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Rolla Peace News April 9, 2019 |
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Dear Friends: http://tomsager.org/Peaceletters/peaceletter040919.html In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2019 2. CITIZENS CLIMATE LOBBY: THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 6:30PM 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Donald Trump and the Truth b) Dueling Terrorism c) Bring Back the Draft? 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2019 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office, THIS THURSDAY, APRIL 11, FROM NOON TO 1:00 PM (and most subsequent Thursdays until peace is established). Please try to join us. The temperature is predicted in the 70s. If you do not feel comfortable standing with us in front of the Post Office, please consider driving by and showing your support for our message by honking your horn and flashing a peace sign. 2. CITIZENS CLIMATE LOBBY: THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 6:30PM Newly formed Rolla chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby will meet in the meeting room of the Rolla children's library at 6:30pm, Thursday, April 18. Everyone is welcome. 3. MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Donald Trump and the Truth b) Dueling Terrorism c) Bring Back the Draft? DONALD TRUMP AND THE TRUTH Maybe you feel there is not much value in anything that Donald Trump utters, but Andrew Bacevich points out how Trump's incessant lies have exposed seven myths about the United States that many of us have taken for granted for decades. Myths can mask some very important truths, so without further ado, here are the seven myths: Myth #1. The purpose of government is to advance the common good. Myth #2. Good governance entails fiscal responsibility. Myth #3. Justice is blind. Myth #4. The “wise men” are truly wise. Myth #5.The Persian Gulf is a vital U.S. national security interest. Myth #6. Prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian peace depend on Washington playing the role of honest broker. Myth #7. War is the continuation of policy by other means. Bacevich ends by pointing out that we “may one day come to appreciate the Trump era as the moment when things long hidden became plain to see, when hitherto widely accepted falsehoods, fabrications, and obsolete assumptions about American democracy finally became untenable.” Read Bacevich's essay and see how many of the above seven myths Donald Trump has helped you to see through. DUELING TERRORISM Yesterday, Donald Trump declared the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization. Iran wasted no time firing back, declaring the US Central Command a terrorist organization. Maybe, we are on to something here. Maybe most (if not all) militaries operate as organs of state terror. Yup, thank you presidents Donald Trump and Hassan Rouhani. BRING BACK THE DRAFT? Most of the folks I hung with 50 years ago, cheered when Richard Nixon abolished the draft and created the All Volunteer Force (AVF). We could have saved the champagne. Citizen armies are an important check on imperial overreach. In order to fight a war with a citizen army, you have to convince the citizenry that the war is worth fighting and risking your life for. A volunteer army is only one step removed from a professional army which is only one step removed from a mercenary army. As James Madison argued before the Constitutional Convention in 1787, “A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty,” Danny Sjursen argues that “paradoxically, the move toward a no-deferment, equitable lottery draft might result in a nation less prone to militarism and adventurism than the optional AVF has.” and then “more military service may actually be the only workable formula for less war. Too bad returning to a citizens’ military is as unpopular as it is unlikely.” Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesday evenings (except on rare occasions) and is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Grassroots Rolla: at the top of rightmost column). If you don't wish to get notices of peace events in the Rolla area, let me know and I'll take you off this list. If you want to be added to this list, let me know. Wage peace, Helen helenm (at) fidnet.com |