Archbishop Oscar Romero

I live by this, and all my students know this is the guiding principle to which I adhere.

If you're not familiar with Oscar Romero, maybe get that fixed.

Alice Cooper

 

I don’t expect anyone to “like” this. I don’t expect anyone to even like this. I just wanted it on my blog.

This is a performance by Alice Cooper in 1981 on the Tom Snyder Show. It is Alice at not only a career low point, but he is also battling severe (and I mean severe) alcoholism. He was a wreck at this point—in both departments. He put out about half a dozen albums from the late Seventies to the early Eighties. How? I have no idea.

I happened upon this clip by chance. I am a huge fan of Alice Cooper, and have been since about age 14. But this period always left me at a loss.

I watched the interview; he’s likable and funny as usual. So I watched one of the performances—this one—and it’s from an album that is not great. Yet, I watched it anyway. Then again. Then again.

I have probably watched the first two and a half minutes about 30-40 times. The facial expressions, the little vocal details. The studio version of the song—“Who Do You Think We Are?”—is a snore. But this live version is outstanding.

He must have felt awful. But it does not show in the interview or the performance. This is a case of Gregory sees something wonderful. (I can’t help what I see and hear.) But just maybe you’ll like it. Please let me know if you do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7LoKr9EyyI

One Year of the Inquiry

Public Opinion on Iran

Well, this is not terribly surprising. A healthy majority of Americans disagree with what is happening. It’s at least always 60 percent. Yet, Americans vote contrary to their interests. They feel one way, then they go to the polls leaving their thoughts and feelings at home. Most curious.

As for Iran, if they weren’t developing a nuclear weapon before—and there’s nothing to suggest they were—I would imagine they are now.

If you voted for the current administration, you voted for this. But some will say, “He promised he would not do this! He even criticized Obama for maybe thinking about it!” Yes, and he’s shown himself time and again to be a man of integrity?

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/02/politics/cnn-poll-59-of-americans-disapprove-of-iran-strikes-and-most-think-a-long-term-conflict-is-likely

Episode 19: Islam

Well, it’s been recorded. Finally. I think it turned out pretty well. It needs a lot of editing—poor Logan—but I think I covered everything I intended to cover regarding Islam and the Arabs. I prepped a good deal, but did not rehearse. So, it’s organically conversational—warts and all.

The next episode will have a relatively quick turnaround. I will simply be sharing my personal thoughts on religion.

And on March 7 the Inquiry turns one year old. My, my.

US Foreign Policy—20 Points

1. Power exists.

2. Power is “the ability to do something or act in a particular way.” It can also mean “a state or country, especially one viewed in terms of its international influence and military strength.”

3. After 1945 (WWII), the United States was the most powerful country in the world.

4. Its moment had arrived, and its expansionist tendencies could now be globalized.

5. Part of being the most powerful country in the world is to make sure other countries cooperate—especially small ones. Lack of cooperation will not be tolerated.

6. The US-Soviet contest, called the Cold War, was largely theater. The Soviet Union was in a distant second place.

7. Most of what you have seen in the movies is categorical nonsense.

8. Now that the United States had its villain, Uncle Sam could blame everything on Moscow and chalk it up to “national security.”

9. As of the 1950s, the Middle East became a place of great interest, largely due to its vast oil reserves. Oil is no longer a huge issue; weapons are the name of the game now.

10. The same intolerance for democracy is currently in place. It is and has been known the people of the Middle East would never like this arrangement. Too bad. Thugs are sponsored as leaders in the region—as they were under British-French colonialism. But the United States is in charge.

11. There is one country in the region that seemed aggressive and willing to do Uncle Sam’s bidding: Israel.

12. Israel is a mostly artificial country (well, they all are, but Israel more so) that up until recent decades was economically unviable. It excels at things like ethnic cleansing and attacking its neighbors, but as a nation state it is small and rather insignificant.

13. Israel’s GDP is just under Michigan’s—around $550 billion.

14. The United States has a GDP of $30 trillion.

15. The United States is the most powerful military power in human history.

16. It takes orders from nobody.

17. “Deterrence” and “credibility” are concepts in US foreign policy, which means Uncle Sam smashes a small country occasionally, merely to keep smaller states in line.

18. The Israel lobby, while influential, is merely pushing in the direction Uncle Sam is headed already. Does a mafia don need to be influenced that crime is the best option? (Does a country the economic size of Michigan push around a country over 50 times its size?)

19. Iran is a case of a country not cooperating (since 1979) and it has always aroused Uncle Sam’s wrath.

20. The trajectory of US foreign policy can be traced back to the country’s beginnings, and what we’re seeing with Iran is wholly unsurprising. The only surprising thing is the population always falls for this and always supports it.

Attacks on Iran

Out of all the articles I have read on the recent US-Israeli operations in Iran, this paragraph from the New York Times I found most interesting:

“Representative Marlin Stutzman, Republican of Indiana, argued [against Trump critics] that Mr. Trump’s attack on Iran would head off a worse threat down the road and pave the way for a new Middle East that would be friendlier to the United States. ‘To those who say, “Well, President Trump said he wasn’t going to take us into any wars,” he’s keeping us out of wars in the long run,’ he said on CNN.”

The paragraph of course echoes what American leaders have been saying for many years: Iran is a terrible threat to Americans and the world. It is not. Iran, except for recent tit-for-tat attacks with Israel, has never attacked a neighbor in the modern period. Its leadership has been judged by US and Israeli intelligence as being “rational actors.” Furthermore, while Iran does enrich uranium at high levels, there is no reported evidence that they are developing a nuclear weapon.

The representative from Indiana then says, ‘“To those who say, ‘Well, President Trump said he wasn’t going to take us into any wars,’ he’s keeping us out of wars in the long run.” In other words: war is peace.

Anyone who has read George Orwell’s novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, will be familiar with the phrase. Orwell was exposing a contradictory way of messaging employed by political leaders. Representative Stutzman just used it presumably with a straight face.

It is common for US presidents to acquire a taste for deploying military power. Obama racked up a body count with his drone program. Biden conducted attacks in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. Bush II oversaw one of the worst atrocities of the twenty-first century. It goes on and on.

Americans and Israelis share much in common. One of the things they share is they welcome violent men to run their countries.

This violence did not have to happen. It is a war of choice. The current occupant of the White House has acquired the taste. His supporters will defend anything he does; and they will say things like “war is peace.”

Seeing as though his approval rating is down in the upper-30s, it might be nice for the majority to make itself heard in November’s midterm elections.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/28/us/politics/trump-peace-president-war.html