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President Obama's Heroes: A Bunch of People Who Would Not Approve of War in Afghanistan
On September 8, 2009, a school girl named Lilly asked President Obama who he'd have lunch with if he could pick anyone alive or dead. The president chose Gandhi, explaining that Gandhi's nonviolence inspired Martin Luther King, Jr. and Cesar Chavez in the United States.
All three of these men--Gandhi, MLK and Chavez--were committed to nonviolence and opposed war as a foreign policy tool. Similar to his invocations of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount during the campaign, the president continues to cite "inspiration" from luminaries of nonviolence, only to reject their philosophies when it comes time to govern.
Learn more about the war in Afghanistan at http://rethinkafghanistan.com.
Mr. President, your heroes are watching you.
ZP Heller is the editorial director of Brave New Films. He has written for The American Prospect, AlterNet, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Huffington Post, covering everything from politics to pop culture.
| Also by ZP Heller | |||
| General McChrystal Defines "Success," and Fails Warning: Some graphic images. Gen. Stanley McChrystal told Congress that the measure of success in Afghanistan should be "the number of Afghans shielded from violence." Fail. September 30, 2009. |
Troop Increases Help Drive Spread of the Insurgency in Afghanistan The United States added troops in Afghanistan in each of these years. ICOS's maps show that none of these troop increases arrested the growth of the insurgency. September 24, 2009. |
Right-Wingers and Some Military Leaders Want to Pressure President Obama into an Immediate Escalation Sarah Palin, Joe Lieberman, Bill Kristol and others want to pressure the president into escalation in Afghanistan. September 23, 2009. |
Don't Let Wells Fargo Be a Roadblock to Economic Recovery Why won’t Wells Fargo use its bailout billions to keep the Quad City Die Casting company afloat? July 14, 2009. |
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