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Peace community reactions to the election
![[Barack Obama]](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1399/1218476612_36572c9acf_m.jpg)
Now that the election is over, many peace activists are celebrating the Obama victory and looking ahead to a new administration. Many of us are full of hope, but many are also concerned. How will the new President deal with Iran and Israel/Palestine? Will he continue opposition to the Colombian Free Trade Agreement? What about the enormous military budget and questionable recruiting practices?
FOR’s historic work for civil rights gives us a unique perspective on the election of the first Black president, as does our work on the pressing issues of war and peace that the Obama administration will address. We’d like to hear your thoughts about the election and it’s implications for peace in the U.S. and the world.
Please post your reactions in the comments below.
After tears of joy and great rejoicing at Obama's election, and the return of hope for a more humane world, I of course share the misgivings of other peace-loving bloggers at each of his decisions that cannot be seen as bold steps in the direction of peace, justice and a sustainable ecology. On the other hand, convinced of both Obama's goodwill and of his intelligence (not least by his moving book, Dreams From my Father) I submit my take on his sometimes very disconcerting pronouncements. In spite of his landslide electoral victory, Obama gleaned only some 52% of the popular vote, and in spite of the great confidence espressed in polls, a very large part of the country is still waiting to be convinced whether they can really support the change he stands for. He may be remembering, for example, the Clintons' doomed attempt to get a health insurance plan passed in the early days of that administration - to say nothing of those of most earlier presidents to do something about the great problem of health care. I see his steps toward an end to the Iraq debacle and his only gradual moves into the Middle East Crisis, working more behind the scenes than through radical public pronouncements, and even his escalation of military involvement in Afghanistan as intelligent (if unwelcome) measures to gradually moving the country around step by small step to a different view of one issue after another, while trying to convince as many people as humanly possible that he understands their doubts and their fears of any radical change. After all, dear FOR friends, (who know better), most of the country has been happily swallowing a very different political line, at least during the many republican administrations since World War II. Obama doesn't have to convince the left that the US and the world need a radical change of direction. But it's only going to work if he manages to take a large part of the rest of the electorate with him.
You may be one of those with great hope (or not) for our country and its future with our newly elected president. I unfortunately am not in the league of hopeless tramps that sometimes masquerades in my dreams, but rather I am plagued with a sinful and awful hope. My hope (which is a fear for most) is that our trustworthy United States Dollars will soon become worthless and extinct. The sooner this inevitable decline happens, then the sooner Americans can get past this frustrated stage of depression, defiance that it isn't happening, and resignation to the truth of the state of our farmers/ communities. The awareness needed will then and only then (I'm sad to say) be present in order for awareness to be brought to the fact that the dollar is a failing system and should be changed as soon as possible. This will bring decisive and necessary action to move to "time trust" economies. They go by many names, but local currencies do two main things: they bring the power to create money out of third party control and back into the hands of community members, and they also heal communities from the plague known as "loans for interest". There are many examples that can be googled: Plentys, Trade Currencies, Community Exchange System, as well as videos worth checking out: "Money as Debt" and "Zeitgeist: Addenum" Many are unwilling to hear these ideas, and unable to spend the time or energy to join such local currency movements, and that is sadly a tragic yet strategic part of our modern system. Us workers have little time and no extra energy to get organized. Ideas about money are so taboo, and so untouched that no one really knows why the topic makes them feel uncomfortable beyond thinking "oh economics, thats confusing and I don't know about that". It really tears me up inside to know how much less people need to work on things they actually hate doing, rather than spending time with family and community for increased happiness and well being everyone deserves.
I supported niether Senator Obama nor Senator McCain in this election. I supported Hillary Clinton. While is it mind-boggling that she was the only viable female candidate in America to come down the pike ever, it is even more mind-boggling that the DNC backed the younger, less-experienced Obama in her stead. He seems like a nice enough guy. He seems to want to turn this country around. Lord knows we need some real leadership. But we really need experience. And there are still those nagging questions about President-elect Obama's past associations with racist, terrorist individuals.
I am happy for the African American people, who finally feel truly enfranchised. But my heart breaks for my people - the 51% of the population known as "women." We are neither a minority nor a special-intersest group. We are just the people who produce each successive generation of human beings, whose un-paid and under-paid work keeps this country chugging along. We are the people who kept the farms and the factories running during both World Wars. We built the planes that flew the raids that helped to win WWII. And we have fought on the front lines - though not technically assigned there - in every war in which this country has engaged, from the Revolutionary War all the way through the current conflicts in the Middle East. We refused to back down when we were turned away from careers and education that should "rightly go to a man." And we continue to fight for the right to determine what happens inside our own bodies.
