Letter Never Sent

Steve Earle on ‘Jerusalem’. He’s from Schertz, TX where my grandparents live.

“I’m happy with the way the song came out, but I’m nervous, not for myself, but I have taken some serious liberties with Walker, speaking as him, in his voice. I’m trying to make clear that wherever he got to, he didn’t arrive there in a vacuum. I don’t condone what he did. Still, he’s a 20 year-old kid. My son Justin is almost exactly Walker’s age. Would I be upset if he suddenly turned up fighting for the Islamic Jihad? Sure, absolutely. Fundamentalism, as practiced by the Taliban, is the enemy of real thought, and religion too. But there are circumstances. Walker was from a very bohemian household, from Marin County. His father had just come out of the closet. It’s hard to say how that played out in Walker’s mind. He went to Yemen because that’s where they teach the purest kind of Arabic. He didn’t just sit on the couch and watch the box, get depressed and complain. He was a smart kid, he graduated from high school early, the culture here didn’t impress him, so he went out looking for something to believe in.”

Maverick musician Steve Earle, penned a ballad called “John Walker’s Blues” honoring John Walker Lindh. I think that’s what art and music should be all about. I may have to buy that CD when it comes out. From FoxNews:

The controversial ballad called “John Walker’s Blues” is backed by the chanting of Arabic prayers and praises Allah.

Earle’s lyrics describe the United States as “the land of the infidel.” Those fighting Usama bin Laden’s declared jihad against the United States and Jews are said to have hearts “pure and strong.”

The song says when Lindh dies, he will “rise up to the sky like Jesus.”

Northern California-raised Lindh, 21, last week pleaded guilty to charges including fighting for the Taliban against U.S. forces. He faces 20 years in jail under a plea deal.

The Lindh ballad is on Earle’s forthcoming album “Jerusalem,” which contains other songs that touch on political and social issues, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Earle is currently in Europe and could not be reached for comment. But he told an audience at the Mariposa Folk Festival in Ontario, Canada, this month: “This song just may get me f—ing deported.”

Awesome. Self-righteous pinks across the nation are having conniptions as we speak. I need more time to enjoy it.

From the NYTimes, Wider Military Role in U.S. Is Urged:

Posse Comitatus restricts military forces from performing domestic law enforcement duties, like policing. Over the years, the law has been amended to allow the military to lend equipment to federal, state and local authorities; assist federal agencies in drug interdiction work; protect national parks; and execute quarantine and certain health laws. About 5,000 federal troops supported civilian agencies at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City this year. …

So, instead of law enforcement officers beholden to city and state authority you will have heavily indoctrinated armed soldiers carrying out orders against people they have no community relationship to. Federal troops could be used to quell civil unrest, staff checkpoints, break strikes, and perform house to house searches for disloyal Americans.

Related:

• Calling Out the Posse
  The War on Terrorism and Posse Comitatus
  by Russell Madden

• Legal Aspects of Domestic Employment of the Army THOMAS R. LUJAN
• THE POSSE COMITATUS ACT: A PRINCIPLE IN NEED OF RENEWAL from Washington University Law Quarterly
• In 1982, President Ronald Reagan issued National Security Directive 58…Under “REX” the President could declare a state of emergency, empowering the head of FEMA to take control of the internal infrastructure of the United States and suspend the constitution. The President could invoke executive orders 11000 thru 11004 which would: 1- Draft all citizens into work forces under government supervision. 2- Empower the postmaster to register all men, women and children. 3- Seize all airports and aircraft. 4- Seize all housing and establish forced relocation of citizens.
• Sept. 11: Will the Military Take Over?
• When Governments Attack From September 1999.

From Reuters:

“America on one hand, has spread the shadow of war and death in the region, threatening officially to overthrow the people and government of Iran and cries out democracy and people’s right to elections, freedoms and progress on the other,” said Khamenei, the most powerful figure in Iran.

Though I have no love for Iranian theocrats his point is valid. I can just hear the Babbitts of the U.S., “Criticize us?! You’re next, habib!!”

So much for ‘officer friendly’.

• Rookie officer accused of assaulting relatives – A former rookie police officer, already facing charges of molesting a 5-year-old, recently was charged with having sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old.
• L.A. deputy charged with falsifying reports – A sheriff’s deputy has been indicted for pinning false drug charges on a man in order to protect a female informant.
• COPWATCH
• The End of the Nightstick: Confronting Police Brutality in Chicago