CROSSVILLE —
“There’ll be love and laughter and peace ever after, tomorrow when the world is free.” That line from a song popular during World War II made us feel good and gave us hope at the time. But instead of “peace ever after” we got perpetual war. Even though there has been a law on the books in the U.S. for 83 years making war a crime and perpetrators liable to prosecution just like other criminals, vast numbers of people are still being murdered.
Following World War I an aggressive world-wide peace movement, supported by an overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens, resulted in the Kellogg-Briand Pact. It renounced war as an instrument of national policy and resolved that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means. What a concept! The treaty was signed by 14 nations immediately, and 62 eventually. President Hoover stated: “I dare predict that the influence of the Treaty for the Renunciation of War will be felt in large proportion of all future international acts.” He was wrong. Within twelve years all of the nations that signed the treaty were involved in a war of the largest scale in the history of the world.
The U.S has never repealed the treaty; it is still on the books as part of the supreme law of the land. But laws, like the Constitution, are often conveniently shoved out of sight. I dare say that few U.S. citizens other than historians even know about Kellogg-Briand, probably none of our lawmakers. I learned about it from David Swanson’s book, “When the World Outlawed War.” It is a good read and proves how much a group of people committed to eliminating war and injustice can accomplish.
Things have changed since the peace movement of the 1920s when peace was actually patriotic. We of the so-called “greatest generation” were so busy accumulating “stuff” that we didn’t heed Ike’s warning about the military-industrial complex. Now the war profiteers pull the strings in Congress. And while our bridges collapse and our schools crumble, we continue waging long and costly wars.
I know that peace is not likely to break out in my lifetime. My cynical self keeps telling me that it will only happen when someone discovers a way to make a profit from it. But there are two young men in my life who keep my hope alive and will keep me plugging away for peace. They are my great grandsons: five-year-old Keegan Forbes DeSantis, and Knox Anthony Chanudet who will be two weeks old the day this is published.
The “peace ever after” that the songwriters promised us hasn’t worked out, but “love and laughter” has seen our family through good times and bad, and it will see us through whatever is in our future.
For Keegan, Knox, and all the other children of the world, may your lives be filled with love and laughter, and may in your lifetime there be “peace on earth among men of good will.”
Opinion
WE THE PEOPLE: Wishing you love, laughter and peace
- Opinion
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LION AND THE LAMB: More than meets the eye
It was a quiet Saturday afternoon, and my wife Sheral suggested I join her on a shopping trip. In Crossville Sheral went inside a store and I stayed outside looking at the bargain specials. My mind was in neutral, so I almost missed the little boy’s question. He was about seven or eight, evidently had just seen his first Amish family, and they had seemed very strange to him.
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WE THE PEOPLE: No time to govern
Bob Dole’s tribute to George McGovern at the time of his death last year was both beautiful and touching. Speaking of the friendship they shared and the work they did together during their time in the Senate and later in retirement, Dole said McGovern “was one of the finest public servants I ever had the privilege to know.” He went on to say that they knew what they had in common was far more important than their different political philosophies.
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TIDBITS: Be wary of home improvement shows
Sometimes I think home improvement stores need a screening tool of some sort, perhaps some kind of licensing or reference check. For example, before one can walk in and buy that handy dandy table saw, they need three people to vouch that they aren’t likely to cut off a bodily appendage.
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STUMPTALK: Obama’s Benghazi betrayal
“Betrayal” is an ugly word. “To fail or desert especially in a time of need.” Those who pay attention to the actions of Obama are justified in saying we have been betrayed. Think about the IRS and DOJ debacles. Clearly our ambassador and his staff at the Benghazi consulate were betrayed, deserted in their time of mortal need. Obama allowed them to be murdered.
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Lion and the Lamb: When schools go beyond the three Rs
The three Rs, reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic, have always been at the foundation of education in Cumberland County. Recently, however, a fourth R has been added — religion. In permission was granted representatives of The Gideons International to distribute Bibles to fifth-graders in the Brown Elementary School in Crossville, and this took place April 11.
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We the People: Your vote — use it or lose it
A powerful faction within the Republican Party is determined to downsize our federal government. They want to reshape programs that originated to protect common folks like us.
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Stumptalk: The elephant in the room
I recently saw video footage of the president surrounded by the heads of all the services; they had assembled to address the continuing and scandalous problem of sexual harassment in the armed forces. The elephant in the room, of course, was young women in the military serving in close quarters with young men.
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We the People: Reality check, anyone?
Harry Truman had a birthday anniversary in early May. Harry was proud of being from the “show me” state. Republicans who aspire to stop all progress and set the clock back should take a lesson from Truman. He did something besides complain and obstruct progress.
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The Lion and the Lamb: The devil and the IRS
National news these past several weeks has focused on a scandal in the Internal Revenue Service. IRS agents have been targeting Tea Party and other conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. As this story developed over the past several weeks, however, it has become apparent that the IRS problem is much greater than the complaints raised by the Tea Party.
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Tidbits: What's in a name?
Being born in the time before routine ultrasounds, my parents thought I was going to be a boy. I'm not sure if mom was carrying high or low, or if the wedding ring on a string went one way or the other, or what other old wives tale was used to determine I would be a he rather than a she, but that's what they thought and that's how they prepared.
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