Robert C. Koehler

Robert C. Koehler

Robert Koehler is an award-winning, Chicago-based journalist and nationally syndicated writer. His book, "Courage Grows Strong at the Wound" (2016). Contact him or visit his website at commonwonders.com.

Articles by this author

A mourner weeps during the funeral of members of the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces) paramilitaries who were killed in an area targeted by US military air strikes, in the central Iraqi holy shrine city of Najaf on March 14, 2020. - US air strikes targeting pro-Iranian military factions in Iraq killed one civilian and five security personnel early on March 13, the Iraqi military said, warning the raids risked a bloody escalation for the war-battered country. (Photo by HAIDAR HAMDANI/AFP via Ge Views
Thursday, March 04, 2021
The US War Machine Doesn't Want Us to Take War Personally
"For Washington, it seems that whatever the problem is, the answer is bombing." So wrote Stephen Zunes , in the wake of Joe Biden’s first act of murder as president . . . excuse me, his first act of defensive military action: bombing a border post in Syria last week, killing 22 of our enemies. This...
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A truly bizarre and unexpected scapegoat: the evil windmill! (Photo: WRI) Views
Friday, February 26, 2021
Windmills: The New Scapegoat
The cornerstone of every social structure is its belief system, and those who control and benefit the most from the system have one primary job: Keep its myths and scapegoats viable. That explains the emergence, in recent weeks, among right-wing politicians and media hacks, of a truly bizarre and...
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Snowy day. (Photo: Getty/Stock Photo) Views
Thursday, February 18, 2021
Bending the Moral Arc of the Universe—Toward Peace, Sanity, and Survival—No Matter the Obstacles
Pardon me while I break the fourth wall. I’m in the human stew right now, you might say: drowning in politics, technology, the weather and my own crazy ego. I’m trying to write a column. What makes this one different . . .well, I’ve been forced today to set aside my certainties, norms and...
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A young migrant girl sits on the floor as her father, recently released from federal detention with other Central American asylum seekers, gets a bus ticket at a bus depot on June 11, 2019, in McAllen, Texas. (Photo: Loren Elliott/AFP/Getty Images) Views
Thursday, February 04, 2021
How "National Security" Disregards Humanity
“It is long past time for . . . a sea change in the United States’ approach to national and human security . . .” Yes, yes, yes. These words cut to the soul. Can we create a grown-up America? This is how it begins. The quote is from a letter to President Biden , put forward in early February by the...
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Two protesters are seen holding a sign that reads Nuclear weapons Immoral, Illegal. Various members of different CND, Anti-war and peace campaigners gathered outside HMNB Clyde or Faslane to protest Trident and the bases of nuclear capable submarines. There is a permanent peace camp at the base. (Photo by Stewart Kirby/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Views
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Nukes Are Illegal, Now What?
Let’s not forget: We are standing at the edge of global change. I believe what’s visible in this fleeting moment is our own evolution. Let’s not let this moment flicker and die, to be replaced, with a despairing shrug, by business as usual. Donald Trump shattered the centrist political norms, sent...
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Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Jill Biden holds the Bible and their children Ashley and Hunter look on during the 59th Presidential Inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik - Pool/Getty Images) Views
Thursday, January 21, 2021
Countering the Fascism To Come
Normalcy and tradition held sway as — for the first time in my life — I watched a presidential inauguration live, listening to Lady Gaga sing the national anthem and, then, Joe Biden take the oath of office, becoming the 46th president of the United States. As I write these words, I find myself...
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A noose is seen on makeshift gallows as supporters of US President Donald Trump gather on the West side of the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, 2021. - Donald Trump's supporters stormed a session of Congress held today, January 6, to certify Joe Biden's election win, triggering unprecedented chaos and violence at the heart of American democracy and accusations the president was attempting a coup. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images) Views
Friday, January 15, 2021
Lynching Political Correctness
I still see the noose in front of the capitol building, dangling oh so metaphorically. "No matter how all this plays out, it's only the beginning," wrote a user on TheDonald message board, according to the Associated Press . Actually, it's anything but the beginning—though I get what the writer...
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“A forest is not just a collection of living trees—it is itself alive." (Photo: jotily/Getty Images) Views
Thursday, January 07, 2021
Real Change on a Living Planet
As the New Year asserts itself—a year that begins in global lockdown and political shock-and-awe—an extraordinary question emerges: Are we on the brink of real change? Are we moving, politically speaking, beyond the small and stupid? Is the era of Trump really over? Assuming that to be the case is...
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While Dems failed to get an antiwar candidate nominated in 1968, the movement was alive and influential within the party. In 1972, McGovern (pictured above) was nominated. His landslide loss empowered the nation’s pro-war interests to marginalize progressives for the next half-century. (Photo by Ron Pownall/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) Views
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Restoring the Soul of America
“One major difference between GOP and Dems is that [Republicans] leverage their right flank to gain policy concessions and generate enthusiasm, while Dems lock their left flank in the basement [because] they think that will make Republicans be nicer to them.’” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez nailed it...
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As awareness of the "rights of nature" grows across global humanity, I have no doubt that the wisdom of this awareness will start infiltrating our judicial, social and economic infrastructure as well, and begin undoing the short-term, dangerous thinking behind it. (Photo: Peter Lesseur / EyeEm/ iStock) Views
Thursday, December 17, 2020
One World: The Wisdom of Wholeness
“We won't be in a position to make permanent progressive changes until the bad governments are changed permanently into good governments. And all governments are bad governments now and will remain bad governments until we have a global humanity.” The words are those of Mark Haywood, in an email to...
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