<nettime> Wellstone transformed

[human being <human@electronetwork.org>]

  There are a few things of mention that are not
  making it into the local and national media yet
  which are circulating in decentralized networks
  which are worth mentioning.

  So far there has been confusion surrounding the
  crash of the small plane carrying the Senator, his
  wife, daughter, three campaign staff, and two pilots.
  What is emphasized is that there was an intense fire
  right after the crash, that they were expecting to
  find a flight data recorder, which was not present
  on this flight, and that the plane made a strange
  turn roughly two miles from the rural airport landing,
  thus the wreckage was not facing the runway, as it
  would if it were approaching to land.

  The Federal transportation and safety workers have
  been investigating the crash site, and have yet to
  issue any strong indication of why the plane crashed.
  A comment from a local pilot underplays the roll of
  the slight amount of sleet, and the issue of de-icing
  the wings on the plane, as if it were not a credible
  reason for the crash. The major point is that it may
  take weeks and months to know why the plane crashed,
  and an after-crash intense fire, in a wet and icy
  bog, may have devastated potential evidence.

  What is not mentioned is mischief, sabotage, and other
  forms of crash scenarios. Once, on a radio call-in show,
  such a hypothesis was mentioned and quickly disregarded
  as completely absurd from a local public radio host.
  Word online is also circulating with speculation of a
  confusion about the facts of the crash, and why the
  possibility of an assassination politics is not being
  considered in the ongoing investigation, to set minds
  at ease that at least it is being looked at in depth,
  until the conclusive cause is found, as the people need
  to know, and trust, their government. This is not to
  say that people believe the crash was intentional, only
  that it is a question needing to be addressed, such as
  knowing that the airport of the plane's departure, its
  flight records, people on or near the airport prior to
  the flight, are looked at extensively in case there was
  'terrorist' or other sabotage involved. If these things
  are not looked into, evidence could be lost, or public
  speculation and distrust could grow to levels that would
  demand the investigation fully resolve this open question.

  On another note, there is a public memorial tonight that
  is happening at the University of Minnesota's Williams
  Arena, which has dignitaries including former Presidents
  Carter and Clinton, and Vice President Gore attending, as
  well as many US Senators. Vice President Cheney, and the
  President of the United States, George W. Bush, are not
  attending the services-- Yet, within these next six days,
  President Bush will be in Minnesota two different times
  to stump for the Republican senate nominee during what is
  eerily like two other recent elections, the voting fiasco
  of the last presidential elections, and the race won by
  a senator killed in a small plane prior to an election.

  That the President of the United States can campaign two
  times in the next 6 days in this state, for the Republican
  senate candidate, and blithely not attend the memorial of
  a U.S. Senator is hard to put into perspective, beyond a
  political ruthlessness that transforms democracy into tragedy.

  The Republican candidate also swore not to campaign during
  the days after the horrific plane crash, of great loss to
  the state, and did so for one day, when a political ad on
  the television had the challenging candidate's mother with
  her son, sitting at a table, disparaging Senator Wellstone
  who was killed a day or two before, mentioning him as 'that
  other guy' who wanted to harm the candidate's mother by way
  of robbing her of her social security. Maybe it was a mistake,
  and yet there was no widely available public retraction or
  recognition that this previous television advertisement was
  a complete mistake, and damaging to public civility. It was
  then taken up by Republicans on Sunday morning political TV
  roundtable shows, with political spin powered by the federal
  Republican political committees trying to stop an unstoppable
  momentum in rejection of politics as usual.

  That is, Walter Mondale, a well-respected former Senator,
  Vice President in the Carter Administration, and Ambassador
  to Japan, who has brought people into a sense of unity, after
  the breaking apart of the fragile peace and chaos of fate.
  It is now official that Mr. Mondale will take on the job to
  bring Minnesota back into the fray, and the only thing that
  can try (in vain) to stop it would be a massive voter fraud
  issue, as are mysteriously appearing in two adjacent states.
  One thing is certain, Minnesotan's are not going to lose their
  Senator and also accept an inconclusive election, especially
  if a surprise victory goes to the statistically unlikely
  candidate, no matter what may happen elsewhere.

  The good news, besides a phoenix rising, the chanting of
  songs, the momentum of people who deeply believe and desire
  democratic governance, and representers who can carry dreams
  onward, upward, is that of the Wellstone family grave, in the
  most beautiful of locations at the Lakewood Cemetery in South
  Minneapolis, hovering above Lake Calhoun, one in the chain of
  city lakes and a part of the legendary parkway system here.

  On the afternoon of the public memorial, where many thousands
  will be gathering, at the cemetery on the day after the burial
  of Senator Paul Wellstone, and his wife and daughter, it is
  strangely alone in a most magical time, space, and place. If
  one is to convey the general effect, it is to encounter freshly
  dug earth, with some sod unrolled around the family grave. A
  humble bouquet of flowers sits atop the soil, unmarked, and
  from here, one finds oneself within one of the most beautiful
  of settings from which to contemplate how spectacular life is.
  Trees, small animals, a beautiful lake, light, sun, wind, and
  a sense of peace and a civic scale extending across the lake,
  mirroring the sky in the waters, bringing the worlds together.

  Thus, with the trees reaching up, the dirt so rich as its new
  residents, brings a sense of completeness to the public mission
  for democratic action, at any and all costs- to do what is right,
  and then, to rest. Two photos attempt to share this serenity:

  Wellstone family grave, Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, Minnesota
  http://www.electronetwork.org/temp6/graves.jpg  (158 kilobytes)

  A shovel leaning on tree, with Wellstone family grave in background
  http://www.electronetwork.org/temp6/shovel.jpg  (137 kilobytes)


  Live coverage of the Wellstone memorial is now being broadcast on
  the local news, and a large amount of citizens are now gathering.
  The vote begins next Tuesday. And that will be only the beginning.

  ---
  bc. no copyright, text or images, 2002. images temporarily online.

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