Sweeeeeet...

See, I knew there was a reason I love Pagosa Springs (the town, not the Republican Texan-infested subdivisions to the east).

A new lighted wreath in the shape of a peace sign now graces the tower of the old Pagosa Springs town hall, and a band of townspeople marched Tuesday carrying peace signs and stamping a large peace sign in the snow of a town park.

Up the Springs!

The New Sign of the Beast

By now you've probably read about the kerfuffle in Pagosa Springs. Bob Kearns, the president of the Loma Linda HOA, got his shorts in a knot over the peace-sign-shaped wreath a couple hung outside their house, because, variously, some other residents of the neighborhood have kids serving in Iraq, or he thinks it might actually be a satanic symbol, or

"Somebody could put up signs that say, 'Drop bombs on Iraq.' If you let one go up, you have to let them all go up."

My mom lives outside Pagosa Springs. It was a sleepy, funky little live-and-let-live community of 5,000 until rich Texans discovered it. In the last ten years the surrounding area has mushroomed to well over 15,000 people as formerly open parklands and Ponderosa pine forests have been bladed for subdivisions. The traffic flowing out of these and backing up at the new stoplights consists in large part of Suburbans bearing Texas plates, Jesus fish, and magnetic yellow ribbons.

That's a little context, although I have no idea how long Mr. Kearns has lived in the area or if he, too, is a transplanted Texan. Regardless of his background or that of the other residents who complained about the wreath, it's a perfect microcosm of... of what? What are the words? Is "conservatism and superstitious Christianism run rampant" too strong a phrase? The mindset that sees the message Peace as an affront, that somehow twists a generic wish for world peace into a negative message specifically aimed at the Americans serving in Iraq, that utterly fails to recognize within it the wish that all those kids come home safely, seems to me completely divorced from reality. It strikes me as paranoia.

And, of course, fast on the heels of that uber-nationalistic sentiment (professing peace equals opposition to war equals opposition to America's forces) comes trip-trapping along its faithful fear-based religious companion.

"The peace sign has a lot of negativity associated with it," association president Bob Kearns told The Durango Herald in justifying the order. "It's also an anti-Christ sign."

Some would probably argue that "superstitious Christian" is redundant, but I use it here for that special breed that doesn't see a benevolent God everywhere and in everyone so much as they see Satan lurking in every innocuous word and symbol, waiting to pounce on the unaware and haul them straight off to the lake of fire. The Christianist and the nationalist go hand in hand. Nothing like seeing enemies under every rock and deception in every sign to forge an identity and compel obedience to the ideology. And yes, well all know where that road goes.

Anyway. I love Pagosa, the town itself, and am delighted that it's doing its level best to distance itself from the inanity of one of the outlying HOAs.

Monday morning, Pagosa Springs town-hall officials received an e-mail that asked, "What kind of little Nazis does your town grow?"

That prompted town manager Mark Garcia to change the southwestern Colorado town's website, clarifying that the town doesn't have any authority over the homeowners association and that the subdivision isn't even within the town's limits.

"The town wholly supports their peace-sign display and also wishes for peace on earth," the message concludes.

Time to call Mom to ask if she's put her own peace wreath up yet. Have you?

Rainy Friday; Rally Posthash, Finished with a Dollop of Stereotyping Cream!

I woke up this morning about ten seconds before the downpour started, a rain that has lasted about an hour an a half and socked in the basin with so many clouds the mountains are mere afterthoughts on the horizon. It's a cool, wonderfully gloomy morning that feels like winter more than the dregs of summer--what passes for fall here--it really is.

The rally last night was rather disjointed and was on the move by the time I got down there, the anti-Bush faction marching in clumps to take the long way around the pro-war group on the opposite sidewalk. My first impression was that our side needs to bulk up in the flag department. The fact that I could instantly identify which group was the pro-war side, based on the large number of flags they were carrying, should give us all pause. Failing to carry flags ourselves reinforces the pro-war people's message that they are the true Americans, that their message is the one the flag truly stands for. We can't help them perpetuate that.

Anti-Bush signs seen: "Impeach;" "Give Bush a Fair Trial;" good old "ITMFA." One boy stood crucifix-style, a noose wound along his arms.

Pro-war signs seen: "Give War a Chance;" "Nuke Iran, Nuke Syria, Let God Sort 'em Out;" and my perennial favorite, "Osama Loves Lefties." I truly wanted to engage the latter woman in conversation. I wanted to point out to her that of all Americans, Osama probably finds "lefties" the most repugnant. After all, we tend away from orthodox religion, we don't usually adhere to religious prohibitions against things like rock music and sex for fun, and, ah, we're the ones who seem to think Osama needs to be caught right now rather than ignored and trotted out as a convenient boogeyman when the polls dip.

As I drove away, I saw an older guy holding a Marine flag engaged in a heated conversation with a young kid, punctuating his points by thwacking the kid's shins with his flagpole. I wonder why turning the other cheek comes so naturally to us, when it's the other side that's so thick with Bible thumpers.

Freedom on the March!

In lieu of actual content, a linkfest.

Freedom is still on the march! That is, if, of course, by "freedom" you mean "continued power grabs by a megalomaniacal dictator."

Dennis Hastert is taking responsibility for the page scandal and its coverup. That is, if, of course, by "taking responsibility" you mean "blaming the media and Bill Clinton."

I really, really meant to go to the World Can't Wait rally downtown this evening. Of course, I managed to get derailed by drama involving my hiking boots and now there's some weird post-monsoonal thunderstorm action and, okay, I'm just too goddamn tired and lazy to get off my ass and do something proactive. There. I said it. At least I persuaded my officemate and her boyfriend to go. Luckily for all of us, Olbermann is energized.

Ah, shite, the power of guilt. I'm toddling off to the rally now.

World Cup Fizzle and the Same Old Shizzle

We were prepared, the boy and I. We got up early and made an all-American eggs 'n' bacon breakfast in hopes that it would help. Uh, it didn't. The boys in red white and blue biffed their must-win game against Ghana 2-1. A couple of questionable calls and non-calls didn't help, but the ref didn't decide the match. The US side were listless against the Czech Republic and again today, showing very little creativity.

Buggers.

I guess this leaves me rooting for Ghana, despite their proclivity for diving--gotta love a guy with crazy hair named Pimpong, after all--and I suppose England, although they've looked only a little more inspired than the US so far.

I still blame Israel for Ireland's failure to qualify.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, murder indictments have rolled in for 8 marines in one incident, Haditha's still being investigated, and the Army's finally admitted that two soldiers killed back in '04 were actually shot by Iraqi soldiers (like, the guys we're supposed to be training and propping up). Word is that the Marines may face the death penalty. No word on any punishment for the brass who set the stage for them.

And yep, I still do "support the troops" who have managed to avoid committing war crimes so far. Of course, I'm the kind of person who tends to blame the parents of unruly toddlers more than the toddlers themselves, even when they know at least a little bit that what they're doing is wrong. I've said it repeatedly and will say it again. Fluid rules of engagement, implicit condoning of detainee abuse, and encouragement of a retribution mindset in a situation with wretched security and random IED attacks makes abuses and war crimes... well, saying "inevitable" probably relieves perpetrators of more responsibility than is warranted, so I'll say "unconscionable but not unexpected."

The anti-war protestors were out again at Campbell and Speedway yesterday, early in the morning before it got too hot. I can always tell when a protest is gearing up because of the car horns honking in support. There wasn't much honking as I went through the intersection; maybe it was because the protestors were just starting to set up and didn't have all the corners covered, maybe people weren't sufficiently caffeinated yet to notice and get their peace honk on. I hope it wasn't creeping anomie.