A despicable 4th of July gift

Not that the 4th is a typical gift giving holiday, but the Pentagon decided to take the initiative.
The US Government to the troops: Happy Independence Day, your tours are extended!

I think there's a special level in hell for those who do things like this.

What to the slave is the Fourth of July?

But, such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. And let me warn you that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation whose crimes, lowering up to heaven, were thrown down by the breath of the Almighty, burying that nation in irrecoverable ruin! I can to-day take up the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe-smitten people!...

Fellow-citizens; above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. If I do forget, if I do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, "may my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!" To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world. My subject, then fellow-citizens, is AMERICAN SLAVERY. I shall see, this day, and its popular characteristics, from the slave’s point of view. Standing, there, identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible, which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery-the great sin and shame of America! "I will not equivocate; I will not excuse;" I will use the severest language I can command; and yet not one word shall escape me that any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder, shall not confess to be right and just....

Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work The downfall of slavery. "The arm of the Lord is not shortened," and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from the Declaration of Independence, the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age. Nations do not now stand in the same relation to each other that they did ages ago. No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world, and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. The time was when such could be done. Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity. Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. Walled cities and empires have become unfashionable. The arm of commerce has borne away the gates of the strong city. Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. It makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the earth. Wind, steam, and lightning are its chartered agents. Oceans no longer divide, but link nations together. From Boston to London is now a holiday excursion. Space is comparatively annihilated. Thoughts expressed on one side of the Atlantic are, distinctly heard on the other. The far off and almost fabulous Pacific rolls in grandeur at our feet. The Celestial Empire, the mystery of ages, is being solved. The fiat of the Almighty, "Let there be Light," has not yet spent its force. No abuse, no outrage whether in taste, sport or avarice, can now hide itself from the all-pervading light. The iron shoe, and crippled foot of China must be seen, in contrast with nature. Africa must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment.

One of the most inspiring and powerful speeches in US history.

Something Worse: My 4th of July Mix

While driving home from Milwaukee, Wisconsin last Friday after talking to people outside of the food pantry where the near food riot occurred and some antiwar students, I was appalled to stumble upon the local oldies radio station's "4th of July Request Hour". Expecting to be bombarded by jingoistic drivel a la 'Proud to Be An American' (which was eventually requested), I was more pissed to hear a proud request for Springsteen's 'Born in the U.S.A.'. Now, any person who has actually read the lyrics to the song can readily tell that the Boss is not lavishing Uncle Sam with praise, but railing against a country that sends its poor and dispossessed to die in foreign wars and then kicks them when they return (prison, no jobs, no healthcare, etc). Given that Springsteen has been probably the only artist to consistently take up the issue of war vets in the US (from Vietnam to Iraq) throughout his entire career ('Lost in the Flood', 'Highway Patrolman', 'Nothing Man', 'Devils and Dust' and most of Magic) this misconception from the Right–and more frustratingly from the Left–really pisses me off. So, I was inspired to create a mix that helps to musically undercut the flag waiving nonsense and ideological underpinnings of the 4th and the American Dream.

I'm not going to comment on all of my selections, but the first warrants it:

Born in the U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen (Original recording - found on Tracks)

So, part of the misconception of this tune, in my opinion, revolves around the instrumental/synth/foot pounding rock affirmation of the popularized version. However, this song was oringally recorded during the Nebraska sessions. It has a haunting, acoustic, desperate feel to it like the rest of that album and really drips with a palatable disgust and rejection of what it means to be born in the USA. Especially given the nature of the rest of the material that made it on to Nebraska - songs dealing with people pushed to desperate actions or completely crushed by a system that has forgotten them - it is impossible to miss Springsteen's intentions. So, I highly recommend getting a copy of the song.

Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler) - Marvin Gaye

Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes - Propagandhi

Crushed Again - Son of Nun

Pusherman - Curtis Mayfield

I Should Be Proud - Martha Reeves and the Vandellas (great, fairly obscure antiwar song about a woman who loses her partner in Vietnam)

The Inquisition - The N.O.M.A.D.S. Vs the Philistines (two great Palestinian American hip hop groups. Props for a brilliant sampling of Mel Brooks' History of the World)

Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday

Fortunate Son - Creedence Clearwater Revival

The Bourgeois Blues - Leadbelly

Revolution (feat. Busta Rhymes) - 2pac (The interviews with Pac on this track are DEVASTATING!)

Underdogs - The Coup

The Backlash Blues - Nina Simone

Welcome to the Terrordome - Pharaohe Monch

Living for the City - Stevie Wonder

Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution - Tracy Chapman

Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos - Public Enemy

Down in Mississippi - Mavis Staples

Tomorrow's Justice - The Arab Summit (This hip hop act's album is entitled "Fear of an Arab Planet". Nuff said).

Maria - Rage Against the Machine

The River - Bruce Springsteen

With the utter meltdown of the American Dream that's taken place over the last 30 years, Bruce's question posed in The River - and one which must be considered by all the 47 million uninsured Americans, thousands of downtrodden vets, 12 million undocumented immigrants and millions of struggling working families every day - and especially on the 4th - must be answered: Is a dream a lie if it don't come true or is it something worse? It's worse. Much worse.


**** Please post your suggestions to add to the list/comments/criticisms. Many more warrant a place. This is the link to download a copy of the mix. I apologize in advance for all of the sexist advertising on the upload site.