A Pos t for Time

I am a nontheist Quaker of sorts. You may call me an atheist, but I don't find the label befitting, because I am not certain that there is no God. I do not mean to convert anyone to Q.uakerism, but I like their ways. I consider myself a Christian because I believe in the morality of the ways of Jesus.

I do not claim to know with absolute certainty what is moral and
and ammoral, but I have my convictions, and I hold them very deeply when I hold them. I do not believe in faith based on certainty.

I do, however, believe in the certainty that can be found in the present and in unleashing your creative potential in self or group expression.

While I do not disapprove of the Quaker ways, I do believe that, as in any religion, Quakers or "Friends" are prone to getting caught up in their own beliefs. While the meeting (otherwise known as a church) that I have been involved in for several months has been very beneficial to me perspectivally, I do not feel any force pulling me toward religion at this point in my life, though I do consider it interesting and very able to provide insight, even if it may be false insight.

But, if we endevour to live searching for the greatest wisdom that abounds, we can live very meaningful lives.

This means challenging ourselves when we can and playing new games. We needn't not struggle all the time, but, when we are morally challenged, we must push back, and hopefully in the "right" direction.

My faith is in humanity, and the diversity of experience that abounds. I, as many of my blogmates also have, find blogging to be a great way to commune and express myself, and even form my own little communities.

The strength of our communities are the measure of our true strength. May you and yours grow stronger.

Love and Peace,

Peter/Peaches

Honesty

This blog is about honesty, and honesty in politics (especially politics!!).
And I've been doing some thinking lately about Iraq (the media may not be covering it to my (and many people's) liking, but things are definitely getting worse). Even Senator Warner of Virginia now admits as much after his recent visit.

Iraq Veterans Against the War
An interesting Daily Kos diary that is related, and an entry from The Swamp

I'm thinking that if Feingold let's himself consider it, the emerging Biden plan for Iraq may be the best option. Although, we really should have been out of Iraq months or perhaps years ago. For those of you who don't know the Biden plan originally called for the separation of Iraq into three separate nations, the separation being by sect (Shia, Sunni, and Kurd). But, it now calls for three autonomous regions to be created instead.

Feingold link (unrelated)

Of course, even with the modified plan, there is still the threat of warfare by Turkey against the Kurdish region. The Kurdish region or Kurdistan is basically already its own country except in name; and Kurdish leaders have forbidden the Iraqi flag to be flown in their region, even threatening taxi car drivers with their lives if they don't remove the Iraqi flag from their official license plates. Also, Turkey charges that Iraqi Kurds have been arming Kurdish rebels in their country.

Add to those potential problems the fact that the Iraqi government is utterly incapable of asserting itself, and you have the yummy soup of goodness that currently calls itself Iraq.
So, anyway, things are not very stable no matter what we do. Iran has many reasons to hate and resent us for what our country has perpetrated in their region of the globe.

And let us not forget that it is in fact their region. We don't own it, and it can't be conquered by our army. At least it would seem so by most measures of everything.

Most Iraqis don't even have the same access to clean water that existed before the invasion. Electricity in Iraq is a joke. The Iraqi people can't be, nor should they be pacified by primarily military efforts. It is my opinion that the Iraqis fighting the occupation are justified. They are called Freedom Fighters by their fellow Iraqis. Who knows, the Iranian nationals may even be justified. Whereas our freedom was never under any threat of any kind by any Iraqi politician no matter how much Bush, Chenney, and their cohorts insinuate otherwise.

I actually don't subscribe to the kind of logic that would say that Iranian nationals are justified in their attacks, if they are attacking Iraqis or Iraqi infrastructure. But that kind of logic isn't far-removed from the kind of logical leaps that this current administation and its rubber stamp Congress have demonstrated time and time again.

If this war is just, why wouldn't an Iranian be justified in fighting alongside their fellow muslims, to defeat us. After all, we have killed over 100,000 Muslims (and that estimate is outdated).

Now, I have all the sympathy in the world for our soldiers -no one deserved this. No one deserved to be sent home crippled and/or traumatized, or in a flag-draped coffin (which the president decided was unpatriotic to show us) This war and especially the Fox News accounts of it have dehumanized the Iraqi people and our beloved soldiers.




Other links/legislation of interest:
link 1, link 2,

Republicans Who Cut and Ran

VoteVets, a new group that has sprung up is hoping to run hard-hitting ads on TV to tell Americans if their representative in Congress voted against giving the soldiers adequate armor. They have started their campaign with the Webb-Allen Senate race in Virginia, and they hope to expand the campaign to all of the states where a "representative" (the quotes because no one who does this is really representative) has voted against our troops. To see the add visit this site: http://www.plunderbund.com/?p=979.

Now, you may be asking me why I posted this on a site dedicated to Senator Feingold. Well, my answer is that nobody has stood with our troops more than Russ Feingold. He has been a true hero to the men and women who serve this country in uniform.

