Memorial Day 2014

The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy!

H. L. Mencken, Notes on Democracy, 1926

As the nation turns it attention to the summer season this Memorial Day, it is time again for The Madison Conservative to repost an earlier blog about a subject near and dear to us. We must honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of democracy, to protect the citizens and ideals of the United States of America. There are many ways to honor our fallen heroes, but perhaps the greatest way to do so is to help provide for their fellow surviving soldiers, seamen, airmen and marines.

To that point, here is the re-post:

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

At a time when the body politic is abuzz over peripheral issue nonsense it is perhaps a fitting time to turn our attention to a matter of true national importance.

To wit:

There are many worthy charities that need to be supported by the public at large. There is currently running a series of commercials promoting the cause of the Wounded Warrior Project. The one that created the impetus for this blog post featured Trace Adkins.

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

The charity is focused solely on helping returning disabled veterans and their families cope with the adjustments inherent with a disability coupled with the stresses related to the rigors of war inflicted upon the mind and body of our returning veterans.

The website address is being repeated throughout this blog to show support and solidarity with their intended mission.

That being said, and speaking as a United States Navy veteran, the fact that this organization was created out of a need to fill a void should be an embarrassment upon the military bureaucracy specifically entrusted with the care of our veterans, and should be an outrage to the electorate at large.

It is a disgrace that in the United Sates of America our veterans need to have an organization outside of the military ask for funds to help with their transition back to civilian life, to say nothing of asking for financial support to aid in their adaptive needs for a war inflicted disability.

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

There is constant dialogue throughout the nation that we must “support the troops even if we disagree with the mission”, one of the hard learned lessons at the expense of our Vietnam War veterans: a true national disgrace whose wounds we are hopefully beginning to heal by acknowledging the treatment of those particular veterans and doing all we can to guarantee that such treatment of our military is never repeated.

It is crucial to understand that there is absolutely not one infinitesimal bit of daylight between the Madison Conservative and the wonderful folks at the Wounded Warrior Project.

The issue here is that there should never be a need for the private sector to provide anything of substantive necessity for our veterans and their needs when they return from battle. The men and women of our all voluntary military provide the protection and safety that allows us to become enraptured with the absurdities of any number of inconsequential matters, such as the current national political electoral theater.

The members of our armed forces choose to fill the role of protector, and their families bear the emotional and financial burdens of that decision. They should never be placed in the position of having to ask  any private enterprise for help in providing whatever support – physical, emotional or financial – the veteran and their family may need as they acclimate back to a civilian life  while coping with a injury suffered in defense of American liberty and freedom.

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

If we break the explicit and implicit social contract with our soldiers, seamen, marines and airmen, America will no longer be the home of the brave and land of the free.

We will be too busy having telethons to raise money for guns, and asking corporations to help with a ‘buy a bullet’ campaign.

The Wounded Warrior Project is truly a charity that speaks to our higher ideals; but it should fall onto the American people through the military bureaucracy to insure that no veteran should ever need to ask a private entity for help.

We as a people are better than that.

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

The 9/11 Museum - A Guest Commentary

The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy!

H. L. Mencken, Notes on Democracy, 1926

When researching topics for the weekly blog post, the Madison Conservative uses a variety of sources for potential issues.

Rarely is a resource utilized in its totality, but when such an event does occur, the belief is that said source should be given this platform.

Such is the case this week.

The 9/11 Memorial was opened and dedicated this past week. There were many moving tributes presented by a multitude of media outlets, but none addressed the topic contained below. It was not our intent to discuss the Museum at all, but this column, presented here in its entirety, struck a deep chord.

So here is Susan Edelman’s beautifully written piece, reprinted here by permission of the copyright holder.

To wit:

The 9/11 museum’s absurd gift shop

By Susan Edelman

May 18, 2014

The 9/11 Memorial Museum features a gift shop with items such as caps, shirts, and FDNY vests for dogs.

The museum at Ground Zero tells the dark story of the 9/11 terror attacks with spectacular artifacts and exhibits. It pays heart-wrenching tribute to the innocents and heroes killed that day.

It also has a gift shop.

The 9/11 museum’s cavernous boutique offers a vast array of souvenir goods. For example: FDNY, NYPD and Port Authority Police T-shirts ($22) and caps ($19.95); earrings molded from leaves and blossoms of downtown trees ($20 to $68); cop and firefighter charms by Pandora and other jewelers ($65); “United We Stand” blankets.

There are bracelets, bowls, buttons, mugs, mousepads, magnets, key chains, flags, pins, stuffed animals, toy fire trucks, cellphone cases, tote bags, books and DVDs.

You can pick up an assortment of oak leaf jewelry at the 9/11 museum gift shop.

Even FDNY vests for dogs come in all sizes.

After paying $24 admission for adults, $18 for seniors and students, and $15 for kids 7 to 17, visitors can shop till they drop.

“To me, it’s the crassest, most insensitive thing to have a commercial enterprise at the place where my son died,” Diane Horning said.

