Keel Deep in the Muddy Hudson

The Intrepid has always been the source of anger and sorrow for me. Driving down the West Side Highway I cringed on approaching it. Especially on a weekday when groups of school children could be seen on the deck, caressing the F16s, patting the anti-aircraft guns, awed by the spectacle of this death theme park. How many kids have been seduced by recruiters after a thrilling day on that deck?


I remember when it first came in. There were a few protests by the War Resisters League, a handful of anti-nuke people who marched around for a few days. I heard that Linus Coraggio welded himself to the anchor chain, but I don't know if that has been corraborated. (http://www.rex.com/artists/linuscoraggio/index.htm)

So today was a happy day. In an attempt to move the big monster to dry dock, 15 tug boats and the highest tide of the year tried to haul it from its moorings. But like Bush in Iraq, it's stuck! And they have to wait till mid-December for the next highest tide, at the time of the next full moon to try again to get out of the mud.

Maybe this could be a time to draw attention to the real use of this military PR ship. Stuck on the banks of the Hudson, perhaps its huge hulk would be an appropriate place to project antiwar videos, such as the Deep Dish series, Shocking and Awful (12 programs about the war and occupation--see http://www.deepdishtv.org).

Meanwhile, it's stuck in the mud. It couldn't have happened to a more appropriate symbol of the waste and horror of top-gun war.