EXTRA: Independence Day, Year 243

Not quite so festive in reality this year

16 shot, 2 fatally in Fourth of July gun violence across Chicago – Chicago Sun-Times
At least 5 killed, 30 wounded by gunfire so far in Chicago over Fourth of July weekend – Chicago Tribune
2 boys, 1 man stabbed outside Navy Pier after Fourth of July fireworks; 14 others injured in stampede following false reports of gunfire – Chicago Tribune
3 stabbed, 14 trampled at Navy Pier after Fourth of July fireworks – Chicago Sun-Times

  -0-

A few sample hedlines from the Chicago press on this day after Independence Day, just to give you a taste of how inane things were capable of becoming on this holiday where we celebrate our national existence. And if the threat from gunfire mixed in with explosives wasn't enough, there also was the absurdity at Navy Pier Thursday night.

And just in case you need the knowledge for future reference, there also was this report – Gunshots or Fireworks: Learn to Tell the Difference -- Patch

NOW WE BEGIN the next holiday countdown -- only 59 more days until we honor the workers in our nation.

Happy Labor Day!!!

  -30-

To be honest, flag-motif t-shirts are kind of garish and not ‘real American’

I have no doubt I’m going to see more than my share of people Thursday clad in t-shirts bearing the red, white and blue colors – if not depictions of the U.S, flag itself.

A symbol of our national pride

To be honest, a part of me is going to be shuddering at the very sight.

BECAUSE I HONESTLY think that it’s kind of tacky and garish, if not quite unpatriotic, to have to see someone wearing the U.S, flag, particularly if they’ve let the image get all faded and wrinkly.

Or worse yet, if it’s a hot, humid summery-type day and they’re covered in sweat.

How disrespectful to the image of our nation to reduce it to an article of dirty laundry.

To be totally honest, I’d find it more respectful if they were to literally wrap themselves up in a real flag – which technically would be an act of desecration. U.S. flags are not to be used for clothing!

WHICH I’M SURE every single one of the ninnies who are going around on this Independence Day will be able to shout out at maximum volume to everyone who manages to offend their sensibilities of what is appropriate.

 

Bordering on skanky

When in reality, I’d argue it is their choice of attire that ought to be considered bordering on desecration.

And as far as any women who choose to wear a skimpy bikini in a pattern of the stars and stripes, all I’d have to say is that is nothing but skanky. How cheap to reduce a field of blue stars to the bikini bottom that covers up the part of her that prevents an arrest for indecent exposure from being made.

It never fails to amaze me whenever I walk into a clothing store of any type and see the assortment of red, white and blue themed shirts or articles of clothing. Meant to be sold to people who think they’re showing off just how “real” of Americans they truly are.

People most offended by sight of this … 

WHEN IN REALITY, I’d argue that they’re showing a level of gaudiness that probably illustrates just how little they truly comprehend what “patriotism” truly is and what “America” is truly all about.

The ones who probably think the day is solely about a summertime barbecue and watching a pyrotechnics display come the evening hours.

Or maybe you’ll get into a local municipal parade that is bound to have somebody clad as “Uncle Sam,” and probably far too many people wearing their “Make America Great Again” caps in bright red.

Which amuses me because I’m sure many of them are old enough to remember the meaning of the phrase “Better dead than red.” Now, they can’t get enough of the color.

BUT BACK TO the t-shirts, most of which are usually in patterns so tacky that I’d be embarrassed to wear one. Which is why I don’t actually own one.

The only red, white and blue banner I possess is an actual U.S. flag – which actually is one of those flags that is certified to have once flown over the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

 

… might well be proud to wear this

Yes, I realize its moment of being the actual “Old Glory” on Capitol Hill may only have lasted a few seconds long. But it somehow seems like more of a legitimate gesture of patriotism than wearing a t-shirt being an assault rifle image superimposed over a U.S. flag. (No, I'm not kidding. You really can find them for sale on the Internet).

Even though I suspect the kind of people who’d actually wear such a shirt are probably the grand-children of the ones who, a half-century ago, got most offended when activist Abbie Hoffman wore his American flag motif shirt in public. Now, such a garment likely would only be worn by someone of the “far right.”

  -30-

Can Lori Lightfoot really make Chicago a less violent place this Memorial Day?

