Burning Man Vs Burning Pride In America (Hippies Vs Patriots Alert)

Move America Forward, Free Republic and Gathering Of Eagles are proud to be part of the Fight For Victory Caravan. Let the hippies roll in the mud and do their Burning Man stunt. Those of us who love freedom as patriots are lighting a different kind of fire - that will make the Cut N Run Crowd cut n run when it finally arrives in Washington. Cheers!

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

I don’t get this. I’m pretty damn conservative and I’ve been to Burning Man five or six times. It is not a hippie event, nor is it a political event. It’s been a few years since I last attended and I have heard about some greenie-weenie nonsense they had out there this year. But in my opinion it is wrongheaded tactically and philosophically to assume opposition between Burning Man and Gathering of Eagles. Every aspect of Burning Man is threatened by Islamism. Why not hope that these creative and energetic young people can understand the threat to their lifestyle represented by jihad and and encourage them to defend American freedom just as we conservatives do?

It is not a hippie event, nor is it a political event.

Sounds like the few "Dead" concerts I went to in my youth. Political? Most of them weren't in a state of mind to remember what country they were in.

If only they would put their creativity to Good Use...
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They are putting their creativity to the use of their own choosing. That is the American way.

New Mexico just had their own "Burning Man" last night in Santa Fe.

Don't bother, Yam. Every year around this time, I have to try to convince Freepers that BM is not necessarily the political-cultural horror-show they imagine. My efforts are usually in vain -- it seems that a lot of people here feel terribly threatened by anything that's culturally more exotic than Norman Rockwell, and project their worst hatreds and fears onto it.

(Would you believe that back in '05, one self-described Christian said something to the effect of, "We should BOMB THOSE HIPPIES INTO SMITHEREENS!"? He wasn't happy when I told him that, with that attitude, he'd make a great al-Qaeda terrorist, as they have an identical approach towards groups of people who don't share their spiritual or cultural assumptions.)

Despite their weird appearances and "greenie-weenie nonsense" (nonsense, I might add, which is also currently promulgated by the Bush administration and most large corporations), I believe the disaffected youth of the Playa have a LOT more common ground with Freepers than either group might realize, or want to admit. As you said, both Burners and "mainstream" Americans are threatened by puritanical, theocratic, Judeo-Christian-hating, woman-oppressing, gay-killing Islamism, and we need to work on patiently and quietly winning them over to our side.

After all, if being an 18-25YO hipster was an automatic life sentence to moonbattery and ignorance, a certain Reagan-era punk-rock anarchist named TFFKAMM might never have found himself regularly posting on a right-wing public forum a quarter-century later! :-)

A named Matt Heck responded to Melanie Morgan about the Burning man event and her recent WND column on it. Here is the letter: (Sorry for lack of formatting, this is a copy of a copy.)

From: "Matt Heck" > To: > Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2007 1:15 PM > Subject: An open reply to "Burning Man vs. burning pride in America" > >

> Dear Ms. Morgan, >

> I am disappointed and dismayed that you have opted to consider a knee-jerk > reaction to temporary heavy traffic the appropriate way to gauge and judge > an entire 40,000 person community, particularly one made up of both > Americans from all states and walks of life, as well as foreigners who are > still open to visiting us despite our plummeting international image and > travel hassles. Your original commentary was found at: > > http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp\?ARTICLE_ID=57523 > > In particular, however, what came to mind while reading your uninformed > tirade were three specific projects which have been presented at this > event. > > First, this year, there was a large array of pairs of boots in formation, > one for each soldier killed in the line of duty during the Iraq campaign > who was from, if memory serves, a specific state. A large, weatherproofed > book was present, with photographs and information regarding each of the > soldiers. No political statement was present, no other message was > offered. Simply remembrance of the dead. > > Second, one thing you might consider is than in a 40,000 person community, > a number of us have lost friends or relatives to this war. The event > offers them the chance to build a temporary memorial for these fallen > soldiers, if they choose to take it. Last year, a camp did exactly that. > A pair of boots, an M16A2 rifle, a PASGT helmet, and the soldier's ID tags > were arranged above a red floodlight and below a large American flag, and > a large USMC flag. Again, no political statement was present. > > Finally, it's interesting to me that you, someone with an apparently > religious background, would choose to talk about the burning of the man > instead of the temple. Perhaps you are unaware that a large temple is, in > fact, constructed every year, that it burns a day later than the man, and > that it is a considerably more significant event for many people there. > If so, you would also be unaware that, prior to this event, participants > are allowed to walk through the structure (whose architectures involve > very complex engineering, and have won considerable praise over the years) > and write messages of their choice on its walls or on blocks of wood > placed in its structure. This is not "graffiti", as you probably expect; > rather, these are messages to lost friends and relatives, apologies to > ex-wives and husbands, words of forgiveness to old enemies. This year, as > in previous years, there were photographs, dog tags, and paragraphs for > soldiers who have fallen. They are allowed as much space as is needed. > > We are not a giant group of "teenagers" and "hippies", and in fact, I > recall how poorly both of those groups were received in earlier years. > (The "Hippie Shavin' Camp" and the people " > "fishing" for ravers with glowsticks and a large net might have amused > you.) A very, very significant number of us are professionals, with a > heavy emphasis on engineering. However, here are some interesting > examples of some of the "hippies" at this event: > > * Professors from MIT, Stanford, and so on; > > * Several dozen fighter pilots, some of whom put on formation flight and > dogfighting demonstrations during this event; > > * Collection systems programmers from the National Security Agency; > > * I would estimate at least 7,500 software engineers and system/network > administrators, whom our economy is completely dependent on; > > * A number of ex-Bureau of Land Management employees, who used to enforce > the law at this event but, having retired, now come to enjoy it; > > * Professional architects, electrical engineers, and others demonstrating > novel design techniques for energy-efficiency; > > * A good chunk of the company producing the world's first production > electric sports car; > > * ...and yours truly, a senior software engineer for a company presently > making or licensing 70% of the world's remote controls. You probably own > something we made. I guess that means you own a hippie remote control, by > your math. I have also worked on a stowplanning system for the United > States Navy that helps get cargo to our troops quickly and accurately, and > a tactical simulation system for the Marine Corps as part of the HUNTER > WARRIOR exercise. Oh yes, there are a few pressure-measurement > instruments on the International Space Station, and every shuttle that > flies. I wrote the bootloaders and automatic calibration systems for > those. > > With respect to the environmental concerns, the event does not take place > in the kind of desert that most people think of-- with sand and the > occasional snake or bird. The event takes place well into an alkali lake > flat, a "dry lake", whose surface would be more accurately compared to > cement than sand. Other than trash, which a significant and successful > effort is made to mitigate and collect every year, the primary > environmental concern is a phenomenon known as a "burn scar". Techniques > have been developed to avoid these, and they are now mandatory. The dry > lake itself has, even by strict standards, no detectable ecosystem except > at its boundary regions, which participants are not allowed near (even > though other public users of the Black Rock Desert can and do impact these > areas at other times during the year). > > Having informed you a bit more about the nature of this event and its > participants, I would like to take a moment and note that 40,000 people is > about the size of a large sports stadium, as I recall. When a baseball > game gets out, all of those people stream out to the parking lot, get in > their cars, and immediately attempt to merge onto the freeway (whereas we > deliberately stage outgoing traffic, yield to through traffic, and have > people leaving over 3-4 days). > > I expect that 40,000 baseball fans clogging traffic would have ticked you > off just as much as us. Because you understand that the fans of a > baseball game come from a large cross-section of America, I doubt you > would write a similar rant about them. The only difference is that you > presume we are 40,000 people who you do not rely on, and whose opinions > you do not have to care about. > > You are incorrect, and very likely by a much larger margin than you > realize. >

