Orange Revolution

Over at Demcrats.com they have launched an Orange Revolution (Start Impeachment/Stop the War).  Although the name’s already been taken (remember Ukraine?) I like the idea.

Bob Fertik has an outline of some of the upcoming activities, including sit-ins and calls for people to wear orange on Fridays.  I’m all for impeachment; I still don’t have enough information to make up my mind about how they should withdraw from Iraq…after all, the correct solution is the one that provides the best outcome for the Iraqi people.  Having broken the country, the US still has as obligation to do what it can be fix it.  Obviously, the current set of jokers in power aren’t capable of doing the job.  But that doesn’t make either problem go away.

“My generation will put it right”

It was over twenty years ago that Genesis released what was, at the time, my favourite “modern” song of theirs, Land of Confusion. It wasn’t so much the quality of the song that drew me as it was the wider context – the video, which mocked Ronald Reagan (probably one of the first music videos I saw that had a political theme), but more importantly, the line:

I won’t be coming home tonight
My generation will put it right

And those same words that initially drew me later drove me away. It later became too much of a Phil Collins song, as far too similar to Sussudio, one of the most inane songs ever made. But seeing it performed at the Live Earth concert changed the way I see the song. While “their” generation has generally screwed things up incredibly badly, “their” generation are still active, and are still leaders in the climate crisis (especially Al Gore). At the very least, some of my cynicism is starting to fade. I’m willing to give Land of Confusion a second chance. I may even be willing to give Phil Collins a second chance.

Live Earth

Almost 22 years ago, Live Aid was a major milestone in my life. Already an idealist, the entire experience had nudged me in a direction..actually, it made me want to go in a direction, but I never quite managed to get there. I have dabbled in activism, I have been keenly aware of environmental issues and global food issues…but I never quite got there.

Today there’s a second chance, of a sort. Live Earth, a massive concert to raise awareness of climate change. It has attracted its share of criticism, some of it deserved (rock concerts are energy hogs) but being concerned about global warming is finally fashionable. Even in the US, people finally care. It may be too little too late, but for most of the last 20 years I have sat here and watched people shovel coal into a runaway train. And I have felt totally unempowered to do anything about it. Finally not only are there things that you can do (instead of complaining about other people not doing them), finally you empowered enough to speak up.

So I’m thrilled with the idea of the concert.