Merry Christmas

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in waddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Glory in the Highest

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

“ Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men![1]

As we gear up and celebrate the trappings of capitalism, I would just like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I will be spending the day serving meals at my church for those less fortunate and then I will be spending time with my family. I hope that we can all try to do something for those who aren’t as fortunate and spread the joy and the love that is Christmas. I know in my life it isn’t about the giant miracles, but the quiet daily obedience to the hope that we can make a difference in how we live together in this world. It all starts not with a loud bang, but with a quiet whisper a daily commitment to serving someone other than myself. It doesn’t matter what nationality, religion, or race we can all use this time we have to make the world a better place one small kindness at a time.

Merry Christmas, Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah, Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo, Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun, Sretan Bozic, Glædelig Jul, Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! or Zalig Kerstfeast, Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad, Joyeux Noel, Froehliche Weihnachten, Kala Christouyenna!, Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova, Shub Naya Baras, Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket, Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah, Buone Feste Natalizie, Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto, Merry Keshmish, Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom, Hristos se rodi, God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År, Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun, Chung Mung Giang Sinh, Cestitamo Bozic, Rehus-Beal-Ledeats, Melkin Yelidet Beaal, Jwaye Nowel or to Jesus Edo Bri'cho o Rish D'Shato Brichto,

[1] The Bible – Luke 2:1-14

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Peace Begins With Me

I recently began to wonder if so many Americans are against the war, why a larger peace movement isn’t sweeping this nation. I guess after the Vietnam experience I am somewhat spoiled by what the power of the people can do. I began thinking about the differences between then and now and I was able to come up with a few. The first is that during Vietnam there was never a direct assault against America. There was that whole Tonkin Gulf incident, but that again was over there. The times were different; there was more of an activist spirit then. There was so much that seemed wrong with America and the government. But in the end I finally settled on something that has been troubling me for a long time.

I believe there will be no peace in Iraq, Iran, or anyplace else in the world from us or for us. The problem is not the terrorist threat, the Bush administrations false justifications for war, or our fascists’ tendencies. No, the answer is much deeper and therefore much more difficult to express. The answer in my opinion is that we (Americans) are not at peace with ourselves. We do not understand peace and in some ways I think it frightens us. The peace that I am speaking of is the internal peace that allows one to sit quietly and be ok being who the person is. Too many of us despise peace; we mistake it for boredom and try to quench it with activity or mindless entertainment. We constantly bombard it with noise and images, anything to make it go away. We are not a peaceful nation right now.

We are at war with ourselves. We are at war with our children, our neighbors, and each other. For months I have watched the blogosphere explode into a war zone of competing ideas, philosophies, and belief systems. These conflicts in and of themselves are a normal part of give and take in a democracy, but what is transpiring is a viciousness that is not. Simple misunderstandings are elevated to the level of personal vendettas. There has developed a gang mentality where groups descend down on anyone who has the gall to question their interpretation of the facts.

How can we expect to have peace in the world, in our homes, or anywhere else if we do not have peace within ourselves? Peace is not some ideal that we are able to give and take like so much merchandise, it is an internal calm that permeates one’s life and becomes that life. I heard that the Dalai Lama was visiting and when asked what he wanted most it was peace. Many believed it to mean in Tibet or in the world in general, but what he really means is this.

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.[1]

I think the attacks on 9/11 opened a fissure within our nation and within ourselves. For many it was the first time they had been confronted in such a catastrophic way with those who don’t like America much. For many we were torn between trying to understand why and wanting to extract revenge. I think to this day we are still conflicted by the attack and our response to it. Would it have been more palpable had the war and occupation of Iraq gone better? Yes, but would that have removed the illegitimacy of it? The evidence of this is the relative ease that this country was led into war. Oh yeah, we complain now of how we were tricked, but what I know about being tricked is that no one can trick me if I don’t want to be tricked.

The thing I remember about the Vietnam era was that despite our many differences, there was an unnatural peace that permeated the movement. It’s hard to describe to anyone who was not there or a part of it, but inside we knew that our cause was just and it gave us a peace. Even though there was smoke and tear gas all around and cops with clubs and guns, there was peace. It was also in our civil rights movement. Our purpose gave us peace.

