Jimmy Carter and Surviving Ideologues

History the study of it and engagement with it appeals to me as a curious human and as a scholar of issues. More often than not, we can find the strands of current issues rooted in the past. However, when people haven't a clue as to what took place in the past and the reasons for the actions of the past, then people are apt to make judgments based on their own limited and limiting world views. Additionally, an inability to understand the underlying reasons for problems in today's world can often lead to shallow and idealogical attacks on the works of people who have a tendency to be studious about the issues that we face. Such seems to be the case with former president Carter. Despite his personal experience, engagement with and knowledge of issues concerning the Middle East, his work is under attack. Yet his work is most important for he sheds light on something our media in USAmerica fails to do---he presents a point of view that is not in lock step with Israeli Zionism. Being fair does not mean one is anti-semitic, anti-Jew or even anti-Jewish state in the Middle East. However, in our democracy, taking a seldom heard position is tantamount to being "unAmerican."

A Democratic Response

Jim Webb demonstrates the kind of leadership that more democrats should exhibit.

Media Needs Character and Strength

Jane Fonda continues to do public service despite the fact that she is not among the "Hollywood" top ten box office draws anymore. In a piece she wrote and that I found in Alternet, she discusses the importance of a strong, powerful, courageous media. This is something that we do not have and without it it the opportunities for democracy and peace wither on the vine of civic life. The world as it is today in these United States consists of a weak show time-type media. Challenges to the power base do not take place. No one questions the actions of the government, which is merely an extension of corporate USAmerica. How can we have governance that is honest and responds to its citizens when people fear to question government actions and demand what is best for the country's citizens in place of the actions taken that are good for the rich and the powerful. Somewhere else I read of the increasing reality that we are now a class-based society not dissimilar from British society. Our dukes and earls are the heads of corporations. The trite pronouncements are nothing more than propaganda mouthed by the various arms of the media--from news to entertainment.

The concept of honesty and honor seem dead in today's USAmerican world and thus our standing in the world quite rightly has fallen to low levels. Tis a pity as this country has been good to many despite its imperialistic agendas and many people who live within its borders have worked to keep the founding ideals at work with a heavy cost to their lives.

Let the plans for our future develop with no war mongers and more peacemakers. That is my prayer for the future.

Misadventure Moving Us Away from Peace

Death and more death seems the paramount formula for a nebulous success in Iraq. People leading our country are increasingly shown to lack the fundamental knowledge of the histories and cultures of the the middle east where their adventurism has taken its toll on not only American service men's lives but on the lives of others. Worse there is a real danger that war profiteering goes on unchecked. Additionally, the matter of torture and death of Iraqui and other nationals raises questions of whether or not members of the current administration should be taken to world court to answer serious questions of abuse of power, genocide, and war crimes.

When we went into the invasion of Iraq without cooperation from our allies, and wit little proofs we created a terrible environment which does not allow for peace or real democratic development. It is no wonder that the Egyptians, Jordanians, Syrians, and Iranians to name just a few whose countries' stabilities are at stake, worry and reject USAmerican intrusion into the area. Later in the week I hope to connect the articles that led to my summary here in this post. However, Alternet, The Nation, The Huffington Post, and other articles provide the foundations for my conclusions.

Peace requires lack of violence in order that it thrive. Peace requires positive engagement wih people with whom we may disagree. Peace does not require saber rattling and not so veiled threats.

In a way the call for God's support in this Bushian misadventure is the last thing we need. I pray that God protect the soldiers, marines, air force, navy, and special troops that with God's grace they return as whole and as healthy as possible. I can't imagine the trauma these people endure and can only applaud their loyalty to a misbegotten war plan for they do what so many others have done before--they believe in their leaders and hence are willing to follow these leaders' hair brained plans.

So Clinton's Team is Getting Testy, Is It?

Once upon a time I dreamt of voting for a competent, principled, no nonsense woman for the position of President of the United States. I realized then and now that in order to run for the position the woman in question would have to be politically astute, cunning, and even ruthless; however, I expected her not to be like so many others--so married to other people's principles as to have lost a sense of acting on principles based on right or wrong. In other words, someone who, like Martin Luther King, Jr. would not allow naysayers to dissuade her from taking principled stances and arguing for them when others would distract her from those principles.

