"
Stand ye calm and resolute,
Like a forest close and mute,
With folded arms and looks which are
Weapons of unvanquished war.
And if then the tyrants dare,
Let them ride among you there,
Slash, and stab, and maim and hew,
What they like, that let them do.
With folded arms and steady eyes,
And little fear, and less surprise
Look upon them as they slay
Till their rage has died away
Then they will return with shame
To the place from which they came,
And the blood thus shed will speak
In hot blushes on their cheek.
Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number,
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you-
Ye are many — they are few
"
— Percey Shelley.
Stand strong, Wisconsin. Strike! Strike! Shut down the state! Solidarity forever!
these are the lean times,
the dead times,
the cold and the merciless grey times,
full of stinging rain and biting wind
and a feeling that the whole world
is dying.
the dark, the wet, and the frigid air
is too much, even
for the sun.
hard times.
trying times.
with stiff fingers and frozen feet,
life carries on.
there is no rest,
no pause for even the weariest.
we pick up,
we endure,
and we carry on
through the dark and the cold,
until the first day of spring
when the world can live again.
“What we learned from Oklahoma City is not that we should gag each other or that we should reduce our passion for the positions we hold — but that the words we use really do matter, because there’s this vast echo chamber, and they go across space and they fall on the serious and the delirious alike. They fall on the connected and the unhinged alike.”
-Bill Clinton
“People need to realize that the rhetoric and the firing people up and, well, for example, we’re on Sarah Palin’s targeted list, but the thing is, that the way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they have to realize that there are consequences to that action”.
-Gabrielle Giffords
All of the rhetoric used amongst politicians right and left, the use of metaphors with extraordinarily violent overtones, and this constant projection to the public that their side is fighting against the evil across the aisle has to stop. The citizens have got to stop being so violently opposed to letting an opposition have their say. Period. It should have stopped after the first Kennedy assassination. It should have stopped after the second Kennedy assassination. It should have stopped after countless acts of senseless violence against countless people who never could have deserved it. It should never have started to begin with.
The person responsible for this heinous act is, based on his writings, likely mentally ill. I won’t place the blame for this mass shooting on politicians or the media. They didn’t support mass murder as a means of getting a point across. That being said, they should no longer get a pass for the hateful, inciteful, downright inflammatory things they have said at countless rallies, speeches, and newscasts. Words mean things. The people who have the means to make their messages heard must be very careful about what words they use, if only because their messages will be heard. Comparing opponents to terrorists, elections to war, and acts of Congress to life or death situations has to stop. The sentence “don’t retreat - reload!” has no business in the political arena. Marking the districts of opposing party members you would like to see out of office with crosshairs is absolutely unjustifiable. Violent overtones to politcal ideologies should be completely unwelcome.
Ideally, the events of January 10 would tamper violent sensationalism and cause us to take a close look at ourselves and how we report news or campaign. I doubt it will though. I see no reason why this tragedy should change things when horrors comitted in the past century or two have had no effect. Instead of taking a short break from the usual routine of angry, irrational speech from both sides of the aisles and trying to figure out who to blame for all of this, everybody should calm the fuck down from here on out. Of course, believing that will happen is just a fool’s hope.
Six people are dead: among them are a nine year old girl and a Federal Judge. A Congresswoman is fighting for her life after being shot through the brain. This is what matters the most about this situation. This is not a Democratic tragedy, or a Republican tragedy, or an Arizona tragedy. This is an American tragedy, and people should always remember that.
"When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes."
—
I must be extraordinarily careful when I walk into a bookstore. I must take only the approximate amount of money I’ll need, or else I’ll spend it all on wonderful, beautiful books. What can I say? I’m a sucker for words and ideas and great literature and dime store trash and everything else that can fit between two covers. I love the feel of paper and the smell of binding glue. I love the cracking of a new spine or the wrinkling of a paperback. I love watching the pages turn from a pristine white to a dirty, loved, worn down cream. I gather up handfuls of ancient wisdom and brand new thoughts and I work my way home to devour them. I must be extraordinarily careful when I walk into a bookstore.
My feet are cold.
I’m all dressed up in warm layers,
but my feet are cold.
My ears are toasty and
my hands are warm.
My sweater is doing its job.
I’m comfortable in every way, except
my feet are cold.
Nothing I’ve tried has helped;
not cotton,
not wool,
not tweed.
My feet are cold.
They’re the reason I’m eating
alone
and they’re the reason for the k[not] in my stomach.
I have cold feet.
My feet are cold.
We’ll set our sights on freedom
and we’ll chase doewn all of our dreams
and we’ll be true to ourselves in the face of life
whatever the hell that means
So let’s go out and grab the horizon
I’m your man and you’re my girl
let’s go see all that there is to see
and be the most envied people in the world
And we’re driving into the sunset
we’re going just as far as we can
and we’re riding down this dusty empty road
living free without a plan
There’re no worries as we go on
running out to flag down the wind
you know this big wide world is ours for the taking
and it’s waiting for us around the bend
yeah we’re riding into the sunset
with no luggage, no worries, and no plan
