Letters To The Editor

The following are a selection of Letters To The Editor I had published in several New Mexico publications:

Letter To The Editor

In recognition of Bush’s dubious reelection, I thought I’d contribute this lil song:

Yo farmers voting for Bush
Bank foreclosures, urban sprawl takeovers
Land lost to republican agri-companies
Who receive taxpayer funds through farm subsidies
Yeah baby, lick the hand that slaps ya
Yeah baby, Lick The HAND

Yo religious zealots voting for Bush
Relinquishing all freedoms to your false prophet
Would Jesus bomb the innocent
Sending your kids to die for war profits
Yeah baby, lick the hand that slaps ya
Yeah baby, Lick The Hand

Yo jingoists voting for Bush
Powerless, penniless
Job outsourced, wife too big
Viagra doesn’t even twitch your twig
War’s a hard-on just for you
Raise it to the Massa whose screwin’ you
Yeah baby, lick the hand that slaps ya
Yeah baby, Lick The Hand

Yo middleamerica voting for Bush
Wrought with fear from the latest bogeyman
Terrorist in the closet, terrorist under the bed
Can’t see the real ones in front of your head
Yeah baby, lick the hand that slaps ya
Yeah baby, Lick The HAND

Yo married couples voting for Bush
Squeezed and squeezed by the corporate machine
Moral value hypocrisy at its extreme
Such obedient lemmings, you don’t need a push
Yeah baby, lick the hand that slaps ya
Yeah baby, Lick The HAND

Yo everybody voting for Bush
Feeling a sense of buyers remorse
You’ve opened the door for life to get worse
Ignorance is bliss or is it a curse
Yeah baby, lick the hand that slaps ya
Yeah baby…..LICK THE HAND

Eldorado Sun
December ’04

Letter To The Editor

There’s frequent debate these days over existing political labels. For instance, what is a conservative? The encyclopedia definition for a conservative is: one favoring traditional views and values, tending to oppose change, traditional or restrained in style. Let’s review some of our conservative generations’ traditions and contributions over the course of our American history: Slavery, indentured servitude, Manifest Destiny, American Indian genocide, Ku Klux Klan, bigotry, sweat shops, child labor, class warfare, Social Darwinism, unsafe working conditions, foreclosure, war profiteering, union busting, internment camps, Joe McCarthy and the Red Scare, censorship, prudes, bad haircuts, conformity, a silent tolerance for domestic violence, environmental destruction, deforestation, nuclear waste, DDT, evangelical preachers, restrictions on civil liberties, gay bashing, gag orders, Enron, Rush Limbaugh, Tom Delay, job outsourcing, torture, and of course…dark suit and tie.

Gee, no wonder today’s Conservatives are so proud of their values!

Santa Fe New Mexican
November ’05

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

We’ve seen the recent definition for a conservative. How about a liberal? The combined dictionary definitions for a liberal are: one willing to respect and accept behaviors or opinions different from one’s own; favoring individual liberty; democratic reforms and protection from arbitrary authority; free trade; is generous, tolerant, broadminded, not literal or strict.
Let’s review some of our liberal generations’ traditions and contributions over the course of our American history: child labor laws, the labor movement, women’s rights, civil rights, clean air and water standards, meat packing standards, workplace safety standards, workmen’s compensation, social security, 40 hour work week, Farmers HA loans, bank deposit insurance, union pensions, rural electrification, GI Bill, environmental protections, hippies, long hair, free speech advocacy, non-conformity, anti-globalization and anti-war movements, and, of course, tie-dye.
Where would we be without these true American values and contributions. A corporate world of indentured servitude no doubt.

SF New Mexican
Dec ’05

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Recently on the radio airwaves, our local oil and gas company executives have been so kind to us poor consumers by offering driving tips on how to conserve gasoline usage. I’d like to reciprocate their benevolent generosity by offering them tips on how to personally save money and thus won’t feel the need to continue price gouging us.

1. Give up the mistress. Lots of money saved there.
2. Don’t throw expensive toga birthday parties.
3. Forget what Michael Douglas’s Wall Street character said. Greed is not good. Just ask
Ken Lay or that other CEO who threw expensive toga birthday parties.
4. He with the most toys DOES NOT WIN.
5. Always ask yourself what would Jesus or Gandhi …not Dick Cheney…do.

I hope this helps in your future decision making.

SF New Mexican
October ’05

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Will recent revelations of mass corruption and scandal within the self-proclaimed illustrious institutions of the “new world order” finally served as our Clarion call to protest and reclaim our lives, our liberties, and our pursuit of happiness. I realize it has been difficult year for those of you finally coming to grips with the inveterate failings of our institutions and their leaders. They’ve told us to revere them, to pay homage and not to question their authority yet they betray our trust with far less than honorable actions. We discover in disgust the collusion of Big Business and Big Government (CEOs of multinational corporations and the one party Republicrats), revealing their true, seedy role as a den of thieves. we too discover the unsavory misgivings of the Catholic church and the avaricious desires of both the players and owners of our beloved pastime, baseball. Where are our statesmen, our ethical businessmen, our spiritual guides, our Lou Gehrigs and Joe Dimaggios, our heroes?

Well, do not fret. The truly good men and women are still out there among us, floating within the sea of humanity. They are the unsung heroes, the teachers, the mentors, the fire fighters, the farmers, the good father and the good mother, the good kid, the hard worker, the artist, the protector of Nature, the people with genuine smiles, the thoughtful creators, the people who value and respect all living creatures, the ones who make us laugh, and think, and the quiet, compassionate and generous souls.

Our problem as a society is we just don’t give these people much attention, or even recognize them, and we certainly don’t put them in charge of our institutions. So… we need to wise up; clean up our own mental house as well as clean sweep these scoundrels that have infested our governmental and capitalistic institutions. These self-proclaimed elitists, in their insatiable thirst for wealth and power, who wreak havoc on our American lives, as well as the lives of people throughout the world, are really small in numbers and concentrated within a tightly knit network of power-lusting organizations, including the Council On Foreign Relations, the Bilderbergers, and the Trilateral Commission. we discover they are just common thieves. Yet, we create our own monsters. We voluntarily put them in positions of power to rule over us.

Fortunately, the farsightedness of our country’s founding fathers saw to providing us with some fairly clever powers of our own. We The People, as a democracy, still have the power of the vote to change our representative leadership. As a Republic, we can still challenge the moral validity of our enacted laws. We can still practice civil disobedience. We can laugh at our leaders’ attempts to strike fear into our lives. We can also rethink our views of the very nature of large institutions. Smaller, decentralized forms of governance and commerce are always more humane methods of disseminating equality and fairness among a society than the utilization of a larger, centralized approach. Our own Constitution and the entrepreneurial aspects of capitalism purport these views. Local utility cooperatives and farmers markets, grass roots movements and township politics are good examples of this school of thought. We can even collectively rethink the philosophical basis of our economic model and societal values. As Czech Republic Vaclav Havel once said, “Is not the handshake worth more than the dollar?”

With numerous world-changing prophecies, ranging in sources from the Bible to the ancient Mayans, converging upon a not too distant point in our future, perhaps the mounting evidence indicting the morally shaky ground and ultimate failure of this latest regime of syndicatism and colonialism, represented by the globalization advocates’ corporate and banking institutions, is happening just in time. Time for the rest of us to wake up, to follow our hearts, and work together down a path to a truly brighter future. Hey…it can happen!

Sun News
May ’02

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