#455 – Dick Bernard: A Decade of Difference. A concert celebrating ten years of the William J. Clinton Foundation.
This entire program is accessible here. In all, the program is nearly four hours, but worth a watch.
#454 – Dick Bernard: My Contribution to the Peace and Justice Community
Message to the assorted groups that make up the Peace and Justice community (of which I am a part): this is a time of opportunity to convey your message; but it is long past time to change tactics and strategies. Public attitudes have changed pretty dramatically, but our approach has not. We need to act on this.
Today, I attended the demonstration marking the 10th anniversary of the bombing of Afghanistan in October, 2001. A small contingent of demonstrators on diverse issues got an enthusiastic response from motorists on the very busy Lake Street near the light rail station at Hiawatha. The speakers were the usual. I passed on joining the short walk to South High School for the rally [UPDATE Oct 18: Here’s a three minute segment from the rally at South High].
I was glad I went to the demo. (click on photos to enlarge)
(Attendance at this demonstration might have been smaller than expected due to another Occupy Wall Street demonstration in downtown Minneapolis perhaps four miles away.)
Lake Street, Minneapolis MN October 15, 2011
Today’s demo reminded me of the first demonstration I participated in after 9-11. Quite likely it was on October 15, 2001, one week after we commenced the bombing of Afghanistan, with overwhelming support of the American people Afghanistan Oct 7 2001001. As the article shows, 94% of us were quite okay with this violent response, though within that 94% were many varying attitudes about the how’s or why’s of that bombing.
I was in the 6%.
I simply could not see any long term benefit arising from the bombing. It was a lonely spot to be in at the time. But only one of 20 Americans agreed with me.
Ten years ago I wasn’t directly involved in the peace and justice movement in any way. That October day in 2001 I heard about an early evening vigil on the steps of the Minnesota Capitol and wandered over there. The crowd was roughly the same size as today’s. I don’t recall seeing or hearing anyone I knew. Nor do I remember any of the messages, except for the raucous gaggle across the street who were bomb-the-hell-out-of-’em-get-revenge-now-bunch, brandishing flags like weapons, trying to shout out the speakers on the steps. Their ranks included young children. I was to see a lot of those angry-as-hell folks the next few years.
I came home and got actively involved in the Peace and Justice movement.
These days I’m more involved than ever, but chances are many of those activists across the street from where I took today’s photos think I’m a deserter.
Hardly.
These are insane times. Our worship of war and the war economy, along with greed, is killing us. We desperately need to retool: exactly the opposite of going from a peace to war economy in WWII, but with the same positive results: jobs, jobs, jobs; but fewer of the negative: deaths, deaths, deaths. But we don’t seem to be paying attention. Change is very hard….
But I’m not sure that demonstrations like today’s are a good use of valuable resources in bringing about change: our resources are much better spent in engaging with the public.
Today there were no anti, anti-war folks along that Minneapolis street. There were lots of honking cars.
Any survey worthy of the title today will support the idea that Americans are very tired of war. The October, 2001, attitude is long gone. The worry is about survival in this mean economy.
Standing nearby me today was Barry Riesch, Vietnam vet 1969, and a man I greatly admire. He has made Memorial Day and Armistice (Veterans) Day very special for many years. At the demonstration, I matched his sign with my Veterans for Peace cap – I’m a member of Vets for Peace. The cap which goes with me everywhere in my car.
Barry Riesch, Minneapolis, October 15, 2011
Barry and I know each other, though not well, and he had recently been to demonstrations in Washington DC on the issue of war. He’s been a guest columnist on this blog.
I sensed that he generally agrees with me that the Peace and Justice movements need to get much more involved in true dialogue with those who are searching for ways to become engaged, but are either tired or or not ready to go stand on street corners.
This is a time to personally engage with these uncertain folks who don’t like the status quo but are not ready to get rid of the military or whatever else idealists would want to have happen.
Earlier this summer I attended another demonstration in the rotunda of the state capitol in St. Paul, and made some observations about that group which I feel directly apply to all of us. The blog post is here. The specific comment is this: “I am of the belief that the only effective way for ordinary people – people like myself – to have an impact is one person, one contact at a time. We are so overwhelmed with “information” that there is little left to learn. If we’re going to survive as a society, we need to talk with, even debate, each other, and really listen to other points of view. It isn’t easy – those people standing in a circle yesterday, to have effect, need to turn around and act outwards towards people outside the Capitol rotunda. The only way to do this is to practice honing the skill, be it letters to the editor, standing up in a small or large meeting, giving a presentation, etc….”
As the group marched west on Lake Street yesterday (below photo), I would hope that they are marching into more direct public engagement and true dialogue.
Without such public engagement, there is little hope.
Marching down Lake Street, October 15, 2011
#453 – Dick Bernard: Occupy Wall Street
As I write, October 13, the Occupy Wall Street initiative seems to be gaining momentum.
Two weeks ago, September 30, I submitted an opinion piece on the issue to my local newspaper at a time when the metro newspapers were ignoring the happenings in New York. I was motivated by the video clip of the folks on Wall Street balconies sipping drinks while overlooking the protestors below. You can view the clip here.
My op ed, “Wall Street Protests Matter to Us”, appeared in yesterday’s Woodbury Bulletin, and speaks for itself.
Tomorrow there is a demonstration in Minneapolis which I will likely try to attend.
The protests are spreading.
But I am reminded of some cautionary thoughts, which seem different, but to me are very directly related.
1) Right or wrong, the Wall Street folks feel that they deserve their excess wealth. This time of year is bonus time “on the Street” and (I hear) $1,000,000 bonuses or more are not uncommon. Folks who get these bonuses are slaves to making money, and labor very hard to make that money for whomever, and have come to expect this wealth, whether deserved or not. If the bonuses are cut somewhat (a likelihood this year), you will hear the weeping and gnashing of teeth all the way out here in the hinterlands.
I recall conversations with a woman about my age at a workshop thirteen years ago. Her daughter was a young analyst on Wall Street, and the previous year had made $800,000. The number sticks in my mind because I was a hard-working guy, in what I felt was a pretty well paying job at the time, and this young woman’s annual take was ten times my own annual salary.
The Mom got some benefits from her daughters success, and who of us can argue when one of our kids makes good? And in our society, the almighty dollar is the usual evidence of making good.
As I say, “right or wrong, the Wall Street folks feel that they deserve their excess wealth.”
(There is nothing intrinsically wrong with money, in my opinion. The ‘devils in the details’ are abundant, however. First is greed, which affects not only aspiring billionaires, but can take root far down the economic ladder as well. As important, if not more, is the lack of long-term vision when it comes to money policy. Wall Street has come to look on this as short-term (annual bonuses for performance, for example); and has imposed even more harsh markers on Business. Talk with anyone in big business, and the “quarterly numbers” will come up. One doesn’t achieve long term goals by being stuck on short-term thinking….)
