Andrew's Tiki Lounge

Some Thoughts on America's Longest-Held Political Prisoner

In the next few months, Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald (above), the longest held political prisoner in American history, will have another parole hearing. Fitzgerald has been in prison since 1969. Some background: In early 1969, Fitzgerald, an 18-year-old resident of Compton, joined the local Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panthers, an African-American activist organization that is wrongly described as a "terrorist" group by its right-wing critics. Like so many young African Americans living in the inner cities, Fitzgerald was angered by the rampant police abuse and lack of opportunities in L.A. in the late 1960s. Joining the Panthers offered countless black teenagers and twentysomethings a productive outlet for their simmering frustrations.

In October '69, Fitzgerald was arrested -- along with some other friends -- following an altercation with a California Highway Patrol officer (who was under orders to "shoot to kill" all known Panthers). In the affray, the officer was shot and Fitzgerald fled the scene. The officer survived, the Los Angeles police arrested Fitzgerald, and he was not only convicted of shooting and wounding the Highway Patrol officer, he was also charged with a murder of a security guard at a Vons supermarket in Los Angeles. The evidence was flimsy, but Fitzgerald was locked away in the California prison system for almost forty years. Fitzgerald vehemently denies any involvement in the murder of the security guard.

With the passage of time, we have developed a deeper understanding of the turbulent years of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Keep in mind the backdrop of events surrounding Fitzgerald's arrest and conviction. Charles Dickens' words about "the best of times, the worst of times" certainly apply here. This period was characterized by war, polarization, crises at home, racial discord and a "law-and-order" crackdowns against all dissenting groups. Now, forty years later, we are able to put this difficult period in context. Many historians agree that the federal government -- in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies -- waged a systematic and unjust war against the Black Panthers across the country.

Chip Fitzgerald was but one of many people sucked into this chaotic maelstrom. In recent years, we have learned that other political prisoners who shared his same fate were innocent. Geronimo Pratt (right), a Vietnam Veteran and Black Panther, spent 27 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. He was eventually freed in 1997. In Louisiana, Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox -- two Black Panthers from New Orleans -- were serving time for armed robbery when they were charged with the 1972 stabbing of prison guard Brent Miller. Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Times ran a powerful story (May 3) that raised serious questions about their guilt. In fact, Miller's widow, Leontine Verrett, told the L.A. Times: "If I were on that jury, I don't think I would have convicted them."

There are countless other Panthers who were the innocent victims of brutal repression. Add Chip Fitzgerald to that list. Having served almost forty years in prison and now approaching 60, his health is deteriorating and he is growing weaker and weaker. Last year, Fitzgerald issued a statement that accurately described the sorry state of America's prisons: "The prison system has mutated into a complex dysfunctional resource-wasting parasite of social control, political repression and revenge! Human beings are warehoused in these concrete and steel bunkers that destroy human sensibilities and the human spirit. Then following years of continuous antagonism and frustration at the hands of sadistic prison guards tortured souls are released on to an unsuspecting public to offend. There in is the cause and effect of an 80% recidivism rate."

The time is long overdue to Free Chip Fitzgerald. There are some things you can do: 1. Find out more about Chip by clicking here; you can also read a helpful Blog (from the Unapologetic Mexican) here on Fitzgerald. 2. Sign the petition to free Chip Fitzgerald by clicking here. 3. Write a letter to the parole board showing your support. The snail-mail address is:

Board of Parole Hearings
Post Office Box 4036
Sacramento, CA 95812-4036

Let's get Chip Fitzgerald out of prison. He does not belong in there. And let's end the brutal and costly war against the Black Panthers, waged by the federal government and local law enforcement authorities, once and for all. It has dragged on much too long.

