Memorial Day

Monday is Memorial Day here and in honor of that TV is filled with old and recent "war movies". Generally, I do not like such films but one of my favorite films is 'Saving Private Ryan'. That was shown last night and I tuned in for a second to watch...but was enthralled and stayed for the whole film. One thing I like about the film is that it is an anti war film that gives its view with realism, rather than an overt and direct emotional appeal.
If I were the parent of a young man of military age I would certainly make sure he saw that film and discussed the content with me afterward. It might dissuade some kids from entering the military based on foolish romantic notions of medals in combat battles they script in their imagination from silly Hollywood Rambo films.
Here is a quick history of Memorial Day. It started after the Civil War ( 1860-65) when one of the generals decided to start a "Decoration Day" in which dead Civil War soldier graves would be decorated in their honor. The idea became a tradition and in the early 1970's Congress declared the last Monday in May as Memorial Day to honor all soldiers killed in action. (Veterans Day, in November honors all soldiers, not just the ones killed in wars). It's been a non event for most people, but with the Bush administration a time of shame for many of us, and not widely celebrated. Bush's abuse of power at home and in his un necessary use of military force is killing the idea of Memorial Day.
It is a pity that the military is so reviled today and that on this Memorial Day we Americans can think about what America was before Bush so damaged it with his incompetence and mean spirited polices.
Good news for everyone who hates lawyers (doesn't everyone?) and would love to see them being choked until a shade of blue. A man named John Gomez, who was charged with murder in Massachusetts, was so angry with his lawyer's performance he attacked the attorney in court the other day, trying to strangle him as a shocked judge looked on. "I think he just didn't like the way some of the rulings the judge was making was going yesterday morning," attorney Bruce Carroll said of the Tuesday morning attack by defendant John "The Strangler" Gomes in Boston's Suffolk Superior Court on Bruce.
"He eventually stood up, started saying something and reached over and grabbed me by the throat." Several officers intervened before the 6-foot, 113-kg Gomes was separated from lawyer Bruce. Carroll had tried to withdraw from the case last week but the judge denied his request.
I wonder if the judge hates lawyers as much as us and was privy that The Strangler would go for Bruce's throat. The only injury Bruce suffered was to his dignity...Oh, I forgot. That's impossible, lawyers have no dignity.