I respect Reverend Wallis, and I understand his point of view on Afghanistan. War is always awful and tragic, and hideous things have certainly happened in Afghanistan, including American military kill teams and our support for corrupt and misogynist Afghani political leaders, among others.
Yet, the nature of war and violence does not necessarily make it wrong in every case. The American Civil War and World War II are two wars that were ethically defensible and, in fact, morally required. Sometimes war is the best option among a set of worse options. That does not justify the crimes and horrors inevitably committed in violent contexts that degrade our consciences and moral compasses, but it does justify the use of violence in certain instances.
We did not go to war in to Afghanistan simply to kill Osama Bin Laden, but also to destroy the Taliban and to assist in creating a Afghan society that is stable and free, able to resist corruption, terrorism, and tyranny. We made that promise when we decided, in a bipartisan fashion that crossed political lines, to bring our troops into Afghanistan. This was not supposed to be dependent on how simple or swift the task was or to be a quick jaunt that we could end when the going got muddy and rough. We gave our implicit word that we would stay the course until we transformed a divided, undeveloped society into a nation that could function healthily and proudly on its own.
This was never going to be easy or quick. From the beginning, anyone who knew something about Afghan society understood that this was a long-term task that would realistically last no less than ten years and could take 20-40 years. If we aren’t ready to embark on such ventures, then we shouldn’t make the commitment to others. If we don’t hold to our commitments, no one will take us seriously on anything. Other countries will view as fair-weather friends.
The majority of Afghans have experienced violence for centuries and understand that our military will screw up and do bad things (it’s in the nature of war and human weakness). Most also realize that screwing up does not mean that we should give up. That’s an adult view of the world.
I support continued involvement in Afghanistan, but with a lower military footprint and a stronger non-military, society-building presence. Many Afghans don’t currently trust us for good reason–not because of kill teams and incompetence, but because they believe that we will leave sooner rather than later. Let’s prove them wrong. Let’s show that we stand by our commitments and don’t abandon those who put faith in us.
http://blog.sojo.net/2011/05/12/afghanistan-no-more-excuses/#disqus_thread
On what basis are Americans qualified to pontificate on democracy if we pull this kind of garbage?
http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=curbing_voting_rights_in_wisconsin
An interesting analysis projecting long-term demographic trends (especially the growth of the Latino population) that favor progressive Democrats in the South. We shall see. In any case, it will take at least ten twenty years, I would guess.
http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=gone_with_the_2010_win
IRS signals that political donors may own back taxes. This is potentially game-changing for the 501(c)4 world and may have a major impact on the 2012 election. Not many donors want to pay thirty-five percent gift taxes
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-irs-outside-groups-20110512,0,7620681.story?track=rss
Great idea, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/09/us/politics/09congress.html?_r=1
Which century do we live in?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_medicaid_cuts
Wisconsin Republicans push radical agenda ahead of recalls. I guess that’s what bullies do:
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20110507/GPG0101/110507020/1207
A grassroots movement called Wutburger is roiling German politics:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/world/europe/02germany.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
And the beat goes on: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110417/ap_on_bi_ge/us_no_taxes
An analysis of how big government and big corporations work hand in glove:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/print/the_new_corporate_world_order_20110419/
An excellent, humorous analysis by Matt Taibbi
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/tax-cuts-for-the-rich-on-the-backs-of-the-middle-class-or-paul-ryan-has-balls-20110407
Disgusting. Repellent. Racist. Xenophobic. Yet Fox has led the charge with its fake news.
http://mediamatters.org/research/201104200008
Some good news for a change:
http://vtdigger.org/2011/04/27/vt-senate-gives-final-nod-to-universal-health-care-bill-in-21-9-vote/
A discussion of the paranoia and racism that lies just beneath the surface of our national psyche. Donald Trump Trump has exploited this for PR purposes:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/04/trump-birtherism-and-race-baiting.html
Disgusting. Repellent. Racist. Xenophobic. Yet Fox has led the charge with its fake news.
http://mediamatters.org/research/201104200008
Huckabee wants Americans indoctrinated at gunpoint by David Barton, pseudo-historian who claims the U.S. was founded as a Christian nation. Barton apparently denies that the First Amendment protects the religious rights of all US citizens; rather it protects only those who are Christian. Another Oy vez.