The Swiftboating of Scott McClellan

I admit, I have yet to read Scott McClellan's scathing memoir What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception, which is highly critical of President George W. Bush's administration -- especially its handling of the Iraq War. As former White House Press Secretary McClellan (right) put it: "This was a presidency that veered badly off course. It was something that all of us would have preferred didn't happen." I've only read selected snippets published in newspapers across America. But I'm rushing out to buy my copy today (I promise I'll weigh in on it as soon as I read it). It's clear that McClellan has stirred up a hornets' nest and already the neocons are doing their best to swiftboat him. Bush Loyalists launched a counter-attack while the printing press that churned out McClellan's book was still hot. Some asked why McClellan didn't voice criticisms while he was still the White House press secretary. Others insisted he's just trying to sell books and all he cares about is the almighty buck. And there are certain Bushites -- like Karl Rove -- who believe liberal book editors in New York hijacked his manuscript and ghost wrote it for him. Finally, some of McClellan's critics, such as Newt Gingrich, questioned the veracity of his claims. As Gingrich told FoxNews' Hannity and Colmes, "I don't have a great deal of faith that he is telling you and me the truth tonight any more than he apparently was telling us the truth back when he was saying things that he now says weren't true." Notice that Gingrich cannot pinpoint any lies or distortions or even half-truths in the book (who knows if he has even read it?). It's loads of fun to watch the Bushites squirming. Failing to locate any skeletons in McClellan's closet (other than serving in the Bush administration), they're now scrambling to find whatever damning little tidbit they can in a pathetic effort to discredit the book.

Easily the most ludicrous dismissal of McClellan came from the Wall Street Journal, which -- instead of countering McClellan's claims (like the White House, it can't) -- ripped into the book's publisher, PublicAffairs: "You can tell the Democratic presidential race is all but over. Cable television has returned to 24/7 coverage of whether President Bush lied us into war in Iraq. The latest peg is the Texan-bites-Bush story of former White House press secretary Scott McClellan's memoir. ... We'd merely note that the book's publisher is PublicAffairs, an imprint founded by left-wing editor Peter Osnos and which has published six books by George Soros. PublicAffairs is owned by Perseus Books, which is owned by Perseus LLC, a merchant bank whose board includes Democrats Richard Holbrooke and Jim Johnson, who is now doing Barack Obama's vice presidential vetting. One of Perseus's investment funds, Perseus-Soros Biopharmaceutical, is co-managed with Mr. Soros."

If that's the best these sorry Bushites can come up with, then maybe they'd better set up a real-estate office down in Florida and start selling some of that prime Everglades land for new houses. It makes about as much sense to build luxury condos in the marshland as it does to perpetuate the horrific war that drags on day after day in Iraq. From where I'm sitting, this is yet another reason to hope for an Obama Victory come November.

A Salute to Ron Kovic: An American Hero

Ever since I read Ron Kovic's unforgettable memoir Born on the Fourth of July back in the 1980s and watched Oliver Stone's brilliant 1989 film version of Born on the Fourth of July starring Tom Cruise, I've admired him as a hero and a patriot. Kovic, a former Marine who was wounded in Vietnam and came home a paraplegic, eventually became an antiwar activist and joined Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Over the years, Kovic has been fearless in his resistance to all wars. My first book, The Turning: A History of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, was directly inspired by Kovic's heroic example. I've just watched a deeply moving video of Ron Kovic speaking about his personal experiences in Vietnam and he does a brilliant job linking his ordeal to the Iraq War. Do yourself a favor: Drag your little arrow down, tap on the video screen below and watch and listen. I can tell you one thing: By the time it was over, I couldn't keep my eyes dry. After all these years, Ron Kovic remains a true American hero.

Labels: Ron Kovic: An American Hero

Screw Politics! I'm Having a SEVENTIES FLASHBACK!!!

I need a break from American politics. As the band Chicago sang in the early 1980s, “Even lovers need a holiday far away from each other.” And I need a holiday from Barack, Hillary and John – in the worst sort of way. Too much of a good thing makes Andy a dull boy. That’s why I’ve decided to take a much-needed stroll down Memory Lane.

Yes, ladies and gents, I’m feeling nostalgic for the 1970s. During the Sizzlin’ Seventies, I was a kid growing up in sunny southern California. Most people dismiss the 1970s as a time of malaise and decline, but – excuse my French –there was a lot about those times that kicked ass.

So, as a public service to highlight the positive aspects of the 1970s, I’ve formed a list of FIVE THINGS FROM THE 1970s THAT SOMEBODY NEEDS TO BRING BACK.

In no particular order, here are five things about the 1970s that ruled and deserve to be resurrected:

1. Sid and Marty Krofft Shows: You must remember Sid and Marty Krofft, the Montreal-born geniuses that gave us H.R. Pufnstuf, Lidsville, Land of the Lost and – my personal favorite, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (left). These killer dudes took big-headed puppets to the next level, infusing a combination of wry humor and psychedelic fashions into their TV shows. And who could forget the brilliant stop-motion animated dinosaurs in Land of the Lost? No wonder the Krofft Brothers are thought of as pioneers of children’s television. Please, somebody, bring back these TV giants.

