Religion in Politics

We hear lately much heated discussion of certain religions or statements. One can almost feel the anger expressed. . . or perhaps more often the deliberate manipulation that is evident since the "anger" is directed most often to a political candidate. It is certainly nothing new since such has been the case for many years - Catholics, Mormans, Jews & many others have felt the vicious whips of the bigot and those who would believe differently and do anything to "win". The things we see and hear today are bound to create frustration since, after all, our present purpose is to elect someone who has the ability to lead our nation into the future, not attempt to shift the focus to some harangue about religion. After the disasters our present leadership has created, the next election is more important than ever ~ It is a vital survival issue.

American Politics of the Moment

The Republicans have settled upon their candidate for the US presidency and so many now turn seriously to the Democratic Party as it struggles to be coherent. It is often said that the bumbling about is actually a process wherein individuals are enabled say what they believe ~ as opposed to the Republican process that has at its root a single pattern that represents what every one should believe. . . deviate from the core belief system and you are suspect. That's probably a generalization but there is an uneasy "fit" to the thought.

On top of it all is a President of the United States who has established his total incompetence in the management of the Country. If that seems an unfair statement, take the time to look around you at our dangerous decline in so many ways under his administration. Obviously, our decline at home and in the world is not all our President's fault or the fault of the Republican Party. We have all had a part. We have watched how corporations have taken over public policy and have said nothing. We blame China. We supply deadly arms in huge numbers to every part of the world and then pretend sorry at the slaughter they cause. Our enemies constantly refer to our unending "greed" as a nation of consumers. They are right, you know. We talk about change and fixing the problems once there is a change in the Congress. Perhaps. And perhaps we'll experience the same timid incompetence we have experienced in the present Congress. If we cannot lead, China, Russia, India, and others will.

We do know that the coming Summer and Fall will shape our future.

After all, he's just an old man ....

A while back in this Blog, I quoted a very old member of the Ojibwa saying briefly in reaction to recent events that

" ... I am sorry for you. You whites have only a short time on top of the world. Your greed is destroying you. Your arrogance will guarantee it ..."

I've brought it up again because of the uneasiness the words cause ... and the doubt that we will choose to do nothing about what he implied in his comment. He was right, you know. He was right...and I fear for what we will finally decide to do as a nation.

Who Can We Trust?

I do wonder who we can trust ~ we seem to float along accepting an unconscionable rate of interest demanded by money lenders without a whimper ~ usury in the worst sense ~ health care costs are ought of sight ~ millions cannot afford health care ~ corporate America controls our government, resulting in massive lay-offs of employees and on and on ... and then there is the war ~ more to the point, the wars. As Frank Rich put it in the New York Times: ' It was always the White House's plan to coax us into a blissful ignorance about the war. Part of this was achieved with the usual Bush-Cheney secretiveness, from the torture memos to the prohibition of photos of military coffins. But the administration also invited our passive complicity by requiring no shared sacrifice. A country that knows there's no such thing as a free lunch was all too easily persuaded there could be a free war ... Instead of taxing us for Iraq, the White House bought us off with tax cuts. Instead of mobilizing the needed troops, it kept a draft off the table by quietly purchasing its auxiliary army of contractors to finesse the overstretched military's holes.'

Since Bush took office, he has doubled the federal debt to more than $ 5 Trillion. According to US Treasury figures, on net, foreign investors have purchased close to 100% of that debt. That's $3 Trillion borrowed from the Saudis, the Chinese, the Japanese and others. Very recently, King Abdullah's nephew, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, already the top individual owner of Citibank, joined the Kuwait government's Investment Authority and others to mainline a $ 12.5 billion injection of capital into the New York Bank while at the same time, the Abu Dhabi government and the Saudi Olayan Group are taking a $6.6 billion chunk of Merrill-Lynch. As it has been said, it was no mere coincidence that Bush is in Abdullah's tent when the money-changers made the deal just outside it ..

Who can we trust? In all honesty, I don't know.

The Violence of War

A few years ago, James Brady, a Korean War veteran, published an article that may express in part why so many veterans continue to be seriously troubled by their experiences in violent warfare ~ using his own experience as an example. This is not for pity or for gain. It is just one man's life as he sees it, many years after the slaughter in Korea. The following is his
view:

"...Over the years I tried several times to write of all of this, to try to make sense of Korea. Tried to figure out why we went, and so willingly. I had answers for that: We were the children of the Great Depression. A job was a job. More to the point our elder brothers and fathers had fought the Japanese and the Nazis and beaten them. There freshly remained an honorable tradition of duty. Of Service. Of the corny old chromo, patriotism ...

(After the dedication of the Korean War Memorial in Washington, Brady's daughter telephoned asking how it went. He writes the following)

"...I couldn't answer. But sat there on the bed crying, holding the phone and unable to talk. I hadn't realized the hold Korea still had on me. It was some time before I could call her back and talk. Was it the loss of friends, or of my own youth, that weighed on me? Why should I be so emotional after so long a time ... Occasionally in the mail I receive an offer to make a trip back ... why didn't I go and attempt to ... shake off Korea, to write an end to it? ... I answered that myself ... I knew I would never go back to Korea, never sign up for an old soldiers' tour. I didn't want to see the hills again or feel the cold or hear the wind out of Siberia, moaning. I didn't want to disturb the dead ... "

If you've been there, you know the feeling. The extreme was perhaps called "shell shock" years ago. Today the extreme is called by other terms. This may be partly that but actually something else that is up to each of us to describe or try to bury ... regardless, somehow, sometimes, Korea is an unwelcome, alive, memory.

Politics and our Military

Many express their deep concern lately about our Army, Navy, & Marine troops being insufficient in numbers ~ and sometimes poorly supplied. An increasing related concern is the potential need for our military to be more active within the United States for emergency situations now being managed (?) by the several States, such as fires, natural disasters, and even border control.

For some reason, the concern stops there ... the thinking being that we have our hands full already trying to enlist individuals and maintaining our several wars around the world. The concern should not stop there ~~~~~ for some political reason, we maintain many, many highly trained military personnel around the world doing --- doing something for our nation that is not made clear by our leaders. Germany, Japan, and dozens of other countries have had the many benefits of greater or lesser numbers of United States service persons for many years. It would seem logical to draw heavily on these troops for service in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world where they are needed. Token numbers of troops could remain in present assignments.

After all, it is not likely that Germany, Japan, or a dozen other countries will attack us by land or sea and our "control" of our interests in these foreign countries will not be diminished given instant communications and attack capabilities we still possess.

A step of this kind may fill the gap ~ and postpone a military draft system that appears likely in the future.

"Lies My Teacher Told Me"

It's a paperback that is worth the reading ~ for anyone who has ever fallen asleep in history class. . . a detailed, carefully accurate examination by James W. Loewen. A New Press Issue dated 2005, updating earlier in depth studies.

Beginning with pre-Columbian American history and ranging over characters and events as diverse as Reconstruction, Helen Keller, the first Thanksgiving, and the My Lai massacre, the author supplies the conflict, suspense, unresolved drama, and connectioin with current-day issues missing from textbook accounts. (The promo above is accurate!)

As you begin reading, remember Johannes Rau's statement that
"Patriotism can flourish only where racism and nationalism are given no quarter. We should
never mistake patriotism for nationalism. A patriot is one who loves his homeland. A
nationalist is one who scorns the homelands of others ...."