Lori Lightfoot hasn’t even been mayor of Chicago for one full week, and she’s already promising what may be an overly ambitious goal – eliminating the urban violence that is a Chicago embarrassment every Memorial Day holiday weekend. 

New mayor hopes to put her mark on city's Memorial Day safety

Which sounds nice. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Lori Lightfoot could really make Chicago a nicer, less violent place to be. Of course, this opens her up to criticism from every single smart-aleck (many harsher than myself) who will now try to hang every single violent crime that takes place this weekend on Lightfoot herself.

SO WHAT IS it Lightfoot has in mind?

Basically, it’s a marketing campaign. “Our City, Our Safety,” it’s being called. What it means is that the mayor wants us to get off our fat behinds and DO something,

In the form of attending one of the many events being held in neighborhoods across the city. Which almost reminds me of that old English proverb that says, “Idle hands are the Devil’s workshop.”

Does this make Lightfoot the equivalent of Chicago’s granny, spewing out sayings that basically mean we ought to make ourselves useful for a change instead of sitting around doing nothing?

Could events such as Mole de Mayo festival play a role in reducing … 

SERIOUSLY, THE CITY has a list of hundreds of events taking place from Friday through Monday. The theory being that if we’re doing something and perhaps even enjoying ourselves, we’re less likely to get ourselves involved in something stupid that will cause tempers to flare and lead to the potential for someone to pull out a weapon and use it.

… Memorial Day violence?

Is it our civic duty, then, to attend the Mole de Mayo festival in the Pilsen neighborhood, or any one of the many other events taking place in Chicago this weekend.

Maybe you’d rather check out the Lane Tech (as in high school) Carnival, or one of the many places that are doing film screenings (Lilo and Stitch will be showing Saturday at 6800 N. Western Ave., as an example).

What it basically sounds like is that Lightfoot wants to use what I’ve always considered to be one of Chicago’s biggest pluses to her advantage (the mass of activities taking place at any given time).

ANYBODY WHO’S SERIOUSLY bored in Chicago isn’t trying hard enough to find something interesting or enlightening to do.

Now I don’t know if I feel compelled to check out the Mole de Mayo festival in Pilsen, although I’ll admit I went last year and it was an interesting experience stuffing my face with a dish I consider my personal favorite.

Although I feel compelled to try to find something new to do to occupy my time this holiday weekend. And part of that time may well be in some sort of serious contemplation of those people who served in our nation’s military and wound up losing their lives as a result.

That’s enough bloodshed to have to think about, without having to contemplate the number of people killed or wounded (it could wind up being several dozen) in incidents that usually compete with each other in terms of just how insipid they are.

ALMOST AS THOUGH some people are eager to see a life lost in the most pathetic and wasteful manner possible. My own reporter-type days saw me write many a story about someone who happened to be sitting on their porch when they got struck by stray gunfire.

Various types of police will be in force this weekend. Photos by Gregory Tejeda

To try to cope with the incidents that are inevitable this weekend, the Chicago Police say they plan to have an extra 1,200 patrol officers on duty – with some 50 of them riding the Chicago Transit Authority buses and “L” trains to try to reduce the number of moments where someone merely trying to get themselves somewhere wind up being hurt or killed.

While a summer mobile patrol of about 100 officers will be working the parks and Lake Michigan shoreline. The last thing we need is someone killed during a quarrel breaking out at a traditional holiday “cookout” gone awry.

Which may sound like quite a force being put to the streets to deal with potential violence. The reality, though, is that it will only take one child getting caught in someone’s crossfire to taint the holiday weekend – no matter how much Lightfoot tries to reduce it.

  -30-

Weekend of holidaze?

You might not have been aware; but this weekend that is now concluded was loaded with holidays.

Events that I suspect most of us weren’t really aware of. And even if we did, I suspect we did things and engaged in activities that were little more than trivial.

Mexican 'Day of the Dead' imagery, combined with Star Wars visuals

FOR I’M REFERRING to Cinco de Mayo, which is a legitimate holiday honoring an event of great significance in Mexico’s history. But way too many people go out of their way to celebrate by eating “Americanized” tacos and drinking too much tequila or margaritas.

That holiday was Sunday. And I saw far too many notices for assorted taverns that make it clear they viewed the day as an excuse for drink specials meant to get potential customers into their establishments.