2) As for protests, they can be good, a means to an end, but they cannot be the end in themselves: (Here is a fascinating column about the New York City Occupy Wall Street group.)
As noted it is possible that I’ll be at the event in Minneapolis tomorrow, but it is unlikely that I will be there for more than that single event. It is a big commitment to drive a distance to such things, and there are competitions for one’s available time and resources.
The protests, which were largely invisible in the national news media when I wrote the op ed two weeks ago, have now become very visible, and they are spreading, and that is good.
But sooner than later they will ebb and once again become invisible on the national media screen. The opposition – the rich 1%ers – know this reality: you simply have to wait out the protests and go on with life as usual.
If the organizers and supporters of these protests are wise they are already planning the next steps beyond the protests.
Next steps include things like I did: submitting a letter or an opinion to the local paper; communicating with others we know, including lawmakers, etc., etc.
The reality is that the ‘system’ we love to hate will ultimately have to create a reasonable solution. Anarchy or the like isn’t a viable option, even though it’s fun for awhile.
3) Finally, there is an argument about “class warfare” out and about.
I don’t doubt at all that there is such a war, and it was a preemptive strike by the privileged 1% against the rest of the population.
But it is important to remember that those 1%ers are not a monolith, all thinking alike.
Always keep in mind the folks like mega-billionaire Warren Buffet who are out there, doing their part as well, and moderate views are an extremely important part of this struggle.
Protests are good, but they are only one tactic in what is a very long term struggle.
#451 – Dick Bernard: Hummingbird. Lynn Elling and Wangari Maathai
Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Wangari Maathai died September 25, 2011, in a Kenya hospital. I never met her, or knew much about her. I wish I had.
My friend Lynn Elling asked retired Minneapolis teacher Nancy Paxson to send along Ms Maathai’s obituary and her wonderful and inspirational recitation “I will be a Hummingbird”.
Lynn faces serious surgery Monday, October 10, and at 90 is an eternal optimist. “Can’t” or other negative talk is not part of Lynn’s vocabulary. That hummingbird had nothing on Lynn Elling, especially when it came to his absolute passion for peace.
As Monday approaches for Lynn, I want to share a memory that he shared with me recently.
Lynn is founder of World Citizen, and co-founder of the Nobel Peace Prize Festival, an annual event at Augsburg College in Minneapolis.
Each year since 1996, the Peace Prize Laureate of a preceding year has been invited to attend the Festival at Augsburg, and several laureates have attended.
Dr. Maathai was awarded the Peace Prize in 2004 for her Green Belt movement in her native Kenya, and she accepted the invitation to come speak to children at the March 2006 Augsburg Peace Prize Festival.
All was ready for the Festival except for the heavy snowstorm which brought the Twin Cities to a standstill. In early morning, the Festival organizers cancelled the event, and Dr. Maathai was marooned at the West Bank Holiday Inn in Minneapolis.
As Lynn recounted, he and several others managed to get to the hotel and at least give Dr. Maathai some company. She was in tears. She had so wanted to address the children at the Festival. Of course it wasn’t possible.
She made a huge contribution to the betterment of her country and the world in her lifetime.
The same can be said for Lynn Elling, though his accomplishments were more local.
Dr. Maathai’s Hummingbird lives on, thanks to Lynn.
Best wishes, Lynn, as you face your surgery next Monday.
Lynn and Donna Elling, September 22, 2011
More about Lynn Elling here.
UPDATE October 13, 2011:
After posting this item, my wife and I were on an out of town trip for the following six days.
Lynn’s surgery appears to have been successful, and he is back home.
On October 6, Nancy Paxson sent an e-mail, received on my return, which further comments on the snowy day in Minneapolis in early 2006: “Hi, I treasure recalling that day. My husband & I drove through the deep snow to her hotel and were honored to be included in the group to go to her hotel room. The Ellings were there, as well as Joe [Schwartzberg] and the Augsburg camera guys who video taped her telling the hummingbird story and greeting the festival children, all to be shown in April when we held the rescheduled festival. I have pictures of that morning in her hotel (someplace ) and sent copies to Ellings and others. My Keewaydin [school] Peace Choir was prepared to honor her, so she asked me to sing bits of the songs for her, and we presented her with a lovely photo book of trees and wrapped it in one of those rainbow bandanas that the peace choir wore to perform. She was tickled at that, because when she was in Japan, they had a tradition of gifting in lovely cloth wrapping. I forget the term. I was a special day, and I have shared it with many students over the years, as we study the laureates.”
And, of course, in the past few days three women, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee of Liberia and Tawakkul Karman of Yemen, were named the Nobel Peace Prize Award Winners for 2011. According to the Nobel official site, their Awards are “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.”
#443 – Dick Bernard: Homeless.
This morning, as usual, we went downstairs at our church for the usual coffee and donuts. (Our place is the Basilica of St. Mary’s at the near edge of downtown Minneapolis – it is a downtown parish – a place of diverse sorts of people.)
I got my coffee and donut and saw a lady sitting at a table by herself. “Mind if we join you?” I asked. “Fine”, she said. She was well-dressed, looking to be in later middle age, with what appeared to be a nice piece of luggage on one of those portable pull carts.
Making small talk, I said, “it looks like you’re traveling“. It was a somewhat obvious observation. We’re an easy and safe walk to the convention center, and the church gets lots of visitors.
Probably she had been to some conference, and was taking in Mass before catching a cab for the airport….
She didn’t respond to me. She finished her coffee, got up abruptly, and then very angrily said “if it makes any difference, I’m retired and I’m homeless.” Apparently there had been some court case in New York which she had lost. She stormed off to wherever, with no chance for us to say anything, as if she would have wanted us to say anything. There are times when less is best.
Two other people had joined us by then. It was a puzzling happening for all of us.
There is a “profile” of homeless. We see lots of homeless in this social gathering hall after Mass. But they LOOK like homeless are “supposed” to look. Yes, it’s a stereotype, but mostly these folks, mostly men, sometimes a few women, stand out from the usual crowd. This lady didn’t look homeless, not in the least. But apparently she was.
As I write, before noon on this same day, I’m just beginning to process what I just experienced.
In a surface sense, everything in our society, at this moment, looks sort of normal. Even with high unemployment, 91% of us are making a living (85% if you throw in the people who have given up on looking for work.)
It is easy to pretend that there is no underclass, inexorably increasing.
We’re in a family that is experiencing the creeping problem of unemployment within our own family circle. Makes it much harder NOT to notice….
Beyond the rhetoric, somewhere as I type, is this attractive well-dressed older woman pulling her luggage, and carrying a back pack.
It is certain she wasn’t being facetious.
