From President Obama’s comments at Fort Hood

Tomorrow is Veterans Day. It is a chance to pause, and to pay tribute – for students to learn of the struggles that preceded them; for families to honor the service of parents and grandparents; for citizens to reflect upon the sacrifices that have been made in pursuit of a more perfect union. This generation of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen have volunteered in a time of certain danger.

They are part of the finest fighting force that the world has ever known. They have served tour after tour of duty in distant, different and difficult places. They have stood watch in blinding deserts and on snowy mountains.

They have extended the opportunity of self-government to peoples that have suffered tyranny and war. They are man and woman; white, black, and brown; of all faiths and stations – all Americans, serving together to protect our people, while giving others half a world away the chance to lead a better life.

In today’s wars, there is not always a simple ceremony that signals our troops’ success – no surrender papers to be signed, or capital to be claimed. But the measure of their impact is no less great – in a world of threats that no know borders, it will be marked in the safety of our cities and towns, and the security and opportunity that is extended abroad. And it will serve as testimony to the character of those who serve, and the example that you set for America and for the world.

Here, at Fort Hood, we pay tribute to thirteen men and women who were not able to escape the horror of war, even in the comfort of home. Later today, at Fort Lewis, one community will gather to remember so many in one Stryker Brigade who have fallen in Afghanistan.

Long after they are laid to rest – when the fighting has finished, and our nation has endured; when today’s servicemen and women are veterans, and their children have grown – it will be said of this generation that they believed under the most trying of tests; that they persevered not just when it was easy, but when it was hard; and that they paid the price and bore the burden to secure this nation, and stood up for the values that live in the hearts of all free peoples.

So we say goodbye to those who now belong to eternity. We press ahead in pursuit of the peace that guided their service. May God bless the memory of those we lost. And may God bless the United States of America.

21 thoughts on “From President Obama’s comments at Fort Hood”

  1. There is a time and place for everything, as the saying goes, and I for one thought the President’s speech at the service for the Ft. Hood fatalities was not only appropriate to the occassion, but beautiful and heartfelt. I am confident that President Obama is aware of the the cost to our nation’s soul with each war we involve ourselves in. The reports from other countries, as well as here at home, show there is less and less support of outside involvement in Afghanistan, or for any war. Regardless which politition got us started this time, he and we must also behave honorably with previous committments made by our country. So, yes, it does take deliberation, negotiation and time to behave in a responsible way. President Obama has the intelligence and soul to fully explore and move us forward to a better America, and a better world partner.

    Jere, the question I have for you is who does your anger serve? And what does it serve? I absolutely feel the energy coming through your words. It would be a clear advantage if you could harness that into some path that moved you forward into constructive action. The vibration of our individual energies can collectively move the world towards a higher consciousness or it can counteract those efforts. For me, there is violence in your words and violent words create violent actions which creates the world of wars we live in. I believe we all need to weed out the violence in our words as a beginning step to creating the peaceful world we yearn for. “One small step for man, one giant step for mankind”, the journey of exploring outer space to the journey of innerspace.

    The quote I provided earlier is from a book “Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life” Information is located here: http://www.cnvc.org/

  3. Nance, I mean no harm.. Fuck the yogi’s! Paramahansa Yogananda was a good man. I Love him. But those cats (Yogi’s, Buddha’s, Christ’s) said shit that wasn’t meant to be taken literally. All the paradoxical, oxymoronic, and crazy crap spewing forth from these dudes mouths was meant to trigger responses that activated one’s true nature. The Soul force within, that doesn’t succumb to any authority but that which IT IS.

    ‘We’ have to see, hear, touch, taste, and smell all this shit! It sucks dude!, I know! I don’t fucking want to be here, in this global state,.. I’d rather go kick it in the woods and say “Fuck you people!”, “Have fun with your bullshit!” But no, man. I’m kickin’ it here, shloggin’ it out with the folks who can’t seem to get enough pain.

