James M. Redwine

United States

Redemption

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Photo by Peg Redwine

America was born from the hope for a world where every person was of equal worth. In 1776 we had already realized this ideal was not reality. Our Founders sought freedom of choice for themselves while being fully aware they had long denied such equality to countless others. But the dream, and the struggle for it, has always been equal rights for all. Our nation’s recognition that Indigenous Peoples, slaves, women, minors, minorities and the poor struggled without freedom in the Land of the Free, never extinguished our country’s core values upon which we were anchored.

As all sinners, we have backslid and faltered on our 250-year crusade to enhance freedom and welfare for all. However, in the annals of human history no nation has ever held forth the torch of life and liberty for all the earth’s peoples as America has. Might only for right, generosity, humanitarian concern and a faith based upon the equal worth of all peoples, was the mantra of good versus evil that has always been America’s Holy Grail. And just as the Holy Grail, our nation’s ideals have often been more myth than substance. Yet, as a people, we have incrementally struggled through genocidal actions towards Native American equality, from slavery of Negroes to a Black president, from second-class citizenship of women to female astronauts, and from young men as military fodder to eighteen-year-old citizenship, among many other faltering steps up the ladder toward the rights set forth as the foundation of our Constitution.

It took America about our first 170 years to truly achieve a significant part of the core of our true national aspirations. We finally began to realize our Founder’s dreams after World War II with the Marshall Plan of 1948 when we elevated benevolence over vengeance and helped the world recover from the horrors of the earth’s conflagration.

We gradually turned from isolationism to a country generous in spirit and filled with dreams of a new world order. America became a beacon of hope to Europe and then expanded our mission to a peaceful and healthy planet. The United States led the United Nations to quell conflicts and save downtrodden peoples everywhere. And, America finally began to live the reality of that greatest of creeds, “All people are created equal”. From 1948 until we forgot the wisdom of our Founders, we truly were the hope for mankind and seen as such by most of the nations of the earth. What happened?

America had sacrificed greatly to earn its role of a nation of hope, generosity and peace. Sadly, we are no longer seen by much of the planet as a great benefactor because, frankly, we are not. What has brought our country from a guiding light of salvation to just another oppressor of peoples? Israel was created to help Jewish immigrants, but has slowly become an occupier and oppressor of Palestinians and numerous others with America’s enablement. Israel’s genocidal and illegal actions in Palestine have, with strong United States support, bound us in the eyes of the world to the pariah nation status richly earned by Zionist Israel. Are these actions supported by all Americans, including Jewish Americans? No. A majority of Americans and even many Israeli Jews, are opposed to Zionist Israel’s genocidal/hegemonic military actions.

Most countries declare Israel’s actions wrong and illegal. However, most countries also see America as the force allowing Israel’s evil. America has, as it did for many years with slavery, women’s rights and Indigenous Peoples rights, lost its path toward liberty and freedom for all. We have, also, lost our long-held and dearly won position of the paragon of nations. To return to our ideals we must cease enabling Israel’s aggression and occupation of foreign lands. Israel does not need our military or financial support and should not receive it.

Just as we have with numerous other sins of omission and commission during our 250-year struggle to attain the goals of our Charter, now we must make the hard, but right, choice and free ourselves from Israel’s irrational dreams of Middle Eastern dominance. Let us cease from helping Israel’s pursuit of the same dreams we stopped Nazi Germany from achieving.

We should return to our ideals and our true mission as a nation. Just as President George Washington warned us of the dangers of special fondness for any nation, we must sever our myopic and self-defeating entanglement with Israel. We, also, might want to refer to Thomas Paine’s profound calling, “These are the times that try ‘our nation’s’ soul” (1776). Let us return to our country’s purpose for creation and re-claim our rightful place among the nations of the earth that oppose tyranny and support liberty for all. We should begin by atoning for our self-destructive aggression against Iran which was instigated by Israel in furtherance of its own selfish aims. Because, just as blessed are the peacemakers, also, are damned to perdition those who foment or enable tyranny and the unjustified deaths of innocents.

You can also follow us on Facebook at “Jim Peg Redwine” or Substack “@gavelgamut”

Photo by Peg Redwine

Monkey Traps

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When a country embarks on a military peccadillo it is prudent to have planned for an offramp, as what appeared to be a walk in the park may turn out to be a Monkey Trap. Monkeys sometimes are captured by placing food in a jar that has an opening large enough to allow a monkey’s open paw to go in, but small enough that the inserted paw, when clinching food in a fist, cannot be withdrawn. Then the monkey sometimes stubbornly refuses to let go of the food and can be easily captured.

