[quote][i]“It is often safer to be in chains than to be free.”[/i] [center]- Franz Kafka[/center][/quote] [center][img]http://baku-panda.org/images/pmk/boondocks.gif[/img] [b]B L A C K • P O W E R • F I ST • B E G I N S[/b] [i]part iii[/i][/center] [b]The Town of Woodcrest, Maryland[/b] [i]The Woodcrest Mall[/i] “Thanks for coming out, Huey.” Noam Chomsky was well into his eighties. He’d already become a respected professor at MIT when his political views had taken the forefront of a well-established professional academic resume by the time of the Vietnam War when he’d come to prominence as a dissenter to U.S. foreign policy. And, so many decades later, remained as such. The French had a proverb, [i]plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.[/i] It meant that the more things change, the more they tended to stay the same. The French hadn’t been talking about America at the time, but their own internal politics of the era. But I can’t help think that if the shoe fits, feel free to put it on and lace that bitch up. But, I’ve done my part. I’ve spoken the truth. I’ve preached the message of lies and misdirection... but there’s no one to listen. People turn to the news and it’s more reality television than reporting. So what’s the point of talking anymore? At least I got Professor Chomsky to sign my copy of his book. As I turn my back and start to head out of the store, I tuck the autographed book under my arm and look back at the competing mobs of ignorance still protesting at the door. And what are they really protesting? They’re both making demands of free speech for themselves while seeking the power to deny it for others. Eli Wiesel said, [i]Once I thought that I could change the world. Now, if I scream and if I shout, it’s to keep the world from changing me.[/i] I look back at Noam Chomsky. Keep screaming, sir. Instinct hits the moment I’m at the door. I want to put my head down and just not make eye contact as the combined political ignorance of a Democrat-Republican Wrestlemania cage match looms as the gauntlet between them. I don’t. I step into the valley of the shadow of ignorance with my head held high. Their boos are like a chorus ringing in my ears. Their hatred palpable, for I am proud to hold beliefs that are different from their own. They may each claim this as the land of the free, but I am free of their claims. Free to be who I choose to be. I’m ten steps past them, when it hits me. Not inspiration, something literally hits me. It doesn’t hurt, but my free hand comes up to the back of my head anyway. A glance behind me reveals a crumpled up soda can, rocking back and forth as it hits the ground. The mob is celebrating and jeering. I wonder if Lady Liberty saw this what she would think? Once, there was an American dream. A land of opportunity away from economic and religious oppression. Instead, it became a land where the oppressed could, instead, become the oppressor. Welcome to the American nightmare. On my way out of the mall, a toy store catches my eye. There’s an airsoft rifle on sale. I can’t help the impulse to pick it up. To feel the weight of the plastic frame in my arms, the butt against my shoulder, and the look of the barrel-mounted sights. Maybe this would be something that the mob would understand more than words. Yeah. Maybe. I put the rifle down, securing the book under my arm, and walk out of the store. --- [b]Action 5 News[/b] [i]Fair and Reasoned Reporting[/i] “You’re watching [b]Action 5[/b] and this is a fair and reasoned [i]Local Alert[/i]." "Armed black youth gang at the Woodcrest Mall? This footage from an Action 5 follower is an eyewitness report." "Here we see what appears to be a young man of possibly [i]terrorist descent[/i] heckling an otherwise peaceful political protest." "And this footage? This appears to be a dissident black youth meeting with known Palestinian supporter and anarchist, Noam Chomsky, a supposed New York Jew whose forgotten where he came from and should know better than to run his mouth." "We warn our viewers at home, this next footage may be too shocking for young children. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, here we clearly see what appears to be a black gang member holding a rifle at the mall. You can see anarchist propaganda underneath his arm." "Any Action 5 viewers who may be at the mall now are advised to take caution and immediately depart the scene. Mall security and the Woodcrest Police Department are responding." "More information as our eyewitness reporters on the scene follow the chaos that has now erupted at the Woodcrest Mall."