Its pretty bad when an organization makes even the KKK look decent. It appears that the KKK even came out to protest Westboro Baptist Church’s intrusion into the Memorial Day observance at Arlington National Cemetery.
Westboro has even grossed out the KKK. That’s when you know you are just VILE.
The KKK was cordoned off from the other protesters who were there to support the troops on this Memorial Day.
Full story at CNN.com
Not much happening around here.
Thursday night I emailed our friend George Harris, remembering his wonderful essay last year, and asked him if he would honor us with another essay for this Memorial Day, 2011. He said yes. Thank you, George.
Guest Post: George S. Harris
Memorial Day, 2011
As we approach another Memorial Day, it has dawned on me that time has flown by so swiftly. It seems only yesterday that I was a young barely 18 year old from a small town in Oklahoma and I was sitting in a room in the Navy Recruiting Station in Kansas City, Mo. We were being addressed by a Navy officer whose rank I no longer remember, but the one thing that has stayed with me all these years was this comment, “They say we are involved in a police action in Korea but I have to tell you that one hell of a lot of cops are being killed.”
I don’t know why that has stayed with me but it has. Come August 30 of this year it will be 60 years since I raised my right hand and swore to, “…defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.” And in those six decades, you and I have seen many, “…cops being killed.”
Memorial Day came into being shortly after the Civil War in order to honor those who gave the last full measure during this war of brother against brother and father against son. Although we now think of it more as a weekend of picnics, hamburgers, cold beer and mega-sales, we should never forget that its purpose was to honor those who gave everything to insure that those who are celebrating today have the freedom to do so.
In a few weeks we will celebrate the sesquicentennial of the first Battle of Manassas or the Battle of Bull Run. In the intervening 150 years, 1,248,089 young Americans have died in the service of their country. That’s almost one life per hour for all these years. Some who read these meager words have witnessed this terrible loss of life and others can only imagine what it must be like to see life’s light fade from the eyes of a friend. It is difficult to think that in a single minute the life of the person you have shared so much with in combat is gone in a flash—the crack of a rifle, the explosion of a mortar or artillery shell or the terrifying blast of an improvised explosive device and another sacrifice is laid on the altar of the God of War.
Fifty years ago, Pete Seeger wrote a song entitled, “Where Have all The Flowers Gone.” One of the verses of this song seems fitting for this day of remembrance:
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
To all those who have gone before, let us remember how much they gave and how much we have received.
Captain Harris served in the Korean War and Vietnam.
See his other comments about Memorial Day on Moonhowlings.
A good video needs no words–
Rolling Thunder began in 1987 to rally for MIAs and POWs to be returned home. It has become an annual event each Memorial Day.
I came of age during the Vietnam War. It is wonderful to see the country united with this annual event. No one really gets into ‘which side’ people were on.
I get tickled over people who didn’t grow up during this time who automatically believe that all Vietnam Vets have at some point in time been spat on. I know plenty who weren’t. Not all of us were ‘hippies,’ whatever that meant. Not all of us were drug addicts or rolled in the mud naked.
But I digress….
ROAR on Rolling Thunder!!!
Virginia has a long Memorial Day past and lots of war dead. Arlington National Cemetery is in Arlington, Virginia. The site of the Lee Mansion has been used as a national cemetery since the Civil War. Mrs. Lee left her plantation for obvious safety reasons, even though she was horribly crippled with arthrits and lived the life of a vagabond until the end of the war.
In the past decade, 233 Virginians have been killed in the war on terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq. 25 of those were killed just in the past year. On Thursday, Governor McDonnell and members of his administration gathered on the steps of the State Capital to pay tribute.
“This is the story of America,” McDonnell said. “When I think of what defines our country, it is sacrifice and it is freedom…Throughout our history, the price of liberty has always been American blood.”
