigger and committing war crimes yourself. If you don’t yet know that the acts truly “dangerous to US troops” or “treasonous” are actually the decisions of “our leaders”to put soldiers into an unwinnable war in the first place rather then the gallant souls risking life, limb, and freedom to stop our barbarian overreaching for oil and weapons profiteering, then you are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind the times cave dweller. Turn off your idiot box and join reality, you dumbfuck!

Or at least join the Army, so you can head over to Afghanistan. After all, I’m sure you think it pivotal to keep the first 1,000 US jarhead(less) already dead from “dying in vain” by sending more troops, right?  Don’t worry, after you’re killed, we’ve got another batch of mindless soldiers duped and rarin’ to go as well, their sole purpose to keep your death from also having been in vain. And then we’ve got more, so that the third batch didn’t die in vain, who were simply protecting the second batch from dying in vain, who were actually just protecting the first batch from….Lather, rinse repeat, ad infinitum…

Thank you Bradley Manning, for truly serving your country, in the form of a heaping helping of the truth in an effort to stop this nightmare. As another brave American, George Orwell once said, “During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.”

You are that, and a true hero, Mr. Bradley Manning. I bow before you, humbled by the good deeds of a real man of courage.  Peace to us all…

————————————-Arlo Stone

* I call anyone “serving” in the armed forces “subhuman” for the simple reason that other than thumbs, it is only our possession of a conscience that separates us from animals; an understanding and willingness to act upon right and deny action furthering wrong. If ANYONE abdicates their morality, their conscience, and instead becomes willing to “fire when told” regardless of their own opinion, then they are no more human than a robot. A trigger for hire, and certainly not fully human…

Thus…,  obviously…, “subhuman.”

Case fucking closed…

Post by: Ed, Craig, Sheila, & Jerry
How about that taco bell not having any ground beef that night in Richland haha!

Post by: Gina Bartolomeo
ARLO STONE, MY LOVE, I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT YOU TO BE ONE OF A KIND. YOUR AWESOME. LET ME KNOW IF YOUR PASSING THROUGH UP NORTH AND YOU NEED A FREINDLY FACE. LOVE ALWAYS, GINA

Post by: Jessica
I saw you a few years ago, would love to again, sounds like you are only getting bigger and better (and more outraged at our society). You schedule is outdated by 6 months on this website, I live in OR and would travel to WA or ID, but NEED you to UPDATE your schedule. Thanks & Good Luck, I hope to see you soon!
All my support,
Jessica

Post by: Sammy T.
Best line of the night in Spokane: Bring it on, motherfucker! I don’t know what was funnier: the show, or the reaction (or lack thereof) of the Air Force guys in the crowd. Joke ‘em if they can’t take a fuck.

Post by: Dusty Carver
Saw you in Redmond this weekend. LOVED IT! Now for the republican, militant, pro-war, homophobics in the crowd….not so much. But we would see you again. As long as you do not spill beer on us again.

Post by: RUSTY SHACKLRFORD
fuck man keep it up

Post by: Wade Dougherty
To the true status of off the wall humor you are generating a new caliber of comedy. I thick you are on the edge of developing a new spin on the way we look at the world to seriously at times. Keep up the faith and laughs.

Post by: Mike Miller
Hey dude I saw you in Tacoma on the 22nd, let me just say you are one the freaken funniest guys I have seen in a long time. Keep it going let me know when you are coming back

Post by: Lynn & Marco
Terrific show at the Redmond Brew Pub last night! Funny and irreverant; we fully enjoyed and want to see you perform again soon! Can you tell us where and when you will be performing for the Seattle Comedian Semi-Finals?
Again, awesome show, and thank you!

Post by: Gerry Dee
Hey Arlo,Hope all is well. Great web page although I don’t understand any of it! Anyway, great meeting you in SF and hope to see you in Toronto one day. Keep in touch……Gerry Dee

Post by: abbey jones
hey arlo, remaember that tree sit that you went to outside of eugene? that want to comic you talked to? well, this is me and i started doing comedy about six months ago. things are going pretty well, i have about 20-30 minutes of good political stuff. hope i can see you doing your thing, and you mine soon.

Post by: Cornhusker Bob
Dear Arlo – Love the Rants Like the Raves But wheres the big story on the TEABAG FOr Touchdowns Story we all really want to hear
Love Bob

Post by: Katherine
I was fortunate to catch your performance during the SF Comedy Competition at the Fox Theater. I just wanted to say the following…I have not been as pleased, thrilled, surprised and challenged by a performance since I had the great great pleasure of seeing Bill Hicks live. You were fantastic! I look forward to hearing and seeing you again. Thank you…and never question your talent or heart!

