I almost don’t even know how to start this. Democrat Barbra Lee (D-California) has proposed a bill to create a federal Department of Peacebuilding. And no, I haven’t been taken in by the Onion or the Daily Current.
(The Hill) — House Democrats led by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) have introduced legislation that would create a federal Department of Peacebuilding, which would be tasked with everything from finding ways to scale back U.S. military actions to ending bullying at schools.
Under her bill, H.R. 808, the new department would be led by a Cabinet-level Secretary of Peacebuilding, who would have a seat on the National Security Council. The department would be “dedicated to peacebuilding, peacemaking, and the study and promotion of conditions conducive to both domestic and international peace and a culture of peace.”
“This culture of violence that we live in is unacceptable,” Lee said earlier this month. “On our streets and across the globe, the pervasive presence of violence has infected the lives of millions, and it is far past time we address it as a nation.
“We invest hundreds of billions each year in the Pentagon, in war colleges, military academies, and our national defense universities all to develop war tactics and strategies,” she said in a press release. “Now we need that kind of investment in peace and nonviolence here at home.”
[…]
To help achieve these goals, the bill would have the department create a “peace academy,” modeled on the U.S. military service academies. The secretary would also create “Peace Days,” and would encourage people to “observe and celebrate the blessings of peace and endeavor to create peace on Peace Days.”
No word on a likely candidate for Secretary of hugs just yet, but more info is forthcoming. One thing is for sure, no puppy will go uncuddled ever again.
Sifting Reality 
Just another way to get more government fingers into every activity. Democrats are nuts, but they are still 100% socialist.
Wow. Bullying? How about general rudeness? Can we get them on that?
Well, John Kerry does say it’s okay for Americans to be STUPID.
…and Congressmen are Americans, so…
?
If you want to prepare for war, you have a defense department. What do you do if you want to prepare for peace? You start a peace department. What’s your problem with this?
Paynehollow, aka Dan Trabue,
The problem is that we do not need another government cabinet department which will do nothing to bring about any peace. it is just another part of a money-sucking bureacracy.
John,
Just another example of Democrats thinking that government can solve everything.
So, Dan, are you arguing that at no time in American history was the United States “preparing for peace,” since we never had a Peace Department? We were always gearing up for war, ‘eh? We’re just the big bullies. We never sought peace. Are you saying that, Dan?
Hmmm. It will be fascinating to see how they replace human nature with a new nature. I didn’t think out could be done by human hands.
It’s a;ways been bothersome to me how some people overlook human nature and think mere behavior can regulate evil out of society. You don’t even need a religious bent to see that people, at their core, are not wholly good. They are easily corrupted and easily changed when given power. Until we address human nature, we’re just spinning our wheels.
Agreed. Thanks for the post.
If having “Peace Department” means you are preparing for peace, then, logically, to have a “Defense Department” would mean you are preparing for “Defense,” not war. To prepare for “War” would mean a “War Department.”
Should Jay Carney ever retire, Obama should like to ‘ol Dan to fill his shoes. He’d be a good Minister of Propaganda…
Just the subtle ways liberals manage to jab at the United States, particularly the military, is itself worthy of full line of encyclopedias.
I repeat myself:
If you want to prepare for war, you have a defense department. What do you do if you want to prepare for peace? You start a peace department. What’s your problem with this?
Specifically.
Is your answer, “people are not good, therefore, we should not call for/plan for/work towards peace…”? By that reasoning, we shouldn’t outlaw marriage for gay folk or try to educate or rehabilitate people, we should just penalize, kill and imprison.
The problem with that solution is that it makes for an INCREDIBLY huge gov’t. The US – partially because of this backwards sort of thinking – has the world’s largest percentage of people in prison today. Is that doing anything other than creating more problems?
Reasonable people recognize that it is wiser, cheaper and more moral to plan policies to prevent crime and war, rather than penalize and kill after the fact. Indeed, Just War Theory says that war should be a last resort. If we don’t try to come up with ways to rationally push for peace, then we can’t really say war was a last resort, can we?
So, where SPECIFICALLY is there anything irrational about trying to find ways to prevent war and encourage peace?
Reason like men, fellas, not a buncha schoolgirls (with apologies to all the schoolgirls out there who I know who reason a great deal better than most…)
Terrance, I’m sure you’re aware that our defense department was initially a war department and was called that for most of our history… until 1949, I believe. The point is, our defense department is primarily tasked with preparing for war and “making peace” by having a massive war machine in place. If one’s only tool is a hammer, then every problem is a nail.
Those calling for a peace department are just saying that there are more ways than war to prevent war.
Where specifically is there a problem with that?
Trabue – Paynehollow,
The best way to prevent war is to be prepared for it. That has been know for thousands of years.
Notice how Trabue always has to bring in homosexuality in every discussion. What a perverted and demented mind!
John…
It’s a;ways been bothersome to me how some people overlook human nature and think mere behavior can regulate evil out of society.
And just to be clear, it is rather ironic and hypocritical that those who want to imprison the drug problem away and not allow marriage for gay folk (ie, who try to regulate what they perceive to be “evil” out of society) to make this argument.
Bad behavior needs to be punished. There are things which should be prohibited legally to justify punishment. But simply creating laws prohibiting such bad behavior will not stop people from desiring to do those behaviors. That is my point. Unless you address the human condition, mere legal prohibition will not change the heart of desire.
Yes. I’m aware of that, Dan. But so what? The point still remains. The purpose of a Defense Department is, quite simply, to prepare for defense, not war.
The purpose of the State Department, however, is, by definition, to promote diplomacy. We have no need for a Peace Department.
I saw nothing in a quick scan of that bill that suggests proposals or methods that could justify an entire governmental department for peace. How do they intend to promote peace that requires an entirely new department? I believe, like “just war theory”, this is a major crock. Just War Theory, as Dan puts it, proposes that war should be a last resort. What a freakin’ brain storm! As if that hasn’t been the rule of thumb already.