Reversing the Cycle of Violence

So much experience in the room, so much wisdom, so much. . . concentrated hope. Poke at it slightly and the truth comes out, in brief, quick anecdotes:

A Falcon of Peace

How come they get to be the hawks? And we get to be the doves? A hawk is a noble bird. A dove. Well, basically it's a pigeon. The sort of bird that, in New York City anyway, messes your building's window sills, is always underfoot, and, along with the city's rats, makes a hearty lunch for the red-tailed hawks which now populate our parks.

Contested Terrain: Obama's Iraq Withdrawal Plan and the Peace Movement

The meaning of President Obama's Iraq withdrawal speech, and its influence on real U.S. policy in Iraq, will not be determined solely by his actual words. The import of the speech - and whether its promises become real - will be determined by a fluid combination of what Obama says, his own definitions of what he says, AND the disparate ways his speech is heard, perceived, described and contested by others - the mainstream media, Congress, the military, other centers of elite power, and crucially, the peace movement.

Spending to Stimulate Peace

With each new day comes more bad economic news. Will this reach our home, my job, my savings, and will I have health care and a roof over my head by this time next year?

In the swirl of the economic terrorism that is a far greater threat to far more of us than Osama bin Laden ever was, let's try to think our way to a bit of an overview.

Apologize, Apologize, Do Not Feel Free to Avert Your Eyes

Recently, Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa said it would be “wonderful if [Mr. Obama] would apologize for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq on behalf of the American people.”

Such an act would submit our nation to the power of forgiveness, which is what Nelson Mandela did when he became president of South Africa.

Shouldn't MoveOn Oppose Obama on Afghanistan?

MoveOn.org became a meaningful force in American politics when it emerged as a muscular network of activists that was willing to challenge not just Republicans but Democrats when they were wrong about foreign policy.

Democratic leaders in Congress might have been willing to compromise with the Bush administration on Iraq back in 2002. But MoveOn said "no."

And MoveOn was right.

Now, more than ever, we need MoveOn to remain true to its historic mission.

We need MoveOn to be right about Afghanistan.

Obama's War

His supporters continually liken him to Franklin Delano Roosevelt in their hopes that he will usher in a second New Deal and to John Fitzgerald Kennedy for the youthful idealism they hope he will set loose upon the land. But with his decision to send 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan over the next few months, Barack Obama runs the risk of being remembered less in company with those two than as a latter day Lyndon Baines Johnson.