<MSTing> 4/5 "Bloodlines/An Open Window"
peasporr...@hotmail.com
OPEN ON: McLaughlin's studio. The panel is in the middle of watching
the posting on the monitor.
> For fifty years the world had the ultimate
> loaded gun in its hand, and we haven't pulled the trigger. Hurrah for
> us!
PAT: Pip pip! Jolly good show!
> The temptation for those in power must have been quite intense at
> times!
ELEANOR: Them bombs is as bad as Lay's potato chips.
> Yet, some sanity, some wisdom, some spirit guidance has won out
> through all this and no one has used another one of these atomic
> weapons since the first two were dropped over a half century ago. It
> shows me that we are learning.
PAT: -the power of effective, untraceable biological warfare.
>
> I believe the whole memory of war, especially the type of war where
> we would use these weapons, has begun to fade in the mass
> consciousness of the world.
JOHN: Naivete rating! Fred!
FRED: Still off the goofy meter. Maybe we should recalibrate.
> I think that this is a remarkable healing. We've put some limits on
> our aggression.
JOHN: Number of countries we have sent US or UN troops or bombers to in
the last ten years- Mort!
MORT: Libya, Jordan, Kuwait, Panama, Haiti, Iraq, Somalia, Bosnia...
> Certainly, we have a long way to go, but we have started
> the process of peace, and we should acknowledge ourselves for that.
ELEANOR: Well you're you.
PAT: Yes, I'm me, and you're-
ELEANOR: Well, I'm me as well.
PAT: Then that's acknowledged.
ELEANOR: Well OK then.
>
> There's a tendency, as always, to focus in on the negative and to
> forget all the wonderful positive progress towards peace the world
> has made. When I thought back,
PAT: -my mom washed my mouth out with soap.
JOHN: Thought back, Pat, not talked back.
> many world changing, peaceful signposts stuck out in my
> memory.
ELEANOR: Oh, good, peaceful signposts. I hate those warmongering
signposts.
FRED: Yeah, like Attila the Signpost.
PAT: Alexander the Signpost.
JOHN: The Khmer "Roadmarker" Rouge.
> The "Iron Curtain" has come down and Germany is now one country
> again. That's remarkable when you remember what was going on there
> just ten years ago. Oppressive communism has dissolved in the Soviet
> Union.
ELEANOR: Replaced by oppressive capitalism.
JOHN: A cheap shot, Eleanor.
> In fact,
> there is no more Soviet Union, no more domineering "evil empire"!
MORT: King Assad may be clearing his throat and tapping his foot at
this point.
> I don't
> know if there ever really was an "evil empire" but that's how we
> thought of the U.S.S.R. Remember Khrushchev, Kennedy and the Cuban
> missile crises in 1962? That was only thirty-three years ago! We're
> normalizing our diplomatic relationship with Viet Nam! Can you
> imagine that?
ELEANOR: Now we can get sneakers made for just three cents an hour!
> Just a little
> over twenty years ago we (the U.S.) were trying to bomb these people
> back to stone!
ALL snicker.
PAT: The Rev watched too many Flintstones episodes.
> Now, American companies are scurrying to get a piece of the Viet
> Nam pie.
MORT: Like a pizza pie, but with lemongrass and kim chee.
> It's Coca-Cola(r) and Levis(r) for the masses.
FRED: Sunday masses?
PAT: Whatever happened to Sunday School clothes and sacramental wine?
> We're beginning to
> normalize our relationship with China.
ELEANOR: Discarding our paper plates forever!
> Finally our government is deciding
> that this huge country with its 1 billion people (or more, who knows)
> actually exists! Isn't that special!
JOHN: Tony, does the word "Nixon" mean anything to you?
PAT: We always recognized the country, it's the repressive totalitarian
government we have a problem with.
> Soon everyone will be drinking Coke
> and wearing 501's.
FRED: You sense a product placement contract in play here?
JOHN: Coke adds God! Always holy, always righteous- always Coke-a-
Cola!
