More than 2,000 Active duty soldiers stick out their necks to protest Iraq occupation

It is amazing to me that so many active duty members of the military would risk repercussions by taking a strong position contrary to the President.   The effort has been organized by Appeal for Redress.  Many active duty, reserve, and guard service members are concerned about the war in Iraq and support…

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Pat Buchanan: A vote for Rudy Guliani is a vote for endless war

I haven't kept up with Pat Buchanan.   I noticed a column of Buchanan's in a brand new publication of columnists called The Cagle Post (this is the same Cagle of Cagle's Professional Cartoonist Index) So what does Buchanan think about Guliani's proposed team to lead the "war on terror"? Team…

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High rate of suicide reported for U.S. veterans

At least 6256 US veterans committed suicide in 2005 - an average of 17 a day - the network reported, with veterans overall more than twice as likely to take their own lives as the rest of the general population. While the suicide rate among the general population was 8.9…

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Waving flags and the lesson of Vietnam

I’m in Washington DC still (I’ve been here most of the week for a business conference).  Yesterday was the day of the American flag.  You can see flag-waving everywhere these days.  Americans do focus on the accoutrements of democracy rather than making sure we have a healthy democracy with active citizen participation (e.g., consider our pathetic voter turnouts compared to many other countries).

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We obsess about flags instead of getting our citizens involved in their government.  Our persistent failure to correct this situation is mind-numbing.  It’s like being a baseball player at bat in the 9th inning.  He could tie the game with one swing of the bat, but strikes out.   Instead of focusing on putting the wood of the bat on the ball, he’s obsessing about drinking champaign and having his photo in tomorrow’s newspaper.  He’s spending his energy at the wrong level.  The waving of American flags is like thinking of drinking champaign while at bat.  By waving flags instead of educating and empowering the People, we’re waiving real democracy.

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For a strong democracy we need fewer flags, fewer Pledges of Allegiance and a lot more participation by informed citizens.  This would start with an active and vigorous media. 

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