Where they can get them to spend more and more money while drinking more than would be advised.

Of course, if we think that is too trivial a way to spend the day, I can’t help but think it’s downright serious compared to Saturday – which was Star Wars Day.

A DAY MEANT to give all of the fans of the Star Wars films a chance to celebrate and act as though there is nothing incredibly geeky or lame about the world in which they like to indulge themselves.

Personally, it strikes me as being about as phony as the fact that Feb. 9 was regarded as National Pizza Day – which I’m sure the restaurant industry thinks is fully legitimate if it can get people to eat out at their local pizzeria (and spend money too).

Saturday got the designation as being Star Wars Day because it calls on May 4 – which fanatics of the film think is all too apropos because, in their minds, it sounds just like “May the force be with you.” The cliché phrase that Star Wars fans think is some sort of philosophy with great meaning in everyday life.

Although I’ll give proponents of this holiday one bit of praise – at least they’re not making a “special” day out of something like Confederate Memorial Day (which will be Friday in South Carolina); celebrating those who were prepared to undermine the U.S.’s existence to support chattel slavery and their own hang-ups over who “belongs” here.

BUT SATURDAY WAS a day for those people who have spent far too much time following the Star Wars films and have made a point of viewing them every chance they get.

Something that I must admit I haven’t done. I saw the original film when it came out in the movie theaters, along with the sequel. But I never viewed any of the follow-up films as being required viewing, and in fact haven’t seen the most recent of them at all. And don’t feel like I’ve had any loss in my life as a result.

So I suppose the point of Saturday was lost on me. It certainly wasn’t a holiday designed with me in mind. And for all I know, the Star Wars geeks probably wonder why I pay any attention to something like baseball (where I couldn’t help but notice on Friday when I went to a ballgame, the Chicago White Sox were selling t-shirts that combined team imagery along with Star Wars characters).

Perhaps the key to the White Sox’ rebuild into a championship-quality ball club is that they can gain a mastery of the so-called force that supposedly controls all aspects of life?

BUT WHILE I find Star Wars Day to be semi-humorous in its triviality, what came the following day almost offends me.

For the fact is that May 5 in Mexican history commemorates the events of 1862 when an insurgency movement attacked a military garrison in Puebla, near Mexico City. It was in that era when France tried to regain a colonial presence in the Americas, and thought that the uncertainty caused in Mexico following the 1840s Mexican-American War left it susceptible to being taken over.

As ridiculous as the holiday itself

Cinco de Mayo commemorates a military victory that inspired the Mexican people to think they were capable of standing up to the major world powers. The very spirit that is meant to be celebrated by those people wishing to show off their spirit of Mexicanidad. And which offends the sensibilities of those people who most approve of this Age of Trump our society is now in.

Which certainly doesn’t sound anything like the people who partook in the piñata party cruise held Sunday afternoon by the Chicago Yacht Events had in mind as they sailed around Lake Michigan,

  -30-

Irish luck tops electoral enthusiasm?

This weekend is going to be an event of great cultural significance to the reality of Chicago; something that gives us a large part of our character. Something that will get people nationwide talking about us. 

The Chicago River won't be the only body of water turning green -- the Daley plaza fountain also likely to take on color. Photo by Gregory Tejeda

Oh, and by the way, the early voting for the mayoral election run-off also starts this weekend.

BECAUSE ALL THOSE crowds coming to downtown Chicago on Saturday sure ain’t a gonna be headed for the Loop supersite, at 175 W. Washington St., which will be set up so that anybody living within the Chicago city limits can cast their ballots for mayor.

Lori Lightfoot, or Toni Preckwinkle?

Personally, I expect the pathetically low, near-record-setting, turnouts that we saw on Feb. 26 will recur themselves again for the April 2 run-off, with the early voting portion actually beginning Friday.

So yes, people can take a trip downtown Friday, Saturday or Sunday to cast their mayoral vote. Maybe even do so Saturday in and around attending the St. Patrick’s Day parade – the annual tradition that now takes place along Columbus Drive.

Will Lightfoot top Preckwinkle (below) … 

BUT I DON’T expect a lot of people to turn out to cast their ballots. The Luck of the Irish will probably mean too much green-dyed beer being consumed for people to even want to think of casting a ballot.

