A Quick Trip to a Fascist Paradise

[Senior citizen]

I don’t go out much, so when I got an email from a librarian friend today inviting me to visit the newly renovated and expanded library in Coronado, I caught the bus to see what it was like. It was, as the email had stated, like a palace, huge and well-appointed.

I talked with my friend for a few minutes and then started to tour the library. The new reading room was magnificent, with many comfortable chairs and a big skylight. It was, however, totally empty. There was a brand new computer lab with lots of computers, but only one was in use. I was pleased to see that the new books section was much bigger, but when I looked for something to read I found an entire shelf of right-wing books about why Clinton is bad, why liberals are bad, why we really have an endless supply of energy, and only one or two left-wing books. My friend said there were more but that they got checked out a lot and, well, “This isn’t Berkeley.”

My friend, who is not at all conservative and is very intelligent and well-educated, hadn’t seen the Conyers DSM hearing, but promised to look for it on C-Span. My friend was also unaware that one out of four (25%) of U.S. males are currently in jail, or that those jails are run by gangs and rape and violence are so prevalent, along with AIDS and drug-resistant TB, that many of those jailed for nonviolent crimes are actually being given a death sentence.

Well, more than 1 in 4 Americans are poor andor minority, so how could the rich people in Coronado know or care? And my friend, who works two (and sometimes three) jobs, in addition to keeping house and doing a ton of different kinds of volunteer work, really doesn’t have time to surf DU like I do.

Coronado has two big military bases. The weather is perfect, the town itself is beautiful with lots of lovely homes , gardens, and parks, and with San Diego Bay on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. Not everyone there is rich, but for the most part you have to be well off to live there. Why should they be concerned if our government no longer has any checks and balances? Why should it bother them if we have redefined torture and refused to recognize the world court? How could they possibly know that the U.S. is running a gulag--not just in Guantanamo, but also right here at home? It certainly doesn’t impact them.

So, I went to a palatial library in a town that looks and feels like Paradise, and I came home extremely depressed. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that also in my email today was a story about a young local Indy Media activist who had just gotten a visit from the FBI with a grand jury subpoena. If this ever ends, the people in Coronado can justifiably say that they didn’t know. And as for us, when they came for the poor and minorities, we couldn’t do anything. When they came for the peace activists, we couldn’t do anything. And we’re next on the list. This should have been a pleasant outing for me, but it wasn’t. If John Conyers wasn’t coming to San Diego on the 25th, I don’t think I’d want to go outside again for a while.

[dave502d]

1. Nice story,thank you very much.

You go outside anytime you want,we our going to fight and win.