I'll likely be silent for a few days as I fly home this evening on a red eye for my brother in law's funeral on Friday. Not posting bothers me as I feel I ought to be working at this little and often lame blog. But to have these two's words and examples up for a starting point will certainly work.I found this Katrina vanden Heuvel editorial which had a huge chunk of Dr. King's April 4, 1967 Riverside Church speech on the Vietnam War and other failings of our society. Katrina wrote in part the following:
Amen! I'll stop short of her calling the war in Iraq "unjust" although anyone that knows me of has followed my blogging likely accepts that I do have strong concerns about both the utility and certainly the consequences of the invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq. That forces were pulled from Afghanistan to be projected into Iraq is all the more bothersome. I think the Bu$hCo years will prove to be a sorry chapter in American history, although we've had plenty of opportunities lost just in my lifetime, mostly due to "conservatism". Certainly the way that Dubyah, his handlers/enablers, the media, and our nation as a whole handled Iraq will be at the top of the list of what all went wrong during this "Reign of Error".It is a moment to listen to Dr. King's words about the broader casualties of another war--casualties that go beyond the carnage of battle to the devastating costs of war at home--the damage to social justice and racial equality, and the unbearable cost to free speech and dissent. ...
Today, 41 years later, we are once again, as Dr. King told us, "in an unthinkable position morally and politically..." Who of sane mind can look out over the current landscape in America and breathe easily. At The Nation, we recognize that when it comes to the future of our democracy, of our country and the world, we are in the fight of our lives--confronted by failed policies, wanton destruction, false promises, rampant corruption, metastasizing financial pain, and the downward spiraling of America's standing in the world.
"The fight of our lives" rings so true for me. And perhaps that is why I feel compelled to do my little part here with blogging to just a few readers. Katrina ends with a promise to "continue to work passionately to speak truth and build a better nation and world." Although this weekend may be some time away from working, I think I will too. John Gunn
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