2. Citizens’ Band (C.B.) Radios: “Breaker one-nine, I got a Smokey report. Looks like we got ourselves a Bear in the Air, a Kodiak with a Kodak. Smile and comb your hair and while you’re at it, move on down to the diesel digit, ‘cause the bearded buddy is in a lean and hungry mood. His 10-20 is double nickels past Bun Boy in Baker. Stack them eights all the way down the interstate to Texarkana and keep on truckin’, good buddy. This here's Gun Dog, over and out.” Need I say more? (Right: Forty channels of pure C.B. heaven!)

3. Monster cereals: Remember Frankenberry, the strawberry-flavored corn and marshmallow concoction with the non-threatening pink Frankenstein – brought to you by the good folks at General Mills? Remember Count Chocula (the brown Dracula)? Boo Berry (the Peter Lorre-esque blue ghost)? Fruit Brute (the fruity werewolf)? What about the unjustifiably forgotten Yummy Mummy (whose stint in the cereal world spanned the less glamorous yet still vital years ’88 to 94)? I’m telling you: Cereal didn’t get any better than this. The best thing about these cereals was how they transformed the milk into a refreshing fruity beverage. And I still have fond memories of that Ben Kenobi sticker I found at the bottom of my Frankenberry box in the fall of ’77. They don’t make ‘em like that anymore.

4. Sasquatch: The 1970s was really the Golden Age of Bigfoot. I’ll never forget watching the 1972 tour de force Bigfoot: Man or Beast on Saturday night Creature Features back in about ’77. After that, I had all the zeal of a new convert and I vowed to become a Bigfoot hunter extraordinaire. Bigfoot was the undisputed king of the cryptozoological world, and I spent many a Sunday afternoon huntin’ down strange footprints. I formed Bigfoot clubs with my cousins. We studied every single frame of the legendary 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film (shot in Bluff Creek in northern California, pictured right). We went hiking up to the woods where a Utah woman allegedly spotted one of the hairy humanoids. Sadly, we never found anything. But the fun was in the hunt itself. These days, you don’t hear much about Bigfoot anymore. But back then, Bigfoot was all the rage. He was in movies and on lunch boxes and he even turned up as a character on the Six Million Dollar Man. Does it get any cooler than that? A more important question: Where is Sasquatch now that we need him/her?

5. Kung-Fu Grip G.I. Joe: Finally, is there any way we can bring back the classic old G.I. Joe with the peach-fuzz hair and beard? When I was a kid, I admit I was pretty right wing. I thought that America could do no wrong, Gerald Ford was God, and G.I. Joe kicked commie ass (I still haven't changed my mind about Ford). At a certain point, they got rid of the peach-fuzz Kung-Fu Grip-style G.I. Joe and replaced him with some lame non-descript “action figure” that was interchangeable with every other lame “action figure” at Toys R Us. My personal theory is that classic G.I. Joe bore too strong a resemblance to the late, great Victor French who played Isaiah Edwards on Little House on the Prairie and Mark Gordon on Highway to Heaven. Hmm. I smell a conspiracy. And I have reason to believe that the same puppet masters behind Roswell and the JFK assassination are responsible. But please, whatever you do, don’t quote me on that.

Old-school G.I. Joe with the Kung-Fu Grip (left) and the late, great Victor French from Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven (right, pictured with co-star Michael Landon). Note the resemblance. Coincidence? Or conspiracy? You be the judge.

Sydney Pollack (1934-2008): Filmmaker, actor, humanitarian

Sydney Pollack, who died yesterday at age 73, was a great director and actor. He broke into cinema with his 1969 drama They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and eventually emerged with that rebellious 1970s cohort of filmmakers who challenged so many age-old Hollywood conventions. He was also an unrepentant liberal and humanist in the best sense of those words. There were countless tributes to him in newspapers across America, but the best one -- IMHO -- was Ty Burr's Blog on Pollack in today's Boston Globe (click here). To remember this towering giant of modern cinema, I'm including an excerpt of an interview he did with The Progressive magazine back in 2005, at the time his film The Interpreter was released in theaters. Pollack's answer to the question is eloquent and thought-provoking. A man this great deserves the last word.