Marlene Blackburn, left, who lost her son, U.S. Army Cpl. William Kyle Middleton, in Afghanistan, is comforted by her uncle Bob Galaspie at the service. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (Steve Helber – AP)
The names of all 233 were read aloud by members of different branches of the armed services. A Coast Guard helicopter performed a ceremonial fly-by in the capital city’s sky, and a bagpiper with the Virginia Department of Corrections played “Amazing Grace.”
To quote Mr. Howler, that one sure made my eyeballs sweat. Those are just things I forget about when thinking of people who might be struggling. Shame on me.
Do we have a local Meals on Wheels? Are they struggling? Is there one especially for veterans?
Thank you Rolling Thunder! I love that ROAR on Memorial Day.
Most Rolling Thunder vets beam when you thank them for their service.
Memorial Day Weekend is the annual Rolling Thunder weekend. Thousands of veterans on motorcycles come roaring in to the Washington, DC to let America know that they have not forgotten those who didn’t come home–first from Vietnam and now from other more recent wars. Crowds line the streets to cheer these warriors on.
Sarah Palin has ann0unced that she will be joining Rolling Thunder.
Tell me its not true. The Rolling Thunder website makes no mention of a Palin appearance.
This year, the annual bike tour – a Memorial Day weekend staple – will welcome Sarah Palin, who will use the event to kick off a Northeast bus tour, the New York Times reports.
It’s unclear whether or not Palin – the former governor of Alaska and vice-presidential candidate – will speak at the event.
Keep an eye out for her bus; it’s hard to miss. A blue monstrosity, it features the Constitution and the words “One Nation” on the side. A geographic interpretation of the United States in on the back of the bus (pretty much to scale, give or take Hawaii’s rather cozy relationshipwith California), with Palin information mixed in. On the bright side, it’s a step up from her last bus, which was really just a giant Sarah Palin billboard with wheels.
How dare she! In the first place, what does she have to do with Rolling Thunder? She obviously isn’t a Vietnam Vet. Was she invited to join them or did she intrude? For the rest of her trip, Palin won’t share where she is going or when she will be there. Why the secrecy?
Saints preserve us. Is this how she will ride into town?
All of this fanfare must be for only one reason–Presidential Run.
Is it ego or blind ambition or money that is motivating this woman?
Now where is that big blue monstrosity? It gets better. One Nation bus?
The weekend starts today. Over the Memorial Day Weekend I will be posting a number of articles, pictures, and videos to commemorate Memorial Day. Here is our first–The Homecoming for Robert Bayne. He gave all.
Calvin and Kenneth Bayne stood silently among Army officers, watching their brother’s remains transferred from a plane to a waiting hearse. Kenneth kept his hand on his heart. Calvin saluted and then walked directly to the flag-draped casket and kissed it.
The somber ceremony on a tarmac at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport offered the two men the first tangible contact with their older brother in more than 66 years. Pfc. Robert B. Bayne went missing in action in 1945 as he fought along the Rhine River near Mannheim, Germany. The Army officially identified his body in March of this year, largely spurred by the constant urging of the 83-year-old fraternal twins who were teens when the man they called “Buddy” enlisted.Read More
A man has been arrested in Madison, Wisconsin for plotting to kill abortion providers at Planned Parenthood. According to Little Green Footballs:
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Marshfield man who planned to kill abortion providers in Madison this week was thwarted on the eve of the intended attack when his gun accidentally fired in a motel room, leading to his arrest for reckless endangerment, according to a federal complaint filed Thursday.
BELGRADE (Reuters) – Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic was arrested in Serbia Thursday after years on the run from international genocide charges, opening the way for the once-pariah state to approach the European mainstream.
Mladic, accused of orchestrating the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the town of Srebrenica and a brutal 43-month siege of Sarajevo during Bosnia’s 1992-5 war, was found in a farmhouse owned by a cousin, a police official said.
Horrible tales of genocide have come out of the Bosnian Serb war. In fact, it was those stories and accompanying proof of genocide that prompted the world community to become involve in the on-going hostilities from that Balkan region.
