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It's Memorial Day 2008.
Not much has changed since The Boss performed this (see below) except that our Veterans' benefits are wasting away, the VA hospitals are decrepit, and there are no factory jobs to come home to "up to me" or not.
Hope President Bush is enjoying his barbecue today. Too bad he can't play golf.
Am I angry? Sad? Devastated? Disgusted? You bet.
33 comments:
The best thing coming out of all of this is the fact that a generation of apathetic Americans are finally being stirred up enough to demand some reforms.
That's still pretty sad, but it's something after almost a decade of nothing.
I'm hoping, but nothing seems to change. I just think our politicians are so terrified to stand for anything these days. It's exactly what you said at the end of your post - almost no one feels we should still be there, but we go on fighting... And it's so very much worse for the Iraqis themselves in terms of the total devastation they've been faced with.
I'm appaled by the news we hear about the state of the VA hospitals, bases,etc.Yetserday I read on the NYT online edition about a young Sergent who cant speak or move and his devoted Mother who wont loose hope.All to pay for community college. After the secon WW2 it seemed serving in the armed forces boosted your prospects. Now it just seems dismal.And while the country is divided about this war, we cant forget the troops.Soon Bush will have all the time in the world to play his beloved golf.
No, not divided about the troops at all. I don't support this war, never have, but I want our young men and women (and increasingly not so young men and women) given the respect they deserve for laying down their lives to serve. What's going on right now is beyond appalling.
The state of our VA hospitals and care for veterans has been bad for a long long time. I was married to a Vietnam Vet and what I saw and experienced is haunting. In the news recently was a young soldier who's legs had been blown off from a truck bomb. He was having trouble getting his disability benefits because the gov't told him that his injuries were not service related!
I have 2 sons who recently served as well. Much change needs to happen on so many fronts.
I couldn't agree more, Maryann. The story of the young man and the truck bomb seems to be a more and more frequent type of occurrence. I hope your sons are doing well.
I know what you mean. My disgust has reached a point where I can barely talk about this anymore because all I want to do is cry. I just want to close my eyes and wake up Jan. 20, 2009.
Yup, April. I agree.
Disgust would be the right word for Bush's war.
I'm with Keith Olbermann. Too bad the major networks don't have the um, testicals, to broadcast an opinion like that.
Too bad your Springsteen video won't play. Contrary to what many people think, Born in the USA is not a patriotic song --unless you take Jefferson's view that being patriotic is loving your country enough to criticize it.
It was Jefferson, wasn't it?
It was either Jefferson or Franklin, but I think, yes, it was Jefferson. The Springsteen video won't play? Hmmm... it plays for me. Darn.
I know... ironic. But you know, I believe it is patriotic in the Jeffersonian sense of the word. I think Bruce was saying - this is what's going on in our country and it needs to be fixed. Too bad the same message is here and multiplied many times twenty years later.
It's hard to enjoy the holiday, isn't it?
Disgusted is a good word for it. I am looking forward to the chance for change come November.
I'm not from there, so I'm just reading and learning...but I'll tell you, I so love the beat of this song! This is a popular song in my place...most people can sing along to this!
Happy Monday...
Funny I thought about posting this song for Music Monday but in light of all the immigrants who are in our armed forces, it didn't seem right.
But as always, good job keeping us thinking!!
Yes, Teri, it is... I just drove past a nearby cemetery and there were three generations of folks gathered around a grave with a new-looking headstone. They all had flags. My heart was breaking for them.
Yes, Anno, and even more for 1/20/09
That's an interesting point, SMID - I guess, though, that many of even our immigrants have taken citizenship with that same feeling of patriotism that the vet in the song starts out with. Many of my friends who have arrived here and THEN become citizens are much more patriotic than those of us who grew up with all of this laid out at our feet. What I think the song is really about is giving and giving for your country, born into it, or chosen, and then having it slap you in the face when you return from duty. It's not right.
Jen, I can appreciate your sentiments. I come from a long line of veterans, including my father (WWII -- Battle of the Bulge) and my Aunt (also WWII). My husband is a veteran of Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Somalia, and seldom speaks of the time he served, but he's damn proud of this country, and proud of having served.
I won't get in to politics as you and the others have. I appreciate our first amendment rights, but it's a shame that we can't all put aside politics for a moment and just appreciate this country and the freedom that was won in blood.
