Sunday, May 29, 2022

Everything's Quiet On Memorial Day

 It cracks me up -- so few Americans get the difference between the three military holidays. Veterans Day celebrates those who served. Armed Forces Day celebrates those currently serving. And Memorial Day celebrates those who died WHILE serving. Jeez. It's not that hard.

I'm so old I recall my parents calling Memorial Day Decoration Day, which it used to be until well after WW II. It also makes me laugh when folks say "Happy Memorial Day." It's a day of reflection, not mirth. It's like saying "Happy Your Dad's Funeral Day!," or "Happy Yom Kippur!"

Ay. Whatever. All I know is so many died fighting for the US, and lately, at least, we honor their sacrifice by sucking as a nation. We're terribly divided. Wearing a mask to prevent others from getting the plague is political. Strangely, many of those who say the government has NO right to force them to wear masks thing the government has every right to tell a woman what to do with her body.

And there's this latest school tragedy, in Texas. It is so obvious how many "leaders" are bought and paid for by the NRA, and watching them perform the gymnastics of not blaming the availability of automatic weapons to 18 year old nut cases is blackly hilarious.

Australia had a similar shooting, and the next year bought back the majority of guns. And the Aussies are no leftist bleeding hearts like, you can argue, Scandanavians are. But it worked -- no shootings there since the late 90s.

Here, the NBA teams dare to urge people to action, and little weasels like Little Marco Rubio, as Trump called his now lapdog, whined about "Don't make this political!" He doesn't say that when he gets his millions from the NRA. Sickening.

One of my FaceBook friends, Jay in North Carolina, said it best: "After Sandy Hook, we did nothing. Let's be honest -- we're a nation that truly thinks killing little children is ok." He's correct.

I try to remain an optimist, thinking that politics is a pendulum and things have just swung too far to the right. I hope that's the case -- maybe the quiet majority, who is pro choice and at least partially for gun control, will wake up and vote in the coming elections. If not, the VERY active voters, angry white trash and their fellow travelers who blame immigrants for their loserhood, will continue to control things.

And the Democrats have a lot of blame, too, allowing power to creeps like AOC and Omar. Where have you gone, Bill Clinton? Our nation needs a charismatic centrist again -- and maybe it's safe for even those with over active sex drives now after Trump got elected after his "I can grab 'em by the pussy" claim.

Well, thankfully we're having a nice MD weekend. D2 and Jonathan are in Canada, and we're dog sitting the enormous puppy. Yesterday Donna and Barry hosted a brunch at Mo's in Aventura with their boy Josh and Paul and Patricia. They gave us the back room, and we sat and ate and talked for hours. Both owners came by -- Mo, the hilarious Egyptian man, and Paul, the gregarious Venezuelan Jew.

Paul is running for Aventura City Council. The entire council is Jewish. Aventura has a total of 12 synagogues and zero churches in its borders. We all found that hilarious. Josh asked about diversity.

I assured him there were BOTH Ashkenazi AND Sephardic congregations.

Today D1 and Joey and the Little Man are coming over, early. Wifey remains asleep -- I figure the Little Man will enjoy getting to wake her up when he arrives.

With our new stovetop with working exhaust fan, I can make pancakes again -- that will be on the agenda. And maybe a visit to Amalie Park -- our next door neighbor's amazing tot lot. 

Tonight we'll watch Game 7 of the Eastern Finals. I think Wifey is more into the Heat than I am, but I like it when they win. It truly raises the spirits of a city when there's a championship, and the Heat have delivered three already in their relatively short existence.

D2 and Jonathan are due back tomorrow evening, and probably Tuesday there'll be a dog exchange again.

And tomorrow I WILL spend some time reflecting and giving thanks to all of our greatest who died for all of us. I will also pray their sacrifices weren't, ultimately, in vain.

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