STREETSBORO, USA
I took a trip up to Streetsboro, Ohio –
a suburb of Cleveland – recently to appear with my new friends the
Womack Family Band at Honky Tonk House Concerts (they're great, by
the way).
I always enjoy these solitary drives.
They permit me to talk to myself. Much as I'm doing here, I'm sure.
One thing I noticed since last trip up
was the new proliferation of signs dedicating aging bridges and
stretches of deteriorating highways to local heroes fallen in this
continuing war-of-choice in Afghanistan and Iraq. It seems like
every piece of crumbling infrastructure is dedicated to someone's
child's dream of serving their country.
I have no zinger here for this story.
Only a question: is the lost life of even one American kid
justifiable to pursue the hegemonic fantasies of old men?
Reinstate the draft. Put everybody's
kid in harm's way.
“it's always the
old who lead us into War, always the young who fall”
----Phil Ochs
