Will she run or won't she? Sarah Palin is still keeping people guessing.

At the Iowa Tea Party's September 3rd Restoring America rally, about 2,000 people braved the rain to hear former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin speak. She sharply lashed out at President Obama and at "more of the same." Her fans cheered, intermittently shouting out for her to "Run, Sarah, run."

I asked Judd Saul, the Tea Party of America media relations representative, about the lower than expected turnout. "It wasn't the rain that kept folks away, it was activist Peter Singleton, who spread rumors the rally in Indianola, Iowa, had been canceled. Emails and blogs stated Palin would be a no show at the event. It came down to the Tea Party vs. Sarah Palin's party, that was unhappy with this event because they lacked control." Other rumors claimed that Christine O’Donnell invited herself to the rally and was told she was welcome. In fact, O’Donnell was disinvited because the Palin camp didn't want to share the venue with her.

At Strong America Now's tent, tee shirts were given to those who signed a petition calling on candidates to take a Tea Party fiscal responsibility training class if they wanted to be endorsed by the Tea Party. From various voices in the crowd: "The only hot air coming out of the plant is from Al Gore's ass," "Vegetarians are whimps because they don't have to hunt down the prey" and "Democrats are ruining the country by taking god out of everything." According to one woman's tee shirt. "If you love guns, babies and Palin, the Tea Party is for you,"

After Palin's made her speech, she mixed with the crowd, holding babies, hugging supporters, signing books, tee shirts and whatever else was passed her way. Up next for Palin, New Hampshire, where her appearance raises further questions as to whether or not she'll run for President in 2012.

Today's Crusades

I made more preparations for my trip today, though it was hard to concentrate, since there is a major construction project involving masonry going on where I am staying.  

I left the racket the workers were making behind, and headed out into a grey humid day. Daffodils along the bike path made up for the lack of sunshine. I got a second dose of spring on my return trip, while riding through a stretch of blossoming cherry trees, giving me a momentary hallucination that I was in Kyoto, though in reality I was next to the West Side Highway 

Yesterday I saw a film that will be released next week. "Constantine's Sword" a film by Errol Morris featuring  James Carroll as the narrator and screen writer. The film is a combination of his biography and his book about Constantine's Sword, A history of the crusades. I am a fan of James Carroll's writing and thinking, (I read his articles that are often in the Boston Globe at commomdreams.org, a site that posts alternative news from different media outlets) and though I don't think this film is very good (music too schmaltzy, too many obvious establishing shots; the film overall needed a tighter edit) it was a great film to watch all the same.  Carroll put the war on terror in context by reminding me Bush had proclaimed the war on terror to be a crusade. Terminology his PR people had to spin shortly after Bush addressed the nation the day the invasion of Afghanistan began. Bush's proclamation that we had embarked on a new crusade eerily reverberated through the screening room. 

The film is a history lesson on the persecution of the Jews over the last two thousand years and the how the church has been complicit in disotrorting  historic facts that have fueled anti-Semitism. Carroll shows how racism feeds the  fanaticism that threatens the world today- and warns of the danger that comes about when military power and religious fervor are joined together. 

When it comes to war, there is a litany of justifications for murder and other brutal acts committed. I have always questioned the idea of killing in the name of god. This film draws parallels to what is going on today and the crusades, which were full of state/church sanctioned mass murder.  I wonder, if god take sides in war and if he/she really gives people permission to kill.