Making Peace with War
http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/robert-c-koehler/52143/making-peace-with-war
Making Peace with War
by Robert C. Koehler | October 16, 2013 - 8:05am
What if we had politicians who believed in the abolition of war with as much passion as the Republican right believes in the abolition of taxes?
For me, the question that immediately follows is: What kind of politics draws power from resources other than the deep pockets of billionaires? Just because the world is sick of war, how will that ever translate into serious political action to defund standing armies and ongoing weapons research? How will it ever cohere into a consensus that has political traction? Does Washington, D.C. only have room for one consensus?
For the Democrats to stand moderately tough against GOP right-wing zealots in defense of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Social Security, theres no way they could also even if they wanted to stand tough on, let us say, nuclear disarmament or a movement toward demilitarization. Such concepts arent on or anywhere near the fabled table of national debate; theyre as marginalized as segregated restrooms. This is a deep problem from the point of view of anyone looking clear-eyed into the future.
They were all dying, she said, and there was no medicine, and there was nothing we could do.