> Regards, > Matt Heck > > (This is being reposted as an open letter to help others with your opinion > consider this information as well.) >

And Melanie Responded:

From: "Melanie Morgan" To: "Matt Heck" Cc: ; Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2007 6:00 PM Subject: Re: An open reply to "Burning Man vs. burning pride in America"

> Dear Mr. Heck, >

> This is, by far, the most reasonable letter of response to my column at > WorldNetDaily.com and I thank-you for taking the time to inform me more > about Burning Man. Most of the people seeking spiritual enlightenment and > a sense of global connectedness are writing to me using words like > "bitch", the c-word, and wishing my untimely demise. Hundreds, in fact. > > But it's my opinion, and you and others are entitled to yours, so let's > call it constitutionally even. > > Your e-mail, though, does indeed inspire me to investigate more about the > event held in the Nevada desert each year. My observations about the > people who were leaving Burning Man on the freeways were meant in a > sardonic vein. One e-mailer (who chastised me as well) compared my writing > to a sober Hunter Thompson. I could drop acid until I reach 100 and never > have a tenth of his talent. > > I do, however, share Hunter's appreciation for guns. Lots of them, for > every American. > > Back to the participants -- at gas stations and on the road, white desert > dust covered every inch of the SUV's, minivans and psychedelic busses we > observed, and the participants. There were tons of bumper stickers on > these dirty vehicles saying "F--K Bush" and other political statements, so > I can only infer that many of these participants are political. > > I stand in complete awe of the work that you have done on the HUNTER > WARRIOR PROJECT. And others at BM who have contributed to the safety and > security of our great country. > > I remain skeptical about the lack of 'footprint' when 40,000 people > invade a small space and then leave it again. The Playa will be damaged, > and there's no disputing that. > > I sincerely hope that all of you folks (smelly hippy or not) enjoyed your > weekend. My choice is to stay engaged in supporting our troops in > Afghanistan and Iraq, who do not have the luxury of immolating a ten-foot > tall man. They are too busy killing terrorists who are burning little > children alive, and delivering their charred bodies to their parents to > keep them from supporting security for Iraq. > Each Al Qaida cell is fashioned in the mold of Hitler. But fortunately for > us, our troops are winning this dangerous, volatile battle and serving > American interests of a stable region honorably in the process. > > If you (or your readers) are interested in REALLY supporting our troops, > then visit our website www.moveamericaforward.org. Even if you dispute our > main contention that you support the troops by supporting their mission, > why don't you send them some cookies, coffees, beef jerkies, or help us > with Wounded Warrior care packages for the most grievously injured troops > at Walter Reed Army Medical Center? > > I am delighted that you plan to share your letter (and hopefully my > response) as I plan to do the same. I may even do a second column about > this subject. >

> Peace (Through Strength) >

> Melanie Morgan >

[A very, very significant number of us are professionals, with a heavy emphasis on engineering]

LOL. The communists on Indymedia make the same claim.

Now that we know what Mr. Heck thinks - what do YOU think of Burning Man, Jenny?

It seems that your alternative medicine ideology would fit in well there.