cannabisnews.com: The U.S. vs. John Lennon: A Man Who Dared to Dream The U.S. vs. John Lennon: A Man Who Dared to Dream Posted by CN Staff on September 29, 2006 at 06:26:13 PT By Ann Hornaday, Washington Post Staff Writer Source: Washington Post Washington, DC -- One of the weirdest episodes in American history is engagingly chronicled in "The U.S. vs. John Lennon," David Leaf and John Scheinfeld's revelatory documentary about the American government's surveillance of the former Beatle in the 1970s.And readers tempted to write that episode off as yet another paranoid fantasy of The Left should take heed: "The U.S. vs. John Lennon" includes the firsthand testimony of the spies themselves, from apostate FBI agents to the unapologetic G. Gordon Liddy. It's all there on the record, for the benefit of those who care enough about history not to repeat it. And at a time when the country is engaged in fresh debates about the fragile relationship between privacy and national security, this particular chapter seems worth revisiting."The U.S. vs. John Lennon" opens in 1971, when Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, appeared at a fundraising concert for John Sinclair, best known to most music fans as the radical impresario behind the Detroit punk band the MC5. That appearance succeeded in getting Sinclair -- who was serving a 10-year sentence for handing undercover narcotics agents two marijuana joints -- released from jail. But it also brought Lennon straight into the cross hairs of Richard Nixon, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and, eventually, their fellows at the Immigration and Naturalization Service who for more than three years tried to have Lennon deported.Leaf and Scheinfeld deftly set the stage for Lennon's odyssey through the dark mirror of U.S. political life, looking back to 1966 when the singer-songwriter suggested that the Beatles had become more popular than Jesus in Great Britain -- a comment that quickly traveled 'round the world to become one of the most misquoted and misunderstood observations of an increasingly contentious era. It was the focus of high dudgeon in the American South, where disc jockeys and clergymen encouraged their followers to boycott Beatles records and burn the ones they already owned.That was an early shot across the bow at a time of breathtaking cultural and political ferment, to which the brilliant, cheekily self-aware Lennon was singularly well-attuned -- and which is brought to vivid life in the archival material the filmmakers have collected. As opposition to the Vietnam War grew in the late 1960s, Lennon and Ono became increasingly outspoken in championing nonviolence, even turning their honeymoon in 1969 into a "bed-in," during which they personalized the political in an alternatively hilarious and earnest plea for peace.Such agitprop, as recorded by the press, made Lennon and Ono fodder for ridicule, marginalization and dismissal. (There's a fabulous scene of a patronizing New York Times reporter, Gloria Emerson, calling Lennon "my dear boy" as his verbal darts sail right over her head.) But "The U.S. vs. John Lennon" makes a persuasive case that, far from being trivial, Lennon's political performances, protest anthems and talk-show appearances with Yippies and Black Panthers were shining examples of a star manipulating his own myth and expertly exploiting the fame-obsessed media. And because this was Lennon -- unlike so many pop stars with their jeremiads today -- those views were always conveyed with an extra satiric wink or understated semantic flourish.Leaf and Scheinfeld have enlisted a crowded cast of commentators -- from George McGovern and Mario Cuomo to Bobby Seale and Angela Davis -- who recall Lennon's personal and artistic power, as well as the threat that power posed to the enemy-obsessed Nixon. (As one observer notes, Lennon's was "a frightening voice to people who want to hear 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic' over and over again.")It's chilling to hear those FBI agents reminisce about pursuing Lennon (not to mention Liddy actually blaming the student victims at Kent State for daring to exercise their First Amendment rights in front of a jittery National Guard). It's infuriating to hear how, after Nixon was safely reinstalled, the FBI backed off only to have the INS start hounding the singer out of the country, under the watchful eye of Nixon's chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman. And it's moving to the point of tears to watch a romantic montage set to Lennon's beatific call to un-arms, "Imagine."That montage -- mostly composed of images of Lennon and Ono pursuing one of the world's great love affairs -- provides a lyrical reminder of what the world lost when Lennon was assassinated in 1980. Not just the Beatle or the wily provocateur or the activist or even the famous Mr. Mom, but a man who dared to grow and change in public, and thereby to suggest that the public could grow and change, too. It was that contagious audacity that made Lennon so threatening. All he was saying was give