For about two weeks this January, poverty was recognized as a serious problem in this amazingly rich but unequal country, as we observed the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty.

In his State of the Union address on January 8, 1964, President Lyndon Baines Johnson said:

Unfortunately, many Americans live on the outskirts of hope -- some because of their poverty, and some because of their color, and all too many because of both. Our task is to help replace their despair with opportunity. This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America.

When you look at the full text of the speech, it is clear that LBJ believed that poverty could be eradicated, not just reduced. In fact, he states unequivocally that “we shall not rest until this war is won.” State of the Union addresses are obviously political statements, and I am sure that many – especially those on the Right – will challenge LBJ’s sincerity. What else

With the official disinvitation of Iran from Geneva II, the peace conference regarding Syria set to begin this week, proceedings can go forward uninterrupted. Considered a hindrance to the peace process, the UN withdrew Iran’s invitation because Iran refused to agree to Bashar Assad’s removal as an ultimate precondition (specifically including a “transitional” power to supplant Assad until a new government is established.) As the Syrian regime’s largest proxy in the war effort Iran could be expected to maintain this hard line position. Those involved in the Geneva II negotiations figured, then, that Iran’s presence would symbolize anything but peace in Syria.

But, while the UN is issuing loyalty tests to major players involved in the Syrian crisis, perhaps the United States should look inward on its role in the conflict. After all, if Iran can be excused from Geneva II for failing to desire Assad’s exit from power then why is the U.S. going in the first place? Traveling through the recent history of America’s entanglement in Syria can be tricky and confusing, but episodes such as the Iranian peace conference exit add to the journey’s salience.

President Obama should know that his silence in regards to the military industrial complex is a betrayal of the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Rev. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 exactly one year after, to the day, he profoundly indicted U.S. militarism. Obama unleashed the same militarism in his so-called Afghanistan surge. King's Silence is Betrayal speech, given at Riverside Church in New York City on April 4, 1967, denounced a nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift. send comments

In the middle of the largest economic downturn since the Great Depression, the lack of a Green New Deal and jobs programs that make the U.S. less energy dependent are leading to imperial folly in Central Asia. Obama's popularity erodes as he embraces the same militaristic policies that destroyed President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. As the architect of the War on Poverty, Michael Harrington, used to say, The War on Poverty was not lost in America, it was lost in the jungles of Vietnam.

On January 14, the Federal Appeals Court for the District of Columbia struck down a Communications Commission rule that guaranteed what is called “net neutrality.” The rule prohibited internet providers from blocking internet traffic to consumers based on content or bandwidth or charging consumers a greater fee to access content. The split decision by the court in favor of Verizon and MetroPCS had additional support in the form of briefs from right­wing lobbying groups and the conservative former Attorney General of Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli. Cuccinelli had filed friends of the court briefs to assist the appellants in their case. The court leaned heavily on a similar decision in 2010 in favor of ComCast, that prompted renewed rules prohibiting the blocking of internet traffic based on content.

Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism. ... A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies. – “A Time to Break Silence (Beyond Vietnam)” Dr. Martin Luther King, April 4, 1967.

This month, from Atlanta, GA, the King Center announced its "Choose Nonviolence" campaign, a call on people to incorporate the symbolism of bell-ringing into their Martin Luther King Holiday observance, as a means of showing their commitment to Dr. King's value of nonviolence in resolving terrible issues of inequality, discrimination and poverty here at home. The call was heard in Kabul, Afghanistan.