Q: What is your reaction when people assert that Hollywood is some great liberal establishment?

Pollack: The essence of acting is seeing the world from another point of view. That’s what acting is. I’m not going to be an interpreter at the U.N. I’m not going to live in Africa on a farm or whatever, but I am going to see the world through those eyes when I make those films. Most human beings who are accustomed to attempting to see the world from various points of view tend to be more liberal than conservative. I have one life. I am a certain age. I’m married to one person. I have a certain number of children. I won’t have another life other than that, but I do have many lives through the films. It’s a way for me to understand what it’s like to be a murderer, to confess, to be a beaten wife, to be a minority, to be a victor, to get the girl, to lose the girl. I can do all of that through the practice of an art form. So when you spend your life being other people, as opposed to being the one person that you are, you learn that life is gray sometimes, not black and white. That what you thought was true isn’t necessarily true if you switch sides. That doesn’t mean you should go around understanding Hitler. It does mean that there are all kinds of people and they look at life in different ways.

I think that’s just one of the reasons why people that are in this profession tend to lean toward the liberal side rather than the conservative side.

A Cloud With a Silver Lining? Echoes of the G.I. Bill

The United States Senate (right) has just approved a $165 billion funding bill (by a vote of 75-22) to finance the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq well into 2009. The bill was sponsored by Senator Jim Webb, a West Virginia Democrat and Vietnam War veteran. What made this funding package different from past huge cash infusions into the wars overseas was the inclusion of billions of dollars for a number of domestic programs, including education and benefits for veterans. For example, it provides $52 billion over 10 years to help veterans pay for university tuition. Many observers are likening the bill to the G.I. Bill, the ambitious omnibus bill passed late in World War II that similarly furnished billions of dollars for domestic programs to help veterans and their families.

Not surprisingly, antiwar activists immediately condemned the vote. Michael McPhearson, co-chair of the antiwar group United for Peace and Justice, noted that the Senate has "ensured the needless deaths of hundreds of soldiers and thousands of innocent Iraqis by voting to expand the war and occupation for another full year."

The funding bill in the Senate created strange bedfellows. Democrats and moderate Republicans united in their support for the bill. The 22 who voted against it consisted largely (but note entirely) of Republicans who support President George W. Bush's opposition to any sort of funding for humane veterans' programs. The bill has also caused a great deal of controversy on the campaign trail because Senator John McCain opposed it -- largely for the same reason why Bush is now threatening to veto it: Because of its ambitious domestic spending side. True, McCain -- as part of his damage control -- is calling for more modest sums to be spent on education for veterans (based on a sliding scale tied to their individual records of military service). But his plan is far less ambitious.

Historically, right-wing Republicans have been miserly when it comes to allocating any sort of funds to help ordinary American people. They'll flush billions -- trillions -- down the toilet of the Iraq War. They'll support mammoth foreign aid packages that include colossal sums of humanitarian and military spending. But when it comes to helping working-class and middle-class men and women and their families, these GOP zealots cling to a warped "pull yourself up by the bootstrap" mentality that is strangely absent in the rest of their designs to create a gargantuan bureaucracy in Washington, D.C. Is there anybody out there who still believes that right-wing Republicans are advocates of small government? If you really want limited government, Libertarian presidential hopeful Bob Barr -- not John McCain -- is your candidate.

Although Senator McCain used to be a maverick on a host of issues, he has morphed into one of those "pull yourself up by the bootstrap" Republicans who advocates socialism for the rich and free enterprise for all the rest of us.

Meanwhile, those who want an end to the bloodbath in Iraq should keep two things in mind: 1) Congress is not going to suddenly pull the plug on support for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and beat a hasty retreat. Most members of Congress would regard such a move as political suicide. The $165 billion funding bill is a time-buying measure to keep the operations going until there is a new president in the White House. 2) The domestic spending contained in the funding bill represents a very real victory for veterans and their families, who -- up until now -- have been marginalized and ignored in the worst way imaginable. Michael McPhearson is quite correct to suggest that this bill -- supported by Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton -- will extend this horrific war for many more months. And this is a war that has caused profound destruction, dislocation and carnage. But if the Democrats play their cards carefully, they can tie McCain's opposition to humanitarian domestic spending to Bush's failed, disastrous policies over the past seven-plus years. Sadly, Democrats have often blundered such coups, and they may just blow this one, too.

