Sheldon Richman on the Ominous Republican Hold on Congress
As we face the new year, the biggest concern for peace lovers is Republican control of the U.S. Senate. While Republican votes don't reach the key number 60, members of the GOP will still be in a strong position to push their belligerent global agenda. While the Democrats were hardly better, those who abhor war will awaken each day knowing that hawkish Sens. John McCain (Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (SC), Ted Cruz (Tex.), and their ilk are in control. Peacemongers haven't had much to cheer about during the Obama years. Barack Obama has gone back to war in Iraq and is conducting airstrikes in Syria, while leaving thousands of military personnel in Afghanistan, continuing murder by drone war in several countries, and maintaining the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Yet, writes Sheldon Richman, there have been a few glimmers of hope