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3-4 years ago I met him in person. He gave a small, warm, and incredible talk at a coffee club in Chicago. No more than 80 people in the place. He talked about Slaughterhouse 5, he talked about VietNam, and then he talked about the Patriot Act. In no more than six complete sentences, he described the entire act and its corrosive impact on democracy, (although he doubted the existence of ours for quite some time by then) and how it would result in fascism. It was clear he had read it cover to cover, something that not one elected congresscritter or senator has ever bothered to do - even now.
He talked about war in general and about Iraq in specific. If my memory serves, Baghdad had fallen, but so had the Iraq national museum, and rioting was taking place throughout the country.
Rumsfeld had just attacked some newsie with a well honed insult and defended the lack of troops in the capital by saying his now infamous "You fight with the army you have. . . ."
Kurt talked about the silliness of taking down Hussein, about the PR war being conducted against the US population, and about the pathetic role of the media. He was embarrassed by the whole mess. It reminded him of a conversation he had with a survivor of Dresden many decades earlier - "WE are the bad guys."
He was a class act. Smart, well-read, well-spoken, with just the right amount of anger at BushCo to bubble out from underneath. There were a number of hecklers, claiming that he was a traitor, but then he spoke directly to them and engaged them. By the time he was done, he had changed their minds. Not from some emotional tug (which he did to all of us later on) but with a clear, logical and precise set of statements that really hit you hard. Hell, by the time he was done, all of us were changed people. It was one of those quiet, low key events that you never even dream about, but I swear, every single person who walked into the club, walked out with a whole different world view.
There was a lot of personal dissonance for me. I did not like Bush, but I did not believe that he could be as evil and craven as all indications were suggesting. But, he shared a perspective with us that allowed us to get past a lot of PR, spin, propoganda, and see the facts clearly. It was that evening that I realized that Iraq was about to become a quagmire. That our world had changed as a result of 9/11, not in the way BushCo suggested, but as a result of our response. Patriot Act, Medical records "security", an unfettered NSA & FBI, and a totally cowered minority party rolling over, exposing themselves and offering KY jelly to Team Bush.
The world was a better place because of Kurt. His passing will leave a void as big as Molly Ivans and a few other courageous souls. They both had one thing in common - the power of words to tell the truth is greater, in the end, than the power to tell lies. That thought should keep us going as we fight the Bush administration as they continue to push a war without end, domestically and abroad.
Rest in Peace, Kurt. There it is.
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