Remembering on Memorial Day

 

Scott Johnson at PowerLine:

In observance of Memorial Day 2007 the Wall Street Journal published a brilliant column by the late Peter Collier to mark the occasion. The column remains timely and is accessible online here. I don’t think we’ll read or hear anything more thoughtful or appropriate to the occasion today. 

The entire column is worth reading; it begins:

Once we knew who and what to honor on Memorial Day: those who had given all their tomorrows, as was said of the men who stormed the beaches of Normandy, for our todays. But in a world saturated with selfhood, where every death is by definition a death in vain, the notion of sacrifice today provokes puzzlement more often than admiration. We support the troops, of course, but we also believe that war, being hell, can easily touch them with an evil no cause for engagement can wash away. And in any case we are more comfortable supporting them as victims than as warriors.

. . .

Not long ago I was asked to write the biographical sketches for a book featuring formal photographs of all our living Medal of Honor recipients. As I talked with them, I was, of course, chilled by the primal power of their stories. But I also felt pathos: They had become strangers–honored strangers, but strangers nonetheless–in our midst.

***

In my own boyhood, figures such as Jimmy Doolittle, Audie Murphy and John Basilone were household names. And it was assumed that what they had done defined us as well as them, telling us what kind of nation we were. But the 110 Medal recipients alive today are virtually unknown except for a niche audience of warfare buffs. Their heroism has become the military equivalent of genre painting. There’s something wrong with that.

Mr. Collier vividly describes actions taken by Medal of Honor recipients, and then closes his column:

We impoverish ourselves by shunting these heroes and their experiences to the back pages of our national consciousness. Their stories are not just boys’ adventure tales writ large. They are a kind of moral instruction. They remind of something we’ve heard many times before but is worth repeating on a wartime Memorial Day when we’re uncertain about what we celebrate. We’re the land of the free for one reason only: We’re also the home of the brave.

The full column is here.

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Memorial Day

Gary Varvel's cartoon at Townhall.com

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Mike Gibbons for Ohio

 

Our household just received a campaign letter from Mike Gibbons.  It’s 5 pages long, and here’s the text of the first page:

My name is Mike Gibbons, and last week I launched my campaign for United States Senate.

I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself. Frankly, too much of politics these days is 30-second television commercials and canned sound bites. However, this election is far too important.

The first thing you need to know about me is that I'm not a politician. I'm a businessman. (Frankly, I don't even like politicians.)

But I need to warn you: I'm blunt. I tell it like it is. That might get me into trouble now and then, but that's who I am, how I'm going to campaign, and how I'll be if you elect me.

I grew up in Parma, a working-class suburb of Cleveland. My father was a high school teacher and a wrestling coach. My grandfather was president of the laborers' union.

I went to work at an early age. I had a paper route. I worked a bandsaw on the factory floor. I poured concrete.

Sometimes people hear "Cleveland businessman" and make assumptions. Well, you might as well say, "concrete Finisher," because I've done plenty of that as well. I guarantee you that I'll be the only Senator who can finish your driveway.

I started my own company at the age of 37, working alone with a desk and a phone in a small space above a dentist's office.

Today, I've achieved success beyond my wildest imagination. I've achieved my American dream.

I'm running for Senate because I want to help more people achieve their American Dreams.

On the 5^th page, he closes:

More than anything, however, I hope this is the beginning of a conversation between concerned Ohioans.  It’s a job interview, and I hope to earn your support and your vote.

Sincerely,

Mike Gibbons

Letter is paid for by Gibbons For Ohio:  https://www.gibbonsforohio.com/ 

CTP previously blogged on the Ohio Senate race in March and April.  Some liberty groups in Ohio are supporting Josh Mandel; as I wrote in the linked April blog, it would be nice if Ohio did not replace RINO Portman with another establishment GOP – such as Josh Mandel or Jane Timken.  So far, Mr. Gibbons is looking good.

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Mike Lindell vs Republican Governors and Amazon

 

From Sundance at Conservative Treehouse:

A Fired Up Mike Lindell Eviscerates AZ Governor Ducey and
GA Governor Kemp, Documents Their Fraud
Against the Republican Base

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is fired up as he walks through the events that took place in Tennessee yesterday after he was blocked from attending the Republican Governor’s Association (RGA) dinner they had invited him to attend.  [Rumble Video Link]  The RGA is lying.  Arizona Governor Doug Ducey is the Chairman of the RGA.

Incredibly, the RGA contacted Lindell with the invitation to the dinner, then gave Mike Lindell the credentials to attend the dinner, and as he awaited the transport buses with the other governors he was pulled aside and told he was no longer permitted to attend.  As Lindell notes Arizona Governor Doug Ducey is the Chairman of the RGA and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is the head of the republican election integrity unit.  However, both of them are key figures in blocking any election audit or accountability review in their states.  Something is seriously wrong.

It’s going to get bigger… and it’s going to get uglier.  THAT MUCH is very clear.

. . .

More at the link here, including lots of reader comments.  But here’s better news via The Liberty Daily:

Mike Lindell Launches “MyStore” To Compete With Amazon

Mike Lindell is fighting back!

After he was canceled by retailers, Mike Lindell is starting his own online store: MyStore.com

**Use code “TLD” at checkout and you’ll save up to 66%, plus Liberty Daily will benefit**

MyStore is going to rival Amazon, Mike says.

The rest of the report, including a video of Mr. Lindell’s interview on Steve Bannon’s show, is here.

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8:40 pm in downtown Cleveland

 Need a Tea Party smile?

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Crazy Times Edition from Bookworm

BookwormRoom runs a weekly illustrated gallery of photographs and memes.  Over the weekend, she ran "The Crazy Times" edition, and here are two she posted:

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Sports Illustrated goes “woke”

 

Eric Utter published a piece about Sports Illustrated over the weekend at American Thinker.  I am not much of a sports fan, but his opening paragraphs offer a good summary of the cultural decline in America.  And his article is a good follow-up to my blog yesterday on the future of arts communities – if there is a future.  Mr. Utter begins:

The Left ruins everything. Television. Movies. Economies. Cities. Lives. Religion. Comedy. Sports. Everything. Literally everything.

It does so in many insidious ways. It divides us with multiculturalism and critical race theory. It makes some groups bitter, envious, and indolent by telling them they are victims of other groups’ bigotry…and that there is nothing any of the groups can do about it. It revises history, changes language, and restricts speech, all in an effort to restrict thought. It brandishes “wokeism” as a weapon and “cancels” those it dislikes. All of this has led to a more ignorant—and less fun—America.

The left has recently rendered sports less a form of entertainment that can bring all of us together and more of a vehicle to lecture and hector fans, in an attempt to hammer them into strict conformity of thought. We have all seen this with anthem protests, BLM messages, boycotts, etc., etc.

And now, even a once nearly-revered sports publication, Sports Illustrated, has completely given in to the mendacious minority mob that demands all things be seen exclusively through the prism of race/class/gender/politics. Sports Illustrated, like nearly all mainstream media, has leaned left for many years but has just recently completely abandoned all balance and objectivity in an apparently desperate—if puzzling­—attempt at virtue-signaling.

. . .

Mr. Utter then goes into specifics based on the latest issue.  Read the rest of Mr. Utter’s piece here.

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