peace a chance but, as this smart, deeply affecting film reminds us, in some quarters that's saying way too much.The U.S. vs. John Lennon (99 minutes, at Landmark's E Street and Bethesda Row) is rated PG-13 for some strong profanity, violent images and drug references.John Lennon Videos: http://www.johnlennon.com/html/videos.aspxSource: Washington Post (DC)Author: Ann Hornaday, Washington Post Staff WriterPublished: Friday, September 29, 2006; Page C01Copyright: 2006 Washington Post Contact: letterstoed washpost.comWebsite: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:John Lennonhttp://www.johnlennon.com/While Nixon Campaigned, FBI Watched John Lennonhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22199.shtmlJohn Lennon Shines On In New Documentaryhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22132.shtmlJohn Sinclair: Poet and Activisthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22023.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #20 posted by FoM on October 01, 2006 at 12:47:10 PT Afterburner Check this out. This is the lady on the left we met while we were in line in Pittsburgh. She has the parrot that sings along with Neil! Cool!http://rustedsister.smugmug.com/gallery/1951679 [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by FoM on October 01, 2006 at 12:01:02 PT Afterburner Last night while we were listening to Farm Aid on XM Radio one of the songs they played between sets was this one. It was so funny. The group is called Cross Canadian Ragweed and the song is The Boys from Oklahoma. It's was really good. http://tinyurl.com/go9p5 [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by afterburner on October 01, 2006 at 11:24:57 PT museman #11 Beautiful comment. I humbly add: "Fear is the lock and laughter the key to your heart" Suite: Judy Blue Eyes by Crosby, Stills and Nash [lyrics and play] http://solosong.net/judy.htmlOne thing that seems to distinguish the Great White North from Amerika is the music and the laughter. The fear factor is less even though the Conservative minority government seems hell-bent on changing the personality of free men and women!Artist: John Mayer. Album: Continuum (2006). Song: Waiting On The World To Change. Country: USA. http://www.moron.nl/lyrics.php?id=83928&artist=John%20Mayer The Waiting Download. John Mayer - Waiting On The World To Change Lyrics http://www.completealbumlyrics.com/lyric/130680/John+Mayer+-+Waiting+On+The+World+To+Change.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by museman on September 30, 2006 at 20:08:02 PT Max Yes, thanks for getting that info strait. I couldn't find anything to help my hazy recollection. I was close though. [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by FoM on September 29, 2006 at 19:06:04 PT museman I wonder why I care sometimes. No matter what I always care. I guess this is just the way I am and I can't change anymore. I don't know if the world can be fixed now. That sounds fatalistic but I want to be honest. If it can be fixed I want to be apart of the fixing and I know you do too. Thanks. [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by Max Flowers on September 29, 2006 at 15:25:30 PT Actually... It was like this:On November 9, John arrived at the gallery with his friend, Terry Doran. The two were greeted by Dunbar, then left to look around. John stopped at a pedestal and picked up "Box of Smile." When he looked in and saw his own face looking back at him, he did smile.Then he found the white ladder. On the ceiling he could see only a white dot on a black canvas, with a magnifying glass hanging from a chain nearby. John told Rolling Stone years later, "I climbed the ladder, looked through the spy glass, and in tiny letters it said, 'Yes.' So it was positive. I felt relieved. I was very impressed." [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by museman on September 29, 2006 at 12:31:50 PT whig It's not as profound as you might think. It's about Yoko and Johns love affair -not to say that wasn't profound in itself.John was cruisin' down the avenue one day (he may have been pointed in a certain direction) when he came upon an art gallery, which was featuring the avantegarde art of Yoko Ono. There were several weird renderings of what was called in those days "modern art" but in the center of the room was a ladder. On the ceiling above the ladder was a small piece of pape glued to the ceiling. Intrigued, John climbed the ladder to read it. The paper said (please correct me someone if I got it backwards) "This is not here."John claimed that that was the moment he fell for Yoko. [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by whig on September 29, 2006 at 12:19:55 PT museman Tell me a story, if you like.Also see what more music I've put up. [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by museman on September 29, 2006 at 12:13:57 PT whig Do you know the the story behind that phrase? [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by museman on September 29, 2006 at 12:12:54 PT FoM "I want to yell stop it. Stop killing. Stop hating! Start