Violent Spectacle

After a long trip, for no particular reason, I went to 3:10 to Yuma yesterday. Thirty years ago I was in Peru this time in September. Peru was run by Russians. Che posters were everywhere. There were free Russian lessons at the University of Cuzco. There happened to be an International Conference of Third World Nations in Lima while I packing for my return to the U.S. Everybody seemed to speak English, and reside in New York; their next stop was the autumn opening of the United Nations. However, on our way back to New York, rightist tanks rolled in the streets of Lima, and the Russians abruptly departed. Today the mass media is echoing Bush’s anti-Iran ploy. President Ahmadinejad spoke this afternoon at my alma mater, Columbia University, and will speak tomorrow at the U.N. The tabloids call him Mr Evil. First there was Osama, then there was Saddam, and now there’s Ahmadinejad. Are the Republicans preparing us for more war? Like O.J. Simpson they’ll eventually catch the guy who blew up the World Trade Center. Meanwhile the cowboys in 3:10 to Yuma kill just about everybody.