IS THIS THE END?....

I was sharing the creation of this web log with a co-worker, telling him that the initial entries were semi-runny rememberances of the past and how they relate to our current erosion of rights. To which he replied;"What erosion of our rights???!They are already gone!"-THEY ARE ALREADY GONE!-Could this be true?
While not your average american,I see my friend as a right minded patriot (right meaning correct...not right in that political sense) doing the best he can for his family in what can be best described as an uphill climb...a very steep uphill climb.
But I digress...is it a done deal?Just a matter of time before all voices of opposition,real or imagined by the corrupt powers that be,are silenced?Patriotism reduced to the size and number of flags on your vehicle?Say it isn't so.....
Let's find our change ,our destiny in 2004,let's throw off this yoke of money...control manipulation and corruption.
Let's start the reconstruction now. Let's step off the primrose path...."They are already gone"...man- that put me back a step or two....

Ann's "fast forward":
2003... I'm unemployed (laid off end of November) with no good paying job in sight. I have an inordinate amount of free time on my hands since I'm no longer working 12 to 15 hours a day, seven days a week. A life revolving around housework is rather boring so I start paying attention to the news. I actually have a clue when Rob talks about current events these days (a first after ten years of marriage) because I suddenly have time to pay attention to what is going on. I don't like what I see and I can't help but wonder if it's because I and plenty of other people were just "too busy" to pay attention. I find it hard to believe that a majority of Americans think Patriot Act I and II are a good idea, but who had/found the time to read up on it beyond what was reported in the major media outlets? Certainly not anyone in my previous work situation. Bush and company ought to be very concerned about the unemployed - we have time on our hands. Time to see what the hell is going on around here and time to do something about it.

Ann responds:
I was 14 years old in 1975 and a sense of freedom was certainly not part of my daily life. In fact, that year would put me right in the middle of an ugly battle for independence and freedom from parental control. I'll have to fast forward a couple of years to 1978 when I had the newfound freedoms of a driver's license and my own car. If I peer back through the mists of time, I can find nothing to directly correlate to Rob's experience. I wasn't dancing on flags and making pot tea. The closest thing to any sort of protest would be my insistence on underage drinking and drag racing. That wasn't political protest, but simple teenage defiance of laws I that thought were too restrictive. We drank and raced in a responsible manner and made sure we didn't endanger anyone other than ourselves in the process. If we weren't hurting anyone else, why should there be a law? Yes, there's a political aspect to that kind of thinking, but not one I was aware of at the time. It was simple defiance, nothing else. I knew if I got caught, I would face fines and/or go to jail. Flash forward...

It's 2003...Afghanistan,Iraq and whoever's next is happening.Patriot acts I and II are eroding our rights with its ugly cousin Homeland security.The media is horribly slanted and controlled.And,at the top of the list,we have a contagion of corruption running the country (most likely into the ground).
You have to be careful what you say and do or be willing to pay a price for saying and doing anything against the current administration.
This is not news to anyone with a pulse...the reason I'm recapping the mess we're in is to compare now with 1975...Is it becoming a hazy memory to be whispered around and revered as the "before time" like some mad max movie?Or is this just a blip on the screen to be corrected at the next election?
I'm not holding my breath......

It was 1975...Viet Nam was still fresh in our heads...we were a country at odds with itself.I was 16 year old, pot smoking, anti war, peace lovin' hair farmer...I drove a 1965 Pontiac Bonneville...4 door...white with a red interior... a land yaught.
It cost me 165.00 to drive it out of a pasture in Elgin into Austin, and here's where the story begins.
I was cruising one night with my friend Doc when we passed a van parked on the side of the road...we needed gas and decided to liberate whatever gas this van had for our cause...more cruising. I noticed an american flag hanging from the ceiling of the van,then I noticed stars had been strategically removed to form the shape of a peace sign. I thought this was cool...so I took it.(Bad kharma move # 2...# 1 was stealing the gas)
The flag got alot of use...we took it to school and had picnics on it...we strained pot tea through it...we pretended to burn it...we danced on it. We took pictures of all the things we did,passing the pictures around at partys and laughing...never giving it a second thought ...hey this is america...I can do what I want.
I drove around town without a care in the world beyond what I was gonna do tomorrow...
Flash forward.....