I do not doubt that Mrs. Clinton is an intelligent, astute, competent, no nonsense woman, but I do question her lack of attachment to any principle worth having. She shakes hands with a Palestinian woman, comes to NY hears herself criticized and changes her mind about the plight of Palestinians. She votes for the Israeli interests because she cannot see the errors inherent in some of those interests and the truly non peace producing acts they engender.

Young John Edwards comes along and speaks out against the war that Bush began and that he supported. Edwards admits his error in supporting the president and now Clinton's campaign team tries to sully Edwards' character with accusations that are not true. Edwards does not criticize Democrats working to counter the president's position--only those Democrats who are working hand in glove with Bush.

Perhaps Mrs. Clinton's team should caution her to get Mr. Clinton from being so cozy with the Bush family. Her husband's infatuation with the elder Bush seems to be clouding her judgment on the difference between right and wrong, between what the definition of defeat in Iraq is etc.

Glad Tidings

The move from Luisa Boricua to here Write for Peace is nearly complete. Now my more political less personal musings can be located in one place. I guess it's fitting that language the medium with which we should attain peace will be the focus here in this blog; although the foolish uses of language have gotten humanity into much trouble as we have seen during the past five years. Let us pray that the time in the wilderness will end soon and that brighter minds, souls, and hearts will prevail.

Edwards Is In the Race

In my other blog, I questioned whether or not Edwards could successfully become POTUS. However, what good is having decent people with great ideas make the effort if we don't support them? So I am joining the Edwards for president campaign. My reasons are simply:

1. He speaks grassroots. That is, Mr. Edwards understands that in today's world the government cannot do everything for us. I know that I could stand around and wait and eventually wear my legs out with the waiting.
2. He looks at people in pain and directs energies toward helping those people. I think I joined such a person in a truly Jesus path in this world.
3. He has a good understanding of true patriotism--doing what is right for the country, admit mistakes, and take steps to undo mistakes.

It might be noteworthy to see the little that mainstream media has done to cover the former senator's announcement. From one Huffington Posts regular posts come a few interesting stories on the announcement and the possibility of an Edwards run for the White House. One also Michelle Pilecke's blog discusses the disconnect between the location and announcement and the causes of the repaired damages from the flood nor a discussion of repaired levees and another discusses the consequences of his announcements on other would be entrants into the presidential debate.

Gerald R. Ford

The passing of a person prominent in our civic and cultural history leads us to reflect. This reflection can lead to some of the comments posted by Georgie Anne Geyer Whether or not we see the past through rose colored glasses, as Ms Geyer's comments seem to do, it is a fact that the present is filled with sufficient vitriol in the civic or political discourse as to lead us to search for some way of living, behaving, participating in our common life that does credit to the reputation we desire for ourselves and the legacy of our country. Some of us can't help but be patriotic but in terms of peace not war and reflections of the work people did in the past can shine some sort of light on that.

Whether or not I agree with Mr. Ford's pardon of Richard M. Nixon for his knowledge of or participation with the Watergate cover-up, I do remember the conversation of the country move toward the needs of the country. OF course economic recession and inflation etc were those things that affected our everyday lives. That perhaps led Mr. Ford to "forgive" on behalf of a country not yet ready to forgive the wayward Mr. Nixon.

That act aside and his rationale for it.

However, as a political junkie who wants peace on earth I do wonder if today would be in place had Ford allowed the impeachment process to go forward. His generosity, it seems to me, may have led to some of the horrible things we have witnessed during the past four years.

Something to ponder.

A New Blog of Interest

I found this blog via the Huntington Post: Left I The blogger offers many good political findings on reasons we don't easily have peace in the world and his/her links to a wide range of primary writers will be useful as I pick up the time I spend writing during the coming year. I'm taking a turn at writing more often and teaching in classrooms less.

Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving Day

In order to combat that dark disease that troubles my life almost daily--but less so now that I'm back West, I thought it only fitting on Thanksgiving Day to find things for which to give thanks.

