• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
 TYRANNY OF THE DOWNBEATbyKenneth White
"Crucified Landscape" – Roman Loranc,
Two-Hearted Oak 
©2003
Kenneth White1108 Wellesley AvenueModesto, CA 95350-5044(209) 567-0600Ken1White@aol.com
 
Tyranny of the Downbeat
1
THE FIRST PAGE:
For without belittling the courage with which men have died, weshould not forget those acts of courage with which men ... havelived. The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle thanthe courage of a final moment; but it is no less a magnificentmixture of triumph and tragedy.A man does what he must--in spite of personal consequences, in spiteof obstacles and dangers and pressures--and that is thebasis of all human morality.
-- John F. Kennedy, "Profiles in Courage"
There are few things wholly evil or wholly good. Almosteverything, ... is an inseparable compound of the two.
-- Abraham Lincoln
 
Tyranny of the Downbeat
2
CHAPTER 1
Salus populi suprema lex.
The people's safety is the highest law.-- Ancient Roman Legal MaximThe Great Unwashed Valley. This is where it ends.Rising up over the Sierra foothills, a helicopter shot,reveals the open blade of the San Joaquin Valley. A jeep runsdown a heat-rippled, two-lane blacktop. Inside, the driver dialsthrough the radio, searching for a song to match his mood. Hestops. It's a Greek Chorus telling him what he's there for, what healready knows.
It's nature's way,It's nature's way.Of telling you,Something's wrong.
-- Spirit, "Nature's Way"My name is Western. I'm a flatlander. I was born here,raised here. Probably die here. I took it for granted. Now I'mtrying to save it.I'm a television reporter. In the myth-making jargon oftoday's American pop-culture, a "telejournalist." A videogunslinger. A free-lance hired gun. I've been taken on by awell-known filmmaker. He's responsible for some of the biggestmoney-makers of all time. Movies filled with pure entertainment.Plenty of thrills and fantasy, but little substance. Or so hiscritics say and he disputes. We've got something more in common thanthis job. He also grew up here in the Valley. In the same small
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...