2008.02.28: February 28, 2008: Headlines: Vaughn: Speaking Out: Expansion: Election2008: Tucson Citizen: Jack Vaughn writes: At the very time people are beginning to ask the tired old question of whatever happened to the Peace Corps, the agency has become the model for crafting all the new presidential platforms
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2008.02.28: February 28, 2008: Headlines: Vaughn: Speaking Out: Expansion: Election2008: Tucson Citizen: Jack Vaughn writes: At the very time people are beginning to ask the tired old question of whatever happened to the Peace Corps, the agency has become the model for crafting all the new presidential platforms
Jack Vaughn writes: At the very time people are beginning to ask the tired old question of whatever happened to the Peace Corps, the agency has become the model for crafting all the new presidential platforms
What the Peace Corps set out as its goals in 1961 coincides almost exactly with what most of our presidential candidates in 2008 have promised to seek at home, e.g. bringing real change, better health care, improved environmental protection, peace by means other than bludgeoning, burnishing the U.S. image abroad (an area in which the Peace Corps has no rival), promoting nonpartisan solutions, better education at all levels, with a major focus on helping the poor and disadvantaged. As gratifying as it is for us old Peace Corps types to see our presidential candidates getting real about what the world needs now, a very significant question remains. Literally every Peace Corps volunteer comes home recognizing he or she got more than they gave, learned more than they taught and were changed for the good forever. Question: Is there a chance our next president, having talked the Peace Corps talk so faithfully and so long, will be able to stay real and walk the Peace Corps walk (while increasing the Peace Corps budget)?
Jack Vaughn writes: At the very time people are beginning to ask the tired old question of whatever happened to the Peace Corps, the agency has become the model for crafting all the new presidential platforms
Guest Opinion: Finally, candidates 'discover' Peace Corps
JACK H. VAUGHN
Tucson Citizen
After nearly half a century of staying out of politics, partly by intent but mostly by law, the Peace Corps now is on the verge of political greatness - or at least bipartisan flattery.
The Peace Corps observes its 47th anniversary Saturday.
And as with so many other Peace Corps triumphs over the years, this latest political achievement was reached through coincidence.
During my six years in the Peace Corps, I can recall but one other instance where political flirtation raised its pretty head.
It came after a senior staff meeting to which I had invited Republican senatorial icon Barry Goldwater.
After serious questioning on what Kennedy's new agency was all about, Arizona's Goldwater swore that the Peace Corps embodied virtually every one of the most noble aspects and values of the Republican Party.
As far as I know, broadcasting Barry's bias was the only political moment in the Peace Corps - at least during its controversial and glory years of the '60s.
But now the change. Peace Corps inferences which can be drawn from current presidential campaigns are startling.
At the very time people are beginning to ask the tired old question of whatever happened to the Peace Corps, the agency has become the model for crafting all the new presidential platforms.
What the Peace Corps set out as its goals in 1961 coincides almost exactly with what most of our presidential candidates in 2008 have promised to seek at home, e.g. bringing real change, better health care, improved environmental protection, peace by means other than bludgeoning, burnishing the U.S. image abroad (an area in which the Peace Corps has no rival), promoting nonpartisan solutions, better education at all levels, with a major focus on helping the poor and disadvantaged.
As gratifying as it is for us old Peace Corps types to see our presidential candidates getting real about what the world needs now, a very significant question remains.
Literally every Peace Corps volunteer comes home recognizing he or she got more than they gave, learned more than they taught and were changed for the good forever.
Question: Is there a chance our next president, having talked the Peace Corps talk so faithfully and so long, will be able to stay real and walk the Peace Corps walk (while increasing the Peace Corps budget)?
Tucsonan Jack H. Vaughn directed the Peace Corps 1966-69, after stints as a professional boxer, boxing coach and U.S. Marine in World War II combat. He also was ambassador to Panama and Colombia, president of Planned Parenthood and an assistant secretary of state.
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Headlines: February, 2008; Jack Vaughn; Speaking Out; Expansion; Election 2008
When this story was posted in February 2008, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Dodd vows to filibuster Surveillance Act Senator Chris Dodd vowed to filibuster the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that would grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that helped this administration violate the civil liberties of Americans. "It is time to say: No more. No more trampling on our Constitution. No more excusing those who violate the rule of law. These are fundamental, basic, eternal principles. They have been around, some of them, for as long as the Magna Carta. They are enduring. What they are not is temporary. And what we do not do in a time where our country is at risk is abandon them." |
| What is the greatest threat facing us now? "People will say it's terrorism. But are there any terrorists in the world who can change the American way of life or our political system? No. Can they knock down a building? Yes. Can they kill somebody? Yes. But can they change us? No. Only we can change ourselves. So what is the great threat we are facing? I would approach this differently, in almost Marshall-like terms. What are the great opportunities out there - ones that we can take advantage of?" Read more. |
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Story Source: Tucson Citizen
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Vaughn; Speaking Out; Expansion; Election2008
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