A Memorial Day

Memorial Day is upon us. In both old and new media, there is a great deal of discussion on the war. This is proper — Memorial Day is an American tradition that goes all the way back to when it was first a remembrance of Union soldiers who died during the Civil War; then, it was called Decoration Day. The holiday in and of itself is an occasion to examine and discuss the War in Iraq, and I am concerned that there doesn't seem to be an effective way of doing so.

There is no shortage of quotable statements on war throughout history, and without fail, the words fall into one of a few categories. Most of them describe or include some statement about how terrible war is, and rightly so. President Jimmy Carter said:

"War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children."

Some do mention, as Carter did, that war is sometimes necessary. John Stuart Mill puts a fine point on it:

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

Or you might prefer Buckminster Fuller, who said simply, "Either war is obsolete or men are." Essentially, educated men concerned with the fate of the world and people in general have thought about war for many long years, and have talked about it and wrote about the general subject to no end.

Thoughts on specific American wars are less copious. Talking generally about (or against) war is easy to do and worth doing, but it is often done to little or no effect. In discussing Vietnam, Dr. Martin Luther King said:

Now, it should be incandescently clear that no one who has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can ignore the present war. If America's soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read Vietnam.

Talking specifically about current ongoing wars in America exposes you to political risk, especially when you are opposed to whatever war is at hand. Dr. King was a man of courage, and he was also a man who existed outside of governance. His message was his purpose, and he didn't face even the occasional re-election. Nor was he running for anything, unless you are among the few who would list "Righting Wrongs" as little more than an electoral campaign in which hearts and minds are the votes.

The difficulty and risk in discussing war does not prevent candidates and elected officials from discussing whether we should be in Iraq or should not, when the troops should come home, or how to clean up the mess. In fact, running for President or being a leader in the House or Senate requires that Iraq be of primary concern, and that is as it should be. The Senate and House have considered several pieces of legislation that end the war in one way or another, and the discussion on that legislation is the form of communication those chambers have chosen.

The majority in the House want the war to end, so they pass legislation geared towards that and Bush vetoes it, as promised. Similar legislation has met different results, but the media is picking up on what they have termed an erosion of support among Republicans. I think of it as a slow-motion mutiny. I acknowledge the recent troubles over the war-funding bill are unfortunate. Things could have gone better, but I also believe in picking your battles, and the Democrats have pledged to keep fighting on other avenues.

So as we get to Memorial Day, individual Democrats have turned their focus on the war. Last week, Senators Clinton and Obama started to solidify positions that the war should end, with a nod to the realization that it may not end expediently unless the money gets cut off. They are a little late to the table on this one, and whether that will be remembered as we collectively hurtle towards the primary remains to be seen. They should probably not let Senator Dodd beat them to any other issues. It could be worse than that for a front-runner, but not by much.

John Edwards was the first one to claim that real estate among the top tier. He, too, is discussing the war in frank and specific terms, and at the Huffington Post last week he did so within the context of what Memorial Day means. Or maybe now I'm guilty of putting too fine a point on it. Maybe he's talking about it within the context of what Memorial Day could mean.

So, in search of quotes about the war at hand, you can certainly do worse than this, but I think you could hardly do better:

There comes a time when citizens, acting together in a democracy, can truly force change. That time is today. And I do not want Americans to stand up and be heard because of any political campaign or ideology, or because they were told to. You should instead reclaim your patriotism for one important reason: it was yours to begin with.

This Memorial Day weekend, this means more than just getting in your car, driving to the beach, a parade, or a picnic and saying the words, "We support our troops." This weekend should honor the memory of the fallen through democracy itself. That's why I am asking the American people this weekend to give something in return for the sacrifice of the fallen — to honor and remember all those who have gone before in service to our country, and to let our government know we want to honor our troops by ending the war and bringing them home.

This is not to suggest that Edwards, or any Democrat, has The Right Answer To Iraq. The terrifying answer at the end of the poorly-lighted hallway we find ourselves in is that there is no right answer. There is no fix, there is no solution. But there is a path to coming out on the other side of all of this having learned something about government, about foreign policy, and about responsibility.

Right now, very few people are articulating themselves on the war with any acuity, but here is an example of just that: the meaning is plain. I am not without bias — in this case, I whole-heartedly agree with Edwards — but simple honesty along with a plan to act on one's feelings beats emotional reactions, petty politicizing, and talking points every day of the week.