Another US Memorial Day raises its ugly head

By SJ Otto

We are just about 2 days away from Memorial Day. It is a major holiday, although not as major as Labor Day, Christmas or Thanksgiving. A lot of people will get the picnic baskets and food out for a happy day of getting the family together for an outing in a nearby park or just someone's back yard.

Some of us will visit cemeteries, as I will since my brother died back in the 1990s and my Mom died a few years ago. I have no family that died in combat. My wife's dad, who died about 15 years ago and he was a vet of World War II. He was a military career man. He fought in D-Day. on the beaches of Europe. He never liked to talk about that. He fought in one of the last "good wars." A war that had some justification to it. Adolf Hitler not only fought America and Europe, be he also wanted to get rid of Joseph Stalin.

Stalin was our ally at that time and it was OK to like him.

Some people will got to some vet honoring event, such as a parade or service in one of Wichita Kansas's many pro-vet parks. I lived through the 1960s and 1970s when it was not cool to be pro-military. Today it is real cool to be pro-military or in the military. Many young people can't wait to join the military and play soldier. I heard a young woman on the radio a few months ago who was asked why she wanted to fight in the military: "To kick the bad guy's ass!" she gleamed. Yes for many today, war is our chance to kick the bad guys ass, who ever that bad guy is and what ever he/she did to be labeled a "bad guy."

So as I prepare for Monday's festivities I will concentrate on honoring those who died, were wounded or were tortured by our pro-imperialist military. "To those who stood up to the US or NATO empire and lost their lives!"Europe have decided that ALL people in the world must agree to. This is not a world were people of a nation can decide what ideology they want to believe in and support. They must support "free enterprise" and all the belief systems that comes with that, including pre-packaged political parties designed to keep the system from ever changing.

I oppose a nation that takes on the position of "world cop" and will enforce politics that this country and most of

I will also join in with those who want to honor those black people who died at the hands of our police.

With those two goals in mind, I will celebrate the lives of those who died at the hands of our imperialist army and racist police.

So pass the hamburger buns and the ketchup.