There were more than a few eyebrows raised at the fact that our lame excuse for a Veteran's Day celebration takes place the day after we celebrate the lighting of the Christmas Tree at the Promenade Mall.
A friend of mine, who won the Purple Heart in Vietnam told me that he and other veterans considered this juxtaposition an insult, which trivialized the holiday like a Veterans Day Sale.
Personally, I'm relieved that Maryann Edwards will be the keynote speaker as not long ago one of our notables took the opportunity to prattle on about our relationship with our sister cities, which had as much relevance to the suffering, sacrifice and heroism of our veterans as corn futures.
However, my friend asked why a politician should be a keynote speaker at all ... perhaps that honor should actually go to a veteran? And why are there only World War II guys ---- nobody from the forgotten Korean War, Vietnam, Panama, Grenada, Iraq or Afghanistan?
Murrieta put us to shame, with a week's build-up, appropriate decorations, a parade and huge celebration; actually celebrating on Veterans Day on Nov. 11 instead of treating this very meaningful holiday like an afterthought ---- particularly in the wake of the massacre at Fort Hood.
Do we truly understand and honor the sacrifices our servicemen and women make? What we may not know is they give up their freedom to fight for ours.
For example, in the case of Abu Malik Hasan investigating agencies said that they didn't take action at statements he'd made about suicide bombers and communication with a radical imam, as they'd be "crucified" for violating his First Amendment rights. A serviceman doesn't have them.
And they for damned sure don't have Second Amendment rights. Had soldiers been permitted to wear their sidearms on the base, "Allah Akhbar" would not have left Hasan's lips. Ironically, Richard Dailey, mayor of Chicago, and the Brady Coalition to end Gun Violence are opportunistically using this as a gun control Kodak Moment.
This needs a second look. Our service members deserve protection ---- now even in their own country ...
There are indeed dedicated, loyal Moslems in the Armed Services. But are we willing to compromise the safety of our soldiers, Marines, sailors, and airmen by being so afraid of offending someone that we fail to prosecute those who advocate jihadist views? Those on the left are certainly doing all they can to make the slaughter PC.
On NPR, I heard some knucklehead suggest that Hasan had "Pre"-traumatic Stress disorder, which Dr. Phil all but corroborated in an interview with Larry King.
Someone from Newsweek said that Hasan was simply a nutcase ---- which begs the question, aren't all jihadists "nutcases"?
On Saturday, let's pretend that we're actually celebrating Veterans Day 361 days early. Otherwise we blew it.
GREG SCHARF writes from Temecula. Contact him at gscharf7@aol.com.