Even though all those Irish politicos of the past would probably think that casting a vote, particularly if for a “Machine” candidate of Irish-American ethnic origins, is the ultimate gesture of cultural support one could show.

Perhaps if it were Toni O’Preckwinkle on the ballot, she’d be able to get more excitement from would-be voters. Or if Alderman Edward M. Burke hadn’t have won his Feb. 26 election so handily?

… for public attention, or … 

But I suspect this weekend will be about people trying to find the appropriate way of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, the date upon which the saint used his shillelagh to whack at snakes and chase them out of Ireland.

OR AT LEAST that’s what we were taught when I was in grade school. I suspect the reality of the holiday is to have an excuse for beer companies to push their product, similar to the way in which they have turned the Cinco de Mayo holiday into a generic Mexican fest.

Only I’ve never seen anybody dye the Chicago River a Red, White and Green tri-color mixture the way the city every year turns the city’s namesake river a bright, obnoxious Kelly green that in some ways looks even more sickly than the dingy shade of green the river takes on the rest of the year.

Seriously, those people who miss out on Saturday’s downtown parade can always venture out to the Beverly neighborhood’s South Side Irish parade for a chance to see the Irish bands and dancing girls work their way along Western Avenue, and the local residents will have to spend the rest of the day (and night) chasing away the overly-imbibed partiers who don’t have a proper sense of when it is to go home.

I’m sure all of this will be more on people’s minds than their mayoral vote. For all I know, they may view the St. Patrick’s festivities as an escape from the political nonsense that wishes it could overtake our lives for the next couple of weeks.

… will Madeline Mitchell top both on Saturday?

MAYBE THIS WEEKEND would be more intense if we’d have got a Daley, a Joyce or a McCarthy into the run-off election. But we didn’t. They didn’t have the Luck of the Irish back on Feb. 26

But we are getting closer to it all being over.

For Monday is the day that early voting extends to the neighborhood polling places. One site in each of the 50 wards, so that you can cast your vote without having to make the trip downtown.

Then on Election Day, you can go to the polling place located in your neighborhood proper. A chance to take part in this great American experience of Democracy – which also includes the four-year follow-up period of voters ranting and raging on how stupid the electorate was for choosing the nitwit who ultimately prevails April 2.

  -30-

EXTRA: 94 days ‘til Opening Day

Since we’re no longer counting down shopping days ‘til Christmas (unless you’ve waited until the absolute last minute – which case the count is “zero”), we now set the clock for a new target.

Some people began countdown to Opening Day before old season ended

As in only 94 more days ‘til Opening Day. For baseball in Chicago, that is.

THE COMING OF the major league baseball season is the symbolic arrival of springtime – even if those first couple of weeks of baseball in April are likely to be chilly and some fans are bound to be as heavily dressed as they are now for winter.

Anyway, it’s only 94 more days until the Chicago White Sox take on the Seattle Mariners to begin the 2019 season.

And for those of you deluded enough to spend time watching the Chicago Cubs, it’s 98 more days ‘til the Opening Day at Wrigley Field – with the Cubs taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Enjoy!

  -30-

EXTRA: It's Christmas? in Chicago

Just a few notes about a Saturday sojourn into the heart of Chicago to try to capture a bit of the Christmas holiday flavor -- as it still exists in the 21st Century.

At least this window had a Chicago theme. Photos by Gregory Tejeda

I couldn't help but feel saddened by one teenage girl whom I happened to overhear as she and her friends were checking out the holiday windows of the one-time Marshall Field's department stores.

AS SHE WALKED along State Street, disappointment was what she felt. "There's no story here," she exclaimed, in a loud-enough voice that I'm sure much of the crowd gathered along the one-time Great Street could hear.

Digital technology on display at Macy's, if little originality

For sure enough, some of the windows were decorated in individual scenes. But there was no continued theme connecting all the windows together. There was no holiday story being told. The overall theme couldn't help but come across as holiday lame for those of us old enough to remember the Marshall Field's holiday windows of old.

Bring back Field's!!!

Not that she was alone. I also couldn't help but notice the guy along State Street in front of Macy's with his picket signs demanding the return of Field's, whose memory continues to live on in the form of the old brass signs and the clock on the corner.

Those details are considered part of the building's historic character, and Macy's couldn't dump them no matter how much they'd want to.