While I am heartened the Hillary Clinton will be Secretary of State, I mourn that a bi-racial man, with an Islamic-sounding name, with little experience, and with ties to nefarious characters, is more acceptable to the American people as President than ANY woman. I no longer think I will live to see a woman President of the United States. I will pray God to protect and guide President-elect Obama during this time of terrible, world-wide turmoil. But I ask all of you the same thing that Abigail Adams asked of her husband when the Declaration of Indepence was being drafted: "...remember the ladies."
I am an independent conservative that had been involved with both parties over the last 3 decades, only to see both parties giving away our countries ideals and moral compass incrementally. We are becoming a third world nation to accomodate those people that want a global world where all nations are equal or brought down to a lower standard of living, for fairness. This is socialism and in the extreme. communism. President-elect Obama, hopefully is a pragmatist and will govern for the benefit of all in America, is my hope. I firmly believe that Colin Powell would have been the 1st black president, if he decided to run in 1996. The country was ready, as I witnessed two people in my private company, both democrats and racist, that would have voted for him. I get upset when I hear we were finally ready for a black president. Poppycock! but this argument is for another day.
Back to Obama and a bit of reality to those that are crying with happiness and hope that the owrld will be a better place now, with BO. His early associations with liberal radical mentors and later Rev. Wright, etal....plus his liberal training in Chicago, the radical bastion of subversion in this country. Groups like ACORN, that used tactics that intimidated banks to give loans to people that couldnt afford them. Use communist ideals, like class envy, to gain the support of lower income/educated people, for special agendas. Like I said, hopefully Obama will govern from the center, which right now he has no choice. There will be not pull out from Iraq for at least 3 years...downsizing yes, but the pull out will be dictated by the military, not Obama. For people that seemed to be somewhat intellegent, do you walk away with over 4000 dead, billions spent or wasted, without seeing the possiblity of another democratic country in the middle east? Are you so sick with Bush that you want us to fail. Incredible. And you call yourselves patriots? During Clintons administration, congress voted on a government change in Iraq. Are you ignorant or plain stupid to facts. Look it up. All the top Democrats today wanted Hussein removed and voted that way. Democrats are famous for Monday morning quarterbacking. When they get caught, deny, deny until it goes away. If something goes wrong, well"I was for before I voted against it".
Well now you have a Dem. Pres. and congress, lets see if they do better than Pres. Carter..[I voted for him]. Remember the saying...."be careful what you wish for"
Many times after the Sept. 11th attacks, I tried to imagine what event could possibly have such an equally massive global impact, but one that was positive. When I would conduct that thought experiment, I would always think “only the arrival of aliens bearing goodwill” or some type of science fiction scenario could have such a wide-ranging immediate effect. I could never have imagined it could be the election of a US president. Seeing images of people crying and dancing with joy from countries all over the world from a singular event is absolutely incredible. In San Francisco streets were filled with people singing, hugging, blowing car horns. Being a Lord of the Rings fan, my favorite headline last Tuesday was “Mordor Brightens”.* This moment of potential change is stunning, the air feels electric with possibilities, space opened for unimagined shifts, the soil of America’s symbolic order turned. Maybe a step towards composting empire? Amidst the various overwhelming economic and environmental crises that mark our world at this moment, it is powerful to hear the world loudly express desire for change, for a United Sates that is part of the international community as a more humble member, not a hegemonic psychotic bully, for new ways of being and acting together, for a leader that may actually listen, and not hold public opinion in outright disdain or dismiss fifteen million people protesting the invasion of Iraq as a “focus group”.
I appreciate Amy Goodman’s term “organizer-in-chief”. Obama’s campaign leveraged every form of social communications technology and inspired the creation of massive networks of citizens of every background to become engaged – this awe-inspiring activation of so many Americans, youth in particular, gives me real hope to envision sustained, organized movements working together to hold the Obama administration accountable and to push them when they need pushing. That is truly exciting. In his acceptance speech, our president-elect spoke of a 106 year old woman and the changes she has seen in her life, and the vision we must have to open our imaginations to the next hundred years. FOR is nearly a century old, and carries with it the grounding weight of memory of how social movements pushed this country’s national imagination and implementation of justice. Countless people and organizations helped make the ground fertile for this healing shift in US society to occur, and I feel proud to be joined to FOR’s legacy in the ongoing struggles for racial and economic justice.
