Just got back from the Veterans Day Parade in Dallas

[theivoryqueen]

Yikes, not much turnout, which was sad. The Mayor left halfway through. I got the feeling this isn't a major holiday. But it was the first Veterans Day celebration of any kind that I have ever attended, and I felt it especially important to show up for this one. It was bittersweet because everyone there was in full realization that the kids marching by were not just in costume... they are headed off to war.

One man held a sign urging people to protest tax cuts for the wealthy and service/pay cuts for the armed forces. Another man handed out fliers made by the DAV with the headline "Congress declares war against disabled Veterans". No argument from me on either score. That was the full extent of protesting in Big D.

Mostly people just enjoyed the gorgeous weather and watched the tanks roll by. I noticed some of the kids were scared of them. The planes that flew overhead executed the missing man formation, and it was amazingly powerful.

We are in a war we didn't authorize or want, accused of treason or treachery when we dissent and are supposed to "get over" the fact that we are losing our nations' soul and heart and power. Instead of rational debate and discourse we get to listen to bubblebrained rhetoric directed at the lowest possible denominator and we are supposed to be grateful that we are in the land of the free where we get any news at all. If there is a point to "free-speech-zones" it is the exact opposite. If there is a point to building prisons and expanding cemetaries, it is far removed from deliberate, targeted closures of schools and daycare centers and de-funding preschool programs for the needy.

I watched all those old men riding on flatbed floats, and I couldn't help but wonder if they were disappointed that what they fought for and worked for and hoped for is vanishing... under perfect skies filled with billowing flags that wave in perfect ripples to the tune of a thousand boots.

[Paxton_Free]

1. Wish I could have made it.

I work in downtown Dallas and really wanted to go, but alas, I couldn't get away. I would have liked to have been there.

[Gephard]

2. I'm sorry people are usings this day

This day reserved for veterans for their own partisan political causes. Truly sad and not like it used to be.