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Show | THE ZEPHYR/JUNE-JULY 2004 to go in the dam. I just want to look at it from the window.” It didn’t matter. “Beyond this point, you are subject to search,” the guard said mechanically. fyEe But more than this pathetic submissiveness is the way many Americans openly and vehemently reject the idea of individual freedom while, at the same time, they embrace that concept to justify our military adventures overseas. I am a sucker for conservative talk radio—-maybe I just like to be angry all the time—but it has its enlightening moments. Frightening and enlightening, all in the A common their own individual liberties. The other day, I listened with amazement to a caller on the Sean Hannity radio show. With all kinds of oozing patriotic pride, he proclaimed, “The way I look at it, anybody that is afraid of a wire tap must have something to hide. Heck, if the FBI wants to tap my phone they’re more than welcome. I got nothing to be ashamed of.” He really said that. How can a word like ‘freedom’ be so consistently abused by the people who claim to understand its meaning better than the rest of us? The truth is, they don’t understand freedom. Had they been around at the time of the American Revolution, Limbaugh and Hannity and their ilk would have been the Loyalists, devoted to the King, and intolerant of anyone witha different perspective. They would have hated Jefferson and Franklin and Washington and would have called for their imprisonment. Or worse. Somerset Maugham once said, “Ifa nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort and money that it values more, it will lose that too.” In 2004, if half of America doesn’t even know what freedom means, how can they possibly know if they’re about to lose it? Or that they already have? STILES’ SUMMER DRIVING RULES OF THE ROAD #2 With the summer tourist season upon us, Iam going to abuse my eee right once again and make a personal plea tod ywhere to get the hel out of my way. Last year, about this time, | was driving my truck to Tooele to meet the Zephyr printed. I made the mistake of going to Salt Lake Be oe way via US 6 & 50 over Soldier Summit to Spanish Fork. It’s a night ghway, always congested, and J should have known better. I’d just left Price and was behind a car who was dawdling along at about 35 MPH. I patiently endured him, knowing that in just a half mile or so, I’d have a passing lane and the opportunity to go around. But as soon as the passing lane appeared, he sped up. I tried to get around him, but it was uphill, my old truck doesn’t have the oomph it used to (neither do I for that matter) and this ‘dawdler’ was now going 70MPH. | gave up, but as soon as the road started to narrow again, he started slowing down again...right back down to 35. I was already in a bad mood and | said to myself, “Screw this.” Even though I had a double-yellow line, I could see clearly ahead for half a mile and knew I could easily pass him, especially at the speed he was moving. So I did it. Unfortunately, there was a Utah Highway Patrol trooper directly behind me who, in my zeal to pass the Dawdler, I had failed to notice. He pulled me over, gave mea lecture, and wanted to know if I thought I was “special” in some way that gave me the right to break the law. Normally, I grovel at the threat of a ticket. But this time I was unrepentant. “I broke the law but I’d do it again,” I growled. “It’s drivers like that guy who should be pulled over. He’s the menace, not me. He was rude, not me. But to hell with it...Do your duty.” The trooper had initially accused me of reckless driving, speeding and illegal lane change. When he handed me the citation, he said, “I’m only writing you for the lane change. You shouldn’t have done that, but I understand your frustration.” An empathetic cop. I was almost grateful. So...to all you dawdling drivers, listen up. If you want to dawdle, that’s fine. As long as you don’t impede the normal flow of traffic, as long as you are courteous enough to pull over and let faster traffic pass, I salute you. But if you don’t pull over and plan to lumber along while traffic backs up behind you, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, at least when you get to a passing lane, DON’T SPEED UP. Let us go around you. That’s all we ask. Is