George Washington wanted A DEPARTMENT OF PEACE

[G_j]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_emily_ho_050902_george_washington_wa.htm

George Washington wanted A DEPARTMENT OF PEACE

by Emily Horswill

http://www.opednews.com

WITH A SIGH,THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES dipped his pen in the ink well.

He looked at the draft for a Department of War lying before him. “No,” he said, “First we need a Department of Peace. If we are going to develop expertise only in War, that is what we will have.” But the Congress of 1776 had a new nation to set up. The DOP, although resurrected occasionally, has largely rested in the shadows for 300 years.

Instead, we have fought war following on the heels of wars. We have "improved" on horrible weapons, napalm, poison gas, the cancer producing DU nuclear weapons, cluster bombs, declared illegal and immoral by our own courts, and are using allot destroy a civilization with the utmost brutality in the horror war of horrors.

But in September 2005, at the Department of Peace Convention, Congressman Dennis Kucinich will lay HB1673, requesting a Department of Peace before Congress.
He is asking for 2 per cent of the military budget. Under it, our Peace Academy will offer four years of education. Graduates will be sent to work with
communities here and abroad with the focus on rooting out causes of violence.
At home, The Academy also intends to pioneer teaching alternatives to hitting Johnnie over the head with a pencil box starting in pre-school.

..more..

[bullimiami]

1. the party of hate will reject it along with many dinos IMO.

[leesa]

15. War is money.

[NJCher]

2. Yay Dennis!

Cher

[opihimoimoi]

3. Too Little Too Late:: To be effective:: The Y Factor must/should be

implemented....

Peace should be made a no brainer......The Y and the How is available, its the "MOMOTERIUM" reaching a Level of success thats missing....

[G_j]

4. 210 years and 146 bills later...

George Washington introduced a Department of Peace bill into Congress in 1793. The African American freeman Benjamin Banneker, a brilliant astronomer, mathematician and surveyor of the future Washington, D.C. wrote in his 1792 Almanac about a Department of Peace to “balance” the Department of War. Banneker’s friends, like Dr. Benjamin Rush and Thomas Jefferson liked the idea. Yet 210 years and 146 bills later, we still have no Department of Peace and no US Peace Academy.


http://www.georgiapeace.org/Department%20of%20Peace.htm

[HR_Pufnstuf]

5. I have the simple solution.

Nationalize the defense industry like the space industry (NASA).

Build only what we need to defend ourselves.

Take the profit out of war (and rebuilding).

[peacetalksforall]

6. Two new heroesfor me - Washington and Kucinich.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

7. Hmmm.

In 1984, the "Ministry of Peace" is responsible for the prosecution of the endless bloody warfare necessary to keep the proles in line.

[AX10]

8. So when does Rove start with the 'anti-George Washington' campaign?

[RandomUser]

9. This will never happened under the current adminstration

If it does happen, going by Bush's past history of incompetence, he'll probably appoint Rummy or Richard Perle or Wolfowitz to head the Department of Peace.

[eridani]

13. Look who they appointed to the Department of Labor

Does that mean there shouldn't be a Department of Labor?

[RandomUser]

14. Yes, look at it

Do you honestly think Bush would create a Department of Labor if one didn't exist?

[paineinthearse]

10. Nominated. Thank you for the history lesson.

I had thought Dennis Kucinich's HR was a new idea, who wudda thunk GW and TJ were supporters?

[G_j]

11. I have no idea if any of the inspiration for this came

from the Native Americans (as many of the founder's ideas did)
but there were tribes who had both peace and war chiefs.

[eridani]

12. Actually, it was never a formal piece of legislation

Washington did think it was a good idea though. It was discussed in Banneker's Almanac.