The yearly holiday which memorializes the fallen warriors of wars past and present, is always a touching time for me. Sunday, PBS broadcast live, the hour and a half Memorial Day program from Washington D.C. I am sure it will be on A&E with commercials for two hours. The show was masterfully produced, and other than wanting to shoot the boob who was on the audio board a couple of times, it was a television masterpiece. Many times, tears were running down my cheek, and I tried hard not to cry, so emotional was it, or am I, take your choice. I am a dyed in the wool sucker for anything patriotic, red, white, and blue, or brass bands. The entertainment featured color guards, Army Ceremonial Trumpets, the National Symphony Orchestra, and numerous superb singers. Probably the most emotional highlight was the appearance of 85 year old Charles Durning, who is a WWII multi-decorated hero. Either that sequence, or the one where a soldier gave his life for a buddy with professional actors acting the parts, and then switching to the live persons in the audience. The entire program and performances were absolutely wonderful.
While the show was progressing, I kept saying to myself, “Why?” “Why did we go to Korea? Why did we go to Vietnam? Why are we in Iraq and Afghanistan ? Why, Why, Why?” The dead, wounded, and brave, are to be memorialized forever, and I am flying my flag on Monday, as I write this. America is the only place I would ever want to live. We are taking a cruise down the west side of Mexico next week, (my son will hold the fort down, first number on the web site), and Mexico’s weather might well be envied, but not the Mexican prosperity, freedom, and government. We will have a good time on the Royal Caribbean ship I am certain, and probably gain five pounds, but when we get back to the US, I’ll probably want to kiss the soil.
The PBS broadcast ended with a rousing singing of God Bless America, and I fervently believe that God did bless America, at least in times past, and certainly at its founding. Is God Blessing America now, with dollars falling out of bed, the stock market on the verge of crashing, and a billion or more of the earth’s population hating us for invading nations which did nothing to us? Was it God’s idea for us to kill millions in Korea and Vietnam? When I see a WW II vet, I always want to hug him and say ’thanks,’ and I literally do just that. At our church is a 91 year old gal, who is the epitome of sweetness. She was a WW II Wave. The injured and deceased Korean, Vietnamese, Iraq, and Afghanistan vets are brave, and I salute them, but were they, and are they indeed ’fighting for our freedoms’ as the show said more than once? Would we be less free, or more free, if we had never indulged in these wars? Would we be more prosperous if we had stayed home and let them fight their own wars? I think the answer is yes. Would out dollar be worth something if we had not gone to Korea, Vietnam, and the current mess in Iraq and Afghanistan? Yes. If our dollar had not fallen as a result of these wars, would we still be making what we consume, and still have a vibrant manufacturing economy? Yes. If we had not gone to war in these four places, would we still have 50 cent a gallon gasoline? I am certain of it. Would there be hundreds of thousands of Americans alive today, had we not gone to those foreign, pointless, wars? Yes.
Washington DC is a haven of utter stupidity, corruption, and self serving, without equal in current history, and the wars they got us into were absurd, costly, and degrading; but when it comes time to memorialize those brave ones who fought and are fighting them, I’ll fly my flag anytime, and salute them for their courage and bravery.
Do we now have someone we can vote for in the now Libertarian, former Republican, Bob Barr? I think so. It is never a ’wasted vote,’ to vote for someone who stands for what you believe in, regardless of party, or whether he or she loses or wins. Your vote should be an expression of your feelings, not the ’lesser of two evils.’ Now, (Wednesday morning), the former Bush press secretary is telling it all and just how rotten the whole Iraq affair really is. I’m certain that the families of the deceased and injured are proud of Bush, and the D.C. Gang.