Most Americans see #MemorialDay as a time to pay tribute to the US service members who gave their lives for their country, or perhaps fire up the BBQ w/friends & family to celebrate the unofficial start of summer, or maybe save some money on a new mattress. Acc/to Google, a lot of Americans also make a point to look up what the “Memorial Day meaning” is. Then there’s Donald #Trump.
For yrs, #MAGA’s once & future king has made a tradition of celebrating major holidays — from Christmas to Mother’s Day to Easter — by launching CAPS-littered attacks on his perceived enemies. And if #Trump Googled the meaning of #MemorialDay on Sun morning, even the search engine’s bizarre new AI is unlikely to have answered that the holiday was about “human scum” or a good opportunity to rack up some more #defamation damages.
For those of us from or living in the U.S., here’s a great World War II-era short film which reminds us on this Memorial Day that we shouldn’t throw away the America our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents fought (and in many cases died) for by giving in to messages driven by prejudice and hate.
Also a very good one to share on other social media networks you may be on (hint, hint). :emoji_wink:
It's #MemorialDay, so the Trumps are seizing the opportunity to tell the world how much they've sacrificed for America. No, seriously, that's what #EricTrump (the dumbest #Trump) decided to proclaim on this day when we honor those who have actually served their country. Of course, Trump thinks #veterans are 'losers' for serving, but he and his family never miss an opportunity to put themselves up on an unearned pedestal. This family is scum.
The Major Rudolph Anderson Jr. Memorial in Greenville, SC. Major Anderson was the pilot of the U2 spy plane that was shot down during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. He flew the F-86 Sabre in the Korean War. #MemorialDay#USAF
For the US Memorial Day holiday, Elliot Kirschner features a video of Dan Rather interviewing men who were American soldiers at Pearl Harbor and who lived through that attack. The video is embedded in Kirschner's article.
My father was among those soldiers who lived through the Pearl Harbor attack. He was a Marine aboard the "USS Pennsylvania" when the attack occurred. He was 21 years old.
The Pearl Harbor attack was the only part of his WWII experiences about which he'd ever talk. He was in the Pacific theater throughout the war, and would not speak about what he saw and lived through after Pearl Harbor.
About Pearl Harbor, he said the attack occurred early in the day with no warning. He and others aboard his ship were asleep when it began. He was wounded by shrapnel from an exploding bomb, but not seriously.
Though I recognize the sacrifices my father, his brother who won awards for heroism in the liberation of Holland, my mother's brother who saw the carnage at Gardelegen right after the massacre happened there and who captured an SS officer, my mother's half-brother who was in the landing at Anzio and marched into Russia, seeing so much death and destruction that he committed suicide following the war: I recognize and honor these sacrifices.
I know that these soldiers risked their lives to turn back the tide of fascism – they knew what they were enlisting for. And I celebrate what they accomplished.
At the same time, I think the US is an exceptionally militaristic country and has, since 9/11, become even more so in its outlook, and this concerns me.
Eisenhower was right to warn about the military-industrial complex, the lethal combination of weaponry and those who benefit economically from peddling them
I'm a veteran and I struggle with depression and PTSD. I lost one of my brothers-in-arms and groomsmen to drug abuse and suicide. There isn't a week that goes by where I don't think of him; today I write this through ... https://kjaymiller.com/microblog/202405272047.html
Everyone lucid in the West is freaking out about the rise of fascist thinking, well, everywhere.
Why? Didn't we defeat this obscenity 80 years ago after much suffering? Why is it resurging?
The problem is not that people don't learn from history (they don't but it's another issue), the problem is that fascism is always with us. Since the dawn of time, and forever more.
All fascism requires is:
ignorance
indecency
a demagogue to yoke these walnut brains and ride them to power
Hey, Trump!
It’s Memorial Day, you lying, cheating, craven, racist, bigoted, misogynist, LGBTQ+phobic, five-time draft-dodging, dictator ass-kissing, insurrectionist, strongman wannabe piece of shit!
Yeah, brave men and women — made the ultimate sacrifice — so that I can publicly speak truth, while you shamelessly tell lies. #MemorialDay#1stAmendment#Trump#FuckDonaldTrump
Many of us are we enjoying #MemorialDay with family at picnics and barbecues, but many farm workers are laboring hard to put food on our tables. Let's give a big shout out to these hard-working people. #WeFeedYou
Min found a fun recipie online for mini “acorn” BBQ hot dogs so I tired it. Holy cow they are good! Whipped up some homemade potato salad to go with. Perfect lunch food for #memorialday