Fan holding Memorial Day "Camouflage" cap worn by players at major league baseball games yesterday.
I must say this past Memorial Day extravaganza of ultra militaristic propaganda put on by the corporate media and particularly major league baseball-I didn't see pro basketball or ice hockey playoff games but I'm sure they did their part to rile up the "troops" aka fans-was something I hadn't seen to this extent before.
Sure there was the usual "fly bys", the DOD commercials extolling all the military services and the sports announcers regurgitating how the troops are "protecting us" ad nauseam, but this year the players, coaches and managers wore camouflage caps, numbers and names on their jerseys-I'd take a pretty good guess none of them were consulted about this militaristic symbolism festooned on their outfits, but being the well paid chattel they are, probably didn't give it much thought-all this for the corporate flaks to make sure sport and American nationalism are seen as synonymous.
I kept looking for the barf bag but I wasn't on an airplane.
Do any of these people-players, coaches, fans at the ballpark or at home watching-aware they're being manipulated and used, fed endless propaganda wrapped in the flag about these unnecessary wars of choice, that the military, CIA drone strikes and special ops missions-far from "protecting us"- kill and have killed countless thousands of innocent people the military refers to as "collateral damage" weren't "terrorists", insurgents, jihadis-but ordinary villagers trying to eke out a living before the lethal tip of American imperialism came raining down on them?
Sure anyone with a heartbeat has to feel for the loved ones family members lost in our wars as well as for the guys severely injured who we've learned the VA doesn't give proper care or attention while the ex-service men often wait in limbo until they're finally tended to.
This last one about the VA is a particular thorn for this writer.
The Congress-you know them-among many other things has the power of the purse. EVERYTHING the federal government does needs to be appropriated by them. They sure as hell appropriate the necessary funds for our executive's wars, but don't see fit to fund the VA to take proper care of the veterans they send in harms way. But I guess since the overwhelming majority of them never fought in a war-and except for the mere handful whose sons, daughters did enlist in the military-they could care less.
I'd guess many of them were out at some Memorial Day outing spouting some "patriotic" bilge, but the bottom line is funding the VA is their responsibility-as well as oversight and enforcement-so when we hear of recent VA abuses by this or that VA honcho not fulfilling his duties, then fire him, investigate and have him prosecuted but cut the crap and fund the VA to the full extent and stop leaving these guys hung out to dry.
As far as I'm aware we didn't get any recognition over the past weekend by our "fearless" MSM about Congress shortchanging the VA and the inadequate care often given to wounded vets. That would have "interfered" with the gargantuan display of flag waving triumphalism aka the outright BS transmitted over the airways.
But hey, we're the US of BS anyway. So it was par for the course.
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