Where are you now, John Lennon (or, Strange Days Indeed)

I watched a documentary on John Lennon last night. I knew it would make me sad. And it did.

The world needs John Lennon. His voice. His talent for making statements and music that galvanized people, brought minds together, bonded us with like ideals. It's what is sorely missing today. Lennon's courage to thumb his nose at authority figures and bluntly point out the ills of establishment seem to have no equal now.

If he were alive, he would be appalled at the state of affairs found in his beloved adopted country. He'd be busy working on behalf of those who are disadvantaged, voiceless, and unable to fight the gross lies and injustices escalated by the past administration. He'd be horrified by the Iraqi war and assualts on other countries and the ill-conceived misuse of a past government that masked an agenda of dominance under such guises as a 'war on terror' and 'the patriot act,' and he would have exposed them for the shams they were.

Now people are lambasting our new President, and have from the moment he took office. His new administration has been working hard to rise above the jeckling and fear-mongering that so many resort to. With little to expose, these loudmouthed pundits and their right-winged contemporaries resort to using the fear card to trump their message. They do not offer the respect someone in such high office deserves. I remember all to well the cat-calls of 'if you don't like President Bush you are welcome to live elsewhere.' They are not hearing such ugly comments themselves now by people who voted for change.

For those of us who worked and prayed for a change -- prayed for hope -- prayed for an intelligent, morally centered President to lead us through dangerous times created by the ill-deeds of predecessors, this is grave indeed.

Lennon would be a true light of love and peace in this unstable world. Sorely needed now even more than in the '70s when they tried so hard to shut him down.

Even though his voice was silenced by a deranged evil lunatic, his message remains clear to the living to carry forward. But he is sorely missed because it was like no other. Yes, there are those out there -- Bono for example, with the fire and conviction to bring forth change.

But the world misses the uniqueness of John Lennon. God bless him. Blessings to his family.