Gains and Losses

Michael Brecker and Alice Coltrane, RIP. KPFA's jazz show on Monday night played a tribute to Alice's music, which I must say I had to declare ignorance about. I was stunned. Her final recording featured her son, Ravi, on tenor, Christian McBride on bass and Jeff "Tain" Watts on drums, some of my favorite contemporary musicians. Stellar performances, excellent compositions. A must have. I know Brecker's work through his studio work with musicians such as James Taylor, Paul Simon and Bruce's "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out".

Politics in Washington have been tough, again. A building movement among Republicans seems to want to thwart Bush's troop escalation. What I would like to know, is, why, if moderate Republicans are speaking out against the war as much as the Democratic Party, where were both of these groups four years ago? Too terrified to stand up to the Rove Spin Machine that would have chewed them up and spit them out? Is this opportunism or come-uppance? Either way, what truly needs to happen is the executive branch's deliberate attempts to involve the United States military in the Middle East for countless years to come. Iran serves as a targeted threat but doesn't Russia pose as much danger in the region? Is miilitary might the answer? Has unilateralism run its course? Are the American people and the Congress tired of Iraq because they're simply tired of Bush? Do we really have two more years of him?

I had a heated but intelligent conversation with one of my brightest students this afternoon on the issue of politics and "U.S. role" in handling them. This young student, stridently conservative in her politics and a faithful Christian in her religious beliefs, believed that Saddam Hussein's actions as dictator for thirty years alone warranted the U.S. toppling of his government and his execution. How does one realistically believe that "evil", by any definition, deserves to be defined and packaged as deserving of U.S. action? Does this country actually serve as the world's policeforce regarding rotten regimes? What about past U.S. complicity in a nation's evil actions? Can U.S. foreign policy and national interest be based on doing what is "right" or what is "best" for the country? These and other questions brought us to meaningful discussion but one that lead us to this nation's current status: the student's position and the administration's actions. I ask, who's right?