The Peace Eagle
words and original artwork by C.A. Matthews
We don't have to submit to this. We don't have to keep sleepwalking into dystopia and armageddon to the beat of manipulative sociopaths. There are a whole lot more of us than there are of them, and we've got a whole lot more at stake here than they do. --Caitlin Johnstone, Advocating World War Three is Just Mainstream Punditry Now
Some days it’s hard to get out of bed knowing just how screwed up the world is. You want to turn over, go back to sleep, and wake up to the sound of angels blowing trumpets, calling us all heavenward in the Rapture (even if you don’t really believe in that sort of thing). You just want to get things over with, you know?
Headlines yelling that nuclear war is “survivable” and “necessary” to rub some other country’s leader’s face into the (radioactive) dust seem to trigger these feelings in me. I don’t believe for one moment that nuclear war is a preferable or survivable event. I actually passed my chemistry test on radioactive isotopes in high school. I know that I don’t want anyone to be bombarded by them or caught in an explosion that generates them for the next several hundred thousand years.
When it came to picking a theme for the blog this depressing week, I was leaning toward writing about the upcoming midterms because it’s a slightly less blood pressure rising topic. But then the news about “The Squad” (more like “The Frauds”) hit the Twitterverse and their antics struck a chord in me. The Frauds sent out a letter to the so-called Democratic Party leadership pleading for peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in order to put an end to the suffering there. About a day later The Frauds retracted the self-same letter and pledged their undying love for the military industrial complex instead. Yeah, they actually backed out of promoting a diplomatic end to hostilities in order to help killer capitalists sell more arms to a corrupt government we helped to set up in a coup in 2014, a government with openly Neo-Nazi militias that have been shelling the ethnic Russian Donbass region for eight+ years.
Representative Ilhan Omar of The Frauds even went as far as to tell peace protesters at a town hall meeting that they didn’t have the right to tell her how to vote. Uh, these folks are your constituents, Ms. Omar, so they have every right to tell you they don’t appreciate you supporting an unpopular war. You, as their Congresswoman, are supposed to pipe down and listen to their concerns instead of insulting them. If there was one member of “the boutique left” I would have expected to be in favor of a peaceful, diplomatic end to war, it would have been an immigrant from war-torn Somalia such as Rep. Omar. I guess the benefits of negotiating peace are null and void when there are big DNC donors like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon involved.
Perhaps the worse news I’ve heard this week is that Senator Bernie Sanders has also renounced all diplomatic measures to bring an end to this war over liquefied natural gas pipelines and selling American oil to European markets at super-high profits. Bernie, the man who boasted he voted against the Iraq War not once but twice, is a now war hawk? Wow. Talk about a gut punch.
Most persons of the socialist/eco-socialist persuasion have moved on from following Bernie too closely after he went on the road to sell Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden to unwitting voters, but this news still hurts. The Fraud Squad has always come across as a bunch of faux progressives, all-too-ready for their next glossy magazine cover shoot, but I thought Bernie was the real deal for a while and wouldn’t give in so easily. We live and learn.
The one upbeat note this week was attending a Zoom meeting with US Senate candidate Matthew Hoh and his special guest Roger Waters, formerly of the band Pink Floyd. Roger is quite a peace and justice activist, and he doesn’t pull any punches. When Roger used a few choice expletives to describe how little regard he holds for the members of the Fraud Squad who support endless wars, Matt told him that it was okay to use the F word because, “War is the obscenity.” I like how that short sentence sums up so many peoples’ feelings on the topic. (I support Matt, a disabled veteran and peace activist, and encourage North Carolina voters to vote for him on November 8.)
Back to the prospects of endless war/nuclear Armageddon: As I walked through our junk-filled garage earlier this week, I came across an old metal eagle plaque. The eagle hung on the front of the house when we moved in, but I took it down and replaced it with a metal peace sign. I didn’t throw the eagle plaque away because we recycle, re-purpose, and re-use everything in this household. I’d thought about turning the scowling eagle into something like a dove a while back, but life intervened and I’d forgotten about it. Today I’m painting that damn blood-covered, warmongering American eagle and transforming it from a “war hawk” into a “Peace Eagle.”
No more wars for oil and blowing up LNG pipelines so US Big Oil can sell fuel to Europe at obscene prices! The American eagle is going to become a protector of the peace and dignity of all humankind, not just for those who write establishment politicians large donation checks. Unlike The Fraud Squad, I’m proudly sending out my "letter" supporting a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the proxy war. I’m not retracting it no matter how many nukes the US/NATO war machine threatens to rain down on my head
If you have a metal eagle plaque or any kind of symbol of the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex, may I suggest you get out your paints or needle and thread and do a few alterations to it? Please post your Peace Eagle photos here in the comments or email them to us or send us a Twitter DM. It’s time to speak out loudly against suicidal/homicidal/genocidal narcissists who want to nuke the planet in order to increase their stock portfolio profits.