> "For a teaching assignment such as His, He must use
> everything [my emphasis] in this world for your release." (T 298/320)
> The COURSE is really right on with this one! Who would have thought
> soda pop and canvas pants would become instruments of peace? The
> Middle East situation is definitely healing.
JOHN: Shortsightedness! Morton Kondracke!
MORT: Self-evident.
> Israel is sitting at the negotiation table
> with the Palestinians, with Jordan and with Syria!
PAT: Long enough to toss a stink bomb and run!
> Remember the "Six Day
> War" in 1967 happened only twenty-eight years ago.
FRED: So did Sargent Pepper. What's your point?
> Definite steps toward
> world peace are being made! Who can deny it! Why would we want to?
ELEANOR: Who put the 'bomp' on the 'bomp-she-bomp-she-bomp'?
MORT: And what about Randi? Will she tell Greg she still has feelings
for Estevan?
>
> What I like about these recent peace initiatives in the world is that
> it's really what the COURSE calls true forgiveness.
JOHN: I'm looking for a war that ended out of forgiveness rather than
the defeat of the enemy, or mutual exhaustion of the two sides. I ask
you, Fred Barnes.
FRED: Well, The Battle of the Network Stars ended- but that was 'cuz of
ratings.
> The world seems willing to
> acknowledge that these difficulties existed in the past: that we
> hated each other in the past, were mortal enemies in the past, tried
> to massacre and murder each other in the past -
MORT: Then hugged and cried like two women at a wedding ceremony.
> but that the past is over. No country has
> to admit to any guilt and no punishment needs to be exacted. Nothing
> has to be solved.
PAT: No rhyme! No reason!
ELEANOR: No progress! No meaning!
JOHN: November!
> No countries have to pay restitution for imagined war crimes.
FRED: Horrid prison camp atrocities? Ha! All in your head!
> The world is willing to acknowledge the problems and then put them
> aside. The world seems much more willing to let the past be gone than
> it ever has been before in history.
MORT: Oh yeah, Israel is just so ready to forget Munich '72.
> World governments are learning that the old way of
> holding grudges and nursing enemies just doesn't work.
JOHN: New ways of holding grudges! Pat!
PAT: Um... you can call your enemy's house and hang up real quick.
> Hallelujah! The
> world is saying, "O.K. it's a new day. Let's just start anew."
ELEANOR: The world's on second honeymoon, and France did all the
packing!
JOHN: Oo-la-la!
> Many
> countries are practicing global forgiveness! I want to acknowledge
> this and congratulate us, the world community!
JOHN: What are we going to do now?
ALL: We're not going to Euro-Disneyworld!
>
> Half Empty or Half Full
MORT: Oh, stop with the questions and fill the damn glass already.
>
> You see, I really believe that the reason the world is progressing
> like this is because we're all individually progressing like this.
JOHN: If I could progress that way...
> This is our
> personal spiritual work that we're seeing reflected in the world
> scene. The individual is progressing and it's spiritual communities
> like ours, the COURSE community with its many holy teaching/learning
> relationships that are evolving the world at this quickened pace.
FRED: Huh? What's that rumble? Oh, it's Darwin spinning in his grave.
> Thousands of years are being
> saved. Don't you see it too?
PAT: Don't you see it, Lenny?
MORT: Duh, tell me about the rabbits, George.
> The world is reflecting our spiritual growth.
ELEANOR: What if the world is reflecting Bill Clinton's spiritual
growth?
PAT: Then I'm putting all my stock in Hustler.
>
> Now, some will say, "Tony, are you blind!
MORT: Well, yes! But my guide dog types well!
> What about Bosnia and Croatia.
> That war is just horrible! There's still plenty of war g oing on!"
FRED: I prefer to see the charnelhouse as half-empty!
>
> Of course there's still war. I don't mean to imply that we've
> completed our healing. The Bosnian situation is tragic. However, when
> I ask for a new perception from Holy Spirit I see that we probably
> handled this better than we would have 25 years ago. That could
> easily have been another Viet Nam.
