As I was beginning to write this, Washington was unfolding for its annual Memorial Day rituals. Like clockwork, the distant hum of motorcycles would soon herald another Rolling Thunder convocation. Rows of chairs would suddenly appear at monuments, road closures announced, tiny flags awaiting position at the nation’s largest graveyard for its war dead. Memorial …
Continue reading “Memorial Day, Remembering the Apostates”
We might as well get rid of Memorial Day, for all the good it does us. Originally “Decoration Day,” the last Monday in May has been the designated time for us to remember the war dead and honor their sacrifice – while, perhaps, taking in the lessons of the many conflicts that have marked our …
Continue reading “Abolish Memorial Day”
Whistling Past the Graveyard of Empires
What if Memorial Day reminds us of times when we had more freedom? What if freedom is dying right under our eyes? What if the memory of the past is more fulfilling than the reality of the present? What if the federal government could write any law, regulate any behavior, and tax any event, no …
Continue reading “What If We Have Only Memories of Freedom?”
Vlahos on the Groundhog Day of all holidays
WASHINGTON – It is all too clear why we can’t seem to protest our way out of this war. And as a result, the war itself may never end. In fact, Gen. Stanley McChrystal recently suggested that “Operation Enduring Freedom” in Afghanistan may be just that – “enduring” – for a very, very long time. …
Continue reading “Reflections on Rolling Thunder”
At least nine Iraqis were killed and 29 more were wounded in the latest violence. Meanwhile, U.S. troops held Memorial Day observations at a former Saddam palace located at Camp Victory. Also, thousands of Iraqis, at the behest of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, protested the Israeli attack on a Gaza-aid flotilla and used the demonstration to chant against the United States as well.
