Peace and JFK

Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind. John F. Kennedy (1) 05/29/1917 - 11/22/1963 35th president of the USA

Reading the new book on the Kennedy brothers merely underscores the accuracy of this quote. I do hope someone will be courageous enough to follow up on such an idea--peace--that can lead us out of the quagmires of war.

Alliance for Peace

A new call for a Father's Day project aimed at reducing war and working for a Department of Peace.

He's at it Again

Know I understand the reason for Gore losing to Bush--his vice-presidential running mate was Joe Lieberman. Now Generalissimo Lieberman wants to make war on Iran if it doesn't play by the rules. Whose rules? Where did Generalissimo Lieberman get the right to tell other countries how and when to behave by those rules? Doesn't the Generalissimo realize that his kind of talk contributes to the hatred festering in the very places he would invade and occupy?

When two-faced Lieberman (and I do hate ad hominem attacks), leaves the party he spent so much of his time in so that he could retain power (however much a United States Senator might have) to undermine the call of most of the people in that party he demonstrates his duplicity. Perhaps his ties to Israel create his thinking of war in the Middle East. Perhaps he should be a senator there rather than here. I have felt for a long time that he thinks of what is best for Israel and conflates that thinking with his perceptions of what is good for the US. But is his thinking really accurate?

I'm with the doves here, we must appeal to the higher angels of our nature before even thinking of more death and carnage on this continent or anywhere else.

General Wesley Clarke sent an address for a new website he's created: Stop War in Iran
I hope more people on the blogosphere sign on.

A Personal Plea for Peace

As a grandparent, I realize ever more acutely now that we must let our grandchildren seek their own way through life. Yesterday, we had a farewell dinner for my second grandchild, James Antonio Ernesto Rodriguez. He volunteered for Afghanistan and none of us know why. I couldn't help but cry at the thought of his leaving AND at the departure of all other young men and women who hold ideals of duty to this country in ways that differ from my own. I suppose that age leads to greater reflections on the beauty of life and the fact that in the words of JFK all wars are stupid.

We should lead a world to develop the better nature of humankind--not the lowest and darkest nature of our beings.

I'm reading a new book on the Kennedy Brothers--Robert and John and wonder how our world would look today if either or both had not been assassinated. Ah well we can't know that, but I hope future world leaders will pick up courageously the cause of peace.

How could we go about such a venture? Some would say addressing the needs of the poor, not only the desires of the rich, could lead to people having more time to spend on developing the better natures of their being instead of pursuing survival.

That would be one thought that I fear our present culture/society ignores.

George Washington Comments on George W. Bush

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Retired Gen. George Washington Criticizes Bush's Handling Of Iraq War

This delightful story from the online version of The Onion highlights what many peacenicks have been thinking and saying--The Shrub has mismanaged the war and has not acted within the confines of his job description--seeking instead to become the monarch that George Washington refused to become following end of the Revolutionary war and the end of his second term in office in 1796. Congress does not get off in this delightful and insightful commentary. Civilian authorities should pay attention to their responsibilities of oversight and not give any elected representative, like the president, leave to usurp more power than the constitution allows.

Keith Olbermann's Special Comment on Rudy Giulianni

Either or talk and misrepresentation of others' positions lead to the kind of thinking that led to war--in this case a warrant less war.

Olbermann's discussion helps place a bit of sense to the Gulliani self serving untruthful statements.

Keith Olbermann Interviews Bill Maher March 27, 2007

As I wrote in the post below this one, people must be honest. If one is principled, one should stick to those principles. Placating our baser urges as many have done in this era leads to the ethical problems we see in government and in other areas of life.

Defining Our Principles

I've recently been drawn to people from disparate parts of the world who seem to be doing the same thing--namely standing up for their beliefs despite pressures to moderate their positions. One such person is Asma Khalid and another is Dennis Kucinich. In an alternet article,
Ms Khalid indicates that placating frightened Europeans by identifying herself as a moderate Muslim would nullify her definition of orthodoxy--namely being pious about her faith. Changing her identity would further distort Muslim faith and align it more with bombers and other radical elements which she claims Muslims in general are not.

Another person whose credentials have risen sharply in my estimation is Dennis Kucinich. I usually enjoy listening to Bill Maher but was not pleased when he persisted in attempting to get Mr. Kucinich to answer questions his way. Mr. Kucinich would not. Citing his own beliefs, Kucinich claimed his belief in working toward peace not war and that use of assassination as a tactic would not be his policy even if the target were Osama bin Laden.

Kudos to Kucinich who everyday says and does things many of us believe in.

Dennis Kucinich Discusses Iraq War Vote and Funding on CNN

People who want peace should be consistent. Here Dennis Kucinich is the one man who has stood on his principles while others put their fingers to the wind to see which way the wind blows.

Hurray for Dennis. He makes my other possible choices for president look like hawks. I do hope his ideas catch fire.

Marianne Williamson Department of Peace Interview

I just received this bit of information from a colleague. Whereas the current department of defense was known as department of war during WWII and before that era, it is important to be "proactive" in developing and continuing peace in our world. Thus it is important to develop a cabinet level Department of Peace. Thus Williamson's call for a Department of Peace and all the monies and divisions that would serve peace in our country and world. Given the events of 4/16 in Virginia, it is evident that we need a Cabinet level Department of Peace.

Can Decreasing Poverty Lead to Peace?

