tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343538.post5241146567278754628..comments2023-09-09T06:48:55.332-07:00Comments on yearns&groans: costly witnessWillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13108687139103021982noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343538.post-30818960644472652792007-05-30T11:34:00.000-07:002007-05-30T11:34:00.000-07:00She is right also to insist that this is not a par...She is right also to insist that this is not a partisan issue. Yes, we have a Republican presidential administration, and Bush and his staff are responsible for disseminating the lies and distortions and sleights-of-hand that got us into this moral mess. And yes, the party that prides itself on "values" appears to have placed higher priority on party loyalty than truth, objectivity and compassion.<BR/><BR/>But it is also true that a majority of Democrats voted to empower the President to conduct his "War on Terror," and since that time, some politicking and grandstanding and futile gestures aside, very little has been done to correct this egregious mistake. Now that the Democrats control both Houses of Congress, they continue to dither over timelines and phased withdrawals and vetoes and benchmarks. They can't see, as the rest of the world plainly can, that there is no good option available. Withdrawal from Iraq will be a disaster, but so is staying there. This is our fault, for which we must assume collective responsibility -- including the electorate -- and for which we must together find a path to healing, both at home and in Iraq. But there has never been a military solution to this problem. You can't kill enough people to make it go away. We need to accept that you can't establish a model, cooperative democracy at gunpoint in the midst of a boiling, centuries-old sectarian conflict. We must accept that the goals we had -- while noble -- were never realistic, or, at the very least, that our plans certainly weren't.<BR/><BR/>I'm not sure there *is* anything we can actually do to fix this. But, with God's grace, this country will start to learn that using our military to enforce an "America Knows Best" foreign policy around the globe, and hopefully we'll never do it again.Andyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13524483460829802534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343538.post-21642016006471938492007-05-29T08:15:00.000-07:002007-05-29T08:15:00.000-07:00She was and is a voice crying out in the wildernes...She was and is a voice crying out in the wilderness. Her critique of progressives who do not play well together is all too true. The "burnout" she seems to be experiencing reminds of the need for self-care and especially contemplative prayer as the foundation of service.Fr. Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06647311951078750640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343538.post-16021943783988053952007-05-28T23:04:00.000-07:002007-05-28T23:04:00.000-07:00this is unutterably sad. i'm deeply grateful for h...this is unutterably sad. i'm deeply grateful for her witness, and her personal sacrifice. it seem that one response i can make, in addition to thanking her, and offering friendship in her disappointment, is to resolve to be a more mutually supportive part of the movement for peacebishop marchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08671685067510612495noreply@blogger.com