What is her story, I wonder.
Where will she be tonight, this coming week, this winter, next year?
I think I know what I’ll be thinking about on this walk I’m about to take.
What lessons can be learned, and applied to our ever meaner society?
#442 – Dick Bernard: The Week that included the International Day of Peace September 18-24, 2011
When I posted #441 on September 21, I was unsure whether or not the International Day of Peace would be of consequence or even noted.
Looking back a few days, there was a great plenty of notice about the Day of Peace, some very positive, some very negative, all very public.
The Thursday Minneapolis Star Tribune had a front page article on the execution of Troy Davis in Georgia…on the International Day of Peace. The entirety of page three of the paper related to President Obama’s address to the United Nations.
Former President George W. Bush was in St. Louis Park for a fundraiser on Peace Day, and a full third of page B3 of the newspaper – essentially the only coverage of the event – was of a protest against the Bush administrations sanction of torture.
In the “is the glass half full or half empty” analogy, I would give Peace a very strong showing this week, even though there is plenty of negative to emphasize.
The Presidents address to the UN was measured and instructive: taking the world as it is, and strongly encouraging, for example, direct negotiations between Palestine and Israel on long-term Peace. As such highly public events work, no doubt both Israeli and Palestinian leaders knew in advance what the President was going to say: this is the nature of diplomacy. Peace cannot be imposed on societies, as we’ve learned over and over again. Societies need to come to their own conclusion. We cannot impose, only facilitate or interfere with, agreement.
As to the tragic Troy Davis decision, I tried to articulate my position in a proposed letter to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, submitted today. I said:
“Regardless of Charles Lanes opinion on the correctness of Troy Davis’ execution on Sep 21, (ironically the International Day of Peace), state sanctioned punishment by death is a dying proposition…and it will be a well deserved death when it comes.
I am reminded of the distinction between two words: decide and choose. When one decides something, all other options are removed. The root for decide is shared with words like suicide, homicide, fratricide, and on and on. There is no turning back from a terminal decision, like a sentence to death. It feels good for awhile (our prisons are full of murderers); but does it help society to be a murderer itself?
Choice at least has room for redemption or correction.
Back in 1991, shortly before the famed Halloween Blizzard, I read about and attended a commemorative service in a Duluth church cemetery. Three black men with a carnival had been lynched in Duluth in 1920 for the alleged rape of a white woman. There was no corroborating evidence.
The men were buried in unmarked graves and on that late October day in ’91, a group of us gathered at their discovered graves to recognize their untimely and unjust end.
At the time of their lynching, one youngster in the lynching crowd in downtown Duluth apparently justified the action: “they was just niggers”.
We’ve advanced, but the primitive instinct of that youngster is alive and well and in our society.”
We’re a complicated world, and there were/are doubtless endless examples of good and evil on Wednesday, September 21, 2011, as on every other day of the week and every week preceding and to follow.
For the long haul, Gandhi said it best: “we must be the change we wish to see in the world”.
Gandhi, assassinated in 1948, never succeeded in his quest, but his messages are before us, every day. We MUST be the change….
Peace is a destination; the Road to Peace is one we must travel each day.
Think Peace, and work for it.
#441 – Dick Bernard: The International Day of Peace; and a Dream for a U.S. Peace Memorial
UPDATE Sep 21: President Obama addressed the United Nations this morning on the issue of Peace. You can watch the entire address here.
Today, September 21, 2011, is the International Day of Peace, and odds are it won’t get a lot of attention in the main stream media.
That’s a shame.
We are a country, indeed a world, oriented to and dominated by war and enmity and death. Google the word “Peace” and there are, it says, 788,000,000 potential sources; but for “War” there are nearly three times as many sources: 2,240,000,000….
It’s just a sad fact.
But peacemakers are not a tiny diminutive bunch without a voice. There is lots of positive action in great numbers of places in diverse and positive ways.
Here are two focus points to help pay attention to this day:
1. One of a great many good sites about the International Day of Peace is Peace One Day. Take a moment to visit and look around the site of this pioneer organization dedicated to Peace One Day. And do something for Peace today. Here’s Google’s list about International Peace Day.
2. As to the Dream of a U.S. Peace Memorial, take a listen to founder Dr. Michael Knox on a Tampa FL Public Radio Station earlier this week. The interview is about an hour, and very interesting.
Make it a priority to listen to the interview today, and while you’re listening, visit the website for the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation here.
I’m honored to have been a Founding member of the Peace Memorial project since 2006. There are, thus far, 17 of we Minnesotans – thirteen individuals and four organizations – who have enrolled as Founding Members in Minnesota ($100 contribution to the cause); 11 – nine individuals and two organizations – who have taken the time to enroll in the Peace Registry*. We’re a small number, thus far, but it’s a start.
I would urge you to become similarly enrolled; and to let others know about this project. This is a project that will take many years to reach fruition, but people like ourselves need to build a foundation, now, to recognize Peace as a national and world priority, in the past, now, and in the future.
(There are many points of view about how to get to ‘yes’ on recognizing Peace. Dr. Knox would attest that he and I have had our own conversations and our own differences about the fine points.)
But I very enthusiastically join Dr.Knox in his commitment to build awareness of and support for a U.S. Peace Memorial.
In the meantime, have a great International Day of Peace today.
* – Founding Members here; U.S. Peace Registry here.
Dr. Michael Knox at Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers, October, 2010
#438 – Dick Bernard: Some nice news about Haiti
I’m a regular usher at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. It is an enjoyable task, and on occasion I see something unusual, as was the case this morning.
I was walking down the outside aisle on the downtown side of the Basilica, and saw a display case with a piece of sculpture (click to enlarge):
I looked more closely and it was just a couple of five gallon pails. Odd.
Then I looked at the identification of the particular work:
It all made more sense. Kevin McClellan has for many years been engaged in delivering fresh water to the slums of Haiti. It is his mission in life.
I googled Kevin and came up with this link, which has many photos etc.
This sighting reminded me of a special event happening on Friday of this week.
M. Jacqueline Regis, native of Haiti, and long-time corporate attorney, is being sworn in as a Judge in Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial District on Friday of this week. The event is Friday, September 23, 3-4 p.m. in the Thrivent Financial Building Auditorium, 625 Fourth Avenue South, Minneapolis. Here’s an earlier news account of her appointment to the Bench.
Soon-to-be Honorable Judge Jacqueline Regis grew up in Haiti. She has written a fascinating book about her growing up experience in Haiti. It is Daughter of L’Arsenal, and I presume remains available here.
Sincere congratulations to both Judge Regis and Kevin McClellan, who individually and together represent the best of our world society.