The United States has often suffered from this sin of hubris when dealing with less powerful nations. For example, Custer’s 1868 easy slaughter of Chief Black Kettle and his peaceful Cheyenne tribe at the Washita Battlefield in western Oklahoma infected Custer with the misconception indigenous people could not defend against the U.S. Cavalry. Ten years after Washita, Custer attacked another peaceful Indian encampment at the Little Bighorn in southeastern Montana. He expected the same result as with Black Kettle’s tribe, but this time was a Monkey Trap for the United States.

America has a penchant for seizing defeat from the jaws of victory in confrontations with countries which can do us no harm, but are ones we choose to destroy or revamp in our own image for them: North Korea, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Iraq (twice), Afghanistan, Palestine (Gaza and the West Bank), Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Panama, Venezuela and Iran. There have been others, but these few debacles should illustrate the point.

Now, President Trump is threatening to invade Greenland and yesterday the President stated he could and might simply take Cuba, or as he said, “Do whatever I want with it”. Writing these proposed conquests down or publicly stating we will conquer another country because we do not like their attitude or their regime has become the new American dream. America, long seen as a beacon of freedom to the world, has changed perception of us to that of a Nazi Germany, or a Stalinist Soviet Union, or a Zionist Israel.

We cannot resist dipping our paws into the Monkey Trap of unjust, unnecessary, deadly, expensive, intractable and most importantly, immoral, conflicts. Why? According to what President Trump said about our invasions of Iran, they are “just for fun”. The temptation is to analyze Trump’s policy statements as products of our video game culture. However, we have been engaging in these misadventures since the 17th century, even before we were the United States. No, we should not attempt to assuage our collective conscience by laying the blame, shame and self-defeating national behavior on technology. The cause is not advancing science but declining character. We elected President Trump. He speaks for us. His morality is our morality. When he equates the destruction of other countries to a game and we hardly take notice, as a people we have lost our way.

America made a valid claim to having stopped Germany from its WWII genocide, but now we support Israel’s genocide in Palestine and Lebanon. The slaughter and displacement of innocent human beings is wrong whether in Germany or the Middle East. And, as we are rotting from the inside to defend Israel’s immorality, what about what such lack of character is doing to us?

Our traditional friends and allies no longer look to America for enlightenment. They are increasingly lumping us into the cauldron of hegemony and hate. If President Trump can publicly state from the White House that our Monkey Trap behaviors are excursions or “just for fun”, while there is no hue and cry about how our national soul is rapidly being lost, we need not blame Trump; a mirror will suffice.

Follow us on Facebook at “Jim Peg Redwine” or Substack “@gavelgamut”

Life From Above

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Israel has imposed a total blockade of humanitarian aid to the citizens of Gaza. No food, no water systems and no medical supplies are allowed to the more than 2 million people who live there. Israel enforces its prohibition militarily. Israel also bombs hospitals, schools, places of worship and residences. Since October 07, 2023 over 52,000 Gazans, including thousands of children, have been directly killed by Israel and many more are dying each day due to lack of food, water and medical care. The Zionist led government of Israel in March 2025 publicly announced these actions to be its official policy. Israel has received massive amounts of United States military aid to help enable it to implement these actions. The United States has the moral and legal responsibility to cease aiding this humanitarian catastrophe.

The moral issues are subject to debate, but the legal prohibition of United States military and civilian aid to Israel is specifically required by Section 6201 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Six United States Senators have just signed a letter addressed to the Comptroller General, Gene Dodaro, citing the Foreign Assistance Act, asking for an investigation of Israel’s, and other countries’, denial of human rights to others while receiving U.S. aid. The Act provides no presidential waiver for such actions. Aid to Gaza’s residents should be both massive and immediate. And history provides a guide. From 26 June 1948 to 30 September 1949, the United States and Great Britain operated the Berlin Air Lift that flew over 250,000 humanitarian flights over Stalin’s blockade of aid to Germany’s war-ravaged populace. Food, fuel, medical supplies and other non-military aid helped save countless lives. It would also be apropos for the West to help Palestine because there would have been no state of Israel in 1948 without America and England.

The United States has far greater capability in 2025 than it did in 1948. We can and should alleviate the suffering we helped create. It is both our moral responsibility and our legal duty under our own laws. Also, the only truly permanent road to peace and prosperity involving Israel and its neighbors must come from a Marshall Plan type of solution. America knows both the Berlin Air Lift and the Marshall Plan were humanitarian actions that helped bring much of the world peace, stability and prosperity since WWII.

Since history has proven how greatly we ourselves can profit by simply doing the harder right things, let’s do them. After all, our own laws require them, even if we do not do so because it is right and just.