    Damn man,.. I either need to open up beyond completely, or get nailed with a lightning bolt (best get your aim straight, fucker. Use GPS! ha ha ha)

    Short,.. (and in the correct light, very sweet!)

    Love ya

  4. The yogic principle of mindful speech is to ask: Is it kind? Is it true? Is it necessary?

    Bringing up the insanity of war at the Ft. Hood funeral would have been true and very necessary, but definitely not kind.

  5. Jil, bullshit! I’m not waiting around for some dumbass to fill his freakin’ suit! Fuck that shit! This world’s been around long enough too know that our ’84’ freakin’ wars is a dumb proposition. Look, man,.. I see this world in it’s own time frames.. I can hack the Congo and its machete crimes.. I see how the global chaos is bringing us down!.. I’m not pleased with the state of affairs ‘We’ve’ gotten too. I need to let off some steam, and some folks in power need to grow some balls, or some encompassing labia. But No!, it ain’t happening! These assholes are straight up lifers! Their position is to make sure ‘They’ have an exorbitant income when they exit the Legislature, executive, or judicial.. AND These are the cats working for You and I!?!

    It’s all a joke. One big knee-slappin’ joke. I have absolutely NO faith in anyone else. (I don’t care how few months one occupies the house.. Nor do I care how limited your actual power is.. You give it to me like I fucking matter or you fuck off! When the illusionary b.s. distracts our man from his duties.. I look elsewhere. The dead don’t have time too jerk off!)

    (Throw out some more,.. if you don’t mind my blatantly pissed off position. Honestly, it’s nothing personal, and I hope (fingers crossed, but laughing) that it’s not offensive.)

    Jere

  6. Agreeing with you wholeheartedly, Fe and jil. Our president needs time to evolve. Reading a little Rhinehold Niebuhr would probably help some of us understand the President’s general philosophical view on the evil of war. Niebuhr is often attributed at the author of the Serenity Prayer.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhold_Niebuhr

    Here’s an interesting quotation, from one of my favorite iconoclasts, William Blake. Thought it appropriate that I discovered it today:

    “Where any view of Money exists, Art cannot be carried on, but War only (Read Matthew, c. x: 9 & 10 v.) by pretenses to the Two Impossibilities, Chastity & Abstinence, Gods of the Heathen.”

    — From Blake’s engraving of the Laocoon, accompanied by text that reads a lot like Dr. Bonner’s All-One-God-Faith soap labels. 🙂 Nothing new to this crowd, but it speaks to the fact that we all possess a division in our hearts, and wall is usually money.

    If you’re interested in supporting servicemen and women who oppose the war in Iraq/Afghanistan, you might be interested in this organization:

    http://www.ivaw.org/

  7. What is the matter wi th all you hotheads…swearing and blinding about a President who has only been in office for one year. Don’t you know that a new President has to fit initially into the ‘suit’ of previous Presidents….he has to listen to and to some extent find his way in that old ‘suit’? A wise President will recognise the importance of evolving!! This is a gradual easing into different …in this case…..his very different vision for America and the world. I believe this is a man who envisions a very different country with a strong ( I did not say powerful ) emphasis on leadership!!Thereare currently 84 wars in the world ( I am reliably informed by a member of United Nations )….you want to change this overnight? lovely idea but the first thing will be for you and I to give up our own anger and projection!!! This would be the greatest gift to president Obama and America AND the world….Thankyou grandaughter of GHANDI!! xx

  9. President Obama’s comments at Fort Hood

    And blah blah blah blah… same-old same-old. Down thru the centuries do the “leaders” mouth their bubbles of dirty soap.

  11. I guess it’s part of a president’s job to barf up empty words to comfort the hearts and minds of the ignorant, but when he talks of the great impact of our military and neglects to mention all the collateral damage, all the fires and machines belching tons of carbon and everything else that’s released when random human things burn, all the intelligent sea mammals who’ve been rendered insane by underwater low frequencies unleashed by military experiments, etc, etc, etc…well in my view this kind of military worship willfully ignores the actual price of war. War sucks for absolutely everyone save a very few, especially the soldiers and those the military calls “collateral damage”. We fight terrorism by terrorizing, we say we want to do something about global warming while we set the planet on fire. I can’t hear mention of the impact of our military I can’t help but think of these things first and foremost.

