Obama and the Just War Doctrine

George WeigelWhen President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last October, many conservatives feared that the Nobel Committee had set a trap for the young President.  At the time, Obama was debating whether to increase troop levels in Afghanistan.  The thinking was that no leader could accept an award on the basis of bringing peace to the world, and then escalate an ongoing war.

However, to the surprise of many, President Obama not only increased troops in Afghanistan by 30,000, but he then made the case for the Afghan war directly to the Nobel Committee.  Indeed, the President made clear that some wars are not only unavoidable, but just.  “We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth: we will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes.  There will be times when nations – acting individually or in concert – will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.”

With this theme in mind, the Federalist Society and St. Thomas More Society are proud to bring Catholic theologian George Weigel to Marquette University Law School next week.  Mr. Weigel will deliver the 2010 St. Thomas More Lecture in Catholic Legal Thought, entitled “President Obama’s Nobel Speech: Death or Resurrection of the Just War Doctrine?”  The event will be held on Tuesday, January 26th at noon in Eisenberg Hall.  I hope you can attend what promises to be a thoughtful lecture on the salient and timeless controversy over the notion of just wars.

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Errors . . . By Politicians and Hall-of-Famers

HonusWagnerCardMassachusetts Attorney General and unsuccessful U.S. Senate candidate Martha Coakley’s error in labeling Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling a Yankee fan was reminiscent of the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s tenuous command of the world of baseball. Few can forget his famous statement in 1998: “It is a special pleasure for me to introduce our two home run kings for working families in America, Mike McGwire and Sammy Sooser of the White House. Its a pleasure to introduce them.”

It looks like the good Senator is still up to his old tricks. In his posthumously published autobiography, he writes about his grandfather Honey Fitz Fitzgerald, the one-time Boston mayor and congressman and big-time Red Sox fan at the 1903 World Series. On page 78 of “True Compass,” he observes:

“Tessie” may sound a little quaint to today’s ears, but Grandpa’s rendition of it was good enough to cause the great Pittsburgh third baseman Honus Wagner to commit three errors in one inning during a World Series game.

“Third baseman Honus Wagner”? Also, Wagner did not make three errors in one inning during the 1903 World Series. You would think that someone along the line would at least check this stuff.

Actually, there probably is a core of truth to Kennedy’s story. SS Wagner did make two errors in the sixth inning of game 5 of the World Series, which was played in Pittsburgh. A third error was made by Fred Clarke, who played LF. According to Roger Abrams’ wonderful book on the 1903 World Series, a group of 100 Red Sox fans, known as the Royal Rooters, did travel to Pittsburgh from Boston by train for the four World Series games in Pittsburgh. They also made “Tessie” their theme song and sang it repeatedly. A special version, to be sung when Wagner came to the plate, went:

Honus, why do you hit so badly?

Take a back seat and sit down.

Honus, at bat you look so sadly

Hey, why don’t you get out of town.

Then the Rooters would stomp their feet three times in unison shouting “Bang Bang Bang.”

And then one more: “Why don’t you get out of town?”

This could easily be adapted to cover bad plays in the field as well.

Honey Fitz was by all accounts a great fan of the Red Sox and even once tried to buy the team. Abrams doesnt mention him as one of the Royal Rooters, but he probably was.

Whether the singing by Fitzgerald or the Rooters more generally bothered Wagner is an open question, but he did commit a series-high six errors and batted a disappointing .222 with only one extra-base hit. He also struck out to end the series.

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Contract Rights Under Assault

Barack_Obama_pledges_help_for_small_businesses_3-16-09In 1789, as the inchoate American government was climbing out of the mountainous debt left over from the Revolutionary War, a thorny political problem emerged.  While most of the chattering class was consumed with the debate over whether the states’ war debt should be federalized, another far more visceral controversy arose.  Because the Continental Congress lacked funds during the war, the Revolution was funded partly by wealthy private citizens who invested in bonds.  As a result of the lack of governmental money, many American soldiers were given worthless IOUs at the end of the war, as states scampered for a way to give the patriots their back pay.  Many of these soldiers panicked, and sold their IOUs to speculators for as little as fifteen cents on the dollar.  The problem was, once the federal government began repaying the debt, the value of the bonds soared.  So who should get the money: the patriots who fought bravely for their country and only sold the IOUs because of fear they would get nothing from their government, or the speculators?

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