that so much? I know you can see us, all stacked up and seething in your rear view mirror. You can ‘tbe oe with your head up your ass—otherwise how could you dawdleal y? Soacknowledge us, move over, and let the rest of theworld go by: you. Meanwhile, I stay off the Soldier Summit road these days. It takes me an extra hour to make Tooele, but I have the road to myself. And does anything feel better than an open road? THE IRREPRESSIBLE KEN SLEIGHT After mounting and dismounting a horse a few hundred thousand times, Sleight’s luck finally ran out last month. Dismounting after a morning trail ride, the horse came down on top of him, then sort of stomped around on Ken a bit before moving on. The fall cracked six of Ken’s ribs, punctured his lung, and crushed his collarbone. He was flown by air to a Grand Junction hospital where his lung was re-inflated, a pin put in his collarbone and he was released a couple days later. When I heard about the accident, Ken was already back home. I drove up to see him, knocked on the door, and who should open it but Ken himself. I stared at him with disbelief. “How are you feeling?” I asked, amazed to find him anywhere but flat on his back. “Oh,” he said, “pretty good.” Actually he was Volume 16 Number 2 June/July 2004 theme on all the shows, passed down, of course, by our fearless leader Mr. Bush (“Like a rock, only dumber”) and a theme all of you have heard, is the notion that we are in Iraq to give these people their freedom. You hear that word all the time. Freedom. We want them to be Free. Let Freedom ring! And yet, these same Freedom Worshipers don’t have much use for it in the States. Or in their own lives. Most of them embrace the Patriot Act, have no use for other people who exercise their freedom to protest, and even seem willing to sacrifice 4...POINT BLANK: "ONE SMALL ‘VICTORY’ IN THE WAR ON TERROR" By Michael Wolcott NEW WEST BLUES: "THE FUTURE: "Fee Demo Meets the War on Terror" By Jim Stiles 7..... DEPUY! A NEW regularZephyr feature. The Art of JOHN DePUY with commentary by his great friend Ed Abbey (from “My Friend Debris’) 8... LOSING SOLITUDE: By Martin Murie Cow Bashing ..NATURE: Now It Comes in Designer Colors The Growing Threat of ‘Industrial Strength Tourism" An Early Warning by Scott Silver 1 FEE DEMO SUCKS OR... Whose Land IS This? By Robert Funkhouser 16... GOOD SIGNS Not all signs are regulatory or restrictive..sometimes they're even funny. A Zephyr collection from over the years 18.....F EE DEMO as a UNIFYING ISSUE Even Escalanteans have found something to agree upon. By Erica Walz 24... HERB RINGER'S: American West As Big as They Got--Herb encounters a travel trailer. 26..... THE ZEPHYR BACKBONE REPERTORY CO. More new faces for 2004 27... SILVER BULLETS By Scott Silver The NPS is OUT of CONTROL 28....FEEDBACK: An extended edition... What the readers thought of MAHBU. SUBSCRIBE TO THE ZEPHYR SIX ISSUES (ONE YEAR): §15.. TWELVE ISSUES (TWO YEARS): §28 EIGHTEEN ISSUES (THREE YEARS): $40 NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE 6 9-DIGIT ZIP PLEASE READ THIS! in a hell of a lot of pain. But there he was, dressed and more annoyed by his injuries than suffering from them. “It'll just take some time and !’ll be alright,” he grimaced. Anyway, I gave Ken a pass on this issue but he’ll be back with a story in August/September. In fact, he’s already working on it. MAHBU UPDATE The response to last issue’s “It’s Time for MAHBU” was very gratifying. Many but not all of the letters I received are in the Feedback section, beginning on page 28. I hope all of you who connected to that article will pass it along to others. The link is on the web site, at the top of the home page. Send it to everyone who has an interested in the future of the rural West | bee te a ~~ same broadcast. A ee The Post Office will NOT forward 3rd Class mail. If you do not send usa change of address, we cannot be responsible for issues you did not receive. Subscriptions must begin with the next issue. Back issues are available at ridiculous prices. Call for a price list. Those readers who choose to take advantage of the multi-year discounts do so at their own risk. There is no guarantee that the world will be here in three years, let alone this publication. CHECKS OR MONEY ORDERS ONLY TO: P.O. BOX 327, MOAB, UT 84532 PAGE3 | |