It’s time to make the Peace Eagle the symbol of our land. And to paraphrase Roger Waters: Screw the war hawks!
A description of what the colors/symbols mean on the Peace Eagle:
I first painted the aluminum eagle plaque all white as a base to hold the other colors, and because I wanted the eagle not to be associated with war such as the brown-bodied bald eagle has become in the US. The rainbow-colored flight feathers symbolize that the Peace Eagle protects people of all races, colors, ethnicities, nationalities, and gender identities. The shield boasts a peace sign with pink and light blue stripes, signifying that the Peace Eagle will protect the most vulnerable in our society against those who would harm them. The olive branch remains the same—a sign of peace and generosity. The quiver of arrows of the American eagle have been transformed into a bouquet of coneflowers or echinacea, a native flower known for its healing properties and beauty. Together beneath the wings of the Peace Eagle we can protect our country’s natural wonders and provide food, health care, justice, and healing for all.
Related Articles:
Advocating World War Three is Just Mainstream Punditry Now https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/advocating-world-war-three-is-just
The Military Industrial Complex Strikes Again https://scheerpost.com/2022/10/28/the-military-industrial-complex-strikes-again/
Chris Hedges: Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/listen-to-this-article-stop-worrying
Worthless House Progressives Retract Mild Peace Advocacy Under Pressure from Warmongers https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/worthless-house-progressives-retract
The West Must Stop Blocking Negotiations Between Ukraine and Russia https://therealnews.com/vijay-prashad-the-west-must-stop-blocking-negotiations-between-ukraine-and-russia
US Lowering Nuclear Threshold by Upgrading Nukes in Europe https://scheerpost.com/2022/10/31/russia-says-us-lowering-nuclear-threshold-by-upgrading-nukes-in-europe/
New Study Finds the Rest of the World Supports China and Russia https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/new-study-finds-the-rest-of-the-world
NATO Had Plans for a Preemptive Strike on Russia... https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/10/30/nato-had-plans-for-a-preemptive-strike-on-russia-using-the-cover-of-a-french-led-naval-exercise-in-the-mediterranean/
Is Russia Poised to Win the Ukraine War? (video) https://youtu.be/EyXhwbj6_yA
The Official Narrative on Ukraine https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/the-official-narrative-on-ukraine
Mick Wallace Calls Out the Squad (video) https://youtu.be/HgAbCqd2DWE
Ilhan Omar Uses Identity Politics as a Shield for Pro-War Votes https://youtu.be/3jni7sofUf4
Finland Will Allow NATO to Place Weapons on Border with Russia https://www.newsweek.com/finland-will-allow-nato-place-nuclear-weapons-border-russia-1754925
House Progressives Pushed Negotiations with Russia Then Buckled Under Pressure https://truthout.org/articles/house-progressives-pushed-negotiations-with-russia-then-buckled-under-pressure/
"This is What Price-Gouging Looks Like": Exxon Profits Break All-Time Records https://truthout.org/articles/this-is-what-price-gouging-looks-like-exxon-profits-break-all-time-records/
Seen on Twitter:
"War is the obscenity." --@MatthewPHoh
— READ TheRevolutionContinues.substack.com (@cynthianna3) October 28, 2022
— Living in a recessionary dystopian hellscape (@breakify547) October 28, 2022
The so-called progressives in the neoliberal fascist democrat party have declared war on peace & everyone who advocates for peace & restraints on U.S. & Western imperial power. For these progressives peace is a Kremlin talking point!
— Ajamu Baraka (@ajamubaraka) October 29, 2022
Back in March, Ilhan Omar sounded a lot like the antiwar protesters she demonizes today as Putin puppets.
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) October 28, 2022
Her rhetoric then was purely performative, while her actions ultimately reinforced the objectives of Empire.
This is why we call them the #fraudsquad. pic.twitter.com/RM64jQCP6Y
Imagine retracting & opposing a letter to the president which stated:
— Ryan Knight ☭🕊 (@ProudSocialist) October 30, 2022
“It’s America's responsibility to pursue every diplomatic avenue to help end the war."
That’s what @PramilaJayapal, @AOC & the fraud squad did this week.
There are no peacemakers or progressives in Congress.
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