Post by: Germaine
Haven’t seen your act. Like what you wrote on your website. Hope you can perform at the Ann Arbor Mainstreet Comedy Showcase sometime. Ann Arbor is a lot like Santa Cruz without the ocean.

Post by: Shane Huggins
Arlo…caught your show at the underground in Seattle on 8-31-02. The people I was with, along with myself are all in the military…well…Coast Guard…but I just wanted to say that you brought a new insight to the truth in a way that was easy for me to understand. Your comedy and outlook on life is amazing and on behalf of my girlfriend and myself..thanks for a great evening. Damn…is this an ass kissing post or what?? Thanks again….

Post by: claudia helade
I’ve been “catching your act” for a long time and it’s pretty amazing! You have the courage to tell the truth. I hope we wake up in time. If we don’t, it won’t be because you didn’t sound the alarm. Thank you.

Post by: JENNY
Hi Arlo, Found your site while looking for directions to a comedy club in Portland. Glad to see you are still writing, traveling and fulfilling your dreams. Keep it up & good luck to you. – Jenny

Post by: chris saunders
Very cool site Arlo. Get yourself over to the UK and deliver us from the mediocre crap that is currently passing for comedy over here.

Post by: matt s.
hi arlo, are you still going to the enviro thing? write back and let me know your schedule, eh?

Post by: colleen mcGarr
Arlo- I have heard the cd – call me when you have a minute

Post by: Matt
I saw you at the Boise Funnybone on May 26th and it “warms my heart” to see someon with the balls to tell the truth about those two-faced conservative fucks in D.C. Keep spreading the news.

Post by: Paul Hoepfner-Homme
Comments: – (2002-05-21 21:44:31)
I’ve never seen you perform, but from what I’ve seen of your website, you’re definitely a 5/5 in my book. Thanks for spreading the word in such a wonderful way.

Post by: Twotom
Just the way I like it: straight-ahead caustic cast into howling laughter, with a fight the power. I hope you hit Atlanta soon.
- 2tom

Post by: Pete Gaeta
Keep tellin it…dont ever stop!

Post by: Trudy Springer
Saw you in Tacoma at the Comedy Underground on April 20th. You were great. Can you send me a schedule of your appearances in Tacoma or the Olympia area? I have five more friends you want to come and see your show.
We need more politically critical comedians like you. Keep it up. – Trudy Springer

Post by: c helade
this insightful comedy is absolutely essential to the mobilization of the awakened and sickened hoards yearning to be free.

What makes the Alvin Greene story so compelling is it’s appeal to anyone who heretofore believed the denuded political system to be rigged airtight.

Not yet Bitches…

The criminals posing this year as South Carolina Election Officials better sink Lieutenant Dan’s Alvin Greene’s fishing expedition before November or else it’s time to…MEET YOUR NEWEST SENATOR!!!!

Regardless of outcome, history can’t help but now show that AG slipped undetected past the Senatorial gatekeepers disguised only in $10,400  cash (handwritten check- nice touch AG) and caught an alphabetized stroke of lightning hiding in a bottle of South Carolina moonshine.

No campaigning, no rallies, no baby kissing, no literature OR literacy even! – yet this unemployed vet who lives at home with no internet and… wait for it… no cellphone! , gulp…, this societal reject is now one Forrest Gump-ian moment away from bringing his half-full box o’ chocolates to the US Senate.

INT. OFFICE

FRED THOMPSON is at a cluttered desk, screaming into the phone that sits atop it….

“WHERE’S THE FUCKING OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON THIS? YOU BETTER SHRINK THAT HOOP DOWN A LITTLE FURTHER IN SC YOU IDIOTS! LOOPHOLES GODDAMN IT, I WANT LOOPHOLES!!!

If you need an inkling as to how fucked up South Carolina’s political system is, peep the article “Busted Flush” by David Plotz in Harper’s in August of ’99, or if that’s too much work just read this…

Even crazy chickens eventually somehow find their way home to roost, and while we all find the 280 lb. cuckoo bird (Cuckamungous Nocampaignous) now squishing the fence that separates  South Carolina from planet legitimacy amusing, the smart money also finds it short lived…

The bottom line is that by the time  sitting Senator (R) Jim Demint rolls up (R) South Carolina in November and catapults Alvin and his chipmunk cheeks back into obscurity (again),  what Alvin did will already be rendered impossible. The red tape will be wound tighter still, ever more byzantine qualification bars will be raised and just like at any good carnival, the pins will be moved ever further back while the balls with which to disperse them made to be ever more lopsided until “no chance” equilibrium has been restored.