I'M STILL TRYING to figure out what the best bit of street life I saw on Saturday was.

A literal street 'artist'

The group of "drummers" (actually playing overturned buckets) gathered along State Street? Or was it the guy near the one-time Carson, Pirie, Scott (now Target) who was literally creating street art -- as in he was drawing pictures for hire, while sitting on the street corner.

Rhythm? Or clamor?

One could watch him create his so-called masterpieces-to-order.

Vote for Willie!

I also couldn't escape politics. For one wreath-covered lamp-post also managed to slip in a little Election Day related message. Vote for Willie Wilson! As opposed to any of the 20 other political geeks who have dreams of filling the seat once held by Richard J. Daley. Will this be the biggest, most prominent, Wilson campaign display we'll see between now and Feb. 26? Or will this campaign season fit in perfectly with the Macy's generic version of Christmas?

The modern Macy's in Chicago

What's left of Field's

  -30-

‘Holiday shopping’ has arrived, yet the depressing part of retail yet to come

Many of us will indulge our desire to play “Santa Claus” in a few weeks, hoping we can find just the right present to give that special someone in our lives.

Holiday shoppers will see similar scenes along State Street. Photos by Gregory Tejeda

Even though the more-realistic happening will be a rush of items being returned to the store come Dec. 26 for exchange, as people wonder how much our relatives and friends don’t comprehend what we like.

WHY ELSE WOULD they buy that ugly sweater or stinky cologne (or perfume) for us? How could they possibly think we’d enjoy that!

It’s “Black” Friday, and I’ve lost count of all the advertising fliers I’ve received in recent weeks – informing me of all the special sales intended to get us off our turkey-stuffed behinds and out to their stores. Where we’re expected to spend our money in great abundance in anticipation of the Christmas holidays of just four weeks off.

But back to the Christmas event, which will motivate a lot of shopping – with retailers trying to make us think its our patriotic duty to turn out and endure the ridiculous crowds at stores anticipated for Friday.

This is, supposedly, the time of year when stores actually meet all the expenses of having operated this year – meaning that any income generated through sales from this point on will determine just HOW profitable 2018 turns out to be.

Will window decorations be replicated?

I KNOW THERE are a lot of people who took holiday-season jobs in retail, hoping to make some extra money. They’re counting on all those sales to help generate a slightly-larger paycheck than the minimum wage salary provides. They work on commission, after all.

In fact, I still remember a time when I did such a thing. It was the holiday season of 1987. I was a fresh college graduate who had a few writing gigs providing something of a freelance income. But a few extra bucks couldn’t hurt.

That was the holiday season I worked in the men’s department of a Carson, Pirie Scott store – one out in the suburbs that ceased to exist even before the whole chain came tumbling down earlier this year.

I wasn’t much of a salesman, usually because I didn’t have the heart to care if people actually bought anything. The same person who could easily get motivated to chase a political geek to demand answers just didn’t care what shirt style one preferred.

How many miss having city's holiday tree in Daley Plaza

BUT MY BIGGEST memories of that holiday season job were the final days when Christmas had passed.

I got to see just how much of the merchandise I had sold to people wound up being despised. I remember getting daily reports of exactly how much the goods that were returned were valued at.

For me, it used to be in negative figures. As in any sales I generated in the days following Christmas were negated by all the merchandise that got returned.

I even recall one woman who had asked my advice on buying a sweater for her brother made a point of coming back to the store to tell me personally how much he hated it! Merry Christmas to you to, lady!

The city's menorah will see its duty in coming weeks

CONSIDER IT PART of the reason why I don’t get enthused much anymore about this part of the holiday season, and why I consider it a part of my routine of maintaining my sanity to avoid any kind of shopping on this Friday.

I think the crowds will be ridiculous. The idea of sudden bargains financially will be greatly-overstated. If anything, I think I would not want to be amidst the chaos when trying to pick out presents for people.

Planning a trip? Airport decorations to see you off

If I actually like them, I’d want to try to get something they’d enjoy, which probably needs a more sane and rational process than people will endure on Friday.

Most definitely not something that’s going to make people feel compelled to go back to the store the final week of December so they can return the ugly charm bracelet or bottle of Aramis I would have picked out for them now.

