Veterans Day ~ Honoring Those Who Preserve Our Freedom

There were several hundred people in Griffing Park that day, drum and bugle corps, marching bands, and lots of patriotic speeches. I saw these flags fluttering in the wind. Shooting from this angle had them aglow with the sun illuminating them from behind. The TV cameraman was using them to frame the people up on the podium. I kind of like having him in the photo. TV cameras have very much become part of the pageantry. They validate the importance of the event. To a lot of people this was an important event.

It's easy to forget that real people fought and in many cases died in those wars. They fought to preserve our freedoms. The freedoms to speak, write, and publish our ideas. The freedom to pray to our god or gods in whatever manner we choose. Some folks don't understand that concept. They think that everybody should go to the same church and pray the same way that they do. They have us engaged in a war that is a replay of the crusades of the middle ages. They trample the rights we are guaranteed in the constitution.

Maybe it's time to waterboard George W. Bush until he fesses up as to who is pulling his strings? After all, it's not torture. Everyone in his administration tells us that. Nobody is honoring them.