ELEANOR: I'm sorry, did he just say Vietnam could have become another
Vietnam?
JOHN: Read what he means, not what he says.
> It has many of the same characteristics.
PAT: They're both countries. And they're really far away and stuff.
> It's really a civil war. We could
> have easily moved in masses of troops and fought another seven year
> war with murky objectives and with no true knowledge of what was
> actually going on. Can anybody say now that one side in the Bosnian
> conflict is really the "good" guy and the other side really the "bad"
> guy.
JOHN: Bad guys! Mort!
MORT: Serbia.
FRED: Serbia.
PAT: You can argue some atrocities on the Bosnian's side, but Serbia is
the clear aggressor.
ELEANOR: Slobodon Milosovich incited Serbian troops into conducting
ethnic cleansing of the Bosnian Muslim population, killing and raping
hundreds of thousands of civilians because of their ethnic origin. If
Serbia is not the bad guy, the term has no meaning.
> Both sides seem very
> vicious and I don't know anyone who understands this conflict.
JOHN: Translation, Freddie!
FRED: Foreign names are confusing.
> I know I
> don't. Isn't that progress?
MORT: I'm ignorant, I'm stupid, isn't it wonderful?
JOHN: Kinda harsh there, aren't you Mort?
MORT: He said it, I didn't.
> We're not even trying to understand this
> insanity!
ELEANOR: Ha! Swarthy guys killing each other! What a crazy kooky
buncha knuckleknobs!
> People say that we should have done more! I don't agree; I glad
> we did as little as we did. Our track record is not that good.
> Remember Viet Nam,
MORT: And his brothers, Veh and Phee?
> we really thought we understood that conflict didn't we?
ELEANOR: Wow, can priests be sarcastic? Is that legal?
PAT: Priests can be- the pope can't. He's infallible, so he can't go
confusing folks.
JOHN (as pope): Oh, sure, commit adultery, what a great way to reach
the kingdom of heaven.
MORT: Really? Thanks, Pope!
JOHN: No, you! That's not-
MORT: Ah! Too late! You said it! You're infallible! I can commit
adultery! Bishops are witnesses!
> How
> right were we? We did a lot more in Viet Nam.
ELEANOR: For information on your Vietnam vacation, call 1-800-HOTEL-
HANOI. Vietnam and you- perfect together!
>
> Yes, this is a terrible situation, but is the glass half empty or
> half full? I prefer to choose the half full perception!
FRED: "Titanic" is such a happy movie- out of 2100 passengers, almost
700 survived!
PAT: I remember Jim Jones and Jonestown fondly, since... um... there was
one less Congressman afterwards.
ALL: PAT!
> My half full perception
> is that I saw many world leaders looking at the situation and saying
> "We don't know what to do here! This situation is beyond our
> control!"
MORT: We don't control the horizontal... the vertical... oh go ahead, turn
off our little Twilight Zone ripoff, see if I care!
> Isn't
> that progress? I think so. Isn't that better than thinking we're the
> big policemen
JOHN (as Inspector): And you too, Levine.
FRED (as Levitt): Levitt, sir. Officer Carl Levitt!
> that go in everywhere around the world and solve the world's
> problems through military force!
ELEANOR: -rather than through a mutual love of the theater.
> Yes, I think we've shown a little progress
> here. Admitting worldly powerlessness and turning issues over to a
> higher authority is a basic recovery tenet!
MORT: Tony! Christian Scientists on line one! Something about
copyright infringement?
>
> How I Learned To Stop Worrying About And Love the Bomb
FRED: There's no point to even mentioning the correct title to "Dr.
Strangelove", is there.
MORT: Nope, ignorance is bliss. Let the Rev wallow in his own bliss.
>
> Recently the paper ran an article about how the United States, under
> the leadership of President Clinton, was going to seek a total global
> ban on nuclear testing.
PAT: At least as part of a college application.
