These are the days of the open hand
They will not be the last
Look around now
These are the days of the beggars
And the choosers

This is the year of the hungry man
Whose place is in the past
Hand in hand with ignorance
And legitimate excuses

The rich declare themselves poor
And most of us are not sure
If we have too much
But well take our chances
‘Cause God’s stopped keeping score

I guess somewhere along the way
He must have let us all out to play
Turned his back and all God’s children
Crept out the back door

And it’s hard to love,
There’s so much to hate
Hanging on to hope
When there is no hope to speak of

And the wounded skies above
Say its much too late
Well maybe we should all be
Praying for time

These are the days of the empty hand
Oh you hold on to what you can
And charity is a coat you wear
Twice a year

This is the year of the guilty man
Your television takes a stand
And you find that what was over there
Is over here

So you scream from behind your door
Say “Whats mine is mine and not yours”
I may have too much
But I’ll take my chances
‘Cause God’s stopped keeping score

And you cling to the things they sold you
Did you cover your eyes when they told you
That he can’t come back
‘Cause he has no children
To come back for

It’s hard to love
There’s so much to hate
Hanging on to hope
When there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above
Say it’s much too late
So maybe we should all be praying for time

George Michael, Praying for time

Je me suis réveillé ce matin avec cette chanson dans la tête et elle y a passé la journée sur repeat.

Quand cette chanson est sortie, en 1990, je me trouvais en visite au Chili, chez mes parents. Je regardais la première guerre de Papa Bush en Irak, les éclairs dans la nuit, en night vision, en direct à l’heure des nouvelles, contemplant l’absurdité de ce qui me semblait tellement impossible, tellement incroyable, tellement loin de ce que la vie était sposée me donner. The wounded skies above. Totalement injuste, cet avenir plein d’horreur, l’ironie de la vision si catastrophiquement erronée de Francis Fukuyama et son illusion de la fin de l’histore. So, so wrong.

À l’autre poste, en parallèle, cette chanson qui semblait cristalliser ces sentiments de la fin, non pas de l’histoire, mais de l’espoir, et de mon innocence. Ainsi mon monde allait donc être comme celui de ceux qui, avant moi, avaient connu les guerres, la destruction, la mort. Je n’étais plus dans un monde du futur et de l’espoir, mais dans le vrai, celui où les gens se font la guerre. Hanging on to hope, when there is no hope to speak of. La chute du mur, finalement, avait perdu un peu de son éclat. Le fait que ça venait de George Michael, ce géant du quétaine, ne faisait qu’ajouter à l’irréalité du moment.

Ces paroles tiennent encore la route, presque vingt ans plus tard, et ça me fout un peu le cafard, je dois avouer.

Bin Laden, the invisible “Terrorist”, against which any and every measure is taken, at the cost of its eventual victim’s very freedom? The uncatchable evil ghost, forever in the shadows, a hundred years past his natural lifespan. Emmanuel Goldstein? Tell me it doesn’t ring a bell.

They say Orwell only had the dates wrong.

And how about the poor bastard they trotted out of Guantanamo Bay, after some 4 years of «rendering» and special treatments ? From Guantanamo Bay. Where they don’t let you sleep for days in refrigerated cells with no clothes and loud blaring music.

Do you know what stress positions are? What they do to you? Well, in this case it seems they kept at it long enough: This is the guy who plotted it all! He confessed to plotting 9/11, the Shoe Bomber, killing the Pope, and the destruction and bombing of some 20 to 30 buildings, bridges and whatever else.

Those crazy americans seemed SO proud. They had his picture in every paper. Fat guy, with a big fat moustache, hair all messed up, looking pissed. Of course, it was a picture taken when he was arrested. Before those days, nights, weeks, months, YEARS of special treatments. (To be precise, he spent six months in Guantanamo Bay. What? The rest in a schoolyard?) I wonder what he looks like now. Do you think he’s still FAT?

Doesn’t anyone remember room 101?

I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me paying attention.

…

And here’s a few more related links :

Wikipedia: Emmanuel Goldstein

Wikipedia: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Democracy Arsenal : Khalid Sheikh Mohamed
(This one’s got links to toe PDF transcriptof his recent hearing. Interesting read.)

Je ne sais pas combien de temps le site va rester en ligne, alors venez jouer le jeu pendant que vous le pouvez…