Celebrating the 4th in San Francisco

Propaganda posters galore.

July 4th in San Francisco. So many things to do!

After attending the AK Press "Fuck the Fourth" party as a pre-holiday warm-up, I was hungry for some more Independence Day patriotism -- San Francisco style.

I was tempted at first by a public event celebrating the "impending fall of the American Empire" where partiers could learn "flag burning techniques" while cheering on '70s-era proto-terrorists during a guerrilla screening of the documentary film The Weather Underground. Nice!

And as an opening act, in the very same park, I could attend the premiere performance of the San Francisco Mime Troupe's new play "Making a Killing", a delicious wish-fact fantasy about "a cabal of military-industrial-Neo-Con colluders" who trick the US into invading Iraq so they can make money. Starring Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, and the whole gang (and I do mean gang).

But I faced a terrible scheduling conflict -- the day was so crowded with anti-American July 4th events that if I went to those two celebrations I'd end up missing the Propaganda III art show and the Act Against Torture Guantanamo street theater.

A dilemma! What's a progressive to do?

I flipped a coin and it came up heads -- which meant it was the propaganda art show for me!