I got bored yesterday afternoon so I went out for a cold draft beer.  Most of my regular haunts don’t open until 1800 or so, but I dropped into this little open bar (meaning no aircon, but with nice street views for people watching) run by some nice Filipinas.  Most bars play current music and rap, and I’m still stuck in the 70s for the most part when it comes to stuff I like.  For whatever reason, as I nursed my beer a folk set came up in the rotation.  I heard “500 Miles” by what I think were The Brothers Four and decided I prefer the Peter, Paul, and Mary version.  Then there was Joan Baez doing “Diamonds and Rust”, which is a great tune.  I was wondering if Bob Dylan might be next, and sure enough, up came “Blowin’ in the Wind”. 

You know, I hadn’t actually really listened to that song for quite some time.  Although as a young person I rather fancied it, of late I had just written it off as another naiive anti-war rag.  But upon further consideration after contemplating the lyrics, I think it is really a powerful reminder that some things, including freedom, are worth fighting for.  Stay with me on this while I digress.

I recently became active on Facebook.  Yeah, I know, welcome to the 21st century and all that.  It’s actually pretty cool making connections and “finding” old friends.  I actually hooked up with a high school bud via Facebook.  Chris and I were editors on the school newspaper together and were of like minds politically (leftist/radical).  Chris pursued the dream to become a journalist and currently works for a large newspaper in the Pacific Northwest.  I devoted my life to government service, which is pretty funny when I look back on just how anti-government I once was.  Anyway, in response to my invite to be a Facebook friend, I got a nice message filling me in on his life and lamenting the sad state of affairs in print jounalism these days as newspapers are going bankrupt with increasing frequency.  I responded in part:

Hey Chris. Hopefully you’ve got access now.

As I’ve watched the print media whither away I wondered how you were faring. I had it in my head that you worked for the Seattle PI which recently moved to the online version as well. I’m not clear how that business model will generate enough revenue to support a newsgathering operation, but time will tell. Good luck to you.

You know Chris, we could have a long chat about what has brought “traditional” media to this sorry state of affairs. Obviously, competition for ads from Craig’s List hurts the bottom line, but that does not explain the loss of readership. I think what has hurt the press in that regard is a loss of credibility. For years I relied on the Washington Post as my primary news source. Post 9/11, I started looking at other sources on the Internet and I was frankly surprised to find just how much of the story I was not getting. I guess I am firmly in the camp of those who believe that the MSM reports with an agenda, rather than striving for balance. I certainly saw that in the Iraq reporting, and last year’s election coverage was a farce. Love him or hate him, Obama did not face the scrutiny of Sarah Palin or even “Joe the plumber”. Unless and until the press is either up front with their bias or gets back to reporting “just the facts”, I see no hope for recovery. I’m curious what you thought of ABC’s infomercial for nationalized health care this week.

Anyway, as you might have gathered my view of the world has evolved since my “radical” high school days. Although I think I still have my core “liberal” values and beliefs, the left wing in America seems to side with those who have no love for freedom and justice. We fight about issues like Gay marriage, while homosexuals are stoned to death in much of the world with nary a protest. What’s up with that?

I’ve not as yet heard back from Chris and I’m thinking I may have scared him away.  I guess most folks think of me as a neocon these days, and hell, they might be right.  I’m sure my views must strike my old friend as being as radical as they once were, but to the other extreme.  But as Joe Walsh once sang “everybody’s so different, I haven’t changed”.  I believe that I didn’t leave the left, the left left me, so to speak.  Or maybe I always had it wrong.  I certainly always believed that the oppressed in the world had a God-given right to drink from the cup of liberty.  And if you stand up for human rights, be it women or gays or just freedom from tyranny, how can you turn your head to what was happening in Iraq and Afghanistan?  Or North Korea and Iran?  So, if that makes me a neocon, I will wear the mantle proudly and without apology.

This is the kind of “liberal” I was and remain today:

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe — the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

This much we pledge and more.

To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do — for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.

To those new States whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom — and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.

To those peoples in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required, not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge — to convert our good words into good deeds in a new alliance for progress — to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.

Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request — that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.

We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.

Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah — to “undo the heavy burdens…and let the oppressed go free.”

In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.

Now the trumpet summons us again — not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need — not as a call to battle, though embattled we are — but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation” — a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility — I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it — and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

–John F. Kennedy – January 20, 1961

So, I think this is the proper context for considering the words of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind”.

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, ‘n’ how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, ‘n’ how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they’re forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

OK, we all can agree that war is unspeakably horrible.  No one hates wars more than the soldiers who fight them.  BUT, Dylan is not saying war is never necessary or justified.  Like all of us, he instead wishes for and dreams of a day when mankind puts such foolishness behind us forever. 

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it’s washed to the sea?
Yes, ‘n’ how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, ‘n’ how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn’t see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

Now, this verse really struck me yesterday.  Dylan is stating unequivocably that freedom is not just some ideal, but a birthright of all people.  And for those of us who are fortunate enough to have been born free, it reminds that we have an obligation not to turn our backs on the oppressed of the world.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, ‘n’ how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, ‘n’ how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

Here’s the thing.  The left is quick to note that many have died as a result of our interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.  And yet, there is little mention of the deaths perpetuated by Saddam and the Taliban.  Brutal massacres and heinous acts like rape, torture and oppression.  You can debate whether our intervention was warranted as a matter of national interest, but you lose me when you argue that only deaths caused by the USA are bad. 

And so it goes.  We are witnessing the depravity of the mullahs in Iran.  It is no secret about Kim Jong Il’s death camps.  How many ears must we have to hear their cries?  How many deaths is too many?  How long will they exist without being free?

The answer is blowing in the wind.