She and husband Kurt never recovered the remains of their son Matthew, 26, a database administrator for Marsh & McLennan and aspiring guitarist.

About 8,000 unidentified body parts are now stored out of sight in a “remains repository” at the museum’s underground home.

“Here is essentially our tomb of the unknown. To sell baubles I find quite shocking and repugnant,” said Horning, who also objects to the museum cafe.

“I think it’s a money-making venture to support inflated salaries, and they’re willing to do it over my son’s dead body.”

Among the museum shop’s specially designed items:

- A black and white “Darkness Hoodie” printed with an image of the Twin Towers. The pullover, like other “Darkness” items, bears the words “In Darkness We Shine Brightest.” Price: $39.

- Silk scarves printed with 1986 photos by Paula Barr, including a panoramic view of the Manhattan skyline. Another depicts “lunchtime on the WTC Plaza.” They go for $95 each.

- “Survivor Tree” earrings, named after a pear tree that stood in the World Trade Center plaza and survived 9/11. Made of bronze and freshwater pearls, a pair costs $64. A leaf ornament molded from the swamp white oaks at the memorial is said to change from amber to dark brown “and sometimes pink around the time of the 9/11 anniversary.”

- Heart-shaped rocks inscribed with slogans such as “United in Hope” and “Honor.”

One rock bears a quote by Virgil that is emblazoned on a massive blue-tiled wall in the museum: “No day shall erase you from the memory of time.” It costs $39.

John Feal, a Ground Zero demolition supervisor who runs the FealGood Foundation for ailing 9/11 responders, said he understands the need to raise money for costs, including six-figure salaries for execs like CEO Joe Daniels, who takes in $378,000.

But Feal blasted the store’s opening Thursday, when only 9/11 relatives, rescuers and recovery workers were invited to visit. Those free visits will continue through Tuesday. The museum opens to the public Wednesday.

“These people are suffering, and they don’t need to be reaching into their pockets,” Feal said. “The museum could have gone six days without asking for money.”

The museum plans to fund its $63 million operating budget with admission fees and donations.

“All net proceeds from our sales are dedicated to developing and sustaining” the museum, reads a notice at the store and online, where items are also sold. “Thank you for helping to build a lasting place for remembrance, reflection, and learning for years to come.”

In a twist, a plaque says the store was “made possible through the generosity of Paul Napoli and Marc Bern,” partners in a law firm that reaped $200 million in taxpayer-funded fees and expenses after suing the city for nearly 10,000 Ground Zero workers.

The museum Web site lists the firm as having donated $5 million.

“They could have given that $5 million to the sick and suffering — their former clients,” Feal said.

Happy Mothers Day

The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy!

H. L. Mencken, Notes on Democracy, 1926

George Washington is universally accepted as earning the title of ‘Father’ of America, being the general who led the fledging nation to victory against England in the Revolutionary War, and then being elected to the office of the presidency as the America’s first constitutionally empowered chief executive. His wisdom set the tone for the new nation, and his choice to refuse a position of ‘President for Life’ provided a standard which all subsequent presidents followed, save for Franklin Roosevelt.

On this Mother’s Day, the question begs to be answered: who would qualify as the ‘Mother’ of America? While Martha Washington, as the nations inaugural First Lady did little of public note to be rewarded with the sobriquet. Dolly Madison, who served as official White House hostess for both Thomas Jefferson and then her husband, provided a standard for future first ladies, but again lacks the public record of involvement in the formation of the greatest nation the world has ever seen.

The Madison Conservative would propose that the true ‘Mother of America’ honor be bestowed upon Abigail Adams. Truly no other woman of the revolutionary era had as much to do with policy and substantive input as Abigail. The letters between her and John Adams show a woman intent on insuring that democracy come to America, and was a critical sounding board for her husband as his involvement in the War for Independence grew.

Consider the following official biography from the Abigail Adams website and we are sure all will agree that she has earned her place as Mother of America.

Happy Mothers Day to all the Moms’ of America, past, present and future!

ABIGAIL SMITH ADAMS

1744-1818

Abigail Adams was born November 11, 1744 in Weymouth, to Elizabeth Quincy Smith and Reverend William Smith, pastor of Weymouth’s First Church.

Like most girls of her time, she did not receive a formal education, but took advantage of her father’s library and studied the Bible, history, philosophy, essays and poetry.  Abigail’s mother and grandmother Quincy taught her social graces, as well as homemaking and handiwork skills.  Such a background helped her to become a keen political observer, prolific writer, and influential First Lady.

On October 25, 1764 Abigail married John Adams, a Harvard graduate pursuing a law career.  Their marriage was one of mind and heart, producing three sons and two daughters, and lasting for more than half a century.  They first lived on John’s farm in Braintree, and later in Boston.  Long separations kept them apart, when John traveled as a circuit lawyer and later, when John served as delegate to the Continental Congress, envoy abroad, and elected officer.

Abigail struggled alone with wartime shortages, lack of income, and difficult living conditions.  She ran the household, farm, and educated her children.  Abigail’s letters to John were strong, witty and supportive.  The letters, which have been preserved, detail her life during revolutionary times, and describe the many dangers and challenges she faced as our young country fought to become independent.  Most of all, the letters tell of her loneliness without her “dearest friend,” her husband John.

