Peacemongering

The Iraq War turns ten today. The heaviness of that sentence does not escape me. I never supported it.

Ten years ago, I lived on the Mendocino Coast with the man and my two then school-age daughters. My memories of that phase of our lives are fairly bleak. The man was struggling with some mid-life issues, mostly with his family of origin. He was depressed and I felt helpless to help him. I wondered whether our relationship would survive those harsh days. Thankfully, it did. He went through his own personal hell, and came out of it stronger and much wiser. His issues with his family were worked out, and he enjoyed a renewed relationship with his dad. Which I am so grateful for, since his father died just six years or so later.

We both worked full-time--he at the local brewery, me at the local coffee company. We lived next to the harbor, where we could smell the sea and hear sea lions barking. That region is one of the last bastions of raw, rugged beauty left in California, and we were thrilled to have moved there from the central Sierras about a year and a half earlier. My daughters were 10 and 16, had good friends, and a supportive, loving family.

The man and I were still disgusted that Bush II had slithered into office, and was now beating the drums of war. Because, he told us, we had to keep America safe from more attacks like on 9/11.
Even though Saddam and Iraq were not responsible for that day, nor did they possess the capability to manufacture weapons of mass destruction, which we were led to believe. And which many DID believe, blindly.

The mood at home during that period was increasingly somber,
and we adults felt voiceless and powerless as we continued to express our disagreement with the now inevitable invasion of Iraq. At work, we were both surprisingly outnumbered by those who thought we had no other alternative, and the anti-war protests in our town were matched by very vocal, very redneck-ish groups of war supporters. Even my own father, a lifelong progressive democrat and pacifist, was reluctant to voice any dissent. He just wasn't sure it was wrong. Yet.

But it was wrong, and it is still wrong. Millions of people's lives have been and will continue to be impacted in countless ways, mostly of the horrific variety. We apparently have learned nothing from the Vietnam war... Which my hero, Rachel Maddow
reported on last night. It seems that some L.B.J. audio tapes have surfaced, from the Thursday before the 1968 presidential election. The year that Dick Nixon beat Hubert Humphrey by a narrow margin. President Johnson was very close to a peace treaty with Vietnam. In fact, he even made a speech to the American public that an end to the war was within reach. Days within reach, even. Tricky Dick managed to back burner the democrats plan to end the war, since that would have almost certainly spelled defeat for republicans, if the democrats stopped the war. He said that we should hold off and let him take office first, and then he could stop the Vietnam war in a more practical manner. Nixon won that year, and the war we could have ended went on for five more years. All in the name of political victory.. How many additional lives were lost or otherwise decimated during that five year span?


I'm tired of war, and war profiteering, and increasing numbers of young people coming home destroyed by this illegal war. Even if they were lucky enough to come home alive, and not lose limbs, they are too often seriously damaged... With not enough support here to recover from all manner of PTSD. These soldiers will be our police, firefighters, and school bus drivers in the near future.
Even though they could have unchecked serious emotional and mental health issues. I find that worrisome-and tragic.


So, forgive me for not patting myself on the back today. I never wanted this war or the war in Afghanistan to begin with. I believe strongly in the power of peace, still. And always will.

Make Art Not War

Here is another of my son's girlfriend's paintings. It's called "Something Amiss'.

Who Are You?

Hillary Clinton expected to win. This troubles me. Ego is necessary in that world. I get it. What I cannot get past is how it's somehow acceptable to her supporters that she voted for the war, and the surges that have followed. Were you opposed to the war? I was from the first time I heard the early chatter that preceded it. Can she honestly admit she made a mistake? I don't think she has any intention of getting us all-the-way-out of Iraq. She aligns herself with the war's architects. Plus, she is owned. Much like Nancy Pelosi. Shame on them both. I hoped for much more.


I first heard about Barack Obama on Al Franken's blog, which preceded his Air America Radio stint. (Early in 2003) That's when I learned of Obama's run for the Senate. He sounded enlightened and articulate. I thought his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention was a high point that election year, and there were few. Why are people put-off by his ability to speak in an intelligible manner? Is this what happens when a retarded imbecile is the president for 8 years? People have lowered the bar, and now don't want someone too intelligent, or worse yet...an intellectual! Dumbed-down comes to mind. Oh, and just a reminder-I did cast my vote for Dennis Kucinich in the primary. The true anti-war candidate. Since I voted absentee a few weeks before February 5th, he was already gone by the time my vote was tallied. Squeezed out by a political system that refuses to evolve. I admit it-I am scared shitless at the prospect of another republican regime. The current bastards ground me down. The thought of McCain calling the shots (so to speak) is mortifying. Ralph Nader doesn't upset me, either. People ought to calm down and listen to what he's saying, instead of being whipped into a frenzy at his announcement of today. He's right, you know. The two-party system is broken, just like so many archaic systems here in freedom land. As he said, if the democratic nominee doesn't win in a LANDSLIDE victory this year, then the democratic party needs to seriously regroup and rethink itself.


