Wartime Memorial Day

So yesterday was Memorial Day in the US, a day for drinking beer and having barbecues. And, according to our commander-in-chief, a day for great deals on mattresses. I hope that everybody got a little tipsy, ate a little burger, and had a little fun. Not too much fun, though. It's Memorial Day, after all - a day when we pay tribute to and give thanks to the men and women who have died in battle for the sake of the good ol' US of A.

I remember learning "In Flanders Fields" in the 5th grade, I think to recite it in front of the class for a grade. At the time, it was pretty much just a bunch of words, their collective meaning a bit beyond my comprehension. If I remember correctly, and I'll try this without cutting and pasting, it goes like this:

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow between the crosses row on row that mark our place. And in the sky, the lark, still bravely singing, flies, scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead. Short days ago, we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders Fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe, to you from failing hands we throw the torch. Be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders Fields.

I think that's pretty close, though I probably mixed up a preposition or two. You can grade me, if you like, here. I think it's a beautiful poem, and am proud that it still remains in my noggin after all those beers. I am especially fond of the beginning. Because about half way through, things get a little bit dark, beginning with the line "We are the dead." Go figure. And then comes the guilt aspect - the If you don't keep on killing the bad guys, our souls will never rest stuff. Thanks. No pressure there. But what happens when your loss of life is based on lies, deception and ignorance? Will you be able to sleep then?

I was listening to Amy Goodman interviewing Major General John Batiste a couple days ago on Democracy Now! in regards to his being fired by CBS for criticizing the Bush administration in a commercial for the group VoteVets.org. Here's that vid:

I very much respect Batiste's decision to leave the military and then take steps to make sure that his concerns about how the Iraq war has been mishandled by the Bush administration are made public. I particularly like when he drives home the point that "none of us should be too happy with the way our congressional and executive branch of government have been conducting themselves since 2001." A life-long republican, a military man, and a believer in the concept of war, the fact that he has gone on record saying that the war in Iraq has been and is being waged without a proper strategy should ring a few bells. Unfortunately, the stubborn bell that really needs ringing is so surrounded by "like-minded and compliant subordinates" (to borrow Batiste's words) that he'll never get the message.

Batiste mentioned in the interview that Memorial Day is not a time to debate the war in Iraq, not a time for democrats and republicans to fight. It is a time, he says, to remember the American soldiers who have died for their country. So I waited until the day after to post this. At the same time that I agree with what Batiste is saying, and understand the concept of Memorial Day, I think that it is the perfect time for people to question the war in Iraq and to demand accountability for the American and Iraqi lives that are being lost every day. Essentially, Memorial Day represents a list of dead soldiers, Americans who died fighting for something that their country believed in, our they believed in, or both. And seeing that Memorial Day list of dead soldiers continue to grow for no justifiable reason is painful.

I think occasionally about how Clinton was impeached by Congress for lying about getting a hummer from Monica Lewinsky. Acquitted in the Senate, sure, but forced to go through all that impeachment stuff nonetheless because he lied about a blow job. George W. Bush and his krazy krew have managed to get America into another Vietnam, into an onslaught that has taken the names of 3,455 men and women (to date) and added them to the Memorial Day list. I guess all of this means that lying about a blow job is a much more serious offense than indirectly causing the deaths of 3,455 men and women by misleading the American (and global) population. Proof that while oral sex may be damaging to your career, poor leadership isn't. Who knew.

Tags:
* comedy * humor * funny * silly * politics * president * george bush * republican * democrat * conservative * liberal * congress * Memorial Day * beer * mattresses * burger * USA * Flanders Fields * dead * Amy Goodman * John Batiste * Democracy Now! * VoteVets.org * Iraq * impeach * Clinto * Lewinski * blow job