Sorry. No “winna winna,” no “chicken dinna,” no giant stuffed polar bear (not till the ice caps finish melting anyway) and certainly no publicly funded Senatorial tit for Bubba Gump to bounce checks on and suckle at the bosom of…

Alvin’s legacy will be that he was the last of the everyday schmoes to ever get within shouting distance of US Senate and  his future will be as an curious attraction in history’s political sideshow, next to  1998′s  Byron “Low Tax” Looper, 2000′s Mel Carnahan and the bearded lady, nothing more than circus freak that one perilous afternoon wandered harmlessly out of the communal “sheeple” pen we all now reside in and chew our cud of false hope from.

By November, order will have been restored, (long before there’s an actual “vote” in SC) the breached wall at the Senate’s old rich white guy castle repaired, and soon, the memory of Alvin Greene will be lost like the dinosaurs, layered under weeks and months of far more important internet Lohan/Gibson/Gore/Cyrus sediment… Ten years from now nobody but us political satirists and historians will remember that in the electoral weirdness that was the summer of 2010, the rigged systems’ most potentially subversive and dangerous character was also it’s dumbest and least likely…

I would give every crawdad in South Carolina to be wrong.

Run Forrest, run…

Author’s note: Personally, I would rank Alvin 3rd behind Looper and Carnahan both. The Ashcroft/Carnahan fiasco still takes the cake for top honors only because Ashcroft had a comfortable +/- 4 % lead UNTIL his opponent Carnahan died. It’s one thing to lose an election to a dead guy but when you lost BECAUSE your opponent died, well… that’s a whole ‘nuther story altogether.

Enjoy your full moon tonight…

— Arlo Stone,  7/25/2010

It’s the GREAT DEBATE!!! No Holds Barred, No Sacred Cows Spared (sorry Shania Twain), as James Inman and Arlo Stone square off and debate the great issues of our time i.e. UFO’s , obscure african tribal societies, Canadians! With your host and moderator PAUL CURRINGTON! Learn shit you never knew and never cared about, The Dogan tribe, the Cathars, the bears. It’s a Roundtable of Biblical proportions. A four part series all in one giant four course meal. It’s like eating monkey brains! Bring a fork…

ComedySpeak.com

By Frank Miele
The Daily Interlake 8/01/97

Another week, another comedian.
It’s a familiar story at the Outlaw Inn, which has sponsored a comedy night for several years. But what happened last week in the Outlaw’s Lounge was neither familiar nor funny.

Audience members attacked Stone on stage in the middle of what was a very funny routine that was both unsettling and vitriolic. Stone practices social humor in the same vein as Lenny Bruce or Mort Sahl, and like Bruce he paid a price last Friday night.

In the middle of his act as headliner, Stone asked the audience to hold down their chitchat, but with little effect. He then singled out one man as an example and chided the man for continuing to talk during the show. One thing led to another, and eventually the rather large man and an even larger friend rushed the stage and started throwing punches at the smallish comedian. Soon there was something rather close to a small riot breaking out.

Thanks to one Good Samaritan from the audience who came to his aid, Stone escaped without major injury, but needless to say, Kalispell emerged with a black eye.

We can only assume that Stone will now incorporate this drunken assault into his routine and paint Montana and Kalispell as hillbilly backwaters. Goodness knows after what I witnessed last week, I can’t blame him. It was an appalling moment.

Stone has been on Comedy Central and has appeared at clubs in major cities from coast to coast. He is a true professional, and in spite of the attack on him last week, he went on with the show – even with his shirt ripped off his shoulders and hanging around his waist. But let’s face it, even if he were a lousy comedian, he deserved better treatment than he was given last week.

If you attend the comedy show tonight (it starts at 9pm) please remember to respect the performers and the other audience members by not talking during the show.

And please, don’t punch the comedian.

9-11-01, was an enormous wake up call, a sad, anguished, scream of the desperate and hungry.

A call to consciousnees, and for the already awakened? A fervent need to educate those not yet weaned from the insanity of “mainstreamism” in this epic struggle to salvage a planet worth either living on or fighting to protect.

In this day and age, not just comics but indeed every living soul ought begin taking to all of life’s infinite stages en masse; to stem the tsunami of war, profit and environmental “ecocide” ingrained into our drunken train wreck of a culture ought be the lifework of every person still free in spirit.

