So Osama bin Laden is dead...

... and my own words cannot convey my feelings so well as these can:

“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

For a little more in-depth view, click here.

War

I found this video on His Story. Seems like a good time to post it here.



His voice is awesome. And his message timely.

Diane’s Story

From seeing her video story, Diane Schroer seems pretty typical of transwomen.

Stories like this make me wonder: Just how much can our society afford to dump good people because they are not understood, or because they present in ways we don't expect? How much can we afford to judge them? And why do some people seem to become so offended at the simple existence of transpeople?

I also wonder how do we as a society evaluate courage, and how do we value it?

I place it at a high value. I'm guessing Diane does, too. And regardless of what she says, I think she has it in spades. I know. I've walked a path all too similar to hers.

National Security

"We should cut our military budget by about 75%, withdraw our troops from most of the rest of the world, get out of Iraq, and start an Apollo-style project to change our energy use away from fossil and bio-fuels."

You may ask, how does cutting the military budget by 75% or more support national security?

It does because our current level of spending on the tools of war is unsustainable. Currently we spend about half of the entire world's so-called "defense" budget. If we cut our military budget 75%, we would still have the largest, best-equipped and best-trained military in the world, but we could divert $300 billion or so into balancing the budget and supporting our crumbling civil and civic infrastructures. Every day we continue to pour our wealth and resources into a well of international violence increases our negative karma, delays our transition to a more sustainable energy infrastructure, and makes such a transition less fiscally feasible.

A quote I read recently goes something like this: "I'd rather lose in service to a cause that will eventually win, than win in service to a cause that will eventually lose." I don't remember who said it, and I don't agree in all situations. (I'd rather be on the side that is ethically and morally right, in service to a cause that is just, regardless of who wins in the end.) However, that quote applies perfectly to my concern about national security. Our current course of imperial occupation and unrestrained military spending ensures that we will win any pitched battle against any military anywhere, but simultaneously ensures that we will eventually lose the occupation of Iraq, the "war on terror," and our place in the world.

Besides, it is morally and ethically wrong to dump that amount of resources into the weapons of war – ever – but particularly when children in our own country are going hungry and without health care, and homeless people clog the streets and crowd the bridges (many of them in dire need of mental and physical care), and our leaders are torturing folks they guess might be our enemies.

Four Thousand Dead

(long post warning)

I’ve been a bit remiss on an important milestone. Recently it was announced that 4,000 American servicepeople have been killed in Iraq, as violence continues more five years after the American invasion and occupation of that nation. I’ve struggled a bit about how to best acknowledge and commemorate the sacrifice of those killed, how best to honor their memory. Perhaps I’ll fall short in this. However, I do think it is appropriate to take a glace back at how we got here. With that said, I will publish a letter I wrote to the editor of the Eugene Register-Guard, published on September 7, 2002:

“As a former Marine and citizen of a nation founded on the rights of man, I strongly support the right and duty of this nation to defend itself from armed assault. I support the 2nd Amendment, and recognize the folly of appeasing the intimidation and aggression of such despots as Hitler, bin Laden, and Hussein. But to launch a pre-emptive attack on Iraq, we must completely abandon the principles of our founding fathers.

The 2000 election cost us legitimacy as an arbiter of fair elections. Two years of the Bush dictatorship has cost us legitimacy as leaders in environmental and human rights, through our rejection of the Kyoto Accords, international criminal courts, etc. An invasion of Iraq will cost us any legitimacy we have left as a nation. It is an American expansion from economic hegemony to military hegemony. It will relegate us to the role of hypocrite, rogue state, and pariah. We will no longer be playing policeman to the world – we will play vigilante.

Is this really the picture we have of our country? Is this the way we wish to relate to our fellow nations? Did we learn nothing from Japan’s pre-emptive strike against us, at Pearl Harbor? What happened to our principles? Our values?

An unprovoked invasion of Iraq completely abdicates any claim we have to moral high ground. The biggest reason not to invade Iraq is also the simplest. It is wrong.”

And part of a second, published around March 25, 2003:

“... How do I support our troops – our sons and daughters, wives and husbands, mothers and fathers – when they are conducting an operation I am convinced is not only morally unjustified, but disastrous to our diplomacy, economy, and the world’s environment? ...

Mr. Bush’s military adventure isolates us internationally, increases the danger of terrorism here and abroad, and (to counter the terrorism) is making us less free. It is ethically wrong and probably illegal.

...”

Perhaps it’s not helpful to repeat the protests of the past. But let’s not pretend that we got here blindly. The disinformation and misinformation that enabled Mr. Bush in putting our troops in harm’s way was intentional, but easily seen through. The failure of our elected representatives, both Democrat and most especially Republican, to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of their oaths of office have entered the annals of history and disgraced themselves and our country. But our troops have, for the most part, conducted themselves with courage and honor – especially those who sacrified all, and who took a stand against this folly. And those who haven't - well, the fault lies more with their leaders than with them.

It remains to be seen whether the next administration (and congress) will seek to redress this one’s failure, or place their stamp of approval on it by allowing Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, et al, to enter into luxurious retirement, unscathed by the consequences of their crimes. The blood of every American, every Iraqi, every man, woman, and child who died in this tragedy, stains the hands of the architects of it, and cries out for justice - but restorative justice, not retributive or punitive justice.

Whoever wins this election, what this nation needs most is healing. And healing won’t come if we sew up the wound without squeezing the pus out first.