John Winston Ono Lennon - (October 9,1940 - December 8, 1980)
| I was always a big fan of the Beatles - especially John Lennon; and I was very naive in my youth. So I was a bit surprised when I first heard that John Lennon had ties to the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), which first started as a radical left-wing student activist movement, before it morphed into the more violent Weather Underground. Lennon was known to financially support left-wing causes and, as a result, had a somewhat large FBI file and had problems getting a U.S. work permit. But in those days, it was always "us" against the "establishment" - so I paid it no mind. I was young and had very little knowledge of politics or what "the left" was all about back then; but I was against the Viet Nam war too. When John Lennon and Yoko Ono moved to New York City in August 1971, they befriended anti-war activists Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman. Lennon performed at the "Free John Sinclair" concert in Ann Arbor, Michigan on December 10, 1971.
Sinclair was also an anti-war activist and a co-founder of the *White Panther Party.
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* The White Panthers (an extreme far-left radical group) was started in response to an interview where Huey P. Newton (co-founder of the Black Panther Party) was asked what white people could do to support the Black Panthers. Newton replied that they could form a White Panther Party. The group worked with many ethnic minority rights groups in Jessie Jackson's Rainbow Coalition.
| Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, Bobby Seale, John Sinclair...6 Degrees of Separation?
At the time, John Sinclair was serving ten years in state prison for selling [two joints] of marijuana to an undercover policeman. He also had previous convictions for possession of marijuana [weed, pot, reefer, herb, cannabis].
Ten years! That's a bit harsh, I'd say!
Lennon and Ono appeared on stage with Jerry Rubin and Bobby Seale of the Black Panthers. Lennon performed the song, "John Sinclair", which he had just written, calling on the authorities to "Let him be, set him free, let him be like you and me". Some 20,000 people attended the rally. Three days after the concert the State of Michigan released John Sinclair from prison.
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Almost Ten Years Later: John Lennon did an interview for the January 1981 issue of Playboy magazine
PLAYBOY: On the subject of your own wealth, the New York Post recently said you admitted to being worth over $150 Million and…
LENNON: We never admitted anything.
PLAYBOY: The Post said you had.
LENNON: What the Post says...OK, so we are rich; so what?
PLAYBOY: The question is, how does that jibe with your political philosophies? You're supposed to be socialists, aren't you?
LENNON: In England, there are only two things to be, basically: You are either for the labour movement or for the capitalist movement. Either you become a right-wing Archie Bunker if you are in the class I am in, or you become an instinctive socialist, which I was. That meant I think people should get their false teeth and their health looked after, all the rest of it. But apart from that, I worked for money and I wanted to be rich. So what the hell - if that's a paradox, then I'm a socialist. But I am not anything. What I used to be is guilty about money. That's why I lost it, either by giving it away or by allowing myself to be screwed by so-called managers.
Was there any of the typical liberal hypocrisy in that statement?
The Dakota
On the night of December 6,1980 (around 10:50 pm) a quack named Mark David Chapman shot Lennon in the back four times at the entrance of Lennon's home, the Dakota apartment building - - - He died 2 days later. Lennon was only 40 years old. (Earlier that evening Lennon had autographed a copy of his "Double Fantasy" album for Chapman, who had been stalking Lennon since October.)
This had happened when Bill Ayers was nearby attending Bank Street College, living with Bernardine Dohrn. Bill Ayers had been living underground in NYC and teaching pre-schoolers after leaving the Weather Underground. (A terrorist indoctrinating little kids?)
John Lennon and Bill Ayers were almost neighbors at this time.
Ten months later the New York Brinks Robbery had occured in October, when Obama had been attending college in NYC at Columbia University.
At this time Chapman pleaded guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life; he remains in prison, having been repeatedly denied parole. (I wonder if Bernardine Dohrn visits him in jail too...)
John Kerry with John Lennon
Courtesy of Swift Boat Veterans
So now we have Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, John Sinclair, Bobby Seale, Bernardine Dohrn, Bill Ayers, Barack Obama, John Lennon, and Senator John Kerry!
6 degrees of separation?
Maybe, but that's all...because unlike Bill Ayers, John Lennon was never a terrorist.
"Revolution" is a song by The Beatles written by John Lennon and was released in late August 1968.
* "Revolution 1" contains a notable lyrical difference from the final "Revolution". Lennon's vocal for the track adds the word "in" following the line "When you talk about destruction/don't you know that you can count me out". Lennon said in interviews that he was undecided in his sentiments toward the song's theme so he included both options.
You say you want a revolution
Well you know
We'd all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well you know
We'd all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out (*in)
Don't you know it's gonna be alright
You say you got a real solution
Well you know
We'd all want to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well you know
We're all doing what we can
But if you want money for people with minds that hate
All I can tell you is brother you'll have to wait
Don't you know it's gonna be alright
You say you'll change the constitution
Well you know
We'd all love to change your head
You tell me it's the institution
Well you know
You better free your mind instead
But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao
You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow
Don't you know know it's gonna be alright
Alright
See also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_(song)
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