Monday, October 09, 2006

Perry Deane Young

3 Comments:

Blogger Perry Deane Young said...

From time to time, in my newspaper columns and other publications, I've asked the question: "Where is the outrage?" Well, using this blog every now and again, I intend to express some outrage about the state of our beloved country and the world in general....along with some random thoughts on whatever strikes my fancy at the moment. Much more to come

1:10 PM  
Blogger Perry Deane Young said...

January 1, 2007, a New Year, a chance for a New Beginning. And it already seems an exceptionally prosperous and hopeful year for me.

My New Year's Resolutions are similar to those of years past:

1. Eat less, exercise more.
2. Write Every day. [I begin this year with a 2-week total immersion in writing the new play, Home Again, with Bill Gregg up in the mountains.]
3. Play the piano every day, or whenever I've got one at hand. The lesson here is that my piano playing gets better with practice, and maybe my writing will too!

Two important deaths over the holidays: Wilma Dykeman and Gerald Ford. My remembrance of Ford was published in the Dec. 31, 2006 Chapel Hill News and can be found on the Commentary page of my website. A remembrance of Wilma Dykeman, a dear friend and real supporter of my work in recent years, has been submitted to the Independent.

As for the NEw Year, I see in John Edwards real hope for our beloved but deeply troubled country. Bush has dug us into such a deep and chaotic mess, it's hard to believe any mere human being can help restore our integrity in the eyes of the world.

Back when Edwards pulled the dumbest stunt of his career by endorsing Bush's War, I sent him the following e-mail [through my nephew, Andrew Young, his chief assistant] It is one e-mail of outrage I do not regret sending. To his credit, John Edwards would later admit that he had made a disastrous mistake by voting for the war, something Hillary Clinton and other Democrats have yet to do.

I was out at the Edwards kickoff rally in Southern Village Saturday, December 30, and it was truly inspiring. The man's got what it takes. There were 3 or 4,000 people out there, and a very enthusiastic crowd it was.

Here's the letter i sent to Edwards:

ATTENTION: ANDREW YOUNG

e-mail sent September 13, 2002

Dear Senator Edwards: I have been one of your loudest supporters from the time you first ran for the U.S. Senate until yesterday. Your attempt to out-hawk our inept President cancels out all the many good and honorable stands you have taken in the past. Georgie Bush's personal war against Saddam Hussein is clearly a disastrous mistake for America and the world. You have aligned yourself with the wrong people and frankly, I think this spells disaster for your future political career. I will certainly never vote for you or write anything in support of you because of this. I think if either you or our cowardly president had ever been anywhere near the danger of real combat, you would not so casually talk about sending thousands of innocent Americans into the certain death posed by World War III which I firmly believe you are helping to cause. What you are doing is roughly equivalent of a senator's suddenly standing up for the Vietnam War in the late 1960s when the rest of America and the world had already decided it was a disastrous mistake. Up until now, I have had the greatest admiration and respect for you and everything you stand for. With this unbelievable statement urging war, you are putting all our lives in peril. You are no longer part of the solution, you are part of the problem. What you are urging is not only immoral by any measure of human decency, it is also illegal by any standard of international law once respected in this country. We did not vote you into office to see you out-hawk ol' Jesse or to become the lacky of the dumbest and most dangerous President in history.

Very sincerely,

Perry Deane Young
Chapel Hill, NC

HAPPY NEW YEAR. I hope to be posting more often this year.

7:07 AM  
Blogger Glenn Ingersoll said...

Happy New Year, Perry. Why are you using the comments box for your blog posts?

20 years ago I read God's Bullies and on my blog I've been reviewing old reading. The post on God's Bullies is here.

4:52 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home