War is never good, war is never desired by sane people, but sometimes war is necessary.
And, regardless of what I think of him, I feel it necessary to point out that Mr. Bush was in Arlington cemetary today, as was fitting.
Just how much HAS changed since Memorial Day when I was 18 years old? A LOT, but at the same time some things NEVER change. For instance.. I remember my old man bitching about the price of gas on Memorial day 1988! Today my kids are experiencing the same with their old man!!
Well, Marianne, I'm glad to hear that Mr. Bush was where he should be today. I know from other posts that we'll have to agree to disagree on how we can feel about the country and Mr. Bush, in particular. My father and all his brothers served in WWI and WWII, and I've had friends and relations who have served in virtually every conflict since WWI. It's many of my conservative friends, and those with children serving currently, who are the most upset with the current state of how Veterans and current soldiers are being treated. Your DH should be proud of his service to the country - it was a huge sacrifice and it was the greatest gift that someone can give. I'm glad he's home to celebrate with all of you and that he's healthy. I hope that brings things a little bit full circle? This was not meant, in the least little bit, to be disrespectful to our Veterans or those serving currently.
Oops, Darrin, I didn't see your comment until now. Yes, there's no doubt that the more things change the more they stay the same on many levels. You'd think we'd learn sometimes! ;-)
Quite a fitting song. Both my sister and my brother in law are vets from Desert Storm and my grandparents as well. We got down my grandpa's WWII medals today to show them to the kids and also prayed a lot for peace.
What did make me sick though was when my husband was watching CNN this morning and the reporters were doing a story on how much soldiers get paid and they were making such a big deal about how if you stick in the military for 20 years you get 1/2 your pay as your pension. Their whole attitude was, "Wow, that's a great perk! Better than corporate America. See, the military ain't so bad!"
It made me want to throw up. If all the benefits are so awesome, how come the folks can't get what's due them when they return home from serving, if they even return?
Vets deserve every benefit they can get, Liz. That's one of the reasons that I'm so upset that things seem to be changing and many previous benefits are being sucked away.
Hola Jen! I don't know about America, but I think that politicians are the same all over! Here, I feel so ashamed with all this Water problem we've had... the boats bringing water, the desalination plant, restrictions... thank god is raining and we don't depend on them!!!!
BTW, when I clicked again on the video I read that "the video is no longer available" :( I wanted to ask you, what is a VA hospital?
I don't know if you received my previous comment 'cause I can't see it here. Anyway, I like Bruce Springsteen a lot :)
An American friend living here told me about Memorial Day. I hadn't heard about it before. I am glad that he shared his thoughts about it and to read your post too.
Oh :) I just saw my first comment there :) I deleted it already as I have just left another (longer) comment. A hug,
Nuria, I wasn't aware of the recent drought troubles in Catalonia, but now I've gone and read some articles. What a time you all have had! And yes, isn't it a shame when our regions fight against each other instead of supporting each other? We have some similar problems in the Southwestern parts of the U.S. and many feel that folks shouldn't live there and deplete sources from more accessible areas.
Wendy, it's a very complicated "holiday" because while we may all feel differently about wars that have been fought, we tend to feel sorrow for those who have been lost and who have given so freely of their lives. And then there's the secondary factor of its being the "beginning of summer" so there are some mixed signals here for certain.
your "I hope Bush is enjoying his BBQ today" is cracking me up.
Yeah, but it's sad, too.
sorry my remark seems to pretend I don't take your post seriously. It's an important topic though, I didn't want to mock it! I just loved your sharp remark.
No, I didn't take it that way... it's just... pathetic. Ugh!
it's so interesting to me how people will paly this song like it's this great "rah rah America" anthem, like they've never really listened to it at all.
Yes. What Painted Maypole said.
I once went to Pittsburgh for the Fourth of July. After a day of watching local bands play near Three Rivers Stadium and getting drunk (I was in college. That was my thing.), I watched the fireworks at Point State Park while the local radio station blasted The Star Spangled Banner by Jimi Hendrix and then Born in the USA. And everyone was all, "Yeah! We're born in the USA!!!"
I don't know. Maybe it was the Boss's sexy butt in front of that American flag that distracted us all from really listening to the lyrics.
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