UPDATE September 24, 2011:
CONGRATULATIONS, Judge Jacqueline Regis
Here’s two photos at the ceremony September 23, 2011 (click on photo to enlarge)
Judge Jacqueline Regis September 23, 2011
#434 – Barry Riesch: Reflections on 9-11
Note from Dick Bernard: I know Barry Riesch from nine years involvement with the Minnesota chapter of the national organization Veterans for Peace. Barry served in the U.S. Army 1968-70 and was a Mortar man in Vietnam 1969-70. Barry has been the inspiration for an ever more successful Memorial Day commemorative at the Vietnam Memorial on the Capitol Grounds in St. Paul. The photo is from the most recent gathering in May, 2011 (click on it to enlarge). I am proud to be a member of Veterans for Peace.
This post is also comment #36 here.
Barry Riesch opens the 2011 Memorial Day commemoration at the Vietnam Memorial on the Capitol Grounds, St. Paul MN
Barry Riesch:
While it is important to take time to pause and reflect on the horrible events which occurred on September 11, 2011, it is also time to ask ourselves whether the price we and the world has paid as a result of the path our leaders chose to follow has been worth it.
I offer a few of the consequences: Loss of Civil Liberties; Loss of any real privacy with the establishment of massive security surveilance system with 850,000 Top Securty officals and contractors (as reported by the Washington Post and printed in the StarTribune); compromised America’s basic principles (like Habeus Corpus and the right not to be tortured); undermined our economy; weakend security; a conservative estimate three years ago of $3-5 trillion (not counting our latest excursion into Libya); 6,000 dead soldiers and 100,000 wounded, many suffering from multiple amputations, brain injury, and post traumatic stress (PTSD); 50% of returning veterans receiving some sort of disabilitty payment; 600,000 treated in veterans facilities (estimates of future disability payments and health care costs $600-900 billlion); social costs reflected in veteran suicides (which have topped 18 per day in recent years); traumatized children and family breakups; first war (Iraq) in history paid entirely on credit card thanks to Bush; unemployment and deficit, both threats to America’s future traced to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; increased defense spending and Bush tax cuts are largely why we went from a fiscal surplus of 2% GDP when Bush was elected to is perilous deficit and debt position today; direct government spending on those wars amounts to roughly $2 trillion- $17,000 for every US household, with bills yet to be received increasing this amount by more than 50%; macroeconomic weakness (disruption in the Middle East has led to higher oil prices thus forcing Americans to spend more on oil imports than on buying goods produced in the US); US Federal Reserve hid weaknesses by engineerig a housing bubble that led to a consumption boom which led to excessive indebtedness in real estate; Bush tried to undercut war costs by refusing basic expenditures for military (armored and mine-resistant vehicles and adequate health care for returning veterans); more than a million Iraqis have died directly or indirectly because of the war, even the most conservative studies say at least 137,000 civilians have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, 35,600 in Pakistan; among Iraqis alone there are 1.8 million refugeess and 1.7 million internally displaced people, a total of 7,800,00 war refugees and displaced persons- equivalent to the people of Connecticut and Kentucky fleeing their homes; both US invasions were to help restore Democracy but both now have more segregation today by gender and ethnicity.
Not all the consequences have been disastrous, as much of the Global War on Terrorism has been wasted on weapons that don’t work against enemies that don’t exist and now those resources are likely to be redeployed and the US will likely get more security by paying less.
These few examples of the price paid in getting to this point in the US and elsewhere have been enormous and mostly avoidable. These mistakes will be with us for a long time, maybe someday we will try a different approach. Not all of this can be attributed to George Bush as Barack Obama has continued to carry out the same policies.
*sources of information Brown University
#432 – Dick Bernard: 9-11-11 The First Day of the Rest of our Life as a People.
NOTE SEP 12, 2011: This is becoming a voluminous post with a great number of comments. All flow from my reflection on Sep. 11, 2001, and the ten years after, here. I plan to keep this comments page up to date and current as any personal opinions are provided. Check back once in awhile. Directly related posts here; here; and here.
Almost all of what follows are individual comments received in the last three days from numerous individuals. I have included all comments that I received, responding to a few.
My personal reflections on 9-11 and the 10 years following were published on Friday, September 9, here. My Sep 10 post on Ed Asner as FDR directly relates to this. It is here.
This space reflects comments offered to that blog post, as well as other comments made in other venues by individuals I know, personally.
We can now choose to change the conversation, or continue with what caused us so much trouble the last ten years. Change will not be easy, for anyone. But we change, or we die.
Opening Ceremony at Minnesotans Standing Together, Minnesota State Capitol, Sunday, September 11, 2011
Minnesotans Standing Together (click on photo to enlarge) (Also see comment #38 below.)
1. Lori Sturdevant, Facebook, Sep 11
Experiencing the shared resolve Americans found 10 years ago gives me hope for today. So does the good work done by the Minnesota Council of Churches in organizing today’s moving Capitol commemoration of 9/11, which lifted up the value of diversity. There’s a great deal of good will on which to build a better state and country.
2. From Joyce Denn, Sep 11
17:42 of film completed three weeks after 9-11-01
Thanks, Adela, for posting this first – watch it and see if you can keep from crying, especially when thinking of the good will and solidarity that were squandered in the aftermath.
What’s wrong with this picture? here
3. Will Shapira in the Sep 11 St. Paul Pioneer Press:
On 9/11: Double down on our resolve
The 10th anniversary of 9/11 should, in my view, be much more than remembering where we were when we heard the shocking news and how we reacted a decade ago.
It must be a time to double down on our resolve to increase the pressure on President Obama and Congress to end the illegal and immoral wars that President Bush started in the days of rage and recrimination immediately after 9/11. And it must be a time to hold Mr. Obama to his 2008 campaign promise to end those wars.
It also must be a time to wipe off the law books once and for all the nefarious Patriot Act that Mr. Bush rammed through Congress in the post-9/11 days of chaos, and which Mr. Obama, in one of his infamous, off-putting capitulations, has now extended.
And in that same vein, it’s way past time for Mr. Obama to order the FBI to halt its illegal harassment of ordinary citizens exercising their constitutional rights of peacefully protesting war and advocating for social and economic justice.
It must be a time to increase our scrutiny of how our veterans are being treated once they come home, to make sure they get the medical care they need and help to transition back into productive, peaceful civilian lives and, where necessary, provide care for the families who still have loved ones on the fields of battle.
It must be a time to end torture in all of its forms and in all of its venues and to bring to justice its practitioners, past and present.
On a broader level, it must be a time to seriously examine our capitalist political and economic system, to see if it truly is providing “liberty and justice for all” and, if not, start to boldly examine some alternatives.
Finally, let’s hope that when we mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11, we can look back and remember this occasion as a starting point of our efforts to erect not only a monument and rising new structure at Ground Zero/Lower Manhattan but to build an America that will reach out to the peoples of the world – a peaceful and just America that they will not fear and hate.