Bottom line: You can be certain Congress would have voted to continue financing the Iraq War one way or the other. The G.I. Bill-like elements of this recent funding bill represent a brilliant maneuver by Democrats to move in a more liberal direction on the home front. If Bush vetoes the bill, he'll simply expose his true colors. And McCain's opposition to it has already undermined him. What's next? Somehow, Democrats must summon the courage to reorient foreign policy in a similarly humane direction by ending the war and creating a new Marshall Plan to help rebuild Iraq.

Franken Watch: One-way Ticket to Dullsville

The current United States Senate race in Minnesota pitting lefty comedian, satirist, talk-show host and bestselling author Al Franken (right) against Republican incumbent Senator Norm Coleman has been incredibly dull so far. This is surprising because Franken is easily the most intriguing Senate candidate in the United States today. As Kathrine Skiba noted in U.S. News and World Report (May 16, 2008): "At first glance, Franken's Senate challenge seems hard to take seriously. A fixture on Saturday Night Live for 15 seasons, the actor-comedian, author, screenwriter, producer, and radio host has a fat resume: seven USO tours, six books, five Emmy Awards, two Grammys, and a degree from Harvard."

Franken's campaign has gotten off to a sluggish start. The latest polls showed Coleman up 7 points over Franken (the May 19 Minneapolis Star Tribune poll put Coleman at 51 percent to Franken's 44 percent). In late April, Senate candidate Franken admitted that he owed taxes in some 17 states amounting to $53,000. On June 7, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (the Populist Era-sounding name of Minnesota's Democratic Party) will nominate its candidate at its state convention. Franken is expected to easily win the party's nomination, but he faces competition from a left-wing university professor, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. Both Franken and Nelson-Pallmeyer are claiming to be heirs to the legacy of beloved left-wing Senator Paul Wellstone. While most observers are predicting an easy Franken victory at next month's state convention, the comedian can't be too thrilled with a challenge from his left flank.

Now Minnesota Republicans are digging up all kinds of outrageous statements made by Franken in the past in an attempt to show that he's too "extreme" (whatever the hell that means) for the job. They've dug up an over-the-top satirical column he wrote in a 2000 issue of Playboy about his visit to a make-believe sex institute, which is full of references to sexual acts between Franken and other people and -- worse -- between Franken and various "machines." An open letter written to Franken by the Minnesota Republican Party stated:

"The words and descriptions you write about are beyond vulgar. They demean and degrade women as thoroughly and disrespectfully as any article we have ever seen, and we are horrified to believe that someone running for the U.S. Senate could have written them. This column shows flagrant disregard for women, and an extreme objectification of women as sex objects for your pleasure. While you may attempt to defend your writing as satire, we hardly find anything defensible about your finding humor in your desire to have sex with women or robots that look like women simply to give yourself a good time. Denounce this article and apologize immediately."

So far, no apologies have come from the Franken camp. I hope the leaders of the Minnesota Republican Party aren't holding their breaths. (On second thought...)

The political junkies, pundits and talking heads all seem to agree that Franken has been running a relatively lackluster campaign so far. Franken would do well to listen to the comments of Larry Jacobs, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota. In reference to Franken's over-the-top Playboy column, Jacobs observed, "The Playboy story is one of many arrows to set the election as a referendum on the challenger rather than the incumbent. This is part of one strategy, which is to frame a particular question for voters: Does the challenger reflect Minnesota's values? This is a striking departure from usual re-election campaigns which are framed by the question: How has the incumbent done? Coleman loses if this question prevails."

Jacobs also warned: "Franken has done some things very well, but he has not yet created a consistent and effective strategy of making this a campaign about the incumbent. He has played into the Coleman campaign's strategy through inexperience and arrogance."

To complicate matters, pro-wrestler, politician and talk-show host Jesse Ventura (right) -- governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003 -- is now considering entering the race for the United States Senate against Franken and Coleman. So the race won't be dull much longer. Meantime, we can only hope Franken sits down with some capable advisers and maps out an effective strategy for victory.

