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MY LAI VET SAYS: HERE IT
COMES AGAIN IN IRAQ
Tony Swindell
recalls "Butcher's Brigade" in '69; says "gooks"
have now become "ragheads", every adult male is an
"insurgent" ... atrocities against Iraqi civilians
are soon going to explode in America's face; US Government's courtroom jihads against terror
stumble. Alexander Cockburn on Lodi case where Feds paid $250,000
to man who "saw" world's three top terrorists at mosque.
As neocons
and Israel lobby howl for US to bomb Teheran, an Iranian outlines
simple path to peace. CounterPunch
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Now!
A year ago I wrote a somewhat self-congratulatory
column about attending my 30th consecutive New Orleans Jazz and
Heritage Festival.
The column was full of remembrances
of "Jazz Fest moments," the close circle of friends
from all over the country I've made over the years (although
we see each other only this one week), and a few tips for new-comers
about how to negotiate crowds that can exceed 100,000 people
at the ten stages scattered around the Fairgrounds race track.
This year, of course, the NOJHF,
where providence willing, I am spending the third day of an 11-day
celebration of music, food and associated good times, is/will
be different, and, indeed, more important. Hurricane Katrina
did more than just devastate the physical New Orleans, empty
it of half its citizens, and wreak havoc with its economy. It
also struck a major blow at the soul of the city where Jazz was
born. This festival, like none before it, is to renew that soul.
Since this is being written
before we strike out for New Orleans Friday morning, I have no
idea how different the first post-Katrina Fest will be or exactly
what to expect.
The organizers have moved heaven
and earth to keep the festival at the same site, despite the
damage the hurricane did to the horserace track grandstands and
have managed to attract a stellar lineup in hopes of luring the
crowds of yore. Bob Dylan, Dr. John, the Dave Mathews Band and
Juvenile are on the schedule for Friday and Saturday and I am
looking forward to closing down the first weekend late this afternoon
with Bruce Springsteen and his new Seeger Sessions Band.
The Boss will be kicking off
a worldwide tour today behind his new album dedicated to the
music and inspiration of legendary folkie Pete Seeger. The album,
featuring an 18 piece band including horns, strings, an accordion
and choir, is entitled "We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions."
And I will be very surprised if sometime around 7 p.m. this afternoon
40,000 or so of us will be joining in an encore of that hymn
to the Civil Rights Movement that all of a sudden seems just
an appropriate to the mess the Crescent City finds itself in
today. I will also be surprised if there aren't plenty of tears
flowing. See, that's one of the things I anticipate will be a
part of this Jazz Fest that.
Will old friends, like the
ones I only see once a year, fall into each other's arms weeping
upon meeting up here, on our sacred ground, once again? Will
just "being here now" be such an overwhelming experience
as to leave some overwhelmed? And will the music carry with it
tragic, yet hopeful and deeply enduring meaning after all this
city has had to endure?
I have no doubt the softshell
crab po'boys will be just as delicious, the clubs (or at least
the ones that have managed to reopen) will be rocking until dawn,
and the restaurants (again, the ones that managed reopen) will
be packed. But beyond that, I have this strange sense of trepidation
and anxiety about the unknown, here before I actually get to
the Big Easy.
Oh well, I'm sure it will pass
with the first hot trumpet lick. And, as always, if you want
to drop by and say hi next weekend, I'll be the long-haired guy
in the hat, shorts, sunglasses and Hawaiian shirt, smoking the
cigar and standing stage right, down in front of the speakers.
Whether my cheeks will be wet with tears remains to be seen.
CounterPunch
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