That will be the lasting and most important legacy of 9/11.
Willard B. Shapira, Roseville
The writer is a member of Veterans for Peace and the Workers International League.
4. Prof. emeritus Joseph Schwartzberg Sep 9
Thanks for your latest blog. I read it with great interest and followed up on several of the links. Good work!
5. University Student Allison Stuewe, who was 11 on 9-11-01:
I so enjoyed reading your blog post! It really is incredible to think about how we have chosen as a country to respond to 9/11 and how it has changed our nation and, unfortunately, the world.
6. From the blogger Just Above Sunset:
This is VERY good. I have no idea what I’ll write about this. I’m putting it off until Saturday evening. But I may find I have nothing to say. Silence may be more respectful. [He did write a blog post after all.]
7. Jim Poradek, Sep 9, 2011:
just read your 9-11 post. I was curious to see how you approached it. I found it excellent – I imagine because it so closely mirrored my own feelings about the subsequent wars.
Jackie and I watched “Fair Game” last night. It’s the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson/Bush-WH- Iraq-war story. Even after all these years it is disturbing and distressing.
Using Netflix protocol your post and Fair Game both get 5 stars.
UPDATE Sep 17 (Click on photo to enlarge)
I was going through photos for a project and came on the attached photo. In the winter and spring of 2003 as it became clear that Bush was going to war – and did in March, we had weekly (sometimes more) demonstrations in Bloomington, Indiana. Of the photos I took, this has been a favorite because of the colorful diversity of signs and people. It was taken in early May before the school year ended. The Friends in Bloomington were always involved in anti-war and social justice issues. They provided the “War is not the answer!” sign the IU student is carrying. His companion was more creative.
Protest Bloomington IN early 2003
8. Anne Wisda, Sep 10, 2011:
THANKS FOR THIS POWERFUL AND INFORMATIVE SHARING.
WE MUST ALL PRAY AND ACT FOR PEACE IN OUR WORLD!
9. Rev. Lyle Christianson Sep 10, 2011:
Dick, because of other pressing issues I hesitated downloading and printing your extended comments, but glad I did. I share much the same feeling as you do. I have a special feeling for New York City after working there for one summer during college and spending a year there in graduate work at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University.
Also, you may not know that Dorothy Anne and I were in Egypt on 9-11-01 and were privileged to note close-up the reaction of many in that nation as well as Jordan where we were forced to remain until we could obtain a flight back to New York. Among the people with whom we visited was a young Muslim who was scheduled in a day or two to fly to New York. I remember his expression of fear over how he would be treated in light of what had taken place. I wonder if fear is not what makes us do so many foolish things. [NOTE from Dick: My wife and I were in England post-9-11, late October. There had been some apprehension about following through on a long-booked plan, but we were very glad we went as scheduled.]
Further, religion has to do with our relation to our Creator (who is both hidden and revealed) and what we feel our Creator wants us to be and do. Religion also has to do with our relation to our neighbor. Therefore everyone has a religion. The question is whether or not one has a healthy religion that nurtures healthy relationships or unhealthy relationships. The world and our nation needs good and healthy religion as never before.
Best wishes to you, Dick, always.
10. Fred Johnson, Sep 10, 2011
A very well written and reasoned piece. Hopefully more than a few folks will be reading it!
11. Marion Brady, Sep 10, 2011
Thanks much, Dick.
Some time ago I cut out a comic strip drawn by Wiley (www.nonsequitor.com).
First frame:
[Little girl, with grandfather, walking dog]
“Sometimes I wonder how we got words. like where does ‘war’come from?”
[Grandfather]
“It’s a universal acronym.”]
Second frame:
[Little girl]
“An acronym of what??
[Grandfather]
“We Are Right.”]
Third frame:
Wordless. Little girl looking thoughtful.
Fourth frame:
[Little girl]
“Y’know, that stupidly makes some sense…
[Grandfather]
“I thought you’d like it…”
12. Beth Brownfield, Sep 10, 2011
Right on Dick!
Here’s what I’m involved in. Have had incredible results in the last week. From 6 congregations nationally passing our resolution it is now going to the board of trustees of our Unitarian Universalist Association for consideration for this coming year’s general assembly in Phoenix where we chose in 2010 to go to instead of boycotting. We are going to confront immigration/migration issues nationwide. Our business as usual is being suspended and there may be only one or so resolutions that are presented. Also they are planning a panel that will be part of the program, not an elective workshop in breakouts! IT IS A MIRACLE that we have connected the dots with the work of myself and another man in Peoria IL to bring this before our denomination (back in 2010!).
The Doctrine of Discovery is at the heart of this, our country’s greed, our domination of indigenous peoples, immigrants, our grab for resources no matter the cost. It is INCREDIBLY invasive and embedded. The Permanent Forum on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has made this the focus of intense study in 2012 and all participating indigenous nations are writing reports on how the DOD has affected them historically and currently.
The Episcopalians have repudiated the DOD in 2010, the Quakers are doing it meeting by meeting, the World Council of Churches is just in the beginning stage of considering it.
13. From Commander of my local American Legion Post (I’m a long-time member)
Dick, As always your comments reflect deep thought, are very well presented,
and I appreciate reading them.
Your latest I’m going to have to go through a second time to fully absorb.
Like many people I often suspect I could do a much better job of running the
government than we’ve experienced over the past years. Then I usually, not always, regain
my senses and accept that many of those calling the shots, perhaps most, are much smarter
than I, and likely have enormously more knowledge on which to make the best decisions at the time.
I had a lot of issues with what went on during the Bush administration, and I’ve got a lot
of issues with Obama’s administration. God knows that I’m in almost weekly contact with
our two Senators and my Congresswoman. And at my age I’m picking the hills I’m willing to die over
carefully.
In closing, Dick, it’s great to have you as a member
13A. Dick: I chose to respond to the Commanders one, thus:
This one was, indeed, a long one…longer than anything I’ve written, and much more carefully written, too.
Of everything I paid note of in that post was the column I wrote in February, 2002, which was published in the Star Tribune April 20, 2002. (I actually wrote it for the 6 month anniversary of 9-11, which was March 11, and I thought that when that date passed they’d trash-canned it. But then I got the call that they were going to use it.)
Anyway, it is of huge significance to me that I, by that time an activist (the Afghanistan bombing pushed me over the edge), had so little awareness of “Iraq” as an issue that I didn’t even mention the word. After October 7, 2001, I attended lots and lots of assorted meetings and apparently Iraq was never even mentioned. And I was in the middle of the protesters.
My entire point is this: will we learn from our abundant mistakes of the last ten years, or are we going to repeat the tragedy that began after the attacks?
I note from the last Legion magazine that PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] is front and center (on the cover). That is a cost of war that isn’t included in the usual indices of cost of war.