    Today used to be called Armistice Day when we remembered for a few minutes after WWI how bad war sucks for everyone. Then we promptly forgot what with WWII and all and while everyone was waiting for WWIII the War That Never Ends was and is manufactured by the industrial complex.

    Arun Ghandi talks sense. For the people who call life ruthless…what do you expect when you treat her like your bitch, your slave, your garbage dump? Life seems the most ruthless when it manifests in people who think that life is ruthless.

  12. my brother once said to me “sorry doesn’t flush the toilet.” I think we all smell it even after it’s been flushed, and this is what we’re responding to when we hear/witness these words spoken aloud today. People understand death, we don’t understand what Einstein referred to as the definition of insanity. Some people are tired of the smell, and want to introduce some smudge and incense on the scene, maybe a scented candle, or some citrus spray?
    We’re ready to try a different approach to an old problem. I just wonder if an eagle farts in the woods, is anybody listening?

  13. How much more do we need before we figure it out? God/dess, this is depressing.

    Fe: I do believe those soldiers at the base (and probably most everyone else there) are in shock. Yes, they need to mourn their losses. My heart goes out to them….even moreso because of the whirling cycle of death and destruction they’re in in the name of “patriotism” and “valor” and all the rest.

    Don’t get me wrong. I believe there are impulses of wanting to serve, to help, to make the world better — all of these in some of those people who choose military service. And I find this even more sad. This ain’t the way, folks.

    I’m disappointed that our president didn’t leave even a wee little hole open for debate, for questioning the whole enterprise of war (those coins speak volumes!). I can only hope he’s sowing seeds for this somewhere. Maybe we’ll all get angry enough to open up that hole ourselves.

    And as we examine what went on at Fort Hood, can we ignore the fact that we live in a country that kills its own citizens in the name of justice? I feel like an accomplice to murder, in more ways than one.

    Geminicheryl: thank you.

    And thank you, Planetwaves, for being who/what you/we are.

  14. “It is not important that we come together in a moment of crisis and show our patriotism by flying the flag: It is not enough that we become a superpower by building an arsenal that can destroy this earth several times over; it is not enough that we subjugate the rest of the world through our military might, because peace cannot be built on the foundations of fear.

    Nonviolence means allowing the positive within you to emerge. Be dominated by love, respect, understanding, appreciation, compassion and concern for others rather than the self-centered and selfish, greedy, hateful, prejudiced, suspicious, and aggressive attitues that unsually dominate our thinking. We often hear people say: ‘This world is ruthless and if you want to survive you must become ruthless, too.’

    This world is what we have made of it. If it is ruthless today it is because we have made it ruthless by our attitudes. If we change ourselves we can change the world, and changing ourselves begins with changing our language and methods of communication.”
    -Arun Gandhi
    Granddaughter of M.K. Gandhi

  16. Obama balked.. that seems to be his M.O.. Good words, but then his ‘role’ gets in the way of his honesty, and none of us win through WAR.

    I have a patch on my backpack (which goes everywhere with me) that says, “FUCK WAR”. I’ve been cussed out, talked shit too, and almost run over by vehicles.. But, I’ve also met folks who think it’s the greatest statement they’ve ever seen. (Especially the ones who only grasp it in the good sense, off the cuff. Come’on now, A ‘FUCK’ war can’t be too bad, it’s all cool who ends up on top or bottom!!! It all feels good!

    But, Obama’s not the man.. a ‘decent’ figurehead, but nothing above and beyond you and I. He’s just warmin’ the space up for someone with true ideals, and methodologies.. You, I, someone who isn’t a caricature of a movement..