  -30-

Green resorting to age-old tactic to gain political backers – free holiday food

‘Twas Willie Wilson, the rich guy with political aspirations (now he wants to be mayor) who got in trouble earlier this year what with his willingness to hand out cash willy-nilly to gain the goodwill of potential voters.

GREEN: Helping Altgeld Gardens

There were those (myself included) who said his actions weren’t all that different from the political people of old who would give away the free turkeys to poor people around holiday season – so as to gain their good-will (and potential votes) on Election Day.

SUCH AS JA’MAL Green, who is one of the dozens who has hinted at running for mayor in the Feb. 26 municipal elections.

It seems that Green reached out to the people who live in the city’ Altgeld Gardens public housing complex (at the city’s far southernmost tip) to help them ensure they’ll have something to eat for a Thanksgiving holiday meal.

Specifically, he helped arrange for Cornish hens to be given away to those residents. It’s not turkey – but it is something that can make for a full meal and I’m sure there are those who will appreciate the idea of being given something they can prepare themselves; rather than being asked to settle for something served on a tray at a “soup kitchen” that is serving up a few turkeys to the needy to appease their own desire to appear helpful to the needy.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported how Green made the arrangements for people to get the food, and also have an event that created something of a festive mood within Altgeld Gardens on Wednesday.

IT SHOULD BE noted that Green isn’t paying for this. Although part of his event will include checking the participants to see if they’re properly registered to vote – and helping those who aren’t to fill out the paperwork so that they will be capable of legally casting a ballot come the February election (and April 2 run-off, if it becomes necessary).

But Green found business interests in and around the 130^th Street area neighborhood who kicked in financial perks to make it possible to stage the event --- including finding a suburban automobile dealership willing to kick in a car for a raffle.

I’m sure there are those who think Green is merely buying the good will of potential voters so that they’ll keep his name in mind when they cast ballots.

WILSON: Created a stink earlier this year

Or I’m sure others will prefer to think of it as Green showing off the kind of organizational skills one would need to have if they’re truly qualified to hold an electoral office such as mayor.

IF ANYTHING, IT’S all too similar to the kind of tactics that political people have always used to try to gain support from the elements of our society who are not as financially well-off as some of us.

It shows just how cheaply a vote can be bought for.

The 2018 going rate is $7.68 each. At least that’s what Wal-mart was charging as of Wednesday for a pair of Cornish hens.

Perhaps Wilson was being overly generous earlier this year when he was handing out cash in increments of up to $100 each to people who came to him saying they had emergency bills that had to be paid off.

FOR GREEN, I’M not sure how much all of this helps. Although it did get his name in the newspaper yet again, and I’m sure his political aspirations of the future will benefit if he can create the impression that he’s a somebody.

The cost of some 21st Century votes?

He lives in the Pullman neighborhood, and I’m sure he thinks he’s merely helping the needy in a neighborhood not far from his own.

There’s nothing unusual about political people trying to publicize themselves, and get their names out. Choosing to spend a little bit of money for the public relations benefit is to be expected.

It’s when people begin to think that it’s all about the Cornish hens, or whatever other products they choose to give away, that we then have to start worrying about whether our politics are becoming too tainted.

  -30-

July 4 about more than a weenie roast

Call it one of my biggest pet peeves – the people who think of the holiday we celebrate Wednesday as the “Fourth of July,” and who think the term “Independence Day” is nothing more than that ridiculous film from some two-plus decades ago.

For the holiday that celebrates the events of some 242 years ago on this date is supposed to celebrate the events upon which the one-time English colonies of North America declared themselves an independent nation.

OF COURSE, I’M sure many people think that’s “boring!” and nothing more than ancient history. They prefer to think of this as the day we’ll dig out the barbecue grills, roast a few hot dogs and watch an explosive spectacle in the skies as we go out to our local park in the evening for a fireworks display.

That, and we find a way to turn this into an extended weekend – taking time off from work to make for an unofficial vacation.

If anything, the Independence Day holiday of 2018 will be unique because the actual “day off” comes on a Wednesday. We can actually pick if we want it to be the end of an extended weekend, or the beginning.

Or, for some incredibly lazy types, it will be a double weekend. A whole slew of time off – because why try to work when so many of your colleagues have disappeared.

I DOUBT MANY people will be giving history much thought. Which really is a shame.

