Joan Baez performed at Camp Casey yesterday. I knew there was a possibility that she and/or Michelle Shocked were going to sing my "CODEPINK Rose of Texas" lyrics (a possibility that still totally blows my mind), so I was searching online to see if I could find out anything about the performance. When I Googled "CODEPINK Rose of Texas", nothing about the concert surfaced, but I did come across a ranting conservative site that refers to the song.
A man who calls himself "monkeyfan" (and signed up for the CODEPINK alerts using the name Zoe Vagina to keep tabs on our movement) wrote: "The walnuts even managed to Elton Johnize up a hippie protest song" and provided a link to the lyrics.
I must say, I am happy to be called a walnut. I love walnuts. They are full of delicious goodness. I don't mind the Elton John reference, either (although I know it wasn't meant as a compliment.) And I've always wanted to write a hippie protest song, so there you go.
"monkeyfan" later says the song should be called the "CODEPINK Pose of Texas", and someone else on the forum wonders how much money Cindy Sheehan is making for this "protest" (quotes theirs). They see her as an opportunist and a pawn rather than the courageous, amazing, selfless, spirit she is.
Sometimes I wonder whether it will ever be possible for the two sides of the fence to have any sort of intelligent dialogue. There is so much animosity in both directions, so much vilification. We seem to forget that we are all human beings, that we have the capacity to connect, to understand one another even if we don't agree with the other's point of view. I hope one day we can figure out how to coexist more peacefully.
2 comments:
This bothers me too, Gayle. I've been working hard these days to stay on neutral ground with my colleagues and friends, and so I've been fortunate, I think, to listen both to conservatives and liberals talk about their views. And I'm discovering that neither side really cares to exchange ideas--neither liberals nor conservatives. And that's the first step, I think. I'm dismayed by this. We must challenge ourselves to think about our beloved issues from other perspectives. We don't have to agree, but we certainly can,
and so we should, listen.
Hi Dominique!
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. I agree that listening is so important, and is so sorely lacking in our culture today. We can't dialogue at all if we can't listen to one another.
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