[Peace-discuss] un mec

[E. Wayne Johnson]

...et dabo prodigia in caelo et in terra sanguinem et ignem et vaporem fumi

“We will draw inspiration from their lives,
and continue the work of securing our country
and standing up for the values they embodied.”
- O'bot, commenting on the dead seals.

*

Through some dyslexical fault, every time I see "encomium" I have to 
pause and differentiate "meconium".

The Powers That Be have planned you a future with few choices.

"The Roman Meal Bakeries just thought you like to know...(*-*)"

*
Ray McGovern makes some comments about the encomial meconium (or is the 
other way around?) ---


They Died in Vain; Deal With It

Posted By Ray McGovern

http://original.antiwar.com/mcgovern/2011/08/08/they-died-in-vain-deal-with-it/print/

Many of those preaching at American church services Sunday extolled as 
“heroes” the 30 American and 8 Afghan troops killed Saturday west of 
Kabul, when a helicopter on a night mission crashed, apparently after 
taking fire from Taliban forces. This week, the Fawning Corporate Media 
(FCM) can be expected to beat a steady drumbeat of “they shall not have 
died in vain.”

But they did. I know it is a hard truth, but they did die in vain.

As in the past, churches across the country will keep praising the 
fallen troops for protecting “our way of life,” and few can demur, given 
the tragic circumstances.

But, sadly, such accolades are, at best, misguided — at worst, 
dishonest. Most preachers do not have a clue as to what U.S. forces are 
doing in Afghanistan and why. Many prefer not to think about it. There 
are some who do know better, but virtually all in that category 
eventually opt to punt.

Should we fault the preachers as they reach for words designed to give 
comfort to those in their congregations mourning the deaths of so many 
young troops? As hard as it might seem, I believe we can do no other 
than fault — and confront — them. However well-meaning their intentions, 
their negligence and timidity in confronting basic war issues merely 
help to perpetuate unnecessary killing. It is high time to hold 
preachers accountable.

Many preachers are alert and open enough to see through the propaganda 
for perpetual war. But most will not take the risk of offending their 
flock with unpalatable truth. Better not to risk protests from the 
super-patriots — many of them with deep pockets — in the pews. And 
better to avoid, at all costs, offending the loved ones of those who 
have been killed — loved ones who can hardly be faulted for trying 
desperately to find some meaning in the snuffing out of young lives.

Far better to pray for those already killed and those who in the future 
will “give the last full measure of devotion to our country.” In sum, by 
and large, American preachers are afraid to tell the truth. They lack 
the virtue that Thomas Aquinas taught is the foundation of all virtue — 
courage. Aquinas wrote (to translate into the vernacular) that all other 
virtue is specious if you have no guts.

Writer James Hollingsworth hit the nail on the head: “Courage is not the 
absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more 
important than fear.” Like the truth.

Those who often seem to ache the most in the face of unnecessary death 
are mothers. Many mothers do summon the courage to say — and say loudly 
— ENOUGH. Yes, my son (or daughter) died for no good purpose, they are 
strong enough to acknowledge, painfully but honestly. He (she) did die 
in vain. Now we must all deal with it. Stop the false patriotism. And, 
most important, stop the killing.

Cindy Sheehan, whose 25-year-old son Casey was killed in Iraq in 2004, 
is one such mother. She and others have tried to put a dent into the 
strange logic that attempts to translate unnecessary death into 
justification for still more unnecessary death. But they get little air 
or ink in the Fawning Corporate Media. Rather, what you will hear in the 
days ahead from the FCM is well-honed rhetoric not only about how our 
troops “cannot have died in vain,” but also that Americans must now 
redouble our resolve to “honor their sacrifice.”

President Barack Obama set the tone on Saturday:

“We will draw inspiration from their lives, and continue the work of 
securing our country and standing up for the values they embodied.”

Gen. John R. Allen, the top U.S. general in Afghanistan, also primed the 
pump for the FCM, saying Saturday, “All of those killed in this 
operation were true heroes who had already given so much in the defense 
of freedom.”

And the Joint Chiefs chairman went even further in professing to know 
“what our fallen would have wanted” us to do — namely, “keep fighting.” 
Adm. Mike Mullen added that “it is certainly what we are going to do.” 
All this was duly reported in Sunday’s Washington Post and other leading 
U.S. newspapers —without much comment.

Over the next several days, TV viewers will get a steady diet of this 
kind of disingenuous logic from talk show hosts feeding on the grist 
from Obama, Mullen, Allen, and others. After all, many pundits work for 
news organizations owned or allied with some of the same corporations 
profiteering from war.

Too bad CBS’s legendary Edward R. Murrow is long since dead, and the 
widely respected Walter Cronkite, as well. Taking the CBS baton from 
Murrow, who had challenged the “red scare” witch hunt of Sen. Joe 
McCarthy, Cronkite gradually saw through the dishonesty responsible for 
the killing of so many in Vietnam. He finally spoke up, and said, in 
effect, any more who die will have died in vain.