General David Petraeus is set to testify before Congress today, and he’s expected to again try to put a positive spin on a war effort that’s utterly failing to meet the goals set by its backers. While intelligence assessments show that tactical moves on the ground in Afghanistan have failed to fundamentally weaken the growing [...]
Posts Tagged ‘McCain’
Petraeus, McCain Continue Afghanistan War Spin, But No One Buys It (Nor Should They)
Posted: March 15, 2011 in UncategorizedTags: Afghanistan, Brave New Foundation, civilian casualties, Congress, counterinsurgency, insurgency, McCain, Petraeus, propaganda, Rethink Afghanistan, spin, Taliban
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The Day After Tomorrow
Posted: March 17, 2009 in UncategorizedTags: Afghanistan, anti-war, biden, Iraq, Lynn Woolsey, McCain, Obama, Rumsfeld, surge
Thursday marks the sixth anniversary of the U.S.’s military assault on Iraq. The occupation continues today, although President Obama recently stated his intent to withdraw our forces: Let me say this as plainly as I can: by August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end….And under the Status of Forces Agreement with the [...]
Superhero-in-Chief: Getting Perspective on What We Give to and Ask of the President
Posted: November 2, 2008 in UncategorizedTags: Jesus, McCain, nonviolence, Obama
This year, some Christians (myself included) expressed a discomfort with voting for either of the mainline candidates for the presidency of the United States, and not for the typical reasons – abortion, gay marriage, prayer in schools, etc. Some of us felt – and continue to feel – not just that the candidates differed with [...]
Jesus is Lord and Caesar Isn’t
Posted: November 1, 2008 in UncategorizedTags: Christianity, Jesus, McCain, nonviolence, Obama, politics
Here it comes. Election Day is Tuesday. The race for the White House reached its final advertising crescendo on Thursday with a massive ad-buy by Senator Obama’s campaign on major primetime networks — half an hour of prime time television. The whole world holds its breath. For what? What do we wait for? The end [...]
Lots of Dead People Could Change the Dynamic! ZOMG! Can it just be over already? Seriously, what a thought: John McCain needs a game-changer to win the U.S. presidential election. He’s not going to provide it himself, and Barack Obama won’t give it to him. The Arizona Republican’s best chance for a turnaround is a national security crisis [...]
This Sunday: A Bunch of Pastors Get Ready to Tell You Not to Vote for Barack Obama
Posted: September 25, 2008 in UncategorizedTags: Jesus, McCain, nonviolence, Obama, politics
The aptly named Alliance Defense Fund (presumably concerned with defending the alliance of Republicans and conservative churches) convinced several pastors to risk serious financial consequences for their congregations by “speaking about politics” from the pulpit, meaning they will act as surrogates for the McCain campaign and use scripture to do it. Here’s a sample: “I’m [...]
America is no “Christian Nation,” and Afghanistan is no “Good War”
Posted: September 21, 2008 in UncategorizedTags: Afghanistan, Jesus, McCain, nonviolence, Obama, Pailin
First, a meditation on the nature of whom Christians are called to imitate, emphasis mine: This is a great mystery: that the one before whom every knee must bow should become a human being, who would kneel to wash the feet of fishermen and tax collectors — and of the one he knew would betray [...]
A Note to the Next U.S. President (and Those a Heartbeat Away): The Messiah Job Opening Has Been Filled
Posted: September 9, 2008 in UncategorizedTags: Americanism, Christ, Jesus, McCain, Messiah, nonviolence, Obama, Zabelka
…and it’s not: 1) You, or you; or 2) The United States of America. If you are going to run around grasping for the “Christian” mantle, please stop referring to the USA as “the greatest force for good in the world (click the link and then click “Trailer”),” or the “last, best hope of Earth.” Kids, that’s [...]
Endorsements
Posted: August 21, 2008 in UncategorizedTags: Castle Bravo, Chris Haw, Jesus, McCain, nonviolence, nuclear weapons, Obama, presidential race, Shane Claiborne, voting
After surveying the very large sample of quotes on nonresistance and war, David Bercot writes in A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs that (I’m paraphrasing) the early Christians were opposed to war and that they allowed members of the military to join and remain in the church only if they refused to kill. Bercot wrote [...]