Abigail followed John to his posts in Paris in 1784 and Great Britain in 1785, always observing and commenting upon politics, customs and society.  They returned to a newly acquired house in Braintree (now part of Quincy) that would remain their home for the rest of their lives.  From 1789 to 1801, Abigail, as wife of the Vice President and then as First Lady, became a trusted and influential political advisor to John, while she also fulfilled her role in official entertaining.  Her unwavering support and encouragement of her husband in his career was apparent, as she fearlessly expressed her opinions in private and in public.

Abigail and John retired to Quincy in 1801, and for 17 years enjoyed the companionship that public life had long denied them.  Abigail died on October 28, 1818, and is buried in the United First Parish Church of Quincy beside her husband, who died on July 4, 1826.

Abigail Adams is further distinguished as the first American woman honored as the wife of one U. S. President and the mother of another.  Her husband John Adams, 2nd President, served from 1797 to 1801, and their son, John Quincy Adams, 6th President, served from 1825 to 1829.

Intelligent and broadminded, Abigail Smith Adams was often ahead of her time with many of her ideas. She opposed slavery, believed in equal education for boys and girls, and practiced what she learned as a child - the duty of the fortunate is to help those who are less fortunate.

Freedom 7

The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy!

H. L. Mencken, Notes on Democracy, 1926

This Monday, May 5^th, will mark the 53^rd anniversary of America’s entrance into the final frontier of manned space exploration.

Alan B. Shepard flew America’s first manned spaceflight in his spacecraft christened Freedom 7, in honor of the history of freedom this nation has offered to the hopes and aspirations of mankind. The ‘7’ was to commemorate the initial 7 astronauts chosen for the space program.

The Mercury series of flights was active from May 1961 to May 1963; included were these seven original American astronauts: Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra, Gordon Cooper, and Deke Slayton.

The editor of the Madison Conservative has a particularly personal connection to the American space program, and so on this anniversary of the first manned flight, we would like to make a point about NASA, America, this administration and the future of the space program.

Any discussion of the space program must begin with those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the pursuit of knowledge.

To wit:

A cabin fire during a launch rehearsal test on January 27 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 34 killed all three crew members of Apollo I—Command Pilot Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Senior Pilot Edward H. White II and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee. These three men were the first casualties of Americas’ space program, but they would heartbreakingly not be the last.

The explosion on January 28, 1986 resulted in the death of all seven crewmembers of the Space Shuttle Challenger. It was the first of two shuttles to be destroyed. The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, when Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana as it reentered Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven crewmembers.

These explorers must forever remain amongst this nations honored brave who paid the ultimate price.

It is also critical to remember the administration and the president who inspired a nation to shoot for the stars, who knew that the best and brightest of America included all of America.

This well-known excerpt is from President John Kennedy’s address before a joint session of Congress May 25, 1961, barely three weeks after Shepard’s historic flight:

First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth

After John Glenn’s successful February 20^th 1962 orbital flight, President Kennedy delivered a stirring and inspirational address, excerpted below, to Rice University, in Houston, Texas on September 12, 1962, making clear the intent of America and her future in space.

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not only because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

The growth of our science and education will be enriched by new knowledge of our universe and environment, by new techniques of learning and mapping and observation, by new tools and computers for industry, medicine, the home as well as the school. Technical institutions, such as Rice, will reap the harvest of these gains.

And finally, the space effort itself, while still in its infancy, has already created a great number of new companies, and tens of thousands of new jobs. Space and related industries are generating new demands in investment and skilled personnel, and this city and this State, and this region, will share greatly in this growth. What was once the furthest outpost on the old frontier of the West will be the furthest outpost on the new frontier of science and space. Houston, your City of Houston, with its Manned Spacecraft Center, will become the heart of a large scientific and engineering community.

Please read those two excerpts from President Kennedy again. They showed vision, spoke to the greatness of America, and showed a path forward for the nation. He dreamed big, and did so in a confident manner. There were no real politics involved in these speeches – despite the budgetary requests to fund the exploration of space – but consider all that the American Space program has given to this nation and to this planet.

For example, this post is being written on a MAC laptop that has more computer power than the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon!

All the above being duly noted, it should be appalling to this nation that our manned space explorations now rest on the good graces of the Russians, as they are now providing the space taxi service to the hitchhiking Americans.

This nation has no independent means of delivering man to space.

It is no secret that the Madison Conservative has deep political and philosophical differences with the Obama administration.

The stark differences between President Obama’s dreams for America and President Kennedy’s outlook encapsulate those differences for a national agenda in a rather pithy observation;

President Kennedy spoke of America shooting for and reaching the stars.

President Obama's major domestic policy agenda is to correct ‘income inequality’ and to do so by working to raise the minimum wage of $7.25 to $10.10 by 2015.

Surely a goal that will stir the hearts and minds of America.

America must learn to dream big again. The American people must demand so of their elected leaders.