Donald J. Trump wants to rename the "Defense Department." He wants to call it the "War Department." Of course, as is his wont, our current president is not suggesting that the Congress take action to rename the Defense Department. He continues to believe that what HE thinks, and what HE wants to do, is the only thing that actually matters, when it comes to issues of national policy. If you regularly follow what I write, you have heard me on that topic before. Our current president is egregiously out of touch with how our country is supposed to be run, presuming that the Constitution continues to have any impact on that.
Having read about our current president's renaming suggestion, I can't help wonder what my mother would think. On October 9, 2014, in one of my very earliest blog postings, I commented on what my mother thought about renaming the "War Department" as the "Defense Department." My blog posting was titled, "A Word From My Mother." She was not in favor of changing the name from the "War Department" to the "Defense Department." That change happened in 1949, and the action was not taken unilaterally by President Truman, who suggested this change. The change was made by the Congres, as is the proper way to do things in what we often refer to as our "Democracy."
Why didn't my mother like that 1949 name change? You can read my earlier blog posting - or this one - for a discussion of her views; suffice it to say that my mother thought that the change was intended to deceive the public. Let's not try to fool anyone else - and certainly not ourselves! The so-called "Defense Department," my mother was quite clear, was really a "War Department," and renaming it was just a way to try to put some "shine on the shit," to use an expression that my mother would never have employed herself.
So, what would my mother say about our current president's idea to be a bit more forthcoming about what our "Defense Department" is actually all about? Click here for Heather Cox Richardson's take.
In fact, I am truly not sure what my Mom would think.
As much as I applauded my Mom's position on the renaming of the "War Department" as the "Defense Department," agreeing with her view that is was a disingenuous effort to.... (I won't reuse that phrase she would never have used; presumably you still remember it). Despite my Mom's earlier opinion, I am not certain that my Mom would applaud our current president's renaming idea.
If our current president wants to convey his particular view - that we should be clear that the United States is not going to be satisfied with merely "defending" itself against potentially hostile actions by other nations, and that we fully intend, as a nation, to bully every other nation in the world to do what we want, the name change back to the "War Department" has a certain honesty to it. However, the names we use for things are not only "definitional," but are, sometimes, "aspirational."
So, what is the message we want to send to the world, and especially right now, as other nations seem to be gearing up for a full-scale military confrontation with the United States?
First, to be clear, the Congress, representing all of us, is who ought to be debating this issue, and making decisions. Second, I think we should be thinking more along the lines of renaming what is really our "War Department" into (let's go for it) a "Peace Department." We ought to be mobilizing our talents and wealth to help eliminate war and conflict, everywhere we can. We actually did start a discussion that could have led in this direction, back before our then-president was assassinated.
The "Peace Corps." Remember that? If names can be aspirational, I would like to start aspiring for "Peace," not "War."
As I say, despite her earlier strong feelings on the subject, I think my Mom would agree!
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