California Conservative

I just got an email from my sister-in-law that included this link to an article in the Fairmont (MN) Sentinel. Here’s what’s ruffling Fairmont’s citizens:

Fairmont City Council members may not have known all the details last week when they endorsed a U.S. Department of Peace. They’ve been hitting the books since. Councilman Andy Lucas said Monday he is still researching the issue, studying online and keeping his options open when it comes to reconsidering his vote. Lucas and colleagues voted 5-0 to approve a resolution supporting a Department of Peace.

When I read the phrase “U.S. Department of Peace”, red flags immediately went up. Here’s why:

Department of Peace

The United States was founded on hope, optimism, and a commitment to freedom. We can once again become a beacon of hope for the world. To do that, we must reject the current administration’s policies of fear, suspicion, and preemptive war. It is time to jettison our illusions and fears and to transform age-old challenges with new thinking. This is the idea behind my proposal to establish a Department of Peace. This is the idea to make nonviolence an organizing principle at home and abroad and dedicate ourselves to peaceful coexistence, consensus building, disarmament, and respect for international treaties. Violence and war are not inevitable. Nonviolence and peace are inevitable.

My first reaction to Kucinich’s proposal was that I hoped that bin Laden and like-minded terrorist organizations wouldn’t mind unilaterally disarming themselves before joining us in singing Kumbaya around the campfire. Since I thought the chances of that happening were less than nil, I pretty much just got a laugh out of his proposal.

I remember Kucinich touting this proposal at one of the debates during the 2004 Democratic primary season. I thought then what I’m thinking now: that Kucinich is an airhead who hasn’t been in touch with reality since the Age of Aquarius. Oldtimers like Mitch Berg and myself would instantly remember that the Age of Aquarius as the Fifth Dimension’s hit song back in 1969.

Anyways, here’s what the Sentinel’s report says about the U.S. Department of Peace:

According to the Peace Alliance, which leads the national campaign, the Department of Peace would:

• Provide assistance to city, county and state governments in coordinating existing programs; as well as develop new programs based on best practices nationally;
• Teach violence prevention and mediation to America’s school children;
• Effectively treat and dismantle gang psychology;
• Rehabilitate the prison population;
• Build peace-making efforts among conflicting cultures both here and abroad;
• Support the military with complementary approaches to peace-building;
• Create and administer a U.S. Peace Academy, acting as a sister organization to the U.S. Military Academy.

Those proposals are straight from the pacifist’s handbook, if such a manual exists. Serious people wouldn’t give that ‘proposal’ a split second’s worth of consideration. In fact, that’s being kind. Most people would rudely laugh Kucinich out of the building because he’d deserve it.

Hopefully, the councilpeople of Fairmont will strike this resolution from the books ASAP.

Technorati Tags: Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Department of Peace, Age of Aquarius, Mitch Berg

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 23rd, 2006 at 12:34 am and is filed under Author: Gary Gross, Elections, Terrorism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.