This brawl happened because I needed to talk about rascism and gun control in Montana this particular evening. Funny as it was for the many, the drunk loggers in the front row begged to differ…

Ironicly, the man in question came back looking for me not 20 minutes after the show ended, waving his gun around the lobby and screaming for my room number. (Thus of course, proving my point regarding the need for the gun control in northern Montana…)

Enjoy the article and video, and enjoy your own 9-11, 9-12, etc… My 9-11 anniversary was spent thinking about new and funnier ways to awaken the slumbering beheomoth that is the population of what is now commonly referred to as the United States of America.

Oh and finally, a let’s not forget a very special 9-11 toast to anyone out there still with me, singing away into this exponentially expanding cultural black hole of intollerance, flag waving and nascar, our now warbeling voices like wet canaries in John Ashcroft’s Pennsylvania coal mine of Zealotry…

And of course, we’d be completely remiss if we let this anniversary slide on bye without a final, 9-11 toast to the Constitution; where even in it’s tattered remnants thanks to Ashcroft (How did he lose Missouri to a dead guy?) I’m still allowed, at least on this particular 9-11, to tell the truth. Enjoy it while you can, America…

Arlo Stone 9-11-’02

Over the course of a decade now in subversive political and social satire, I’ve been banned now from comedy clubs in over a dozen venues spread over 10 States. Not for vulgarity, crassness, or a deficiency of laughter or professionalism, but for my “point of view”. Objectionable content, resulting in complaints and walkouts from people either failing to possess even a rudimentary understanding of “satire” or perhaps people flat out incapable of allowing their belief systems to be threatened by thoughts and ideas contrary to theirs. Maybe both. At a comedy show! The advisable course, the “rational decision” (as offered on my behalf by more than one club booker) would be for me to “tone it down” or to “drop it a notch and play ball. It’s easier for everyone that way.” By toning it down of course, what is meant is that I parade for the masses the usual comedy club fare – debasement of gays, women, minorities, any banality will suffice so long as it fails to provoke even a murmur of discontent. In comedy parlance, “tone it down” means, “don’t attempt to challenge anything” for the hour you’re on stage.

Tone it down? Now? Are you kidding? The Trail of Tears resulting from US imperialism now stretches to every corner of the world. Fueled in great part by the PR machines necessary for capitalism’s illusion and fraud to continue, the job of Hills & Knowlton and their ilk is to further warp and distort what little sanctity remains in our rapidly disintegrating culture. Their goal is to ensure complacency and apathy in what little is left of the electorate. Spurred forth by the ensuing collective silence, destructive acts here and abroad by our government and its duped but approving minions relentlessly supply more human grist for the mill of capitalist imperialism, all the while expecting us “radical anarchists” (read; peace activists) to “tone it down some.” I wonder if the rest of the world, aligned in their contempt for the Bush regime, would prefer us all here in America to “tone it down some?”

I wonder if that little Iraqi girl, blood pouring from her eye as she screams for her dead mother, needs us all to “tone it down some?”

The following essay is for anyone in entertainment these troubled days using their medium for social progress, anyone at all refusing to tone it down some – Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Michael Moore, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Peter Arnett… May all the voices of the world, now clamoring in unison for peace, pledge never to “tone it down.” And to all those who “support the troops fighting for Bush’s oil”…err, I mean “support the troops fighting for our freedoms?” May the collective roar for peace resulting from our stubborn refusal to “tone it down some” one day reach even you, that you too may join us and add what remains of your hypnotized, Prozac laden, “Survivor” filled Mc-Soul to this rising crescendo of resistance.

Join us in supporting not the troops, but rather the illumination of our humanity, our need for community and the interconnectedness of ourselves to the entire planet and all its creatures. A world worth inhabiting awaits your awakening. To that end, this essay is written…

What an a-hole Bush has turned out to be. Even worse than expected! If nothing else, I say let the upshot to his un-election and subsequent fiasco be a valuable lesson for the future: “watch out for stupid people lacking even a basic comprehension of world history or politics running for president.” Bush sleeps just fine while dismantling the world’s safety structure known as the UN only because he lacks the intelligence and history knowledge necessary to grasp its importance. It’s like putting into the flailing hands of a hyperactive toddler with poor motor skills the last of an endangered insect species. “Watch out, don’t squish the pretty butterfly, I think you just found the last one, be gentle… uh-oh, butterfly went bye-bye. Gross! Oh well! C’mon, let’s go wash our hands for dinner, and no, you can’t have any pretzels. Not until you somehow learn how to eat them without choking and falling on your head.”

Support the troops as they do this idiot’s bidding? Pass.