My wife’s nephew just returned from a year in Afghanistan a couple of weeks ago. He’d been there for a year, and he came back safe. Issues like this one are not brought up at family gatherings.
On and on we go.
We change for the better, or we kill ourselves in the process.
Thanks for commenting.
14. Lucinda, on Sep 10
Your points and perspective are excellent.
15. Harriette on Sep. 10
Thank you for taking the time to write this sensitive piece on 9/11/01. We must make sure that future Americans remember, as Americans grieve with those who lost the heroes of 9/11/01. In centuries to come Americans will remember the day. It is up to us to make sure that future Americans remember.
16. John Jensen (on Facebook) Sep 10
Dick, thanks for sharing. Your welcome will never be worn out!! Today, the day before 9/11/11, I flew home to Omaha from Washington D.C. Thanks to “credible” reports of terrorist threats, I left my hotel in D.C. with guards at the elevators and where no vehicles were allowed near the hotel. At the airports in D.C. and in Chicago, I sat waiting to board, relieved that it was not Sunday, 9/11/11.
17. Candice Abel Van Eyck (on Facebook) Sep 10
Well said!!
18. Carol McCracken on Facebook Sep 11
The attacks were intended to break our spirit. Instead we have emerged stronger and more unified. We are more determined than ever to live our lives in freedom.
19. Frank Kroncke Sep 10
Appreciate your words.
Added Sep 13: Friends: Take a few minutes to watch this video. The young daughter of Al Hooper (long time friend and witness at our trial) gave her senior speech (in high school!). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHtJ76M0qG0
Added Sep 14: Ethics Daily.com a site worth reading.
20. Paul Miller Sep 10
good analysis,Dick, I concur that we experienced a decade of wrong minded actions, the collective analytical intelligence of our population seems to be at historical lows, you have to wonder what it would take to force us to see the reality that we have created
When will we Americans get a grip on reality?
21. Joyce Denn, Sep 11
http://woodbury.patch.com/articles/woodbury-resident-ny-native-recalls-911#photo-7682897
22. Judy Berglund, Facebook, Sep 11
Thirty-nine years ago today, I gave birth to my son. Daniel Wallace Berglund was born at 8:16 p.m. on Sept. 11, 1972 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Duluth. He weighed seven pounds and 13 ounces, and he was 21 inches long. The birth announcement said, “Greetings from the future president of the United States.” We set the bar high for you, Danny. And, hey! You’re only 39. You still have time!
23. Daniel Tutt, Facebook, Sep 11
While historians most unanimously point out the fact that 9/11 changed very little in terms of the movement of world history; for those of us that grew of age after 9/11, this event changed our subjective political, social, and spiritual lives in radical ways.
24. Michelle Witte, Sep 11
My main thoughts… Sad on how Al-Qaeda got its’ wish: our economy
tanked and we have more enemies than ever. And we allowed more soldiers to
be killed post 9/11 than were killed on 9/11. We over-reacted and took
toenail clippers away from passengers while only furthering the gaping
hole that spawns terrorists – growing poverty, injustice, greed and
religious righteousness. Put up a mirror America – are we better people
today than we were on 9/11? Or has our pettiness only grown? Prevention is
tough folks – let’s favor the long road vs. the short road. And that
message is true for the left as well – we bash Obama when he didn’t solve
America’s problems overnight. We need to do the tough stuff that takes
time – and creates sustainable peace.
25. From a friend who prefers to not share name:
Wonderful.
And by the way, I was not one who approved of invading Iraq… due largely to a cousin of mine who teaches in Czech Republic and had sent an alarming e-mail to some family members which included the “foreign perspective” of what was happening here. I guess I was the only one who paid attention to it, but he generates a lot of respect in our family and it caused me to go looking for information that wasn’t prominently displayed on the front page – which was there, for those who looked. So I was wearing a little sign that said “No Attack on Iraq,” and the mood (as you remember) was such in the country that I was almost expecting someone to slug me when I went out and about… (Also had a letter to the editor published criticizing a John Kline article – he of course was gung-ho to get into that war.) You’re right – the “crowd mentality” was really scary.
An interesting comment on Norway – however, the shooter was one of them, and Norway could hardly have attacked itself… Things may have been very different if he had been from Afghanistan, for example. From what I gathered when we were there, I would guess that all the Afghani refugees who live in Norway would not have been treated as well going forward… And of course Norway is a rich country, but not powerful enough to go starting major wars in the first place. Which makes your choices for getting along in the world a bit more limited…
25A. Response from Dick
Personally, I engaged in the pro-Peace bunch when we bombed Afghanistan in Oct 2001. That was a very lonely time for a peacenik – 6% of Americans agreed with me, so the polls said. That’s one of every 16 Americans. I could see no good coming out of the bombing. It was nothing altruistic. It just didn’t make any long term sense.
25B. Response back
I supported invading Afghanistan – and believe I would today. But when we first went in, the military teamed up so efficiently with the factions in the country who could help us, and were “kicking butt.” But THEN Bush decided – since he was suddenly getting so many accolades as the “War President” – to expand his reach. I think most people now don’t even remember how he was viewed in his first months in office. Half the country didn’t even think he’d been elected, and the media took every opportunity to make fun of his language-mangling, etc. It didn’t appear that he was going to be able to get anything done with Congress. Then (drum roll here…), 9-11. He was instantly a hero.
I have my own opinions about what made W tick. Before 9-11 he was stuck with trying to prove, not only to the country but also to his “Daddy,” that he was actually capable and relevant. But that changed in an instant. He became Respected and Important, and I think he honestly believed that because of his choices, history was going to credit him with keeping America safe going forward, and “exporting democracy” to the world (he is that simplistic). And of course – like Bachmann – God was out there telling him how to do it. (Well, not exactly like Bachmann, as God tells her husband, then he tells her… :\
And we should have stuck to our goal in Afghanistan – to destroy Al Qaida’s training camps and catch bin Laden and his buddies if we could. Then we should have gone home, not decided to try to remake the whole dang country in our image, or hang around because then we’d have a base from which to shoot missiles into Pakistan whenever we please… What a horrible waste.
I believe there are reasons to go to war – and that they’re few and far between. And that likely the hardest job of the President is to decide when it’s necessary. Bush was not up to that job – or to much else. But, when the voters elect the guy they’d “like to have a beer with”… we probably get what we deserve.
My opinion on this 9-11 anniversary :\
25C. Dick
I remember those days pretty vividly. I just could not see any good coming out of going to war, as we were. In the first place, the very idea of being able to eliminate terrorism in this huge world of ours made absolutely no sense. But the big problem was the Project for a New American Century and 9-11 gave the opportunity to start by securing “our” oil in the middle east. And on, and on, and on. I think I was right, but that doesn’t help much, now. I don’t think there is much mileage in being against GWBush. His supporters think he was a great man, whether or not he deserves the kudos. I think President Obama is dealing as best as he can with the mythology of the Bush years. We keep on. Thanks so much.
