State of Our Union

My friend, Ari Sonnenberg, is a multiple-tour Iraq veteran who paints his view of the world after 14.5 years in the Army. He left the military at the same rank as SFC Cory Remsburg who sat next to the First Lady yesterday at the State of the Union address. Without question, SFC Remsburg, survivor of a roadside bomb explosion in Afghanistan, deserved and received the longest and loudest round of applause from members of Congress and those in the gallery. I thought of Ari and his sacrifices during the clapping. His painting of the American flag with bullets and skeletons says much about the horrors of war. The President said the right words last night:

‘But I will not send our troops into harm’s way unless it is truly necessary, nor will I allow our sons and daughters to be mired in open-ended conflicts. We must fight the battles — (applause) — that need to be fought, not those that terrorists prefer from us — large-scale deployments that drain our strength and may ultimately feed extremism.”

It’s all about how we define “truly necessary” and Ari’s flag is a reminder that “necessary” has been a misused weapon in the past.