Many people I am certain have posed the question I ask in the title to this post. It seems on a surface level that many if not most problems around the world share an underlying area--poverty. I think when poverty is severe people lose hope and entertain radical ideas and anger. These as seen in many of our city streets and perhaps other places around the world lead to the kind of violence and war on our daily news. Of course, sometimes greed leads some corporations to take advantage of the disenfranchised which in turn leads ot more angry people. I can't understand how giving more power to corporations will truly answer the needs of people looking for work. Yet our government hires many of the same corporations that have participated in the by now ritual outsourcing of jobs. This leaves us with greater poverty related issues. Yet today a man actually praised the very government that makes it necessary for him to take on a post-retirement job. Such is life.

Radicals for Peace

I suppose people wanting an end to the war now are on the "radical" side of politics. In the not so distant past, people asking to end the war were labeled unpatriotic. However, recent increase in the dissatisfaction of the war in Iraq and the administration's handling of it seem to have decreased the rhetoric of labeling people negatively just for wanting peace.

For Lasting Peace Put God First?

I had a brief errand to run in Glendale Arizona. I live in Tempe. On the return trip from ASU-West, I noticed a sign for a church, "For a Lasting Peace, Put God First." It's quite interesting that not too many months ago that sign on route 17 had quite a different message, one that parroted the Bush pro-war line.

The Blog | Arianna Huffington: The Injustice at Justice: The White House's Fingerprints Begin to Show | The Huffington Post

The Blog | Arianna Huffington: The Injustice at Justice: The White House's Fingerprints Begin to Show | The Huffington Post

Will the White House do more than offer a sacrificial lamb or scapegoat for this scandal? That is the question du jour. Who will be the counsel firings' Libby? It'll be sad for our country if people so eager for war demonstrate such cowardice because of their attachment to power.

Bait and Switch

When reading the HuffPost today I came across a cartoon that illustrates the bait and switch approach to keeping focus off of pertinent issues. It's quite amusing--applies to the recent Bill Maher "incident."

From Arrianna

Arianna Huffington hits the right tone on the implications of the Libby verdict. Yet, I'm sure that none of the Bushites will get impeached for their mendacity. Meanwhile while they proceed to cover their posteriors, young men die, at risk students fail poverty levels rise and the world in DC continues as is without anyone applying the brakes.

What a lousy system!

Leaving Iraq?

Following the November elections I expected greater momentum toward our military draw down in Iraq. From the story about leaving Iraq, there may be a slim opportunity to do this. However, I don't believe the Republicans in the US Senate will allow such a plan to move forward. Peace would be so great to have, especially if we can gain it quickly and with the use of diplomacy that includes nations in and around the Middle East.

Eisenhower's Farewell Address: A Lesson for Today

I like history and frequently wonder how people I admire from the past would deal with current issues. We are living in a world where our current POTUS initiated a war in the Middle East. His motives are ostensibly "noble," yet when the thousands of wounded men and women who served at his behest return to the US too many find insufficient treatment, belittlement of their conditions, loss of careers and lack of actual support. My cousin in Florida tells me that is not the case where her son works as a medical doctor working at the VA Hospital near Tampa. I write about this tonight, March 7, 2007 because the story about VA issues is off the front burner today displaced by the "Scooter Libby" verdict. That story is fascinating in what we learn about the current POTUS' administration's handling of events that displease them. However, the Libby verdict should not take all the attention away from important issues such as the veterans' issues, education issues etc.

I heard Bill Gates in front of a senate committee providing cogent and forward thinking suggestions about how to deal with education and nary a word of this was published on the online blogs and news papers I read. A nation that does not keep its citizens well prepared for the future has a bleak future of its own.

It was great hearing that problem solving assignments engage even high risk students. I'll see how that plays out at the conference I'll attend in the next two weeks.

Unlike Eisenhower who cautioned a future government to aim for balance in the use of a military industrial complex, current presidents have failed and now we are neglecting social programs for an increase in military spending. The costs are mighty in terms of lives, blood, and money and in terms of what we do not do for the future citizens of our country and what we do not do now for the poor, under educated etc.

So I wish that the Shrub would be more like George Washington and Dwight David Eisenhower and less like Cheney.

Column of the Americas

While ruminating on the concept of peace, I frequently encounter writers' works that intimate the ideal of social action and justice to achieve a lasting peace. Earlier today, I noted that some people take seriously the fact of poverty and its contribution to global warming. Many have noted that poverty may lead to feelings of victimization by one power over groups of people with money and the power that money provides in our global village.

As a Latina, I look to writers like Patrisia Gonzales and Roberto Rodriguez in their Column of the Americas. I hope the occasional reader who stops by my blog will find their words helpful in understanding people with the rich perspectives they provide.

Listening to NPR I Was Surprised

Rarely will I agree with Jonah Goldberg on anything because he has seemed so strident on television programs. The topic du jour was global warming and Mr Goldberg actually presented a cogent argument for a position with which I disagree. His take on global warming is to leave the solution to the future. I do not agree with that. However, somewhere in his argument he and later other speakers addressed the inequities to the poor around the world which global warming will create. The costs will be unbearable for the poor. Moreover, solutions according to Goldberg and another speaker whose name I missed, lies in solving problem of poverty around the world. Now if Goldberg could get behind that idea for solving poverty here in the US, I might become a fan of his.