25D. Response back
And I very much respect your work for peace in the world. You may be right about Afghanistan – how does one know these things? We have to somewhat rely on the people who are privy to all the information we don’t have, and my point was that if our nation insists on voting for incompetents like Bush, we will continue to suffer the consequences. And look at the current crop that the Republicans are fielding! It’s terrifying. Tim Pawlenty at least had some necessary skills – even tho’ I detest the guy – but he was too “boring” and so tried to turn himself into a pretzel in his views to please all the nutjobs out there. And even that didn’t help him, in a year when the crazier (and more pseudo-religious) you are, the better your prospects, apparently.
We as a nation have seemed to learn nothing in the past ten years about the consequences of our votes, or about the fact that truth matters. Politics is just a vicious game where we’re all supposed to choose sides.
Two persons I know personally had letters to the editor in today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune:
26. Michael Andregg, St. Paul
An essential start is to stop invading countries that never attacked us. For example, we invaded Iraq on false pretenses for alleged reasons that have since been shown to be 100 percent inaccurate. Therefore we have murdered more than 100,000 innocent people in a country we still occupy.
Along with this came rationalizations for torture, systemic corrosion of constitutional liberties at home, and other un-American and often-illegal behaviors. All the propaganda in the world may fool a distracted and disengaged American public, but it cannot prevent resentment among our victims or extremism among their surviving relatives.
27. Harlan Smith, Roseville
If anything the United States says to other countries is readily interpreted as our lecturing them, it will be resented. We must instead be seen as inviting them to join us in something mutually beneficial.
At any time there are a large number of potentially conflicting relationships among national interests, values and basic ideas that could become violent, and at the same time a large number of relationships among them that could become mutually beneficial.
Historically, human nations and smaller groups of people have unconsciously stumbled into more of the conflicting relationships. It would be much wiser to to decide together how to develop instead those relationships that would be mutually beneficial.
There are always a large number of such relationships that could be developed it we put our heads together.
28. seen Sep. 12, forwarded by a relative, from another relative, whose son co-made this video Sep. 14, 2001:
Lady Liberty
29. seen Sep. 12, from a friend who’s a Catholic Parish Priest in New Mexico:
Yes, I am still part of the resistance. Thank you for your blog. Very much my sentiments as well.
I am a pastor now and today was a very difficult day for me. Our country – our church is so divided. Preaching is like walking in a mine field.
Peace and Good in Christ,
30. Joyce Denn, Sep 12
[My friends] Mom frequently talks of her hostility to FDR – her parents hated him because of the influx of people into their Midwestern town who were working for the CCC and other public works programs. I pointed out to her that those people had money to spend because of FDR, and they patronized local businesses and helped the local economy recover. She had to admit that he did help the economy, but, she still hated him – she’s a Republican to the core, even though she thoroughly dislikes the current crop of Republicans.
An older coworker told me she hated FDR because the rural electrification program didn’t quite reach her parents’ farm; again, I pointed out that it was the start of electricity reaching every rural area, but, it didn’t reach her farm, so FDR was bad in her view. What can I say – this same woman once told me that all Jews are wealthy despite the evidence (me) standing right in front of her.
30A. Dick responds:
Everyone has their stories.
In 1993, my Aunt Mary, who spent most of the years 1913-right after WWII on the home farm where my mother grew up, wrote her memories of growing up and living on the farm. In my family history, Pioneers, compiled in 2005, she says this on page 136: “I don’t remember a great deal about political discussions. I do remember Dad [Grandpa, to me], had no time for F. D. Roosevelt because he kept his taxes paid. He had no chance to get a WPA [Works Progress Administration] job for extra cash which he could have used. I guess the main reason Dad got upset over FDRoosevelt was that loafers who were capable of earning a living got the paying jobs, such as foreman of the road crews.”
Grandpa was a go-getter in his early years. In the 1920s he was becoming a success. In 1927 he ran, unsuccessfully and much against his wife’s wishes, for public office. But the 1930s ended up not being kind to him. I gathered that he lost much of his expanding farm because he couldn’t pay for it; a teacher daughter paid land taxes at one point in time to save even the original land. I was born after the Great Depression, and by then he and Grandma were just small poor farmers, eking out a living. One visible reminder of the Depression at the farm is an old grove of cottonwood trees planted by the CCC [Civilian Conservation Corps]. I wrote about it some years ago, here.
31. Harriette Sep 12
And the deaths from cleanup and helping others continue. The 60 Minutes program said it all on Sunday. Thank you Dick.
32. Lydia Howell Sep 12
This week’s CATALYST, Thur Sept.15, 9 am CDT on KFAI [Minneapolis-St. Paul] (also, after broadcast, archived at www.kfai.org
will focus on Sept.11th from a progressive point of view–a counter to the relentless bs of the last few days.
NOTE: I believe this can also be accessed live on-line at time of broadcast.
33. Mary Ann Maher Sep 12
NOTE: Going through my 9-11 file today I found an e-letter sent by my sister Mary Ann on September 12, 2001MaryAnn9-12-01001. It speaks for itself.
Mary Ann: That’s fine even though I notice that I had ‘tears in my ears’ [mistake in the e-mail – should have been ‘eyes’]! I wonder and hope that September 11, 2011 will perhaps be the beginning of our ability as a country to regroup and move forward….all of us know, intellectually, that the value in reliving things past is to avoid repeats but somehow there has been a little too much energy spent on ‘paying em back’ and moving in the shadows of fear.
33A. Response from Dick: The Santayana quote (“those who cannot remember the past…”) which begins my post on 9-11 meant to me that the last ten years should open our eyes to the folly of our re-actions after 9-11. We basically ruined our society and we will have difficulty recovering. At the same time, we seem not to have well learned our lesson, and if we haven’t, we are “doomed to repeat it”, but it will only be worse and worse and worse.
34. (rec’d Sep 13) From childhood classmate who prefers that name not be used because of work with a private sector corporation which has many federal contracts.
Interesting commentary. Let me offer a couple of corrections.
(1) – JHU-APL [Johns Hopkins University – Applied Physics Lab, a U.S. government funded institution] was tasked to go into Iraq, once we had troops on the ground, and make an assessment of the death toll from the initial “Shock and Awe”. Their assessment was that approximately 640,000 Iraqis could not be accounted for. Add to that the tracking of daily death tolls during the remainder of the war, which reached about 140,000+ before the powers that control the news media in this country decided that they didn’t want that information broadcast and you have death toll of around 780,000.