A wide range of emotions have been constantly brimming over in me since the election, which I think stem both from celebration and mourning. The tidal wave of joy that washed over the earth with this historic election of a leader whose policy decisions affect the entire planet, its life-support systems and all beings upon it (whew! How’s that for responsibility?), also reflected to me the pain I have become accustomed to these last eight years under Bush. The thought that Obama might, for instance, close down our torture centers makes me choke up in a way that I have not in all these years listening to analyses of, reading reports about, and speaking against torture. It makes me realize that my outrage had become hardened, that I had organized myself around the belief that the US is irredeemably abusive. Feeling just the glimmer of a possibility that it could be different opens a well of raw grief for what our country has done, the immeasurable suffering we have caused, and the hell on earth we have created for the Iraqi people. My eyes blurred with tears hearing Obama talk about democracy, and to hear that word shine in dignity instead of the spooky Orwellian doublespeak that has become horribly familiar for “democracy” to mean overriding the people and international law, and “bringing democracy” signifying indiscriminate death from above and occupation below. I feel an affection for our democracy I have never felt before, an excitement for change I have never let myself dare to feel, a little more space to breathe. I love it that our president’s middle name is the same name that was synonymous with evil incarnate during both Gulf Wars. That, if only on a symbolic level, is magic. I love it that Obama named and thanked gay people in his acceptance speech, which in itself is historic. I hope Michelle Obama will create coalitions and shake up public perceptions of what a First Lady can do. What Obama symbolizes is huge, and while it is important not to get blinded by his symbolism, this historic moment ripples with so much potential to transform poison into medicine, cynicism into vibrant imagination, apathy into creative action, fear into hope, alienation into community.
One last thing I would like to share as a patriotic San Franciscan: we had a lot of propositions in this year’s election, and one of those was Prop R. Proposition R proposed naming a sewage plant after Bush. Yes, maybe a little juvenile, but satisfyingly and proudly juvenile, to imagine seeing his name commemorated as the “George W. Bush Sewage Treatment Plant”, and the enjoyable international press that would have followed. It did not pass. Why? Because an influential local newspaper that publishes a progressive slate for voters came out against it. Why? Because this sewage treatment facility is working to change how we view sewage, to “green” our vision, understand and appreciate it as a resource and shift our attitudes toward it. So, if I understand the argument correctly, it was considered more of an insult to sewage to associate it with Bush than vice-versa. I love my city on both counts for coming up with this proposition and for voting against it on those grounds.
* (Mordor is the realm of corrupt destructive power bent on conquering and transforming the world into a militaristic, barren nightmare, where armies cover the earth and forests are cut down for firewood to forge weapons).
Changing Landscapes would be the metaphor for the world, FOR, and Johannes Schot and me over the past three weeks. Johannes, executive director of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, and I have been visiting with FOR friends from Nyack to St. Paul, telling the story of our work in the world and listening to the stories of work in local chapters and communities. During this period we have moved from the nation’s financial and political capitols to the heartland, from Indian summer to the first dusting of winter snow, from eastern mountains to mid-western flatlands, from endless campaign to electoral resolve.
Sunday morning we joined the Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church in St. Paul, Minnesota where worship included reflections from members of the congregation, from 9 to 93 years of age, on the meaning of the election of Barack Obama as the next President of the United States to a congregation which is predominantly Africa-American. The Reverend Gloria Roach Thomas ended worship with a vibrant sermon which touched me most deeply when she spoke of a joy so deep in the bones it would make you dance. It was this visceral connection with the events of last week which I trust will remain as a source of hope for the coming administration.
Johannes Schot, our guest from The Netherlands, watched us grown men cry on Tuesday night in Chicago with relief that we had come through this long campaign with the prospect for healing and hope so close to the surface of the celebration. While even now we know the rhetoric of belligerent militarism marred the campaign as it scars our history, we also know that this is a moment of enormous potential and that our vigilance and voices raised in support of nonviolence and justice can be heard as fresh and pregnant with possibility in the coming weeks and months.
Today's "Washington Post" headlines a feature story titled "Sometimes Continuity Trumps Change: Three Bush Appointees in Crucial Positions Likely to Remain Under Obama." One of the three named officials is Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, since his two-year term runs through later 2009 -- and as the article reports, the person in that position "by tradition, can expect to be appointed for a second term as the president's top military advisor." (The other two appointees are Ben Bernanke, the new director of the Federal Reserve, who will be in that role through at least the end of 2009; and Robert Mueller, director of the FBI, whose terms runs through 2011.)