I say fuck the troops. (Unless of course, they’re shooting their CO’s. The only increase in military spending I advocate now is mass showings of Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket” to all military personnel. Daily screenings. Now that I’d vote for!)

Is that un-patriotic? Must be, as patriotism these days seems limited to flag waving and troop supporting. “SUPPORT THE TROOPS!”… as they follow orders to ignore looters and kill whomever they’re told to? Is that what I’m supporting? The hell with supporting the troops, support an entertainment activist!

Public dissent is in much more need of your support these days than the 100,000 US troops. Trust me, the troops don’t need your support. They’re already “supported” just fine with vastly superior firepower, equipment, training and food. (Burger Kings and Pizza Huts in Basra, already open while Iraqi’s continue to suffer with no water, electricity or food. Welcome to “US-style Democracy 101,” kids. Better start stepping on your neighbor’s neck if you want to get ahead in our/your vision of progress.) All to destroy an “Iraqi Army” comprised mostly of conscripted children forced to fight the Americans with bolt action rifles while running for their lives. Support that?

How is it peace protestors are accused of not supporting the troops when we’re against them even going to Iraq in the first place? How is that a failure to support the troops, especially when compared to the flag waving pro-war folk who (when not calculating “acceptable body counts”) exuberantly send kids from this country marching off to die? That’s more supportive, more patriotic than fighting for them never to board the troop transport in the first place?

Brilliant spin. It’s like supporting cows by eating more frequently at McDonald’s. “Damn McDonald’s protesters, against the cows. What are you, commies? Support the cows! Eat more McDonalds! Damn this burger’s good…”

I wonder how many “we support the troops” folks are aware that Bush’s budget includes a 90 MILLION dollar savings from eliminating Veteran Benefits… That’s supporting the troops? I wonder what the Bush/war/troop fans will tell what remains of their sons and daughters once they return to America to find out their troop support was more about flag waving than vitally needed VA funds for their impending Gulf War Syndrome? I wonder stories await the “supported troops” once they discover there’s no money for what will be desperately needed psychological therapy once slaughtering an entire country begin to take it’s toll? (Unless their military conditioning fails to dissipate, causing them instead to never actually formally acknowledge the humanity of the people there, the “Hajis’”, as the troops have taken to calling them these days… Obviously Injun, wetback, nigger and gook were taken in previous liberations, and a new term of de-humanization was clearly needed to distance the troops from their actions against another group of people – Hajis. How perfectly American.)

I do not support the troops. I do not support any human who signs away his or her own conscience to any organization pledging to give them a “sense of direction.” Military, fundamentalist religious groups, cults, even the goddamn boy scouts. If rational thought or my conscience is indeed what makes me human, what am I when I allow the US Army to “be my conscience” for me? Anyone relinquishing their RESPONSIBILITY to act autonomously while on this Earth, in accordance with their own moral compass, is relinquishing the keystone of humanity’s most precious gift (to the US military no less!) and is in my estimation no longer even in full possession of their own “human-ity.” They have traded that in for something else.

Perhaps their very popular shirt proudly boasting “Kill ‘em all, let God sort ‘em out!”

Support that “individual”?

Sure. Like I support cops and pepper spray.

In George Orwell’s book “1984,” the “Ministry of Truth” confused the populace with “doublespeak;” – statements like “war is peace” and “freedom is slavery.” As Bush tortures “enemy combatants” (read: POW’s) in Guantanamo Bay (so far killing two) and yet unashamedly demands “fair treatment” for American POWs, (read: enemy combatants) as he thunders daily for war crime punishments for Iraqis while perpetrating that very thing himself, as he gloats of liberating the Iraqi people while destroying their infrastructure (for money) and then rebuilding it, (for more money) as he boasts on TV about US supplied humanitarian aid for the “Iraqi people suffering at the hands of the ruthless tyrant Sadaam,” as HE deliberately destroys their food distribution system thereby forcing the necessity of that very humanitarian aid, I can only imagine what ol’ George Orwell would’ve thought of his outlandish story now come to life as GWB. I wonder too if George Orwell was ever told to “tone it down.” You know, for the good of the country. I’m sure he was, and equally sure how better off we all are collectively as the result of his refusal to “play ball.”

Lesson learned.

Don’t support the troops. Support someone speaking out against them, their aims and their methodology.

Support dissent. Dissent is far more representative of a country worth creating than blind allegiance to a military no longer in need or even worth your support.

And as far as “playing ball” goes, fuck the Hall of Fame too…

Civilly disobedient wherever possible,

Arlo Stone