In today’s hurry up, got to do more world, it seems strange to hear these things I’m sure, but it was there and today it is not there. I shouldn’t say it is not there, it isn’t there in sufficient enough strength to overcome the forces of conflict that afflict us all. I suggest we all take a moment to search inside ourselves and see what conflicts we are fighting. You will find them in the silence of your mind and in the quiet of your heart, begin to resolve and make peace with them. We must begin to turn down the noise within us and choose peace.

I know for me I had a very difficult time coming back to peace. It was difficult learning how to once again accept peace. For some reason my nature preferred conflict to peace, activity to rest. I believe as more and more of us find our own peace we will be able to bring peace to the world. It is impossible for someone in conflict with themselves to give out peace. Let us begin to find peace and then allow that peace to flow out from us to the world. Remember hearing and believing all these things about peace, where did they go? We allowed them to be taken from us by the world. The world of commerce, the world of busyness, the world of conflict has stolen these things from us and it is time we took them back.

Peace, yes it begins with me and with you. If you want a peaceful world, learn to live in peace with yourself.

[1] http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/d/dalai_lama.html

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Taking It to the Streets

WASHINGTON, July 5 — Support among Republicans for President Bush’s Iraq policy eroded further on Thursday as another senior lawmaker, Senator Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico, broke with the White House just as Congressional Democrats prepared to renew their challenge to the war.

“We cannot continue asking our troops to sacrifice indefinitely while the Iraqi government is not making measurable progress,” said Mr. Domenici, a six-term senator who has been a steadfast supporter of the president.

Thus Mr. Domenici joined a growing number of Republican voices in opposition to the war just as Senate Democratic leaders are readying plans to put the political and policy focus back on Iraq next week.[1]

What is it going to take to for us to get fed up enough to take this government back? I’m not talking about the fed up of sitting behind these screens and complaining and analyzing as this country is sent crashing in flames. As this piece illustrates even those who know this war is wrong and know that it is a no-win situation still want to continue the death march.

It is obvious that these guys (Democrats & Republicans) are not going to stop this. It is no longer about elections, we had an election. Anybody remember that? Where the majority of Americans voted to end this war; yet it continues. While we wait on the wheels of politics to turn; more and more Americans and Iraqis are dying and for what purpose? Is our presence in Iraq making it a safer place or a better place? Who can continue to back this argument with the overwhelming evidence that we are not doing either.

No my friends, it is time to take action to organize and to put pressure on these politicians. It is time to say enough is enough. How can the vast majority of people in a democracy be against something and yet it continues to fester. This thing is festering like an infected sore on the soul of America and the more we pick at it the more infected it becomes. It is time for direct civil action against the war-mongers and war profiteers that continue to feed the war machine with bodies of our sons and daughters, the bodies of Iraqis. It is time to shut down this government that has refused to listen to and follow the will of the people. It is time to make it plain in no uncertain terms that we have had enough of the lies and deceit.

We need to start putting together city by city, state by state, the mechanisms to carry this message to the street. We can no longer be content with the small rallies staged in individual cities and towns; we must go directly to Washington. We must go with the strength that cannot be ignored. As long as we silently stand by and watch the carnage we will continue to be ignored.

I have to give it to these guys they have gotten smarter at this; we no longer have the daily pictures beamed to our homes of the violence that is Iraq. We no longer have the daily visions of the maiming and injury that we had for Vietnam. They learned not only from Vietnam, but also from the civil rights movement. When those pictures of Black people being hosed, beaten, and attacked by dogs were sent into the homes across America, the outrage could not be contained. I guarantee you will never see pictures like that again on television. These guys know that those images had power; they motivated a nation to stand up and say enough. It was the same with the war pictures from Vietnam. Now what do we see these nice little “smart bomb” video game images of precision killing. We no longer see the real visions of war and you know what we are ok with that. It makes American Idol and Desperate Housewives go down easier. Gone from our senses are the visions of little Asians kids running down the street with napalm burning their skin off or G.I.s getting limbs blown off. Yes sir, gone are the good ole days of real war footage, the kind that would make you lose your appetite for dinner. The kind that would make you want to put down the remote, the mouse, the cell phone and do something. These images that kept us awake at night, they did because we knew that the violence was being carried out in our name.

