Tea and Vitriol

Tomorrow is Memorial Day in the USA. It is the unofficial start of summer, after which fashionistas can wear white shoes and white slacks until Labor Day without attracting the criticism from self-appointed arbiters of taste. It is a federal holiday, so all schools, government offices, courts and banks will be closed, and bully for all those employed in such fields. Most other businesses remain open, as are retail establishments, albeit with slightly shortened hours to "celebrate" the holiday. In my youth, when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, EVERYTHING was closed on Memorial Day to honor our fallen war dead, to give Americans the time to ponder its meaning and perhaps spare a thought or two about them. Yes, there will be parades tomorrow, attended by politicians seeking re-election, accompanied by their fan clubs wearing "Vote for so-and-so" t-shirts with which to indoctrinate the crowds of people watching and proving their "connection" to their constit...

  Today is Memorial Day. It is the unofficial start of summer, the culmination of a three-day weekend that usually features picnics where people overindulge in barbecued food and beer, parades and fireworks. But that is NOT what Memorial Day is all about. Memorial Day was set aside to honor the brave men and women who served our country in the armed forces to preserve our freedom and died in the process. Freedom is not free. Our service men and women in many cases paid the cost of freedom with their blood, sometimes making the supreme sacrifice: their lives for our country. We take those freedoms for granted on a daily basis. Some people, when they have run-ins with the law, claim that they now know what it is to live within a "police state," when it is patently clear that they know no such thing. A "police state" would never allow them to speak publicly in that manner. Among some people, it has been fashionable for a very long time to mock patriotism and the armed ...

  Tomorrow is Memorial Day. It is the unofficial start of summer, the culmination of a three day weekend that usually features picnics where people overindulge in barbecued food and beer, parades and fireworks. But that is NOT what Memorial Day is all about. Memorial Day was set aside to honor the brave men and women who served our country in the armed forces to preserve our freedom...and never made it home. Freedom is not free. Our service men and women in many cases paid the cost of freedom with their blood, sometimes making the supreme sacrifice: their lives for our country. We take those freedoms for granted on a daily basis. Some people, when they have run-ins with the law, claim that they now know what it is to live within a "police state," when it is patently clear that they know no such thing. A "police state" would never allow them to speak publicly in that manner. Among some people, it has been fashionable for a very long time to mock patriotism and the ar...