 

Motes and Logs

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The United States has several mottos: E Pluribus Unum [out of many one], Land of the Free, America the Beautiful, In God We Trust, United We Stand, This Land Was Made for You and Me, etc. If a national motto is meant to be a goal, perhaps we should consider adopting golf legend Jack Nicklaus’ motto when the media was urging him to pile on Tiger Woods after Woods’ consenting adult personal behavior came to light. Jack responded, “How is that any of my business?” Now, I shamefully admit to the titillation aroused by indiscretions of public figures such as Tiger, Bill Clinton or The Donald. However, my too normal weakness does nothing to assuage our national political angst nor does it comport with any of our grandiose views of ourselves, you know, our mottos.

As we struggle to mend our shredded national self-image and our decimated international reputation, a movement away from personal attacks among one another and especially by the national media might be a logical starting point. The mote that is so concerning in the eye of those we disapprove might be better left out of our serious considerations of issues such as war, inflation, unemployment and health care.

We sometimes lose sight of how good we have it. When we spend our national energy denigrating the religious views or personal behavior between consenting adults, or the differing political or sociological philosophies of our fellow Americans, or non-Americans, we might lose sight of what truly matters.

Numerous alarms have been sounded by people who may be well intended but not grounded in history. We are not, “On the eve of destruction” as sung by Barry McGuire. I remember this dire warning from 1965 and note that during the sixty years since we have been constantly in or preparing for war, but we have also virtually buried Jim Crow and eliminated polio. We have accomplished much in spite of our frailty of personal attacks. Of course, we have much more to do, but we should build on our successes, not forget why they were necessary.

Well, my recommendation for our national motto falls on the Golden Bear side of the ledger, not shrill voices of those who espouse America’s greatness but call for its pettiness. A removal of the log from our own eye could be a fitting place to start.

20,000 “Accidents”

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Photo by Peg Redwine

Israel’s soldiers killed three former Israeli Jewish hostages December 15, 2023 in the Gaza Strip. According to Israeli Defense Forces accounts the three men were unarmed and shirtless. They carried a white flag with the word “HELP” written in Hebrew. The men cried out to the soldiers for help in Hebrew as they held their arms up while emerging from a building. The Israeli soldiers immediately shot and killed two of the men and wounded the third man who retreated back into a building. The soldiers followed him, and even after their commander ordered the firing to stop, the soldiers killed the third man.

Israel called the incident a “tragic accident”. But the killings were intentional, not accidental. Those three killings of unarmed Israelis were the same as the 20,000 intentional killings of Palestinian civilians by Israel since the October 07, 2023 intentional killings of 1,200 Israelis by Hamas.

Israel is responsible for the destruction of water resources, hospitals, mosques, churches, businesses and homes in Gaza. By preventing humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, Israel is responsible for the endemic disease, thirst and starvation of up to 2.2 million Palestinians, 70% of whom are women and children. The armaments, money and political cover given to Israel by the United States enable this deliberate genocide.

Israel asserts that by dropping leaflets that order civilians to abandon their homes Israel is absolved from killing them. But the people have nowhere to go as the 2.2 million Palestinian civilians in Gaza have the Mediterranean Sea to their north, Egypt to their west and are otherwise surrounded by Israel. Egypt and Jordan have taken some refugees in but have no obligation to do so. Israel is responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and should be mainly responsible for assuaging it.

Gaza is an area of 360 square kilometers and Israel has 22,143 square kilometers. If, in fact, Israel wishes to avoid civilian casualties, it should allow the Palestinian civilians to shelter inside Israel, especially East Jerusalem, until the war ends and Gaza is re-built for human living. Border crossings from Gaza into Israel could be opened with quick and efficient security checks. Aid from the United States could provide temporary shelters, food, water and medical care. Great Britain, that created Israel out of Palestine starting in 1917 through 1948, also could and should help provide border security and humanitarian aid.

A reasonable alternative, if Israel does not wish to have the Palestinian civilians sheltered within the borders of Israel, would be to have non-Hamas Palestinians moved to the current illegal Israeli settlements in both Gaza and the West Bank. These areas are already free of Hamas fighters and have shelters, water, medical facilities and security checkpoints in place. The illegal Israeli squatters would have to be ordered to vacate the areas. But that is already called for by international law. If East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank were used to shelter Palestinians, that would be consistent with the pre-1967 borders and consistent with the Oslo Accords for a two-state situation.

Of Gaza’s 2.2 million population, at the most 40,000 are with Hamas. Screening the refugees would not be onerous as anyone who has walked through a magnetometer or who has been scanned with a hand-held unit can attest. Once the conflict ends, that is, once Israel is satisfied Hamas is no longer a threat, the United States, Great Britain, Israel and the United Nations could carry out a Marshall Plan to repatriate the Palestinians or the state of Palestine could finally be established.

 The United States is almost alone in its support of Israel’s genocide of Gaza’s Palestinians. The United Nations has called repeatedly for a humanitarian ceasefire and humanitarian aid to Palestinians, but until December 22, 2023 the U.S. blocked such action by veto. Finally, the U.N. Security Council managed to pass a weakly worded resolution allowing some humanitarian aid; the United States abstained. However, Israel has indicated it will not cooperate with the resolution, so innocent civilians will continue to be killed by Israel and those not directly killed by Israeli military action will die from or be degraded by deprivation of basic humanitarian necessities.

Why is America putting its prestige on the line to support Israel’s position? The answer may lie in history. Israel claims its god gave Palestine to the Hebrew people and helped them escape bondage in Egypt. Most estimates are the Book of Exodus was written during the 13 century B.C. A part of that divine intervention was the killing by Israel’s god of the first-born child of every Egyptian from Pharoah’s, to those of prisoners in dungeons and even the first-born of maidservants. The Israelis still celebrate this genocidal slaughter of innocent humans on Passover. Also, their god caused the Red Sea to part and drown all of Pharoah’s army. Then, according to the Jewish myth, their god gave the Hebrews the land already owned and inhabited by the Canaanites and others. See the Book of Exodus, Chapters 10-13.

Many of our early American ancestors of mainly European descent believed their Christian god gave us mainly white Americans all the land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, Manifest Destiny, even though it was already inhabited by millions of Native Americans. And just as Israel has demonized Palestinians as terrorists for many years, America’s Declaration of Independence describes Native Americans as:

“He (King George III) … has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.”

The cultural memories and Volksgeists of America and Israel are strikingly similar and the religions of both assuage any moral dilemmas from eliminating the original inhabitants of coveted land and resources by any means deemed necessary. The German philosopher Friedrich Carl von Savigny (1779-1861) and the Austrian philosopher Hans Kelsen (1881-1973) described these memories as the Volksgeist or spirit of a people. And the German psychologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) said these subconscious suppressed memories can actuate behaviors. Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) was a Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist who posited humans act and react as archetypes based on historical myths that are sometimes misinterpreted or misapplied.

What this may mean for America is we Americans often see ourselves as always doing good. As French sociologist Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) said, “America is great because she is good”. Many of us tend to believe that whatever we do is divinely inspired and cannot be wrong. Israel may see itself as an historic victim that must always be in a self-defense mode, a Volksgeist of being in constant fear of annihilation. And many of us Americans have often seen ourselves as that miraculous shining city on a hill that gives light to the world and is always on the side of right.

That may be why Israel and America stand virtually by ourselves on the developing genocide in Gaza. We both may need to re-examine the validity of our myths and the morality of our actions.

Scene of Washita Massacre. Photo by Peg Redwine

 

Shanghaied

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On February 04, 2022 Russian President Vladimir Putin, on an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping, attended the China Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. Twenty days later Russia invaded Ukraine. Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, in response to an invitation, visited Taiwan over China’s objections on August 2, 2022 and China immediately responded with massive military maneuvers around Taiwan.

Russia has now been at war with Ukraine for over six months. Ukraine has been supplied with many billions of dollars’ worth of military hardware by America before and during the war. Taiwan has recently received a pledge of over one billion dollars’ worth of military aid from the U.S. The U.S. has long supported Taiwan’s independence from China which claims Taiwan as part of China.

Russia and China share some common borders on the eastern and western edges of both countries and share one main nemesis, America. On September 15 and 16, 2022 Xi and Putin will meet face to face at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The United States is not invited.

It is possible Russia and China just want to confer on the relative merits of their national ballet companies and the ten billion cubic meters of national gas Putin promised to Xi in their February meeting. Or perhaps Putin and Xi want to compare notes on how each can continue in power beyond the traditional terms of prior Chinese and Russian presidents.

On the other hand, I suggest the two leaders may be getting together to discuss their largest common problem, us. Not much information was released from their conference in Beijing in February and almost no advanced agenda has been published for their Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit. My suspicion is the name “Shanghai” was not chosen idly. It may be that China is reminding the United States of the practice of tricking or forcing sailors to serve on merchant ships sailing to Shanghai in the 1800’s as was often done by American, British and French merchants. Perhaps it is meant as an otherwise inscrutable warning to America to butt out of Ukraine and Taiwan.

As for me, I think Pelosi or anyone else ought to have the right to visit Taiwan and, I think, Ukraine’s territorial integrity should be respected. Of course, I find it difficult to analyze the motivations of China, Russia or even my own country when it comes to engagement in foreign wars unless one is attacked. It seems to me our Constitution’s provision for military defense, not offense, makes sense. But then I am not in charge of our foreign policy. If I had been, Viet Nam, Iraq and Afghanistan might have unfolded differently and maybe Ukraine and Taiwan too. Those are matters our elected leaders are much more informed upon, I hope.