Let’s have a good old fashion peace concert in Washington on the mall. It’s time we showed these clowns who’s really in charge and these kids how changing the world is done. Let’s leave no doubt in anybody’s mind that we are fed up and we aren’t going to take it anymore. We are not only tired of the violence in Iraq, but the violence right here on our streets in America. Where are you people who say you want your government back? It will never happen without direct action from us. Begging for it won’t get it, obviously voting for it won’t get it, and praying for it won’t get it. I’m waiting to see who is willing to unbuckle their seatbelt and stand up on the plane that is about to crash and burn…

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[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/06/washington/06cong.html

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Tony Blair’s Promotion

Due to his tremendous success with the war in Iraq, President Bush wants to reward Tony Blair by naming him a special Middle East envoy. Maybe he could throw in a Medal of Freedom for Mr. Blair as well. While, I admire the fact that Mr. Blair won’t be unemployed for long thus lowering the worldwide unemployment rate, I question him for this particular role. With the Middle East in particularly worse shape than usual, which seemed nearly impossible until George Bush got into office, I don’t think one of the principal partners in the Iraqi war should be handling difficult negotiations. I believe that due to his almost “groupie” adoration of George Bush, Mr. Blair has lost credibility in the region.

Does anyone besides this befuddled administration think this appointment will work? This just shows how much the Hamas takeover of Gaza has shaken up things in Middle East politics. I am sure that Tony Blair is a fine man and wants to do the right thing in the region, but because of his unwavering support of George Bush, he will always be identified in that role. This will prevent him from being seen as fair and impartial in negotiations. My thinking is that he will not be sent to broker any final terms of a peace deal, but more than likely to help build credibility for the Fatah faction of the PLO.

You would think that the fiascos in Iraq (Chalabi) this administration would get that you can’t pick and choose the leaders for others. Whether you like them or not, you have to negotiate with the people’s representatives, not who you want to negotiate with. An agreement with someone who cannot deliver is not worth the paper it is written on. Rather than continue to bolster a leader who has lost his base, it would be better to work toward bringing Hamas into the process. How can you rehabilitate a terrorist organization? The same way we have rehabilitated all the others that were once on our list (Sandinistas, IRA, etc.) we use carrots and sticks. You cannot hope to resolve an issue without one of the major players involved in the process.

When Hamas first came to power after the election, they desperately sought recognition from the West, but due to our intransigent foreign policy apparatus we let the opportunity slip away. Hamas realizes that now it must govern which a terrorist organization cannot do. They know that they have to deliver on the basic services that the people require. It is not in their self-interest to allow the people of Gaza to starve. The MSM media will make it appear that the people of Gaza are leaving because of Hamas, but the reality is the people are leaving because they know the storm that Israel will unleash against them. It is one thing to promote democracy, it is quite another to undermine democracy when you don’t like the results. Of course that has never happened (Chile, El Salvador, etc.).

The time is overdue to discontinue the rhetoric and demagoguery of the past and begin to make serious efforts to resolve this conflict. There will be no peace until we do. The only reason to continue to support Mr. Mazen is to allow the foot dragging and corruption to continue. Israel knows as long as this conflict between the Palestinians continues they will not have to do any serious negotiations. And rather than call them on this, the friendly regimes in the region (none of which are democracies) go along with this charade to placate their people.

There will be an uprising in the Middle East, not because of what Mr. Bush has done but in spite of it. The people of that region will one day rise up against those who have sold them out and it won’t be because we planted the seeds of democracy, it will be because they are tired of being misled by their own governments. We can continue our age old policy of supporting lost causes or we can finally for a change support the winds of change, before they blow us away.

Mr. Blair will bring nothing substantive to the negotiations because he will not have the power to persuade Mr. Bush or more importantly Mr. Cheney and the Jewish PACs into making any real sacrifices. Without the freedom to negotiate independently, Mr. Blair is just another mouthpiece of this administration. We would be served just as well by sending Tony Snow. Using a different messenger to deliver the same message is not going to work. It is time for a different message not only for Israel and Palestine, but for the region as a whole. If Mr. Blair is not coming with a new message and a new policy how can anyone expect to get anything different. Insanity; doing the same thing and expecting different results…

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