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Raising Hell, and The Diva
Dear Diva:
When I was young and Vietnam was an active problem for the US, I'm ashamed to say I never took part in the first demonstration or protest. Other veterans would sometimes be angry about the protestors, but I always felt that they had done more than me. I was always prouder of Bill Clinton for not going to Vietnam, than I was of me for going. I plan to protest for 4 years this time, though. I don't want other people to take my place in getting out the message of this stolen election, and the herding of the majority into a corral to control them -- the way big business and the "moral majority" want them to be controlled.
-Carl in Duluth, Georgia
Dear Carl:
My father served in the Army for 26 years, and went to Vietnam. I never heard him attack Clinton, or any other politician, that took a side during the domestic conflict surrounding that military action. I think my father always respected those who went to fight "in country," and those whose values demanded that they stay and fight what they believed was an unjust war here in the States. The people my father always seemed to lose patience with were folks like Dubya, who played both ends against the middle, by working their connections to ostensibly support the war, while assuring themselves that they would never get within shooting distance of it. Because of this, I have never been able to understand the military infatuation with the right wing in our country, or the threats made against the life of President Clinton by members of the military.
There seems to have been a break between my father's generation (he will be 60 on New Year's day), and the generations that came after. It's a damn shame, too.
While my father was never the "agitator" type, he definitely raised a daughter who is. One of my earliest memories of school involves the raising and lowering of the American flag. You see, at my elementary school, only Boy Scouts were allowed that privilege. That struck me as incredibly unfair, since I had been a Color Guard in the Girl Scouts, and had been taught how to show the American Flag the proper respect and care. Well, I marched right down to the Principal's Office to demand my rights, where I was basically given a "no" and a condescending pat on the head. When I told my mother what had happened, she suggested that I go to the School Board meeting, and tell them how I felt. I did. They balked. I insisted. They relented.
So, I was the first girl ever to raise the American flag at my elementary school… and that was the first of many offending windmills I went tilting at. The birth of a troublemaker.
-The Diva
Granting Your Every Wish
Dear Diva,
You and I know that Al Gore is the real President Elect of the United States. Unfortunately, he is not acknowledged as such. He is a man who put OUR needs in front of his own about a week ago when he conceded. I know I will never live in a world fortunate enough to address him as "President," however, I thought his "concession" speech to the idiot was beyond compare. So, Dear Diva, could you find it and please print it for me… President Elect Al Gore's concession speech? I plan to write about it in the near future. You played it for him, so play it for me....
-Nikki in The Wine Country
Dear Nikki:
You need only ask, and The Diva shall grant your every wish. But, as Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, would say, "You've always had the power..." It has been here the whole time:
Al Gore Concession Speech.
My friend, Faby, missed the broadcast of the speech, and called to ask me to read it to her. I was fine until I got to the part where Al talks about wishing he could stay to fight for us, and then I totally fell apart. Even now I cannot read it aloud, such is my despair and fury at this whole situation.
-The Diva
NEXT: A BBBR HOLIDAY
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