http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2011/03/30/mike-huckabee-says-he-wants-americans-to-be-indoctrinated-at-gunpoint/
The Koch Brothers use their power to intimidate their employees to vote for their favored candidates:
http://www.thenation.com/article/160062/big-brothers-thought-control-koch
A sad story that makes no rational sense, but the GOP effort is a nice pay-off to large corporations and campaign contributors.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/16/science/earth/16enviro.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
Art is one of the most potent means of protesting authoritarianism and affirming freedom, but artists face threats in many nations, including China.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/opinion/20Rushdie.html
Yes, that sounds like a great idea. Congress is much more knowledgeable than scientists. That’s a no-brainer–not.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/us/politics/13wolves.html
He’s right. Of course, the left relies on sanctimony. So its raging anger vs. pious sanctimony. Oy vey.
http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=are_republicans_just_idiots
The bipartisan destruction of the Middle Class:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_peasants_need_pitchforks_20110405/
This describes the demise of one of the more bizarre figures in American culture: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2011/04/06/AFNEgnqC_story.html
An excellent overview of the slanted coverage that Fox uses in its propaganda campaign to portray unions and their supporters in a negative light:
http://mediamatters.org/research/201103150008#1
William Cronon of the University of Wisconsin wrote this op-ed on March 21 and then conservatives launched a witch-hunt by trying to rifle through his emails. All you have to do is express an opinion and talk about decency and living standards to qualify for harassment from corporate sponsored bullies.
www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/opinion/22cronon.html
Naomi Klein is wrong on Israel (with her advocacy of boycotts) and often shaped by ideological arguments (without consideration for complexity and abstracted from life on the ground), but there are other times that she has profound things to say.
Below she writes a fascinating article, demonstrating the tremendous power of billionaires, corporations, and Neo-Liberal economic thought. It makes me realize how hemmed-in Obama and any national leader is. Trying to do anything that runs up against economic orthodoxy, now matter how reasonable or moderate, is virtually impossible, given the threat of stock market declines, currency and commodity collapses, and threats of investment withdrawals. Governments do not control their societies or their national resources; corporations and powerful interests do.
http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2011/02/democracy-born-chains
This provides an excellent overview of the Koch brothers’ industrial empire and their influence over U.S. politics.
www.publicintegrity.org/articles/entry/3120/
Many are focused on terrorism from the Middle East, but there is also a large trend in the US toward far-right terrorism, especially associated with the Sovereign Citizens movement:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/mar/24/far-right-terrorism
For further discussion of these movements, see the following:
http://www.splcenter.org/what-we-do/hate-and-extremism/law-enforcement (with lots of links) and
http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/scm.asp?xpicked=4
The American Petroleum Institute plans to contribute directly to political candidates. Ah, a new way to buy our political system. I guess American no longer own our own country anymore.
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/24/api-direct/
And here’s Paul Krugman’s take on corporatizing of both Iraq and Wisconsin
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/25/opinion/25krugman.html
In the meantime, we talk a lot about bullies in schools, but what about these bullies from the Chamber of Commerce who hack activist computers?
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/17/chamberleaks-malware-hacking/
Through all this, we need to remember that we have the choice to accept this or not. The corporate interests seem all-powerful, but that’s only because we the people allow them to do what they do. We could change that tomorrow if we so chose. We have the capacity to through peaceful means to stop the madness in its tracks. How? By voting, by contacting our elected representatives regularly, by speaking out publicly, by refusing to shop (where reasonably possible) with companies that engage in autocratic and harmful behavior, by frequenting local establishments that are friendly to the environment and workers, by protesting on the street or on the web, and (most of all) by living according to our own beliefs and our own souls–not according to the manipulations of corporate media machine’s. Often we (including me) are rats in a maze running around following the expectations of a consumption-driven economy, but we can choose to follow our own paths and live our own lives however we want. There is nothing that we cannot change collectively if we follow our authentic selves and share that with others. It seems simple and polyannish, but it also happens to be true. Instead of succumbing to anxiety and fear (which corporate interests feed off of), we simply need to tap into courage and step into genuine freedom.
