THE FOURTH

   Grandpa was forced to quit his job pumping gas ( in Oregon, motorists are not allowed to pump their own fuel ) because could not afford the gasoline to get to work. His pickup - not too old, not that new - sits in the gravel at the end of the driveway with a big 'ol For Sale sign in the window. Folks 'round these parts don't have any money for fuel either, let alone the cash for a purple pickup driven by the grumpiest man in the county.

   Uncle Donnie Daryll stopped by yesterday and sat a spell on the front porch with the old people. He broke his wrist over the weekend as he was moving furniture, but can't afford to get it fixed up proper. The health insurence he gets through work has a $1000.00 deductible. Uncle Donnie makes $12.00 an hour at his job.

   A neighbor of ours, and yours too I believe, lost her young son to the war in Iraq. Rich people making the rules. Rich people making the decisions. "I remember his first day of school. I don't know why, exactly, that picture of all my memories of him pops itself up, but that's what I see in my mind's eye. I had to tell his father the news over the phone. We couldn't afford two vehicles anymore, so we sold my car. Carl couldn't leave work, so I had to tell him over the phone that his son was killed. After I told him he went on and finished his shift at the mill. We couldn't afford him to miss any work."

  No Fourth of July barbeque this year. We could barely afford any food, let alone the briquettes.

   Here's the news, people. We've already lost the war. We've lost the lives to reasons that were never there to begin with, and we've lost our way of life. When that Son-of-a-Bitch took down the towers he accomplished what he set out to do. He ruined us, and his biggest partner was our own President.

   With the war in afghanistan raging on ( I'm not going to say the real war , as some people do. I would never dis-respect our troops fighting and dying in Iraq) nearly all the Blue Collars I've spoken with say the same thing. What is the use of having nuclear weapons if we are not going to use them? Didn't the attacks on September 11, 2001 warrant a nuclear response once the perpetrators where known to be sheltered in Afghanistan?

    The fourth is just another excuse to get liquored up and get a day off from work. Drownd out our apathy and indifference for a day because we're all prayed out. Our President is a war criminal and the rest of the world compares us to Nazi Germany - and I'm the crazy one for wondering why we don't push the button.

  Can you hear me now?