(2) – The planning for the Iraq war started at the first cabinet meeting after the Bush administration took office. An ardent objector to the war was the Secretary of the Treasury, Paul O’Neill. His continued objections and other results of his independent thinking resulted in his firing. If you Google Paul, you will find the following:
“O’Neill was appointed Secretary of the Treasury by George W. Bush. O’Neill was an outspoken member of the administration, often saying things to the press that went against the administration’s party line, and doing unusual things like taking a tour of Africa with singer Bono.
A report commissioned in 2002 by O’Neill, while he was Treasury Secretary, suggested the United States faced future federal budget deficits of more than US$ 500 billion. The report also suggested that sharp tax increases, massive spending cuts, or both would be unavoidable if the United States were to meet benefit promises to its future generations. The study estimated that closing the budget gap would require the equivalent of an immediate and permanent 66 percent across-the-board income tax increase. The Bush administration left the findings out of the 2004 annual budget report published in February 2003.[citation needed]
O’Neill’s private feuds with Bush’s tax cut policies and his push to further investigate alleged al-Qaeda funding from some American-allied countries, as well as his objection to the invasion of Iraq in the name of the war on terror – that he considered as nothing but a simple excuse for a war decided long before by neoconservative elements of the first Bush Administration – led to him being fired[1] in 2002 and replaced with John W. Snow.”
Another thing to think about is the ineptness of the American voter. They do very little research on subjects or persons to be voted on; are easily swayed and, as of late, have had a “throw the bums out” attitude. The result of that last election has spawned a lot of voter remorse. It is my hope that they will again throw out the bums they voted in last time so that we can get this nation back on track.
Added Sep 15: I had sent you comments relating to the notion that the Bush administration had intended to invade Iraq from the time they took office. Just finished reading an article in the September issue of National Defense magazine. The subject was Defense Energy. In the article it points out that “Before invading Iraq in 2003, the Pentagon spent tens of millions of dollars building a pipeline to ensure fuel supplies for U.S. forces once they entered the country”. You’ve got to know that took some time. The article goes on to say that “Securing access to fuel remains a key component of military training”.
That article adds ammunition to the conspiracy theorists position that the Bush administration intentionally ignored the August 18th [2001] memo predicting 9-11 and let it happen in order to have an excuse to invade Iraq and show Dad [George H. W. Bush] how it should have been done during Desert Storm [in 1991].
34A. Dick’s response:
I knew of the higher Iraqi casualty estimates from JHU-APL and other sources from reports early on. For this blog post I deliberately elected to use conservative casualty numbers from sources that seemed to be regularly trusted by the main-stream media. Even my numbers marked a civilian catastrophe in Iraq as a result of the war. Iraq was a country roughly the size and population of California, and it has been decimated in the last ten years.
Paul O’Neill’s book recounting his time in the Bush administration is still available. Link is here.
Sad but very true is my friends final comment about the American voter. We have got, and we will get, exactly what we deserve representing us in government, if we don’t pay very close attention.
35. Kathy Garvey Sep 14
Thank you very much for sending the student essays, I loved the one that said “if I would have known I would have told you it was going to happen “, and the one that said “I hope you are felling better ..I lost my glasses so I am not feeling well”.
NOTE: Kathy was a 5th grade public school teacher for many years. After 9-11-01, as doubtless millions of teachers did, everywhere, Kathy gave her students an opportunity to write about their feelings. This happened on September 12, 2001; September 18, 2001 (letters to New York City students); and January 18, 2002. She sent copies of these letters to me, and I saved them, and at her request recently sent the copies back to her. She relates two of many quotes in those from-the-heart letters at a troubled time.
Here is a drawing of an American flag by another of those 5th graders in October, 2001.
Flag by Evergreen Park School 5th grader, Lester, October, 2001
36. Barry Riesch
Barry was in the U.S. Army 1968-70, and he was a Mortar man in Vietnam 1969-70. He is a long-time leader of the Twin Cities chapter of Veterans for Peace. His comments on the anniversary of 9-11 are here.
37. Dr. Michael Knox, U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation
Thanks for sharing your 9/11 thoughts.
In addition to appearing at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center on Sunday [Sep 11], I also addressed a couple hundred people at the Islamic Community of Tampa for their 911 Remembrance on Saturday. Both talks were well received except that I had a heckler at the Performing Arts Center. A woman stood, pointed her finger at me, and shouted “the only reason you can say such things is that my son died fighting in a war to protect your right to free speech.” How sad. I was the only one heckled and everyone said I handled it very well, but my hands were trembling for awhile.
I am getting some local news coverage (a mixed blessing) and a request for an interview on a community radio station.
(AddedSep 14) The two events I spoke at last weekend were interfaith. A couple of the preachers came up afterwords and thanked me for saying things that they couldn’t get away with saying.
38. Dr. Michael Andregg, Sep 15
Behind the photo on your blog about 9/11 [the photo at the beginning of this post], blocked by the elaborate stage and the eminent dignitaries (including much of the religious and political leadership of the Twin Cities) who mouthed sweet nothings while America murders innocent people abroad, were the people who are REALLY trying to deal with 9/11, in this case the MN 9/11 Truth group. It’s a member of MAP [MN Alliance of Peacemakers] too, but gets very little value from MAP due to the general failure of the “peace community” to come to grips with what 9/11 means. [NOTE: View Dr. Andregg’s Rethinking 911 online here.]
It is very rare when hard scientific and other evidence can PROVE who used propaganda and psychological operations to start a global war. 9/11 provides a very rare opportunity for those who care to unravel exactly who is imposing endless wars on a supine US Congress, and much detail about how they did it.
Yet most peace groups, and most peace people including the notable Noam Chomsky are in deep, deep denial about all of that. So deep that most refuse to even examine that evidence I allude to. So they nibble at the margins of the larger problem, guaranteed to fail like those who travel to the SOA each fall. Every year those nice people fail to achieve their relatively tiny mission, and every year they repeat the same failed methods. Remember what Einstein said about that? We teach our students to think failure is success – it is embarrassing. And most of those nice people are ‘too busy’ to spend even one hour learning the truth about 9/11. This is a shame upon the peace community, because they are not really too busy – they are actually too timid to deal with the reality of evil in our time.
Best wishes always, with your important work and in life.
#39. William Cox offered this excellent lecture by theologian Marcus Borg
Dick, here is the the link for Marcus Borg’s presentation at Westminster Forum on “Sneaking Christian.”
39A. Mike Haasl commented on Marcus Borg and his work
HI Dick, If this was the talk Marcus Borg gave last March-April [it was], I heard it on the radio and I thought it was excellent also.
Borg has written some excellent books as well.
Thanks.
His book website is here.
I read and often refer to Jesus: A New Vision. I understand that his best-seller Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time is also excellent. Looks like he’s got a lot of good ones.