Writing about both Memorial Day and Veterans Day, Stephen Lendmen cries hypocrisy:

These two federal holidays warrant special condemnation. They represent a galling legacy of endless wars and false patriotic glorification of them including the so-called “good” one there was nothing good about as Ben Franklin knew and once said “There was never a good war or a bad peace.” Choosing days to honor the dead who sacrificed everything is a sacrilege and failure to note they died in vain on the alter of power and privilege for the few. Their deaths assure an unending cycle of violence and killing with legions of nameless, faceless grave sites ahead only to be known by those who’ll experience unconscionable loss.

Like Mother's Day, Veteran's Day began under a different name and with the intention of promoting peace and denouncing war. Memorial Day began as Decoration Day to observe the Civil War dead, Union side, but expanded as the Southern side of the ledger began to fill up with corpses of volunteers from subsequent wars. So its progression toward a general recognition of the sacrifices made by men and women in serving the U.S. military is far more natural than the awful inversions brought upon the other two.

So I confess some sympathy for Paul Morin of the American Legion, who criticized John Edwards' call to use Memorial Day to protest the war in Iraq.

The families of those killed in war should not be led to believe that their loved ones died for a less-than-worthy cause. They died because they took an oath to defend this nation and its Constitution.

The sacrifice is the same whether it's for a "popular war" or an unpopular one.

Memorial Day should be an occasion to bring Americans together to honor these heroes.

I disagree respectfully. I believe it is a remarkable thing that people are willing to risk and lose their lives for their fellow citizens. But Morin is shooting the messenger. He should be aiming at the idiots who passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution or gave President Bush the authorization to wage the War in Iraq. At least Edwards has had the decency to acknowledge his mistake in voting for it and seeks to atone for that original sin.

This Memorial Day morning my thoughts turn to the future dead. In nine years, my daughter will be eligible for military service, and if Democrats have their way, the draft. In fifteen, my son will, too. Tell me there won't be a war based on bad foreign policy decisions made today (or even twenty years ago), on disinformation and hidden motives, on war profiteering and political cronyism. Tell me that politicians from either party will choose the less politically expedient path of advocating diplomacy and peaceful conflict resolutions and resist fears of being branded "soft on defense" or "unamerican." What is being done now to nip war in the bud? Anything? Hey, how's AIDS in Africa coming along? How's the impending water shortage being resolved? Global warming, anyone?

At the risk of sounding like a bumper sticker, I'll say that if you really want to honor the dead, make a better world for the living.

New Sheldon page is now UP - in color!

And what a great soundtrack to coloring it, too.