Mladic was using an anagram of his own name and has been shown dancing in public in Serbia. He wasn’t all that hidden. Video footage from the Bosnian war show Mladic at his most malevolent. Hopefully the international war crimes tribunal will find him guilty and deal with him harshly. Many people in Serbia still see Mladic as a hero. Serbia has been blocked from joining the European Union because this war criminal has not been apprehended.
Hopefully, Colonel Morris Davis can keep us updated.
Ed talked smack about Laura Ingraham. Lost in all this is the hypocrisy of bitching about President Obama having a beer while in Ireland. So what. He was criticizing Ingraham for applauding Reagan for drinking beer in Europe and now Obama bashing for the same thing. Unfortunately, Ed went overboard and used called her ‘a right wing slut.’ That’s too bad. He made a good point up until that point.
Michelle Malkin, in her usual vituperative manner, called Schultz a cretin. I guess she didn’t watch Glee the other night. Would Ed have been in trouble for calling Ingraham ‘a right wing cretin?’ Regardless, gentlemen aren’t supposed to call women sluts. Everyone needs to sit up and take notice.
Schultz will be back. His suspension is supposedly for a week. He is a good fix after an hour or so of Steve Doocy. I already miss him. He ate his crow, pound of ….well…never mind….and he ate it well.
The difference in Fox and MSNBC is that MSNBC actually disciplines its employees for bad behavior. Fox does not, or so it seems.
From the Huffington Post:
WASHINGTON – A top goal of the nation’s most influential national Tea Party group is to stop Mitt Romney from winning the Republican nomination for president.
Interviews with top officials at FreedomWorks, a Washington-based organizing hub for Tea Party activists around the country, revealed that much of their thinking about the 2012 election revolves around derailing the former Massachusetts governor.
“Romney has a record and we don’t really like it that much,” said Adam Brandon, the group’s communications director
So if Romney is the front runner, then who does the Tea Party want to put in there? Does Palin’s hour long video have anything to do with this plan?
If the Republicans want to hold on to their party, it seems to me that they need to tell the Tea Party who runs things.
I am just not sure I understand all this. Does someone want to enlighten us all?
It appears that John Edwards will be indicted per the green light from DOJ. At issue is his use of campaign money to finance his pay-off to his mistress, Rielle Hunter. According to Huffington Post, much of the pay-off money came from a 99 year old heiress, Bunny Mellon. The Daily Beast reports:
You’d assume Rachel Lowe Lambert Lloyd Mellon—who, just shy of 100 years old, is probably the last surviving member of the old-money aristocracy that once lorded it over America—would be mortified by her involvement in a tabloid-ready sex scandal.
Hardly.
Wednesday is the final Oprah Winfrey Show. Talk about a ride! She started her life in poverty in Mississippi. Her mother was a single mom. She survived a broken home, sexual abuse, and not much support at home. She is now a billionaire several times over and uses her wealth to do good for others.
Following college, Oprah started off her career in Baltimore hosting a talk show and moved on to Chicago. 
Her time slot competed with Phil Donahue who later took her under his wing. She starred in Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple (one of my very favorite books and films). She was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actress. The Oprah Winfrey Show was launched in 1986. The rest is history.
Books have been written about the Oprah phenomena. The most striking thing, in my opinion, about Oprah is her humility. She never acts like ‘she has gotten above her raisings.’ She also appears to be one of the most sincere people ever. She will begin her own network. How will it go? If anyone makes it work, Oprah will. Maybe her departure marks the beginning of the end for the ‘networks.’ Oprah always has been a trend-setter.
Tuesday was the Surprise Show where all Oprah’s buds showed up and paid tribute. Today at 4 pm, we take in the last Oprah Show. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I will probably cry. It is the end of an era.
See the Oprah Winfrey tribute in the Washington Post.