living and forgiving and loving and the world will become a peaceful place. Guns will never make peace."I want to too. Why don't we? Because we are afraid. Maybe in the woods where no one can hear and judge us, or call the cops because we are disturbing the 'peace' of the literal numbskulls. Maybe from the mountain tops where all the world can hear, but not sight in on the sniper scope.When you can be killed for the kind of song you choose to sing something is very very wrong. When we are afraid of the very real possiblity of imprisonment, the taking of children, death and misery-from the 'organization' which is supposed to be PROTECTING YOU FROM IT, something has to be done.Of course the dilemna is that history, widsom, and understanding the true nature of love and peace, precludes any such action as violence or reciprocal destruction-like that of our government, thus most of us Americans truly feel un-empowered.The way is there, but fear is a cage of potential. I alone do not have the willingness to become another sacrifice in the act of truth, yet I would accept any challenge from the enemy who lies so powerfully and well- and they are the enemy by their own declaration, whether as humans they can be forgiven or not. As Grace slick put it "Kill me for the Truth!" in her own response to John Lennons assassination.I am not afraid of death, a little anxious perhaps, but as it appears an inevitability anyway, might as well make it meaningful to someone. Death is the great basis of fear that the sorcerers use. It is the sustaining force of war. Fear of death is the foundation for a host of lies, the substance of a sorcerers power. Fear is the little death. Fear is the mind killer.What is left but faith? And belief. Yes let us imagine such a world, shared, lived in the moment, and in peace and harmony. Now that we have imagined it, let us build it. But first the faith has to displace the fear, or the dream fades and becomes a religion or something. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by whig on September 29, 2006 at 11:50:34 PT museman Did you notice in the video? the sign in the window saying, "This is not here." [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by FoM on September 29, 2006 at 11:46:56 PT Museman I am crying too. I can't take it. I want to yell stop it. Stop killing. Stop hating! Start living and forgiving and loving and the world will become a peaceful place. Guns will never make peace. Never and I mean never. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by museman on September 29, 2006 at 11:41:37 PT FoM, whig I can't take it. I've shed so many tears for this tragedy and travesty, It hurts even now. This is a 54 year old man crying.... [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on September 29, 2006 at 11:29:38 PT museman and whig Whig, thank you. Imagine all the people living life in peace makes me cry. It makes me so darn sad.Neil Young singing Imagine after 9/11http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3T8xr274q8Museman, I do pray for Neil and David and Stills and Nash. They better not hurt them or I don't think I could take it. Tears fill my eyes at the thought. No more killing for peace. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by museman on September 29, 2006 at 11:27:17 PT Imagine Yes. Just imagine. Lets not actually TRY "no countries" "no posessions" or "no heaven" "no hell below us", we can just sigh and reminisce on what could have been.Sigh.Thank you whig, that song and vision is the most powerful statement of the 20th century. Are we going to leave it at that? Was John Lennons sacrifice and vision worthy enough to believe in? [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by museman on September 29, 2006 at 11:20:00 PT FoM "I've said it before that every person I really like gets shot and killed. I think that's why I never cared about anything political."Yes they really like their guns, their wars, and their various toys of global destruction. I asked the question, "did they" really stop what John Lennon was about, because one of the lies of the power elite is that the age of 'Peace, Love, and Understanding' is over, that it was just a 'phenomenon of the sixties.'People are just too damned afraid. Afraid to seek the truth, afraid to speak the truth, afraid to act like a human being instead of a carefully programned machine. Afraid to buck the status quo. Afraid to lose their job, afraid to challenge old antiquated false beliefs, afraid to make waves. Like it or not those fearful people are the backbone of fascism, and still they are in the majority -at least in the real effect they have in their various fearful decisions -or the lack of them.John knew they were going to go after him, yet he came back, stood up, and took the bullets like the true hero he was. He was not just an 'American hero' AND A TRUE PATRIOT in the purest sense of the word, he was hero to the world.How many heroes are left? Not many. Neil Young has really impressed me this past year, and I worry about all those gun-toting embiciles empowered by