Andrew's Anime Antics

I spent the weekend at Anime North, a massive anime extravaganza in Toronto. It took place at a sprawling convention center and two big hotels down the street from Toronto's Pearson International Airport. For the uninitiated, anime is Japanese animation. It is often characterized by complex story lines, violence, dark themes, and a distinctive style of art work -- the big eyes, almost nonexistent noses, tiny slits for mouths. It's not just for grownups. There is also anime directed toward kids, like Sailor Moon, Hamtaro, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, etc. To complicate matters, there is also manga, which is essentially the cartoon book form of anime. Manga -- which actually dates back to the eighteenth century in Japan -- is hugely popular across North America. By the end of 2007, there were 15 manga publishers in the United States printing between 1300 and 1400 titles.

Anime North drew thousands of participants, most of them dressed in mind-boggling costumes. There were teenagers (some male, some female) in Japanese girl school outfits. There were people carrying giant hammers and swords and ornate scythes. Many wore colorful wigs -- red, baby blue, pink, green, purple -- styled in post-apocalyptic spikes. Some wore masks or other coverings over their faces. Among the costumed were Witches and Soul Reapers and dimension-hopping Warriors and Black Magicians and Medieval Priestesses and Cyber Criminals and Dark Conspirators and Ancient Knights and Fox Demons and Lecherous Monks. I saw young women with painted faces wearing eighteenth-century Japanese silk gowns. There were people dressed like Pokemon monsters (my own daughter dressed as a Pokemon called Mudkip). Large crowds of adolescents wore the elaborate, multicolored school uniforms found in the Japanese manga Host Club. When these giddy young men and women spotted their favorite anime characters, they clapped like kids on Christmas morning, whipped out their digital cameras and pleaded with them to pose for photos.

Inside the hotels, convention-goers attended anime and manga panels, sessions on how-to-draw anime characters, video gaming exhibits and autograph signings. In a vast convention hall, there were hundreds of vendor booths selling toys and dolls and manga and anime DVDs and swords and padded nunchaku (numchucks).

I must admit, when I first arrived at this anime extravaganza, I kept thinking of my dear, departed grandfather, Grandpa Ralph, a combat veteran who fought in the Pacific Theater during World War II and saw the very worst of the war against the Japanese. Grandpa Ralph passed away last year. He detested all things Japanese until the later years of his life. He even gave me grief when I bought a Mazda in the mid-1990s. I heard him call the Japanese "Japs" on more than one occasion. And I couldn't help but wonder: What would Grandpa Ralph make of this highly successful Japanese invasion of North America?

Also, I rolled my eyes at some of the uber-geekery I witnessed ("Oh, I've been hunting high and low for the volume when Yusuke defeats the Four Saint Beasts at Maze Castle!" one enthusiastic buyer cried at a manga table, as if she'd just discovered gold at Sutter's Mill.) Some of the nerdiness reminded me of those Star Trek conventions, where dorks would debate which was a better episode, Amok Time or The Trouble with Tribbles.

Yet, having said that, I must admit I found myself deeply moved by this subculture of kindred spirits, all gathered together in one place for the same purpose. The whole time I walked among those thousands of anime/manga fanatics, I never sensed any competitiveness or mean-spiritedness. The young men and women packed into the convention hall were amazingly affectionate with one another. The hugging started Friday night and happened over and over again until Sunday afternoon. Young people who didn't even know each other hugged like they were lifelong friends. At one point, a long line of anime fans stood with signs advertising "FREE HUGS." And they hugged and hugged and hugged. Nero fiddled, but these people hugged. What I witnessed was a vibrant subculture, accepting -- no, actually, welcoming -- of nonconformity and unconventionality. These people were non-judgmental. They were kind -- I mean genuinely kind, not a phony or insincere kind. As far as I could see, they weren't forming cliques or spreading hateful rumors about one another, like so many young people did back in the 1980s when I trudged through that lowest level of hell known as junior high.

When I left Anime North and headed home, I felt an affinity with this young generation. These were gentle souls. Despite their outwardly odd appearance, these were some of the sanest people I have ever seen. They offered a haven for gays, lesbians, artists, poets, sensitive teens, depressed outcasts, creative dynamos and angst-filled youths. The laughter, the hugs, the snapping photos all added up to a joyous celebration of youth. I wish I could say I'm a convert and I'm now a big anime/manga fan, but I can't because -- quite frankly -- that stuff is way over my head. But I'm proud to have been a part of such a life-affirming and vibrant subculture, if only for one weekend.

See you in a few days, Blog Pals... Anime calls!

