Memorial Day
(Dead links removed or replaced)
Memorial Day Weekend is the time when we're supposed to honor the
brave men and women who have died in war, though it's often just treated as the
unofficial start of summer. Whether or not us civilians have always agreed with
the reasons our leaders gave for sending these souls off to war, we should honor
the fact that they died to preserve our freedoms and liberties (at least we
hope so), and so that criminals, in the form of CEO's and Congressmen, could
plunder the nation's coffers from within and leave the rest of us holding the
tab.
In towns and cities across the country, there will be parades to honor our
fallen soldiers (maybe we should add firemen and policemen too). My town has its
parade a week early. I don't know why. We began attending a couple of years
ago, not because of any sense of patriotic duty or love of parades, but because
our son loves fire trucks and military vehicles.
It rained, again. As we sat there, huddled under an umbrella, we watched as the
veterans marched and drove by, and the school bands played. Along came the
town's elected officials and, as usual, the applause died down. It doesn't
matter who's running the town, people don't seem to cheer them. Perhaps, because
it's budget season and we're all angry that the town always gives us bigger
budgets each year, which means raising our taxes. But this year, walking by
herself in the rain, was our congresswoman,
Nancy Johnson (R).
Ahhh yes, the elections are just over five months away. It's time to get out
there and press the flesh. If any of you attend a parade this weekend, don't be
surprised if your congressman makes an appearence. At a time when Washington is
rampant with scandal, and approval of Congress really low, our politicians will
desperately try to make themselves look clean. "I'm on your side. I'm marching
in this parade to show you that I care about you and not some lobbyist who
offered me round trip airfare to play golf in Scotland."
I was surprised to see Mrs. Johnson walking along in the rain in Bethel. We're a
small town. Sure it was the week before Memorial Day, but she hasn't been there
in either of the two previous parades we attended. Is she sweating re-election
too? I don't even know who's running against her and I consider myself
politically aware.
For the last few months, I've received several automated phone calls playing
recorded messages that are all anti-Nancy. Nancy did this. Nancy did that. Nancy
supports the President on this issue. I typically hang up. I hate negative ads.
They tend to elicit the opposite reaction out of me than the caller intended.
There was one survey that, if you listened to how the caller phrased the
questions, was obviously funded by either the Democrats or their allies. It
obviously wasn't neutral. They also never mentioned any of the good stuff that
Johnson has done.
I've never voted for Nancy Johnson before, but I just might this year. Why?
She's a moderate. The Republican party certainly needs their moderate members to
take
back control of the party. Nancy Johnson's environmental record has been
impeccable. Even the
Sierra Club likes
her. She recognizes that drilling in ANWR is not the answer to our country's
energy problem.
I don't agree with her on everything. The whole Medicare Prescription Drug plan
was something that she pushed through and that's just a huge fiscal pit. It
could've been alot better and will certainly need to be revisited before the
Boomers sign up. She also defended Delay a few years ago, though I haven't seen
her do so in the last couple of years. That didn't sit well with me.
I don't know yet if the Libertarians have anyone running for the seat yet and,
as I wrote above, I don't know who the Democrats have running against her. I
think the party is concerned that there's actually going to be a contest
within the party over Senator Lieberman's seat. But that's a post for
another day.
So, have a great weekend. Keep an eye out for politicians as they try to ride on
the patriotism wave (the traditional one, not the hype) this weekend. And if
you see a veteran, thank him/her for the job they've done.
<< Home |