I'm thankful for life, work, and family. I'm thankful for the importance I and other members of my family are to one another. I'm thankful for my ancestors whose lives led the way; I'm thankful that I can still be pleasant when I talk to my grandson, newly enlisted and trained in the Army National Guard for Arizona, that we don't raise our voices when expressing opposing positions concerning the war.

I'm thankful to accept the offerings of family even when they've no clue of the value of reading and ideas and how much I love them. I'm thankful for being able to truly help my students even when I'm not at my best. I'm thankful for my students for they lift my soul when it wants to droop and flounder.

In a personal area, I'm thankful for learning to handle my own problems as I once did. I'm glad to be alive and thankful that others seem to be thankful for my life.

I"m thankful for my love of learning and politics and life.
I'm thankful for the hundreds of people whose writings keep me alert and laughing if not screaming.



Alec Baldwin a wonderful actor who is increasingly gaining my admiration for his public positions on peace/war/ left/right issues, wrote a blog entry giving thanks for service men and women. In it he thanks the men and women serving in our armed services. His post begins a bit defensive by stating that it may be a bit "corny" to thank our troops. The remainder of his post went to the point. My response to Mr. Baldwin should I ever get the opportunity to meet a high powered actor would be to state that Thanking people for their service to our country regardless of our position on the war in which the troops serve is never corny. Overall, Baldwin's post made a day that started off questionably end quite well.

Luisa

From Ariana Huffington

MIlitary Standards?

A recent article posted on the RFP list ignites my response. In an effort to camouflage its inadequacies the department of war aka department of defense has been giving criminals and drug users waivers for entering the armed services. This is a typical response of those who would protect us from the terrorists. Are we endangering our armed services? I don't know. However, the lower standards can potentially pose serious problems should a future or current enemy of our state want to find weakness in our defense. More later as this is a rushed writing job.

Blog for Peace in Munich

While avoiding my usual heavy reading load, I took a time out to go through blogs dedicated to peace and found one honoring Rachel Corrie. I'll have to share this with Harriet who has worked tirelessly for remembering the brave young woman who worked for peace for Palestinians.

Volunteering

I thought I'd do something productive for the coming elections. Okay, I'm a cynic even when I try not to be. Cynicism interferes with higher spiritual goals. However, I thought I'd begin calling other voters to encourage them to vote. The first caller hung up on me but I persisted. Since it is Saturday, many people were out and about. An older Missouri person disclosed nothing of her intentions so I engaged in friendly non committal conversation so that the next caller who calls her will not get a "hang" up when they attempt to nail down her preferences.

I'm not very good, I learned, at "closing in on people" to persuade them to vote the direction I'd like for them to vote.

This bodes ill for my rhetorical skills but well for my spiritual practices.

The Day of the Dead

I've written of this elsewhere. The this is lighting candles in memory of those from our family who have died. As I wrote of my mother's lighting candles in the sturdy tubs in New York during the 1950s, a new thought came to me. What if we all took time out to reflect? What if we made a conscious effort to meditate on who we are and what we do and most importantly what we want and need from our interactions with others?

I try to teach reflection in the classes I teach, but the personal reflection I think of if widely practiced by a large number of people could lead to less temptation to rush headlong into the actions that harm us and society. Increasingly, I borrow from my cousin's practice in PR. Using kind terms of address in place of harsh or sarcastic ones among my colleagues or friends, reducing the number of sarcastic wisecracks all these steps, it is my hope, will lead me to a greater place of peace.

Perhaps, I can once again place myself on that sail boat on the big sea that lolls me to a greater sense of peace.

Other Views of Peace

Found an interesting blog that connects the past with the present through pop culture. Though the title of the blog asserts a philosophical discussion, it is by no means a dry academic look at war. Of course the use of Marley's lyrics reminds me that his voice and words are needed today. Although we all worked hard to progress to a point where wars would be unnecessary, there are many others who do not have a clue about what peace could give them. I'm using "Give them" because most humans have a what's in it for me attitude. I'll use this posting as a storage place for other fun and thoughtful perspectives on current human views on war.