Greetings Blog Pals, I'll be signing off for a few days, until Monday, May 26. I'm going with my kids to a convention in Toronto called Anime North. It's also known as "Canada's premier fan-run anime convention." Ooh boy, I can hardly wait! My son and daughter and all of their pals are way into the Japanese animation known as anime. In fact, they can't get enough anime. On our cable TV, we have two -- count 'em, two -- anime on demand television channels. Frankly, I don't quite get the appeal of anime. I watch these shows with my kids and most of the time I can't figure out what in the hell is going on (which, I suppose, is the story of my life -- but we won't go there). I've been told that anime fans are really hardcore. They love the art form: the giant, watery eyes; the V-shaped faces, the tiny slits for mouths; the insane hair. The tens of thousands of fans who will converge on Toronto for Anime North dress up as their favorite anime characters. It should prove to be quite a surreal experience.

Back when I was a kid, growing up in suburban Southern California and Utah, the only anime we had was Speed Racer (above). (Later, Speed Racer was joined by another early anime show, Battle of the Planets, an outer space epic that depicted the adventures of G-Force) Speed Racer, of course, has been made into a live-action film and it's currently packing 'em in at multiplexes around the world. But I have such warm memories of the show -- of Speed racing around in his powerful Mach 5; Pops Racer (Speed's dad and mechanic) shouting all his lines; the irrepressible Spritle and Chim Chim offering the comic relief; Trixie, hovering around in her helicopter; the mysterious Racer X, who always saved Speed's rear end when the going got tough -- that I can't bring myself to see the movie.

But anime has changed over the years. It has gotten to be more complex -- bordering on incomprehensible. I can't follow the plots. The dialogue is strange. The storylines are convoluted. I have to admit, it just doesn't do it for me. Give me Tex Avery (1908-1980) -- the genius behind Droopy, Bugs Bunny and Screwy the Squirrel (right). Now there was a cartoon god!

A Salute to America's World War II Veterans

They're coming from all over the country, from every state in the Union. This weekend, World War II veterans from across America will converge on the nation's capital. Some are traveling thousands of miles to be part of the Memorial Day ceremonies this weekend -- in particular, to witness the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. (above). Many of them are flying aboard chartered airplanes known as Honor Flights, which are free airline flights provided to World War II veterans so they can visit the World War II Memorial. The Honor Flights had modest beginnings: They started in 2005, when six small planes carried 12 World War II veterans from Springfield, Ohio to the Washington, D.C. Now, thanks to the generous donations of Americans from all walks of life, the Honor Flights have expanded into most states. And these aren't just puddle-jumpers making the short hop to the capital. Many of them are larger passenger planes carrying up to 100 or so veterans. As veteran Ben Lesesne of Yuma, Arizona, put it, "I'd like for veterans to see this before they pass on. They say that we're dying at a rate of 1,500 a month in this country. I think every veteran of World War II should see that before they pass on. It only took them 60 years to build it."

It is deeply poignant to see these men -- now in their mid-80s or older -- making this pilgrimage to witness a profound monument to freedom. These are men who came of age in a very different time, and they help us keep alive the memories of the many noble sacrifices Americans made during this trying period of their history. It seems like not long ago that World War I veterans were in their twilight years and World War II veterans were in their sixties. I remember watching the D-Day ceremonies back in 1984 -- on the fortieth anniversary -- and thinking how young and robust the vets still looked. Today, a good number of them use walkers and wheelchairs and canes, but you can still see that youthful gleam in many a vets' eye. Back when NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation was published in 1998, many critics accused him excessively romanticizing a very difficult period of American history (while others knocked him for mediocre writing). Maybe there was some truth to the criticism. But one can refrain from Greatest Generation nostalgia tripping and still appreciate the amazing sacrifices made by these young men to safeguard democracy.

But as Ben Lesesne points out, the men and women of this generation are passing away in great numbers. The Veterans Administration offers slightly lower figures than Lesesne, but even the VA estimates that 3 million men and women who served in the Armed Services during World War II (out of a total of 16 million) are still alive and that 1,200 are dying per day. So we're beginning to lose these precious people. That is why Honor Flight is such a tremendous service. It flies veterans for free so they can witness the monument to their heroism. To see these aging men gathered at the memorial -- remembering, laughing, weeping, reflecting -- is to see a nation at its finest.