I was raised by Kennedy-loving democrats. Supporting Obama in the general election is not a stretch. But wait, there's more. The idea of a mixed-race president sounds great to me! It's long past time. (By a couple hundred years.) Since so much of this planet we share is inhabited by people that do not look like us, I think it would be a positive statement about our ability to adapt. Include. Change. The fact that his supporter's numbers continue to confound the media and everyone else tells me that there are a lot if us who want something different in ways that directly affect the future of the world. Hillary is an intelligent, respected, powerful woman. A woman that supported the war. Many Americans did. Their blind belief in an alleged quick fix has destroyed more than they know. Yet. But they will, in the decades ahead. As will their descendants. And mine. It doesn't seem to get mentioned enough, but I am one that admits to a certain degree of resentment for anyone who foolishly believed the war in Iraq was the answer. I did not and will not ever view an illegal war as the answer. That's who I am. Who are you?

Dear John Letter

photo: Aiko Jim


Imagine Peace

Below is a letter to John Lennon, from Yoko Ono. The link above will take you to it's source. I respectfully request that you refrain from any oh-so typical Yoko-bashing. Not today. Because twenty-seven years ago today, everyone lost John.

December 8, 2007

I miss you, John. 27 years later, I still wish I could turn back the clock to the Summer of 1980. I remember everything - sharing our morning coffee, walking in the park together on a beautiful day, and seeing your hand stretched to mine - holding it, reassuring me that I shouldn't worry about anything because our life was good.

I had no idea that life was about to teach me the toughest lesson of all. I learned the intense pain of losing a loved one suddenly, without warning, and without having the time for a final hug and the chance to say, "I love you," for the last time. The pain and shock of that sudden loss is with me every moment of every day. When I touched John's side of our bed on the night of December 8th, 1980, I realized that it was still warm. That moment has haunted me for the past 27 years - and will stay with me forever.

Even harder for me is watching what was taken away from our beautiful boy, Sean.
He lives in silent anger over not having his Dad, whom he loved so much, around to share his life with. I know we are not alone. Our pain is one shared by many other families who are suffering as the victims of senseless violence. This pain has to stop.

Let's not waste the lives of those we have lost. Let's, together, make the world a place of love and joy and not a place of fear and anger. This day of John's passing has become more and more important for so many people around the world as the day to remember his message of Peace and Love and to do what each of us can to work on healing this planet we cherish.

Let's: Think Peace, Act Peace, and Spread Peace. John worked for it all his life.
He said, "there's no problem, only solutions." Remember, we are all together.
We can do it, we must. I love you!

Yoko Ono Lennon


*Postscript:
Here's what I wrote about my spooky-weird connection to that fateful day, in 2005.

Give Me Peace On Earth

Six years gone
His bright light
Still so missed

"Give Me Love" George Harrison-Live in Japan, 1991

Leaving this Town

For another one.

Back in a week.

Thinking Ahead

Here is a quiz of a different variety: Select A Candidate/2008

My score was 70% in favor of... one of the alleged underdogs, Kucinich. For the first time in my voting life, I will not be supporting the likely democratic nominee. They've lost my respect and I can't trust them to represent me. Most of them do not.

We All Shine On

Have you read this Dick Cavett column? He writes about John Winston Lennon, who would be Sixty-Seven today. Why do I remember his birthday every year? That's just weird. Oh, that's right. He rescued me from a life of depressing banality

I was reminded of John recently because we saw some of "Give Peace A Song" on PBS. Before then, I had no idea that Tommy Smothers participated in the recording of Give Peace A Chance.

It all feels quite distant now. That belief that we had the power to change things. We did, to some degree. Now it's as though nobody has the will to fight for their (remaining) rights. Too busy accumulating and amassing. Besides, if it doesn't impact their day-to-day life directly, why should they care?