Because at a time when our nation and our society is split so seriously, what I think we most are in need of is a history lesson. If anything, I think our “commander in chief” could most use such a lesson – since his sense of ego is such that I think at times he truly has no comprehension of what his campaign slogan truly means. Either that, or his sense of history comes entirely from those “Schoolhouse Rock” cartoons of the 1970s.

I’ll be honest; I don’t know exactly how I’m spending the day on Wednesday. A part of me thinks it would be useful to spend the day in historic meditation. Pondering the many sacrifices that generations past have made to create a nation and a society that so many from around the globe are eager to be a part of, while trying to calm the family dogs down as they endure an evening of explosives.

Instead, it could turn out to be little more than an over-glorified weenie roast, with me getting all outraged over my other pet peeve – people who persist in slathering their hot dogs in ketchup. Now that’s a truly un-American concept!

  -30-

How un-American can we get; spraying cemetery swastikas for Memorial Day

I feel sorry for those cemetery work crews in Glen Carbon – an Illinois-based suburb of St. Louis – who had to spend their Saturday sweating it out in the summer-time heat scrubbing swastikas that were spray-painted on head stones at a local cemetery.

Who in 'right' mind wants to bring this back?

For officials with the Sunset Hill Cemetery found headstones vandalized Saturday morning, and they wanted to be sure the mess was cleaned up prior to Monday.

THE LAST THING that anybody wanted was the symbol of Nazi-era Germany defacing the grave markers – particularly those of people who might have served in the military back in the World War II era.

On the day we pay tribute to those soldiers, sailors, air corps and marines who fought in the many wars our nation has taken part in, it is sad that we have some nincompoop out there who thinks it’s funny to deface graves with the symbol of the “enemy” whom we fought against.

Either that, or perhaps we have an idiot who thinks we fought a war against the “wrong” enemy! Believe it or not, there are those with enough screws loose that their vision of what “America” is all about would have had us aligned with the Axis Powers of old.

And the odd thing is, many of them have enough of a militaristic attitude that would have them believe such a viewpoint is what this country ought to be about.

SOMETHING I’D THINK the people who actually fought in that particular war would find particularly repulsive. But then again, the surviving veterans of World War II are such that they’ve reached their 90s in age – if they’re even still alive.

Meaning many of us don’t have a direct memory of what that conflict was about. Which is why we get those endless studies showing young people of today don’t comprehend Hitler or the Holocaust. Maybe they think such stories are more examples of “fake news,” because, after all, nobody could have been that delusional or vicious in their behavior.

So yes, I’m bothered by the stories that came out of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about the vandalized cemetery – although it also seems some houses near the cemetery also got tagged with the swastika. Which almost reminds me of that old “All in the Family” episode where someone tagged the front door of Archie Bunker’s bungalow with a swastika – and he tried to cover it up with a U.S. flag, only to be found out because he hung the flag on the door backwards!

Happening in real-life now as it happened on TV then

Some 1,300 military veterans are buried in that particular cemetery, and officials plan a noon-hour ceremony on Monday to pay tribute to those individuals.

SO IT WOULD seem that somebody was hoping to make a visual statement – one about what they think would “Make America Great Again” perhaps? And if you think I’m exaggerating such a viewpoint, consider the anonymous rants to be found on the Internet.

I literally found one person who thinks that such vandalism is to be expected because of the disrespect being shown by, “governments taking down and destroying monuments and history.”

As though not considering someone like Jefferson Davis or Robert E. Lee to be heroic is the same thing. The actual comparison would be someone lighting crosses ablaze at the remains of old “colored” cemeteries.

On the positive side, police in Edwardsville actually came up with security camera video that captured grainy images of the suspected vandal in the area at the alleged time of the incident.

THERE EVEN HAS been an arrest. Although just what kinds of criminal charges that individual will face remains to be determined. I’m pretty sure, though, that there will be some people willing to make a martyr out of the individual – whose idea of a political “statement” involved running around in the dark with an aerosol spray can of black paint.

Don't see where swastika fits in

Personally, I’d rather remember on this Memorial Day the individuals who fought against such ideals that these nitwits are superficially supporting.

It’s like some people want to keep refighting the old wars – and they’re counting on our apathy as a society to permit them to have a chance at victory.

Without it, our “American” ideals (which are nowhere as narrow as they want to make them out to be) are what will continue to prevail!

  -30-