FRED: Yeah, you can just see Chelsea approaching the button, muttering
"Won't let me into Vassar, ay?"
> This was interesting to me.
MORT: But I got distracted by this really cool lightning bug.
> Even though we have signed
> nuclear test ban treaties before there have always been allowances
> for small nuclear tests, or underground tests,
ELEANOR: -or the Old Spice Challenge-
> and never has all testing been
> banned. Now, the U.S. is going to champion that cause.
FRED: Once again, America is world leader in not knowing what they're
doing!
> It was, in a way,
> Clinton's response to the fifty year anniversary of the atomic bombs
> mentioned earlier.
PAT: In another way, it was him putting the moves on that Vermont land
mine woman.
> It was the government pulling back, another step from
> the nuclear precipice.
MORT: Yup, we were on the edge of a precipice, and took a bold step
forward.
> Isn't that worth acknowledging? The five major
> nuclear powers will now discuss this,
ELEANOR: The US, Russia, Walmart, MicroSoft, and People Magazine.
> but France and Great Britain have
> already signified their agreement.
FRED: Sheesh, Britain can't control their own soccer fans, who the hell
let them have a bomb?
> Russia and China have some
> considerations but a process is underway to handle them.
ALL snicker.
JOHN: I think the process involves buying John Huang a houseboat.
> This must indicate
> that we, as a country, are not as terrified of our world neighbors as
> we once were. "For no one walks the world in armature but must have
> terror striking at his heart." (W 245/252)
MORT: Walks the world in armature? What, this a Robotech religion?
> The terror is leaving our hearts a
> little.
ELEANOR: Oh, "Scream 3", the romantic comedy!
> Isn't this miraculous? A few years ago America and Russia both
> agreed to take out of service a vast array of nuclear weapons that
> were pointed directly at each other. Planes that were always flying,
> ready to drop nuclear bombs if they didn't get a call back signal,
> stopped flying. (Remember the movie Dr. Stangelove?) These were our
> first steps away from the nuclear "cliff."
PAT (as Cliff Claven): It's a, uh, little known fact that the
government had plans to deliver hydrogen bomb payloads via an elite
squad of U.S. mail carriers. Including, recently unsealed army records
allow me to reveal, yours truly.
JOHN: Good impression, Pat. One might say, almost disturbingly good.
> Now, we're taking a few more. Nuclear disarmament is
> an idea whose time has come.
JOHN: American military budget! Freddy!
FRED: Over $260 billion and climbing- and damn good thing too!
> Isn't it grand? Where is your perception, half
> empty or half full?
ELEANOR: What- now wait, which chapter heading are we on here?
JOHN: Let it go, Eleanor.
> We're healing.
MORT: We're staying. We're speaking. We're a good little doggie!
> We're not having to be right or wrong.
FRED (as Natalie from "Werewolf): We is not in it for fame and
fortune? But over my dead body! I is going to find Paul!
JOHN: Uh- what the hell was that?
FRED: A movie called "Werewolf."
MORT: Yeah, I tried to catch that on the SciFi channel, but these
puppets kept talking over the film.
> We're saying, "Hey, this is a bad thing. I'm willing to let it go.
> Are you willing to let it go?"
ELEANOR: That's the west coast version, of course.
PAT: Yeah, in New York the bad thing's already been shot, shoved on the
subway track, had its wallet stolen...
>
> Don't forget though, this shift isn't happening anywhere but in our
> own minds.
FRED: Oh, he's a crafty one. He thinks that by telling us it's
happening in our minds, we'll assume it's not happening in our minds.
Well I'm onto you, pal!
> This is a reflection of the work we are all doing.
MORT: And this is a reflection of my butt after I sat in pudding!
> We're learning to
> let things go with true forgiveness,
ELEANOR: The sequel to "True Lies"!
> not having to be right, and we see the
> world's leaders reflecting this "better way." The congratulations are
> due to us.
JOHN: At last we've learned we don't have to be right! Now celebrate
how right I was!
MORT: You just knew John would be the one with that comment.