Feingold Behind The Curve

Russ Feingold is a really good politician. He has been responsible for improving the lives of many Wisconsonites. But, on one issue, and one issue only, he is behind the curve. The issue is Iran.

In his most recent comments on the topic he has stated his opinion that all options should be on the table, when the use of nuclear weapons or even the threat of their use is illegal (see Article 6 of the NPT). When Condoleezza Rice stated that all options were on the table, and Bush reiterated it, it was ILLEGAL. It is illegal because this Administration has expressed interest in developing micronuclear weapons, and the military has reportedly drawn up plans to use nuclear weapons with bunker-busting capabilities on Iran. So, the use of nuclear weapons has indirectly been threatened.

I believe there will be a learning curve on this; but, my fear is that it will only occur the day that Iran retaliates against our attack.

I have incredible compassion for the Iranian people, and believe Iran has a lot to offer the world. I therefore am against prolonged sanctions against Iran, and, also, it should be emphasized that Iran and the Iranian people do in fact have the right to pursue civilian nuclear power. I am unwavering in my support for the Iranian people.

I am not, however, unwavering in my support of Russ Feingold, because of his current position on this very important issue. He is just about the most progressive Senator, continuing the tradition of the late Paul Wellstone. But, just as Paul Wellstone made a mistake in supporting a ban on gay marriage in the 90's, so, too has Feingold made a mistake on his position on Iran.

I want to note that in no way do I sympathize with Iran -they have to make the right decision on the nuclear issue as well -the future of our world may depend on it. I would like you to join me in praying that the President Ahmadinejad makes the right decision. I would also like you to join me in praying that our military and the Republican's President (see Rolling Stone article by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.) make the right decision, as well.

Senator Feingold, I expect better from you.

I hope that I can live to be a true patriot -current circumstances make it hard,

Peaches

(cross-posted ar DC Peaches)

This isn't really Feingold-related, but it's worth noting, and it's related to my last post: Arlen Specter was the only Republican to vote against the Michael Hayden nomination to the head of the CIA. He's finally sticking to being on just one side of an issue --5 points for Specter! What caused him to vote "no" on the nomination was Michael Hayden's involvement with the NSA illegal spying program. Unfortunately, many senate Democrats didn't see things the same way.

Commencement Speeches

I just finished watching three college graduation commencement speeches on C-Span in their series called "Road to the Whitehouse."

First, I watched Hillary Clinton, who spoke at Adelphi. She was utterly unengaging. She talked about a future where her social agenda is a reality. I agree with her social agenda, but, I think she has failed on the great moral question of our time: Iraq. She has been consistently pro-war. At first I thought she was just on the fence about it, but with the passing of time she has proven me wrong.

Next, I watched George Pataki's speech. It was very good. The only problem that I had with it was when he stated that one of the graduates might become a marine, and that they would be defending our freedom. We have seen the misuse and abuse of our soldiers in this war over the past four years; they have even started sending soldiers with PTSD back to Iraq for another tour of duty.

The third speaker that I watched was Joe Biden. He talked about the burdens that he faced in his youth, and what he learned from it. Senator Biden has quite an engaging personality.

Anyway, I was just scoping out the competition. If you want to hear a really good speech, listen to Feingold's May 5th speech to the National Press Corps at his website. I can't gaurantee it will be there forever, but it is there now.

Feingold leaves senate committee hearing in protest

I just found out from my father and confirmed that Senator Feingold exited a Senate hearing room after an exchange with Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter over the nature of the debate over a possible "defense of marriage" ammendment to the Constitution.

The most complete coverage of this is at New Jersey for Feingold.

Politicians

If I haven't made the purpose of this blog clear, I would like to.

I stand for the politics of principle. Talking to people like they are intelligent. Respect for the office that you serve. The politics of the Quaker's(who couldn't use a Friend). And so on...

I admire politicians that can face the political wind right in the face. Problem solvers. Real politicians. A little strategy is useful sometimes, but real people are what matters. One that isn't afraid to be on the wrong side of the aisle.

Admiration for Lyndsey Graham

I have recently come to admire Lyndsey Graham upon seeing him/hearing him in the judiciary committee. He has been as sharp as ever in his pronouncements. Though his views are slightly divergent from those of Senator Feingold on recent issues, I still think they are valuable to the debate,(though I resent the fact that this debate is the one we, and the congress are faced with).

Judiciary Committee

I have been following the judiciary committee hearings lately(all of them, I think). Starting with the Alberto Gonzalez spectacle and stopping with the most recent Justice Department spokesperson/lawyer today (or actually yesterday,(it's morning)) and I think it is a good thing that they are holding them.

It is unfortunate that the current administration is getting such a good opportunity to voice themselves, but that is the state of affairs.