The article indicates that President-elect Obama and Admiral Mullen do share certain goals, including an increase of U.S. troops into Afghanistan. However, Mullen opposes setting timetables for the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, which has been a central tenet to Obama's political campaign (and support from voters). The Post says:
"Obama's relationship with Mullen and other military advisers could prove smooth and productive if Obama takes the pragmatic approach that his advisers are indicating, allowing each side to adjust at the margins, defense experts said. But if Obama presses for the withdrawal of two brigades per month, conflict is inevitable, they warn."
For the tens of millions of Americans who have called for an end to the war, and a return home of U.S. troops, this will be a key issue to watch. In today's "Journal News" newspaper is an article titled "Rockland peace advocates hope Obama's win heralds end to war," with comments by myself, Nancy Tsou of the Rockland Coalition for Peace and Justice, and a young military veteran:
http://www.lohud.com/article/20081110/NEWS03/811100329
I hope that other peace advocates across the nation will similarly continue to press the incoming administration to follow through on its commitments regarding Iraq.
I talked with my 88 year old mother tonight. She said that after the election she had a funny feeling, and thinking about it she realized this feeling was hope. She had not felt hope regarding our nation for so long that it took her awhile to recognize it! My daughter-in-law was so overcome Tuesday night that she could not talk on the phone. It's as if we have been holding our breath for years, and finally we can exhale. How energizing! Now we can get back to work. Thank you, Mr. Obama. You and your family are in our prayers.
Nov. 5, 2008
Dear Brother Obama,
You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It
is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors
of hope, previously only sung about.
I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance.
A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on. One gathers that your family is large.
We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate. One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.
I would further advise you not to take on other people's enemies. Most damage that others do to us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise. It is understood by all that you are commander in chief of the United States and are sworn to protect our beloved country; this we understand, completely. However, as my mother used to say, quoting a Bible with which I often fought, "hate the sin, but love the sinner." There must be no more crushing of whole communities, no more torture, no more dehumanizing as a means of ruling a people's spirit. This has already happened to people of color, poor people, women, children. We see where this leads, where it has led.
A good model of how to "work with the enemy" internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies. And your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world.
We are the ones we have been waiting for.
In Peace and Joy,
Alice Walker
Source: http://www.theroot.com/id/48726
As someone who has spent my life in multiracial households -- with white parents, African-American, biracial, and white siblings, Central American and Asian cousins, and a spouse of African-American and Caucasian parents -- President-elect Obama's election has incredibly important meaning to me. His ability to not "transcend" race but rather to embrace race and ethnicity, in all its diversity and history in our quilted nation, is for me a profound statement. I was struck by his comment yesterday at a press conference that he is "a mutt" when it comes to his background in that way.
Above my desk sits a framed poster of Nelson Mandela with his fist raised. I can not pretend to understand how powerful his election as president of South Africa was to the majority of people in that land. However, having spent a large part of my youthful years working to oppose racism in both my own country as well as that apartheid regime, I know how meaningful it was to me. The image of the voting lines that stretched for hours in South Africa in April of 1994 are an enduring memory, as is the moment several months later when I was privileged to attend President Mandela's first visit to New York City, and to see him in person.
I have been so moved by the voices of elder black Americans, many of whom stood in similar long lines earlier this week to vote for a person who looks like them for the first time in their lives, and for whom Obama's election represents the moment and the shift in our nation that they could never have imagined seeing in their lifetimes. The number of tears that have poured out this week -- including in my household -- is to me a "watershed" moment that symbolizes the visceral sense of hope that the dream of "America" is not lost.
With all that optimism, however, I am also filled with concern about the incoming Obama administration's foreign policy objectives. I was interviewed yesterday by the "Journal News," the newspaper of New York's lower Hudson Valley (Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam Counties) for an article that will appear today or tomorrow. [It's not online yet, so I'm hoping it will appear in their big Sunday edition.] The piece is focused on reactions from various groups in our region to Obama's election in terms of ending the war in Iraq -- the journalist was interviewing peace voices as well as military veterans.
