perchance to dream

Every so often I watch the film "JFK" as a kind of succinct reminder -- of the nature of the country we live in, the character of our leaders and the flaws in our system of government. It's a frightning film, due to its very plausibility. A conspiracy among the power elite, to bring down an American President whose interests run counter to their own. A successful coup d'etat that ensures the primacy of the elite, of their families and their empires, for years to come.

In the film, New Orleans Disctrict Attorney Jim Garrison is working to bring the first and only trial in the murder of President John Kennedy. In the course of his investigation Martin Luther King is assassinated; when Robert Kennedy campaigns for the Presidency, Garrison predicts the candidate's assassination and is proven right the same night. "It's not over yet." He tells his wife. It's still happening.

I was born in 1968, and in the 39 years since the character of our country has remained essentially the same. Certainly our economics and our cultural demographics have shifted, but it takes more than a generation to disturb the marble pillars of the military and the ruling elite. Look at W -- how could the assassins of Kennedy's vision for peace have greater vindication?George W. Bush, a generational beneficiary of all that money and power provide in this country, and all that they prevent.

Like children waking briefly from a nightmare, our parents chose in the end to switch off their televisons, roll over and go back to sleep; refusing to acknowledge the presence of the monster in the very room. We are left to unearth what they have chosen to forget -- not a crime, but a dream -- a vision for a better society.

We have only the Supreme Court to stand between the citizenry and open dictatorship. And them not even consistently. Accountability no longer exists in the Executive Branch. "But are not all men grass? And the grass withers, the flower fades." Sooner or later, we will pass forward into deeper understanding of our responsibilities as citizens.