Teachers for Tolerance

I ran across an old blog entry elsewhere and found this url on tolerance that is think could be useful in teaching peace or a non combative approach to problem solving and learning. Of course, peace as I've discussed here and elsewhere has more than one connotative meaning. Inner peace is something I am searching for in the hopes that if most of us seek it we will spread the balm of peace to others and so on.

Progressive Spirituality?

A Girl playing with dollies and angels /spirits surround her. A lovely notion far removed from the daily politics of Life in the US. All too often we forget the other worldliness that we learned about in churches or from other cultures whose connections to the spirit of plants, animals, air, natural phenomena.
Much discussion from the political progressives do not address the human need for a spiritual dimension in our public discusssions. A report on the reasons for the more "humane" progressives will not win politically even though it does a brilliant job of addressing discourse analysis and the ways that politicians use language against people of strong convictions for the betterment of humans on this planet. Nary a word of spirituality is mentioned for it is no longer seen as essential for modern or postmodern life. Yet at unseen levels we seem to hunger for spirituality and so this kind of discourse while useful on some levels lacks the healing uses for which language can be used.

The HuntingtonPost's entry by Kathleen Reardon is a very good example of what I mean. Reach article through title of this post.

Sail Away

Sometimes images of the ocean and a slow moving sail boat help me to relax and think of the important things in life. The ocean lends itself to action or meditation. Since writing and participating in professional discussions often rattle any sense of inner peace, I thought to upload a picture of a sailboat to this blog as a reminder of gentler human pursuits.

I have been away from the Pacific Ocean beaches for a long time and have memories of the sound of water lapping at small areas where it was trapped by boulders. In my mind's ear I hear the seagulls and the larger sounds of the ocean with waves crashing-sometimes gently on the shore.

Besides Spirituality

As I look at the marches for social justiice on behalf of migrant workers and people who emigrated to the US without papers, I am happy to note the increase of a sense of community and support of some church priests and ministers. The tendency to reduce people to objects or criminals does injustice not only to the people referenced but also to ourselves for doing so starts the process of dehumanizing one group of people. If we can do that to one group we can do it to others and the chain created can lead to a nonspiritual and fascist state.


But wait! We are living in a country controlled by corporations and if I'm remembering correctly, that is the definition of a fascist state. This increased materialism, conflation of capitalism with democracy, loss of values all are leading us to live lives that do not stand for the principles this country began with. SO it is no surprise that the complacency and lack of participation in restarting or revolutionizing the system exists. The SHOCK of the mass demonstrations by these allegedly illegal workers has begun an expected spate of nasty comments by talking heads of US Media. Little do they realize the power of their words to poison the air between humans who in fact are in the same position. We are all victims of globalization. We are all paying for NAFTA, CAFTA and other treaties that increase globalization.

Lou Dobbs may rail against illegal immigrants, but his aim would be more effective if he railed against the government and the corporations that have created and expanded the mess that creates a decrease in pay, the middle class and increases those of us in the lower or poorer classes.

Indigenous Pedagogy

I'm writing about the importance of history and the cultural exchanges that occurred between indigenous people and Europeans. However, wanting to look at ways to make good outcomes from these exchanges and avoid the stereotypic depictions of pagans, savages etc or the equally dim witted idea of the noble savage, I am looking at past exchanges that yielded good outcomes. For example cabeza de vaca's 8 year roaming in the southern part of United States during the 16th Century led to one of the first depictions of Native Americans in terms that showed them as brutal, kind, loving, generous, or willing to enslave enemies. This more balanced portrait conveys a human quality. Also, the references to spiritual practices indicates that Cabeza de Vaca learned about a different worldview, one that has referents to phenomena that Cabeza de Vaca seemed to intuit from his exchanges with these people. In addition, the ability for Europeans and Native Americans from various tribes to develop communication signals points to the intelligence of these natives.

Black Elk and John G. Niehardt's cultural exchanges produced the book Black Elk Speaks which transmits information for those willing to learn and once again Niehardt does not judge or belittle the practices of the Oglala Sioux. He learns and so those of us who read his work can learn too.

Learning about other points of view in a way that allows us to step outside of our personal perspectives is difficult. However, if we truly want to engage with people and learn and collaborate and avoid wars we must do so at a higher dimension than that engaged in by warriors and politicians hungry for power.