"Peace" as a Theme for the Convention?

I recently received an email update from the Republican National Convention announcing the convention's themes to be Service, Reform, Prosperity, and Peace.

Wait a minute...(sound of tires screeching to a halt)...Peace? As a theme of the Republican National Convention? Where we'll be "nominating" John "bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" McCain?

I wish I could be pleasantly surprised at such a development. But instead I find myself feeling disgusted that such a noble, righteous concept as peace could be so disgraced by the war-starved neocons who control the Republican Party.

We can debate about the various merits and detriments of particular wars and conflicts, but one thing should be logically and morally clear: one cannot advocate peace and aggressive "preventive" war at the same time; they are mutually exclusive concepts. Peace can never be achieved by the means of violence, just as honesty cannot be achieved by the means of deception, and love cannot be achieved by the means of hate. So what's it going to be fellow Republicans?

It amazes me the extent to which people are willing to deceive themselves. Do the organizing directors of the convention really believe in "peace" being a theme of the Republicans' 2008 campaign? Or have they just astutely co-opted the concept after seeing the passionate response to Ron Paul's anti-war platform among disaffected Republican voters? It sickens me to think about all the cheering we're going to hear at the convention when our leaders advocate continuing foreign war and domestic rights violations in the supposed pursuit of "freedom", "security", and "peace."

The one bright spot I see in "Peace" being a convention theme is that it shows that if we the people will care enough to make some noise over important issues, our leaders at some point must listen and adhere to our wishes, even if it is only for political expediency. And hopefully it gives delegates like me and other Revolution Roadtrippers more of a chance to talk about what peace really means, and how we'll never have freedom and prosperity without it.