Lessons from the Christmas Truce of 1914

Gary G. Kohls, MD Portside
Military chaplains seem to be another cog in the apparatus of making war maximally effective. Christian chaplains seem to not pay much attention to the Ten Commandments either, especially the ones that say "thou shalt not kill" or "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's oil". 99 years ago one of the most unusual aberrations in the bloody history of warfare - never allowed to be repeated again - occurred.

We Are All Wounded Veterans

David McReynolds, Edge Left Portside
War, for those who actually experienced it ... is hell. Those who saw combat do not return whole. Their dreams reek of death, of comrades torn apart, of foreign children shot by accident.

Fortunate Son

Some folks are born made to wave the flag,

Ooh, they're red, white and blue.

And when the band plays "Hail to the chief",

Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord,

It ain't me, it ain't me,

I ain't no senator's son, son.

It ain't me, it ain't me;

I ain't no fortunate one, no,

Yeah!

Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,

Lord, don't they help themselves, oh.

But when the taxman comes to the door,

Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes,

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no millionaire's son, no.

It ain't me, it ain't me;

I ain't no fortunate one, no.

Some folks inherit star spangled eyes,

Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord,

And when you ask them, "How much should we give?"

Ooh, they only answer More! more! more! yoh,

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no military son, son.

It ain't me, it ain't me;

I ain't no fortunate one, one.

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one, no no no,

It ain't me, it ain't me,

I ain't no fortunate son, no no no

 

The Rise of the New New Left

Peter Beinart Daily Beast
Bill de Blasio's win in New York's Democratic primary isn't a local story. It's part of a vast shift that could upend three decades of American political thinking. Americans don't necessarily grow more conservative as they age. Sometimes they do. Economic circumstances that have pushed Millennials left are also unlikely to change dramatically anytime soon. de Blasio's mayoral campaign offers a glimpse into what an Occupy-inspired challenge to Clintonism might look like.

Mobilizing for War, Not Jobs

Carl Bloice, BC Editorial Board Black Commentator
What if the White House had, at any point over the past four or so years, mobilized the full force it now deploys for permission to bomb Syria on behalf of a measure to deal with the tenacious joblessness and growing economic insecurity we see around us every day?

The New Goliath

William Greider The Nation
Go looking for enemies in the world, you are likely to find some. How did this happen? Officials still talk about “national defense” as though Americans only want to protect their homeland—to be left alone in Fortress America. But that hasn’t been US strategy for more than sixty years.

Bake Sale

Signe Wilkinson Cartoonist Group
Subscribe to war