I stated three reasons that my hope for ending the war is tempered with caution. First, that President-elect Obama stick to his commitment to not only remove our troops from Iraq within the timetable he's set, but to ensure that there are no permanent U.S. based in Iraq. Second, that leaving Iraq should not be a pretext for increasing our military presence in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Obama's comments during the debates and the campaign about "taking out" rebels in those country represent a bellicose military strategy that we have seen in recent days to be counterproductive (the bombing of the Afghani wedding; the call by Pakistan's president that the U.S. not do anything on our own). Third, that Obama has stated that while the national and global economic crisis means that spending will have to be cut in virtually every area of government, he is committed to increasing military spending as he chooses. This is absolutely the wrong decision, with our federal budget already devoting an unprecedented estimated 50-58% of every tax dollar to military purposes!
My great hope in terms of foreign policy is that Obama will move swiftly to engaging in dialogue with leaders from ALL nations about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as other global crises. That sense of shared responsibility and of mutual respect is what can help us move through these challenges more than anything, I would argue.
So while I take joy and hope at many levels, both personal and professional, in the election of this new administration, I recognize there are a multitude of reasons that the work I do for peace and justice is needed now as much as ever. Good luck and godspeed, Mr. President-elect -- I and others will continue to call you to accountability as you move forward into this position of immense responsibility.
The world is excited, hopeful and sending prayers and their wishes for President Elect Obama; our own citizens have difficulty putting into words their immense feelings of relief at the outcome of this election and their hope for nation's recovery.
Mr. Obama inspires and comforts, relates to those who have been and/or felt marginalized, speaks of hope and solutions to the vast problems we face.
We are all anticipating and expecting great things from this eloquent young man and those around him; he and his staff cannot do this alone. We worked for his election and we look forward to the change of which he speaks. The change began when we endorsed him and worked to bring him to the presidency. Now we must continue as if the campaign has not ended. Now we must continue the work to bring about the change we need and yearn for.
Let us join together, as small groups across the nation, to communicate with each other , to send encouragement and advice to President Obama and his staff . Let's continue the conversations and the outreach in our neighborhoods that will develop community, introduce, support and encourage our neighbors and enrich our local economies. On a small and local scale, these are the basics of the "change" of which Mr. Obama speaks.
Just as the millions of small donations to Obama's campaign provided him the money he needed for the campaign, so will our local, regional and yes national efforts provide him the support he needs to bring about the change this country must experience.
How shall we approach this? Let's talk.
Yes, let's talk. I encourage everyone to write to our
president-elect, suggesting the necessity for A DEPARTMENT of PEACE, and further suggesting that
the people available through Fellowship of Reconciliation
and American Friends Service Committee are available
and willing to assist in the formation and development
of such a cabinet level department.
This was sent in by FOR supporter Rochan Mavaddat:
I must be totally out of touch with my country and without any rudimentary grasp of political science. The fact that an African-American with an Arab-sounding name has become president-elect is beyond my ability to fathom. That this happened in a country that not so long ago was ready to round up Muslims on the flimsiest of pretexts and that has a long history of racial backwardness, I classify as a miracle.
That said, my name is Thomas, the doubter. I observe friends around me celebrating and cannot partake. Maybe Obama was one of the few prescient candidates on the stupidiy of the War on Iraq, and for that I can extend a hurrah. But ever since he proclaimed early in his campaign that that he would increase the Defense Budget, which regularly throws trillions down a black hole as well as sponsoring worldwide conflagrations, I said to myself, and to others, “He talks of change but avoids the most basic way to bring it about.” Before that, during his rise to stardom at the 2004 Democratic Convention, he joined the mad dog chorus of those wanting to bomb Iran. More recently, during the campaign, he talked of raids into Pakistan and of intensifying the war in Afghanistan, where, according to today’s news, yet another wedding party has just been bombed. And, concerning the linchpin to Mideast peace, the degree to which he and his running mate in their speeches pandered to the hardline Israelis has been, to use his term, audacious.
I am Caucasian. Maybe if I were black, the ascendancy of an African-American to the presidency would trump all other considerations. I remember giving George W. Bush an open mind when he took office. It took about a week if that much for me to see via the unsigning of disarmament treaties that we were indeed in for a treacherous ride. I will endeavor to open my heart and mind to Obama as well, and hope that he happily surprises me, and that I may be able to join the joyful ones.
Change does not come in a miraculous minute - give the new administration a break, please. Change is a process and since we now have a leader who is ethical, intelligent and reasonable, I will be patient and hopeful (also, watchful) as the process unfolds.
The cynics, the trash-throwers, the bitter right-wingers, the snarky know-it-all talking heads are all doing their best to cast doubt and promote hatred.
The rest of us have the opportunity to continue to participate in a positive way.