Today is Memorial Day, a day when we honor men and women fallen in the service of their country.
Back when America was more of a piece, such a day was universal because of what
it meant. Oddly enough, the holiday itself started from division after
the Civil War, a conflict over 600,000 Americans never returned from.
Southern women, putting flowers on the graves of their fallen also
decided to decorate the graves of the fallen Union soldiers as well, and
the custom spread across the Mason-Dixon line. From such a
great,painful division came unity.
In America today, we are now in the midst of another great division. And
increasingly, we lack the common bonds of our ancestors.
Let's examine something.
At the present time, we have a volunteer military. What that means is
that some young men in our society made a choice to restrict their own
freedom and risk their lives to defend the rest of us.Increasingly,
there is a socioeconomic and geographical divide between those whom
chose to serve and those who don't. In the past, most Americans knew
someone who was serving or had served in our military...vets like Dad,
your uncle or grandpa, somebody's niece or nephew, the neighbors kid or
perhaps your own. That's no longer true.
The fact is, most self-styled progressives despise the sort of people
who serve in our military. Oh, they'll pay lip service to 'supporting
the troops' because, you know, it sounds patriotic and provides them a
fig leaf, but the attitude is fairly obvious. A few Memorial Days ago,
MSNBC host and Nation editor Chris Hayes had this to say
CHRIS HAYES: Thinking today and observing Memorial Day, that'll be
happening tomorrow. Just talked with Lt. Col. Steve Burke, who was a
casualty officer with the Marines and had to tell people [inaudible].
Um, I, I, ah, [Steve] Beck, sorry, um, I think it's interesting because I
think it is very difficult to talk about the war dead and the fallen
without invoking valor, without invoking the words "heroes." Um, and,
ah, ah, why do I feel so comfortable [sic] about the word "hero"? I feel
comfortable, ah, uncomfortable, about the word because it seems to me
that it is so rhetorically proximate to justifications for more war. Um,
and, I don't want to obviously desecrate or disrespect memory of anyone
that's fallen, and obviously there are individual circumstances in
which there is genuine, tremendous heroism: hail of gunfire, rescuing
fellow soldiers and things like that. But it seems to me that we marshal
this word in a way that is problematic. But maybe I'm wrong about that.
To people like Chris Hayes, the people that go into the military are suckers and dupes, and more than one
of his comrades on the left have shown that this is exactly how they
see it...especially when they think no one's listening too closely.
Chris Hayes isn't alone. And people like him don't understand this. Not
only don't most of them not know anyone who has ever served, but to
them, it seems like anyone who would volunteer for the military is
someone beneath them socially and intellectually,someone who had no
other option. Especially for patriotic motives, which they also think of
as borderline neanderthal. I mean, why would someone risk his life at
minimal pay for such a deeply flawed country like America if they were,
you know, smart?
Today, I saw photos of Bill and Hillary Clinton marching in a Memorial
Day parade in their home town Chautauqua, New York. Since Mrs. Clinton
and her friends are now preparing the ground for a 2020 run, I suppose
they though it made good optics, you know. A nice photo op.
Not so long ago, an Obama-appointed judge threw a lawsuit out of court against
Mrs. Clinton for willful negligence in the death of their sons by the
Benghazi families. Judge Amy Berman Jackson set aside their claims that
her use of an illegal private server to send confidential intel out
unprotected helped cause the death of their sons. Not to mention
ignoring repeated pleas for more security from Ambassador Stevens.
The judges verdict? That Mrs. Clinton's activities, even the clearly
illegal ones were, and I quote "that Secretary Clinton was acting in the
scope of her employment when she transmitted the emails that are
alleged to give rise to her liability,”
And here you have these people marching and smiling in a Memorial Day Parade.
President, Barack Obama actually attempted to charge our wounded warriors for the medical care they were receiving for free via the VA. He also used the were the Obama Department of Justice to disenfranchise military votes overseas during the 2010 midterms.
And he further showed his feelings about the kind of people whom serve in our military by using dead military bodies being flown back to American soil as a political photo-op in defiance of Department of Defense regulations,the wishes of the families and simple common decency.
Yet in spite of all that, we still breed men here in America who answer
the call of freedom. They understand something far more important than
the contempt of the elites, and the smug platitudes uttered on this day.
It is these men and women who define patriotism.
They knew that our beloved republic is worth fighting, and sometimes
dying for. They put their lives on the line for our homeland. And they
know how much many of us honor their bravery and sacrifice, even if it's
s simple gesture like flowers on a grave. They showed up and gave
their all. That's what we really honor on Memorial Day. And recent
events may signify that we have indeed turned the corner as a nation,
back towards the values we once held in common.
Those heroes, dead and alive will live forever in our hearts and always
have our deepest gratitude and respect. The Chris Hayses, and their
ilk never will.
I hardly respect such creatures as Americans.