This is an excellent essay by Frank Rich, describing the popularity free falls of leading conservatives (e.g. Beck and Palin) and the inanity and emptiness of conservative policy. While many rightly note how little progressives have to offer, conservatives have becomes voices of even less. We are in a state not only of empty rhetoric from all ideological vantage points, but of political triviality. We need grassroots leadership somewhere.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/20/opinion/20rich.html
This is a good, little essay, emphasizing the importance of thinking about the purpose of government and then cutting strategically.
http://www.vpr.net/episode/50628/
Here is the state of politics in Europe:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/13/guardian-icm-europe-poll-2011/print
The pillaging of the middle class continues: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/opinion/14krugman.html?_r=1
We are supposed to be the land of the free. In this case, our behavior sound more like that of a tin-pot dictatorship. Instead of being a beacon of light to the world, we are acting shamefully.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/mar/11/bradley-manning-wikileaks
Here’s a version of a description by Manning himself:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/11/stripped-naked-bradley-manning-prison
As I read this, we can see how much the unions in Wisconsin learned from the mistakes of the New Jersey unions. They agreed to concede wages and benefits in order to keep more fundamental rights. The result is thus far remarkable, even though the legislature passed the bill in what amounted to a coup against freedom. What worked for Christie in New Jersey has been up till now politically damaging for Republican governors and legislators in Wisconsin and Ohio.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/magazine/27christie-t.html?hp
The Dalai Lama cedes his political role. Clearly the Dalai Lama understands the Western idea of “separation of church and state,” its importance for entry into the modern world, and its role in fostering healthy civil institutions. Of course, there are many traditions that Tibet will maintain, and it will adapt on it own terms. Perhaps we will how a society can maintain its deep spirituality while developing democratic, secular institutions. This is impressive:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/world/asia/11tibet.html
Take your money out of the bank! That hits them in the way they understand best. Plus it’s peaceful, and you can do it very quietly.
<http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/11/955214/-Were-Going-To-Destroy-A-Bank>http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/11/955214/-Were-Going-To-Destroy-A-Bank
What’s happened to the middle class? That’s the question we need to ask in light of the bailouts and the crushing of workers’ unions in Wisconsin. Does work matter any more or only shuffling paper? Those of us committed to spiritual exploration need to recognize that the exploration of meaning and purpose in life requires that people are not always in survival mode. Spiritual truth is also connected to justice.
David Koch and Rupert Murdoch battle the middle class through Fox and the Wall Street Journal
http://www.alternet.org/story/150047/rupert_murdoch_and_david_koch_collude_against_wisconsin_workers?page=entire
The Wisconsin battle is part of a 150-struggle to break unions, now with the Koch Brothers leading the charge: http://www.truthdig.com/report/print/gov_walker_does_something_big_20110304
Bob Herbert discusses the financial crises facing ordinary, working, middle-class Americans:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/26/opinion/26herbert.html
This essay argues that we need to increase upper income tax brackets in order to prevent the concentration that would destroy democracy in this country. While I do not agree with the authors (and others) that decreasing government waste is not an important issue and that we need to figure out how to make medicare work more efficiently (social security is in fact basically sound), I cannot fathom why we keep lowering tax rights on the wealthy.
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2011/022411.html
Robert Reich makes a similar argument: http://robertreich.org/post/3591689800
Ellen Brown argues that a state bank would solve many of Wisconsin’s and other states budget/pension issues–of course, that presumes that Walker and others are actually concerned about the budget rather than crushing labor http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/wisconsin.php
In the meantime, the percentage of underwater mortgage are on their way up: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_underwater_mortgages
Richard Trumka, the head of the AFL-CIO lauds the 14 Wisconsin Senators who stood up for workers’ rights: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-trumka/todays-heroes-the-wiscons_b_831749.html
More and more cities are broke: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/magazine/06Muni-t.html?_r=1 (via Dianne Bazell)
Jackob Hacker and Paul Pierson, in their book, “Winner Take-All Politics,” discuss the rising inequalities in the US economic system: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/inequality-and-political-power/?scp=8&sq=middle%20class&st=cse (via Dianne Bazell)
Robert Reich argues that the real issue is not jobs, but wages: http://robertreich.org/post/3638565075
A wonderful story about a mild-mannered man whose ideas have inspired non-violent uprisings worldwide against dictatorships.
A fascinating discussion of religion and politics that relates to Tibet, India, and China
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/politics/4259/possible_heir_to_dalai_lama_cleared_of_corruption_charges/
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