I’ve long been a fan of Ralph Nader, seeing his activism as generally positive over the years. Since fighting for seat belts 50 years ago, he’s now fighting for America to be a peaceful nation. He has roundly condemned both George W Bush and now Barack Obama for their international warfare. He stated that Obama is even worse than Bush, using drones to go into any nation he wishes to do something. National sovereignty does not seem to mean as much to the USA as it once did.
George Washington’s desire that we have no entangling alliances, and to be friends to all is still a very good policy. It is time we stop being the world’s invasive police force, return to being a good neighbor in the world, and allow our freedom to inspire freedom elsewhere.
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2012/12/02/Nader-War-Criminal-Obama-Worse-Than-Bush
Read all of Rameumptom’s posts here.
I agree with you eventhough Nader tends to bug me like no other. I find it interesting as well that the anti-war movement is largely silent under Obama. I live in the Santa Fe, NM area, which was a hot bed of anti-war protests (daily) during the GWB presidency. I haven’t seen the same number of bumper stickers and people on the streets during the Obama presidency from the anti-war camp. My take away is that it’s ok to wage war if you are a proper liberal.
Both parties are still bad on this issue. Yes, the Dems are hypocrites and are giving Obama a pass. But the Republicans have failed to take up the anti-war movement, and there’s little evidence they would have stopped the madness with a Romney presidency. The best thing we can do immediately is make sure that the Defense cuts as part of the “fiscal cliff” take place. In the medium term we need to push for a change in foreign policy and concentrate on defending the homeland, not pursuing adventures abroad.
I think we will have to await the rebuilding of Zion to find a nation that is at peace with all others, except for issues of defense. It is very difficult for mankind not to want to be in control of his/her events, which is probably a key factor in the destruction of marriages and families, as well. Too much desire for control, rather than living in love and peace can destroy even the best relationship.
It takes a lot of faith to rely on the arm of Jehovah, rather than on the arm of man. Yet, we will never learn from history that when we pick up one end of the stick, we pick up the other end, as well. Woodrow Wilson’s tweaking of nations did not stop the bloodshed of WWII, the Bosnian-Serbian war, the Soviet expansion, etc. His changes only set the stage for them to occur. And our current efforts at war will set the stage for Armageddon or WWIII (if they are not one and the same).
“The best thing we can do immediately is make sure that the Defense cuts as part of the “fiscal cliff” take place.”
I am not convinced that drastic and steep cuts to national defense — which is the only legitimate spending found in the text of the Constitution — is the way to solve this problem. Cuts in defense aren’t going to make the drones go away. Those drones are here to stay. Trust me on this. (I have professional working knowledge of this particular issue).
What we need are new people in Washington, D.C. People who believe in peace. Change the people, and you will have change in our “adventures abroad”. If you really want to change foreign policy, you’ve got to fire the folks that stay elected, year after year after year who vote for the appropriations, foreign aid, etc.
I appreciate the idea of proclaiming peace and working for peace. I know that some day in the future, we will beat our swords into plowshares. However, that day is not today.
Having said that, I get uncomfortable with folks who believe that we should pack up and go home. Withdrawing from centers of influence around the world will not stop people from hating and plotting against us. I view that notion as extremely naïve. Most of the countries where we have bases and forward presence actually do want us there, wether they admit it publicly or not. We can have a debate on whether the US needs to be a world power or not. If you believe that the US needs to be a world power, then we absolutely must have a huge Navy and military footprint. These defense-heavy sequestration cuts are a scandal. We triple food stamps and unemployment benefits — right now being bankrolled by the Federal Reserve to the states — yet we cut our nation’s defense. This is outrageous. It’s actually more than that, it’s despicable. Right now my fellow military folks are getting a paltry 1.6% increase in their take home pay this Jan. 1st. That’s not even half the rate of inflation. These folks put their lives on the line, leave their spouses and children at home for months or longer, and now they are going to have to do more with less.
Meanwhile, the Obama welfare state has tripled in the last 4 years. It makes my blood boil.
Obama’s flip-flopping from anti-war to pro-war is a perfect demonstration of the lack of power that a president really has on these issues. As idealogically anti-war as Obama was and (I believe) is, when you become president of the United States, you are ruled over by forces you cannot control on these issues. As a president, you cannot move against a national and political consensus as strong as our military consensus is. It is impossible. Even the War in Iraq was such a strong consensus, that I believe that Gore, Obama, and even Nader would have all gotten into it, had they been President at the time, regardless of what they were screaming from the sidelines from their powerless soapboxes. All presidents govern by default the center, and the only power they hold is the power of consensus, power they are given in a very literal way, by the will and desires of the people. They can push a little to the right, a little to the left, but that is all.
It’s no good blaming our politicians. We have the ones we deserve, the ones that reflect who we are and our values. Developing an anti-military value structure starts with changing the people, not the politicians.
Mormons are not Quakers either. Our God is a God of War, a God that has a bit more Old Testament in Him than the typical Christian ideal. And even Christ said: “He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.” Luke 22:36