[Marxism] Etan Thomas in Washington

["Gilles d'Aymery" <aymery@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Possibly the most powerful speech given in Washington, last
Saturday. Even more powerful when watching him live... Those of you
who missed it, please go to democracynow.org and watch the video.
Thomas is a NBA player for the Washington Wizards.


Giving all honor, thanks and praises to God for
      courage and wisdom, this is a very important rally. I'd like to
      thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts, feelings and
      concerns regarding a tremendous problem that we are currently
      facing. This problem is universal, transcending race, economic
      background, religion, and culture, and this problem is none other
      than the current administration which has set up shop in the White
      House.

      In fact, I'd like to take some of these cats on a field trip. I
      want to get big yellow buses with no air conditioner and no
      seatbelts and round up Bill O'Reilly, Pat Buchanan, Trent Lott,
      Sean Hannity, Dick Cheney, Jeb Bush, Bush Jr. and Bush Sr., John
      Ashcroft, Giuliani, Ed Gillespie, Katherine Harris, that little
      bow-tied Tucker Carlson and any other right-wing conservative
      Republicans I can think of, and take them all on a trip to the
      'hood. Not to do no 30-minute documentary. I mean, I want to
      drop them off and leave them there, let them become one with the
      other side of the tracks, get them four mouths to feed and no
      welfare, have scare tactics run through them like a laxative,
      criticizing them for needing assistance.

      I'd show them working families that make too much to receive
      welfare but not enough to make ends meet. I'd employ them with
      jobs with little security, let them know how it feels to be an
      employee at will, able to be fired at the drop of a hat. I'd
      take away their opportunities, then try their children as adults,
      sending their 13-year-old babies to life in prison. I'd sell
      them dreams of hopelessness while spoon-feeding their young with a
      daily dose of inferior education. I'd tell them no child shall
      be left behind, then take more money out of their schools, tell
      them to show and prove themselves on standardized exams testing
      their knowledge on things that they haven't been taught, and
      then I'd call them inferior.

      I'd soak into their interior notions of endless possibilities.
      I'd paint pictures of assisted productivity if they only agreed
      to be all they can be, dress them up with fatigues and boots with
      promises of pots of gold at the end of rainbows, free education to
      waste terrain on those who finish their bid. Then I'd close the
      lid on that barrel of fool's gold by starting a war, sending
      their children into the midst of a hostile situation, and while
      they're worried about their babies being murdered and slain in
      foreign lands, I'd grace them with the pain of being sick and
      unable to get medicine.

      Give them health benefits that barely cover the common cold. John
      Q. would become their reality as HMOs introduce them to the world
      of inferior care, filling their lungs with inadequate air, penny
      pinching at the expense of patients, doctors practicing medicine
      in an intricate web of rationing and regulations. Patients wander
      the maze of managed bureaucracy, costs rise and quality quickly
      deteriorates, but they say that managed care is cheaper. They'll
      say that free choice in medicine will defeat the overall
      productivity, and as co-payments are steadily rising, I'll make
      their grandparents have to choose between buying their medicine
      and paying their rent.

      Then I'd feed them hypocritical lines of being pro-life as the
      only Christian way to be. Then very contradictingly, I'd fight
      for the spread of the death penalty, as if thou shall not kill
      applies to babies but not to criminals.

      Then I'd introduce them to those sworn to protect and serve,
      creating a curb in their trust in the law. I'd show them the
      nightsticks and plungers, the pepper spray and stun guns, the mace
      and magnums that they'd soon become acquainted with, the
      shakedowns and illegal search and seizures, the planted evidence,
      being stopped for no reason. Harassment ain't even the half of
      it. Forty-one shots to two raised hands, cell phones and wallets
      that are confused with illegal contrabands. I'd introduce them
      to pigs who love making their guns click like wine glasses.
      Everlasting targets surrounded by bullets, making them a walking
      bull's eye, a living pinata, held at the mercy of police
      brutality, and then we'll see if they finally weren't aware of
      the truth, if their eyes weren't finally open like a box of
      Pandora.

      I'd show them how the other side of the tracks carries the
      weight of the world on our shoulders and how society seems to be
      holding us down with the force of a boulder. The bird of democracy
      flew the coop back in Florida. See, for some, and justice comes in
      packs like wolves in sheep's clothing. T.K.O.d by the right hooks
      of life, many are left staggering under the weight of the day,
      leaning against the ropes of hope. When your dreams have fallen on
      barren ground, it becomes difficult to keep pushing yourself
      forward like a train, administering pain like a doctor with a
      needle, their sequels continue more lethal than injections.

      They keep telling us all is equal. I'd tell them that instead of
      giving tax breaks to the rich, financing corporate mergers and
      leading us into unnecessary wars and under-table dealings with
      Enron and Halliburton, maybe they can work on making society more
      peaceful. Instead, they take more and more money out of inner city
      schools, give up on the idea of rehabilitation and build more
      prisons for poor people. With unemployment continuing to rise like
      a deficit, it's no wonder why so many think that crime pays.

      Maybe this trip will make them see the error of their ways. Or
      maybe next time, we'll just all get out and vote. And as far as
      their stay in the White House, tell them that numbered are their
      days.


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