ELEANOR (quietly singing): Little Mis, Little Mis, Little Mister
Can't-Be-Wrong...
>
> As always, there are the "nay-sayers."
FRED: Or horses, if you will.
> They say, "Don't sing Clinton's
> praises.
MORT: Do a tone poem instead!
> He could have done a lot more than he's doing.
PAT: Many of us are grateful he's done as little as he has.
> These are just
> political maneuvers. Don't forget those campaign promises that he
> didn't fill.
ELEANOR: He half-filled them!
> Where are the gays in the military?
MORT: They're in the navy, apparently. Odd that.
> Where is that national health
> coverage?"
ELEANOR: In Canada, where'd you think?
> (I find these issues amusing.
JOHN: You find bubble wrap amusing!
> I always liked that being openly
> gay was a great way to get out of the military
PAT: Sure did Corporal Klinger a world of good.
> and I believe that national
> health coverage would only entrench the A.M.A.'s perception of
> allopathic medicine even deeper.
ELEANOR (pages flipping): Nope, that's not in my Websters. I don't
even have "allo-" listed as a prefix.
MORT: A psychopathic alligator, maybe?
FRED: I think he meant "idiopathic". I certainly do.
> At least without national health coverage,
> alternative medicine and healing has a chance!)
PAT: To kill even more gullible fools!
JOHN: I think we've crossed the line to prejudice there, Patrick.
PAT: Not to someone who's seen psychic surgery, John.
>
> Of course Clinton's not perfect, but let's look closely at this
> COURSE section.
FRED: "Table of Contents. Chapter One - Page 2. Chapter Two..."
>"Dream of your brother's kindnesses instead of dwelling in your
> dreams on his mistakes.
ELEANOR: My dreams tend to dwell on Matt McConaughey doing platform
dives in a Speedo.
> Select his thoughtfulness to dream about instead of
> counting up the hurts he gave.
MORT: Now if I could select my dream-
JOHN: Don't even think of it, Mort.
> Forgive him his illusions, and give thanks
> to him for all the helpfulness he gave. And do not brush aside his
> many gifts because he is not perfect in your dreams.
ELEANOR: Uh, generally I don't hold it against folks when they do stuff
in my dreams, Rev.
PAT: I don't know. I knew a woman who slapped her husband because she
dreamed he was having an affair.
> He represents his Father,
> Whom you see as offering both life and death to you." (T 543/585)
FRED: Well... OK, I'll have a little death now, and then save the life
for dessert.
> The
> COURSE wants us to look at our leaders and really see the good they
> do.
MORT: What if you live in Alabama?
> We,
> of course, see that they are not perfect. There are still negatives
> associated with them, but the COURSE asks us to focus on the good
> instead.
ELEANOR: Director of Cinematography- Tony!
> Is this what we do? The reason they don't appear perfect to us is
> these leaders, these authority figures, symbolize God and we think of
> God as giving us both life and death. That's our problem; it's not
> the truth. This is the duality we've projected onto God. We think God
> gives us life but then we think that God takes it away too! We
> project this ambivalence onto all our brothers and sisters and
> especially onto those we see in authority.
JOHN: Psychobabble rating! Mort-one!
MORT: 8. It's a leaning tower of psychobabble.
> We see them as doing good, but then doing some terrible things as
> well. Yet, the only reason we have this perception is our basic
> confusion we have about God.
>
> Where's the Death?
FRED: Clara Peller's newest ad campaign.
>
> When we talk about life and death and are truly honest about it, the
> only place there appears to be death is out in the external world we
> experience as in front of us.
PAT: You could say the same thing about soup!
JOHN: I think that's his point, Patrick.
MORT: What, that death is soup?
ELEANOR: Mm, mm, dead!
Commercials. Lease a Plymouth Voyager- please?
<End Part IV>
E-mail to bed and e-mail to rise...
peasporr...@hotmail.com
----- The Imp -----
Life, death. Life, death. How quaintly binary.
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