fear, unredressable legislation, and erroneous religious small-mindedness. It's just a shot away.Pray for Neil, and David. They got away with the Freedom Tour, but you can rest assured those evil evil men and women who were responsible for all the BS of the '60s - and all the death, destruction, and suffering since -may have retired, but they picked their successors by the same corrupted standards.Politcs -bah! They are all liars. There is no possible way to be a just and upright man AND be a politician too, it's ABSOLUTELY impossible. Control, and manipulation of life on any level is sorcery, and sorcery is having a heyday. A line from one of my songs; "Too Much, Too Little.""A little bit of truth, won't save your head, say a little too much- you're gonna be dead." [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by whig on September 29, 2006 at 11:19:36 PT FoM John Lennon is still speaking. http://cannablog.wordpress.com/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on September 29, 2006 at 10:41:59 PT museman Of the 4 Beatles John was the one that really made the difference. I've said it before that every person I really like gets shot and killed. I think that's why I never cared about anything political. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by museman on September 29, 2006 at 10:27:39 PT John This man was a modern day prophet and martyr. His mantra of Love, and Peace was just about that. Vietnam was just an example of the reason why John stood in the front, stepped to the fore. Let us not scale down the importance of his words, songs, and wisdom by limiting it's association with Vietnam. John Lennon came to us at the beginning of our generational day, set the stage and standard for truth and power in the music, and really unknown by us at the time was that he was our champion of champions. That fact really got driven home December 8th 1980.I was a young man, not even 30 years old yet, but a follower of Johns music, and a musician inspired more by that man than any other. The shock of his death is like no other I've felt. Even the loss of personal friends and family, though certainly painful cannot compare to the sudden realization that one of the greatest men who has ever lived was no longer there. No longer would we feel represented in the mainstream of society by his words and music. No longer would we have such a wonderful living guide at our daily access. Truly the 'day the music died.'Though the same spiritual corruption that spawned Vietnam, the War On Drugs, the 'moral majority', and the NSA (which began the series of powers given to the executive branch of government - leading to bush's attempts to extend those powers to the police on the street -effectively putting the finishing touches on our wonderful republican fascist police state), found John Lennon's honesty, and most specially the boomer generation's close attention to whatever John had to say, a serious threat to their national, and global schemes.When we heard that John Lennon had been assassinated - not murdered- "assassinated" is the right word, many mourned. There were some of us that went a little further. A world of stuffed shirts and 'narrow minded hypocrits' as John put it in 'Just Give Me Some Truth' will deny us any credibility in what we did, but that denial cannot undo it.Some few of us- all over the world knew just one thing to do. We mourned, oh yes we did, but with tools that the demonic status quo denies, we communed with Johns spirit, and promised that the "Dream" and the spirit of the music would not die. The Great Spirit, and Johns own spirit let us know that there was a reason, even if the loss was not a 'planned act' by the Spirit.John, in my mind, experience, and knowledge was the closest thing to a Christ that we have had in many a century, not that he was perfect, or perhaps as 'pure' as Y'SHWH, and I do not compare him to Y'SHWH, but his heart and spirit truly illuminated our days. One who has monitored the various spiritual waves hitting us since the sixties, can quite dynamicly discern how great a light it was that went out in the world on that day.One of the reasons I disdain the music industry, is because they all went the direction the murderers of John Lennon wanted -commercialism, consumerism, and preoccupied apathy. Mainstream music was already in the pocket of the money-men by 1975 - about the time John stopped being in the mainstream. He had 'dropped out' to be a house husband and a father. In 1979 he decided to 'come back' and started working on his last album. "Watching the Wheels" was released, and the f**ked up people who run the money and the government (under Reagan -the republicans) decided to end it.Did they? On This Day [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on September 29, 2006 at 07:35:25 PT Deja Vu Maybe some people don't remember what John Lennon did because they were too young but we are here again and it is even worse then Vietnam was. The future is bleak for young folks just starting out. God help us. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment