OntheWilderSide

If peace had been a focal point for either of the major party Presidential candidates, one might expect the Daily Peace Culture Index for the US to climb in the days surrounding the election. The Peace Index measures how much discussion there is in the United States relating to peace and nonviolence. Instead, the DPCIUS/PAXi numbers have been slowly sinking. For today — the day after the election — the index fell one point, to 153.

Here are some Peace Index figures:

Nov 1, 2012 PAXi: 177
Nov 2, 2012 PAXi: 161
Nov 3, 2012 PAXi: 155
Nov 4, 2012 PAXi: 154
Nov 5, 2012 PAXi: 154
Nov 6, 2012 PAXi: 154 [Election Day for USA]
Nov 7, 2012 PAXi: 153
Nov 8, 2012 PAXi: 154

Nov 9, 2012 PAXi: 154
Nov 10, 2012 PAXi:155

It was heartening to see peace make a good impact on some election numbers. Peace helped achieve a high vote tally for Green Party candidate, Ursula Rozum.  Rozum ran for Congress in the 26th District of New York State. “Peace” and “Antiwar” have been featured on the front page of her website. Of all the 2012 New York State Green Party Congressional candidates, Ursula Rozum  had the highest total. Many Green Party Congressional candidates in New York, and around the country, received only about 1% of the vote. Ursula Rozum received 7.9% of the vote in her race. That vote tally is a good sign for peace!

Socialist Webzine published a story about what activists can do now that President Obama has been re-elected. The story has an excellent section about war and peace related to the Obama administration: “Obama Re-elected: The Fightback Begins“.

A second Obama term will also mean more of the same for foreign policy. Far from advancing a peace agenda, the Obama administration had intensified aspects of the military aggression in the Middle East initiated by George W. Bush and has, in some cases, accelerated the erosion of civil rights.  The two symbols of this militaristic approach are the homicidal drone bombing campaign that Obama has personally overseen and Private Bradley Manning who currently sits in a military detention facility.  The drones demonstrate that even if Obama slightly reduces the military budget, he will remain committed to using the military industrial complex as a tool to enforce American global interests even if this violates international human rights.  Manning is Obama’s prisoner – a brave whistle blower who refused to comply with criminal military aggression.  He stands as a permanent symbol of Obama’s war on civil rights and his case should be a point of struggle for left-wing activists. – Billy Wharton, Socialist Webzine

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Filed under: 3rd party, activism, Anti-War, Election 2012, Green Party, News, nonviolence, Peace, politics, progressive politics, third party, US Politics, war Tagged: | 2012 Election impact, 2012 Election Opinion, 2012 Election Results, Bradley Manning, drones, elections and peace, Green Party candidates, Green Party Congressional candidates, Obama and peace, PAXi, peace as an election issue, Ursula Rozum