The Supreme Court case about the cross in a remote part of the Mojave National Preserve is itself a monument–a monument to changing times.

The cross placed in the Mojave National Monument in 1934. Photo by the Associated Press.

The simple white cross was erected in 1934 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Death Valley Post 2884. A plaque accompanying the cross dedicates it to the memory of the dead of all wars. It is similar in design to the crosses we’ve all seen in photographs of the cemetery fields in France.

Fellow blogger Leigh Hunt Greenhaw has said she’ll approach the legal issues inherent in whether the cross’s placement violates the First Amendment’s requirements for the separation of church and state. (the “establishment clause”). There are other issues as well, which are covered in the story published in the Post-Dispatch last week. My own opinions are based not on the fine points…

www.thepeoplesvoice.org

War is always a source of misery for many that stand in its path but sometimes one cannot avoid a war.  After 9/11 it was clear we must address the source of this attack on US soil.  And the source of the attack on 9/11 and was in Afghanistan.  When the US launched its forces to attack positions of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, shortly after 9/11/2001, there was almost unanimous support worldwide. The Taliban had provided a safe haven for Al Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden. And they were a danger not just to us.  Unfortunately from the beginning the war in Afghanistan was not done properly.  We never committed even 1/5th the number of troops to Afghanistan compared to those sent to Iraq. If we had put in place the resources that later were committed for Iraq we would have gotten rid of Al Qaeda and Osama…