Dedicated to my friend and countrywoman Carina
With admiration and respect
Fellow citizens: clouds and darkness are around about Him; His pavilion is dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. Justice and judgement are the establishment of His throne. Mercy and truth shall go before His face. Fellow citizens! God reigns, and the government at Washington still lives!
- future President James A. Garfield, quieting an angry crowd after the death of Lincoln
I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant, and fill him with a terrible resolve.
-- Admiral Yamamoto, after Pearl Harbor
It's our birthday, and we'll bitch if we want to!
- dedicated supporter Karen, after hearing once too often that there are too many American pro-Schapelle comments on Australian online message boards
God gives all men all earth to love
But since man's heart is small
Ordains for each, one spot shall prove
Beloved over all.
--Rudyard Kipling
The game is afoot, Watson! An encouraging development in the ongoing Schapelle Corby saga occured when HBO aired the Australian documentary "Ganja Queen" in this country. This has caused among other things a sudden upsurge of visitors to this site, some of whom actually came here on purpose. Already the monthly gathering of loyal R.M. readers has had to stop meeting in a phone booth and move to an elevator, and if this goes on we may have to rent a coat closet. But there are important consequences as well. HBO claims a subscription audience larger than the population of Australia, and Americans approach this story with none of the negative press baggage attached to it downunder by the tabloids. This is only the second time to my knowledge that a major media outlet of ours has picked up this story at all, so many of us are hearing about Schapelle for the first time and instinctively feeling about her the way Australians used to feel. As heir to the genuinely free and pluralistic traditions of my country, this American libertarian rodent can burrow in on Independence Day to an Australian support forum, while watching an English tennis tournament, eating Belgian chocolate, and listening to a patriotic overture written by a Russian -- not to mention quoting a British imperialist, who, whatever his other limitations may have been, DID understand loyalty and honor.
God gives all men all earth to love... It must have seemed that way to the early settlers of both our countries, to leave Europe with its crowds and petty quarrels and arbitrary laws, to risk everything for a second chance in an unknown continent where you could be out of sight of hunman habitation for days. Australia and America were both settled largely by the despised and dispossessed, ignored or written off in their homelands. Our free and egalitarian traditions stem from our belief in a God who is no respecter of persons, and from our experience of an unrelenting wildnerness that certainly is not either. In both countries our tradition of respect for the underdog gives us an instinctive sympathy for a young woman whose only crime was not putting a lock on her luggage, caught up in a nightmare she doesn't deserve or understand. Most of us in both places are the descendants of people who, like the Corby's, were working class and unpolished and would have looked awkward on television. This story resonates very well here in America -- to us the Corby's instantly look genuine, the official story instantly looks false, and we instinctively ask the questions we're not supposed to ask. What happened to the security camera footage in all three airports? Why was the bag not fingerprinted? Why should we believe anything from a "justice" system where the police are known to plant drugs on people to extort bribes, and where a judge proudly says he has never found anyone innocent in 500 cases? Was the marijuana ever in Australia? With all forensic tests refused during the trial and all the physical evidence destroyed afterwards, how would we know?
But since man's heart is small... true, in more ways than one. We Schapelle supporters have heard our motives questioned countless times by her detractors, who claim we have been caught up in media-driven sensationalism. Actually the huge groundswell of support in the early days after Schapelle's arrest was grassroots and spontaneous, with the media circus jumping on board later. But regardless of timing we are told we support her only because she is young and white and beautiful, with derisive questions about what if she were old and male and ugly. It is a valid point - but the question has even more force the other way round. If we cannot love the so easily lovable and guard the so obviously innocent, what will we do with God's command to love our enemies, or how will we handle real moral ambiguities? The most common American reaction to the HBO special is "this story broke my heart." If that is all it does and our commitment does not outlast our emotion, the cynics can feel justified. As C. S. Lewis said once, "The more often he feels without acting, the less he will ever be able to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel." But the Americans posting on our support forum are not describing their feelings only, they are asking what they can do - where to write to Schapelle, what to send her, which Australian politicians to write to. Some of them even say... and I gulp as I write this, and it flattens my fur and curls my tail, but desperate times call for desperate measures... they do say, some of them, that Schapelle's case has upset them so much that they will dare invoke the name that is death to utter, that they will tell O-P-R-A-H W-I-N-F-R-E-Y. If you thought HBO's audience was large...
Ordains for each, one spot shall prove..
I have appreciated ny own "spot" much more since taking an interest in this case, far away from the maddening crowds, the noise and pollution, the infuriating propaganda, far away from... from everything, actually. "We ain't friendly here, just lonesome" as the saying goes. Few people, lots of cows, lots of time to think and to consider the advantages of being a foreign Schapelle supporter. For one thing it is easier to write letters from here. I can drivel along endlessly about my mountains without making her miss her beach more than she already does, and can tell her stories she has not heard of our wild bristly local pigs and wild bristly local politicians. But it is also socially less risky. In Australia calling yourself a Schapelle supporter generates "knowing" looks from your co-workers, and putting a Free Schapelle! sticker on your car can bring honks and rude comments from other drivers. The smear campaign against her in the Australian media has been astonishing. There are ugly rumors that there are two different versions of the documentary; that the Australian one is slanted more against the Corby family than the one shown here. Some people apparently believe you can pay almost anyone to say almost anything about the Corby's and the Australian public will either lap it up or say "We're tired of this story, change the channel. " Then suddenly the whole story goes across the ocean and out of range of their propaganda, reaching an audience whos opinions they can't influence and whose channels they can't change, an audience who instantly recognizes Schapelle's innocence and is outraged at her treatment. Are there Australian media producers right now expressing their misgivings, like Yamamoto's, a little late?
...beloved over all. Australia, what do you love? What happened to the tradition of mateship and the "fair go" for everyone, or is that just in the movies? What do you fear - looking foolish, showing emotion, loving your national daughter too much? Is that worse than loving her too late? I can remember reading about the early days of the court coverage, Australians' open defiance of Asian criticism of Schapelle's tears in the courtroom, saying she's ours, and we support our own, and yes we DO show emotion in public. What happened to THAT Australia? In our jaded entertainment culture have you "seen through" justice and honor? Are you proud of your cynicism, and expecting America to share it? Were we supposed to look through Schapelle and see whatever ironic point you thought you were making? Sorry, we look AT her and see Lady Guinevere, and see a monstrous injustice for what it is. Our famously narrow focus, provincial outlook and short attention spans all work in favor of Schapelle and against her detractors. We're narrowly focused on the main issue - the blatantly unfair trial; our short attention spans don't leave room for the cataract of lies and hate her detractors try to counter the facts with, and our provincialism simply puts THIS particular Aussie story on center stage. Schapelle is not merely the largest Australian news story in this country; she is the only one - and we won't forget her again. To quote from a musical most Aussies would not recognize but we simple Americans would know, '''smoke on your pipe and put THAT iiinnn.... I like to be in A-mer-i-ca /O.K. by me in A-mer-i-ca..." OK by me, too.
Miss Schapelle, may you find your rest in Christ and may your earthly path lead you here, where underdogs are respected, where fragile things are loved, and where no one will ask you what your economic background is or how good your family looks on television. No worries, mate -- no one will find you here, as even other Americans don't know what country New Mexico is in. God will see you safe, we will see you home. You are loved much more than you know.
