How About Changing Veterans Day to No War Day?

(attempts) – (failures) = success

While exercising Sunday I caught Andy Rooney on the venerable 60 Minutes, someone who I have not seen on the air in years. He looks slightly different, sounds the same and  apparently still makes pretty convincing arguments.

His pitch this week was about Veterans Day. Rooney, a vet from World War II, had eight friends from his school class pass away in the last of the world wars and over sixty years later it seems he still feels pain at their death. His proposal was a simple one--change the 11th to No War Day.

I am results oriented and that is why I embrace science as a tool to determine what really works. As a scientist, and a historian, I can guarantee that war absolutely does not. No war in history has ever resolved anything without creating consequences that make more wars happen. Pain is transmitted and inherited via assaults and attacks. And while it may take generations or centuries to arise, retaliation in one form or another most certainly will.

One thing more. Mr. Rooney was roundly criticized on the CBS website for this  piece and I want to come to his defense. Many criticized him for dishonoring the memory of the dead. All I can think is if those men and women who did die for some patch of land in some war could speak for themselves, most would feel the same way. The eleventh can be a tribute to those who died and also a plea to make it a day we eventually will not have to celebrate ever again.

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Slaves Were Used to Build the White House

I just skimmed Obama headlines (are there any other on this day?) and found myself recalling the fact that slave labor helped build the White House.

When I Googled it I found a reliable source, the White House Historical Association. And yes, slave labor was used to fill gaps when European workers failed to show at the soggy, hot work site. Slave labor, as well as free helped make a new home for the leader of this new land. They also helped build the Capitol Building and many other buildings as well.

Yesterday I found myself thinking about what an 80 year old MLK would think about our new president. But can you imagine what these men and women, slave, indentured and free, would have to say about this astonishing accomplishment?

I am very critical of our democratic experiement. But at this moment, as I type the words, I get the feeling that at times it actually works.