    Coins?!? What the Fuck is that?!? He left coins!?! FUCK YOU dude! these assholes just died!! What the Fuck?! All the ‘pomp and ceremony’ won’t fix a fucked up system. You need to get our asses out of this space, pronto.. there are things called sanctions, and for all the sanction disbelievers, there’s a thing called NON-COOPERATION that works similar to sanctions, except ‘real’ sanctions! Oh! Oh!.. but then we might have to pull our mighty penises out of the backside of the rest of the world!! Fuck?! Can you even imagine ‘equal’ ‘global’ footing!? (that’s just crazy talk) Shit, we couldn’t allow these nut-jobs to sit forehead to forehead with us.. nuts!! We might actually develop an equilibrium, that involves conversation, not bombs!?

    Obama’s not the dude I’d hoped.. oh well.. politics happen.. (it’s still better than Mccain…)

    But, it’s not about politics per se… We, You, I am beyond politics,.. (It’s just a joke to get me started), (a sad, far reaching joke), but we.. ‘we are us. I can chat with anyone I want. Hi! And I’m still me. I can say, “No!”. And I’m still me. I can look in someone else’s mirror and I’m still me. There’s a theme and politics missed it. Anybody up for self-rule?! (It can be embroadened, we just have to enact that steady mess!)

    Alright, tired rant…

    Love is the key, unlocks freedom, Freedom can do as it pleases.

    Good luck, and Peace…

    Jere

  17. Eric/Len:

    I found it sad that President Obama left Presidential coins at the empty boots for each of the 13 who fell. Federal money for the Ferryman.

    I think, for better or worse, Obama’s address was for the true believers amongst the military who need to mourn their loss. Looking at the pictures of the memorial from the AP, the base soldiers are in shock.

  18. Jere,
    It’s like you wrote a few days ago, killing is not right no matter who does it no matter what the reason. Today we mourn those lost at Fort Hood. Tonight, the Commonwealth of Virginia will execute John Allen Muhammad (the D.C. Sniper), whose victims we mourned 7 years ago. In the few days some of those who participated at Fort Hood will be deployed to kill and be killed.

    On this somber day when the Sun squares the asteroid Karma, we get get a glimpse of the cycle which has repeated for thousands of years – murder begetting murder, seemingly without end. The action of killing has become the enterprise of the State and the last recourse of those lost and alone in despair. Whatever happened to “just say NO”?

  20. It is discouraging that there is no room for questioning the whole enterprise, in a speech like this. There are so many assumptions underneath these few words; very sad.

  21. Must.. vent.. probably shouldn’t.. ..Fuck the military! Murdering mind controlled bastards! WTF!! Would you Love me better if I were a welder on a munitions plant, bringin’ home the good bucks? Fuck you! And your less than stellar ‘peace initiatives’ (HA!). When we learn to Love, my respect and utmost devotion is yours, you wanna kill.. ain’t happenin’ in my reality. Find another plane, or deal with my obstinacy, my ‘discordial’ ‘Fuck You’ vibes that seem to permeate every level of being. I respect fully!, those who would defend against the rapist, murdering bastards.. But, I don’t respect murder.. ordered, sanctioned, civilian, or otherwise… Nope! There’re certain things that just don’t fly in my reality.. Pain can be reasoned, but never justified.

    In all honor, and respect, to those whom a clear and bright conscious has engraced, I Love you. I will do more from here on out to offer you space to work out/in the feelings that have embridled you to offer yourself, with regard to your fellow human, in disregard of your own health or well-being, too allow yourself martyrdom (that is highly unnecessary in My reality), and have suffered a most heinous loss of self-procurement, all under the guise of ‘another’s orders’. (I’m sorry I couldn’t have reached you sooner.) Please don’t take this as disrespect,.. furthest thing.. I’ll walk with ya.. (you just gotta realize, killing freaks me out! (you too eh?) Yeah.. I’m workin’ on bein’ cool!)

    Love, PEACE!!! Beauty-full!!

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