SWEET DREAMS AT MARTHA'S

Methodist summer camp cottages on the Vineyard
The ferry boat

I was back on the ferry this morning from Martha's Vineyard to Woods Hole, Ma. Then I grabbed the bus to Boston. In Boston I switched to a bus to Maine where I am writing this. (It's great that buses now have WiFi.)

Things went well last night at the library in Vineyard Haven where I gave my talk. The local peace group turned out their active membership and we had a great discussion about the Bring Our War $$ Home campaign and Obama's ability to demobilize the left. No one argued the point with me about Obama being the corporate place-holder that he is.

I stayed in a small cottage on the property of Sarah and Bruce Nevin last night and it was virtually surrounded with wild flowers, gardens, chickens, and goats. All of this seemed to contribute to a wonderful vibe so my dreams were quite creative and wonderful. I had sort of a "post-Florida-peace-camp" sequence of dreams where kind and enthusiastic people were all working together with young folks.

I had two swims yesterday after arriving on Martha's Vineyard. Sarah drove me around a bit and showed me the sights which included the Methodist summer camp, a real attraction. My first swim was along the beach near Oak Bluffs.

My second swim was at the summer beach home of Carole Abrahams who has been a Global Network supporter for many years. Carole lives in New York City and was at our annual membership meeting there in May. She is a summer member of the Peace Council that hosted my event last night. She and her extended family have spent summers in Vineyard Haven her whole life. Carole cooked a smashing lasagna for dinner before my talk.

I had a peek at the front page of the Boston Globe this morning and saw an article about Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) releasing documents from Vietnam-era Congressional secret hearings that are starkly similar to things being said these days about Afghanistan.

Here is a bit from the story:

The CIA director predicted it would be a “long war.’’ A senator from Missouri, expressing concern about the unconventional nature of the fighting, wanted to know, “Who is the enemy?’’ A senator from Tennessee, meanwhile, warned that if the American people were being misled that “the consequences are very great.’’

The words were uttered in secret more than 40 years ago during private meetings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the Vietnam War. But they were made public for the first time yesterday by Senator John F. Kerry, now the panel’s chairman, out of a belief that the lively debates offer lessons for how to grapple today with the war in Afghanistan and other hot spots.

It would be nice though if Kerry would lead the fight to stop funding the war in Afghanistan. So far he has proven to be quite weak when it comes to really ending the mess.