6/1/21 A Memorial Day when "Democracy Itself is in Peril"

The long weekend saw President Joe Biden memorializing all over the place. That's one thing a politician has to do, and after decades in the Senate, Biden has had a lot of practice.

We know that Biden, whose late son Beau was in the military, is far more sincere with the task than some others who have occupied his office, notably “The Donald,” who asked his Chief of Staff John Kelly, when they were at the gravesite of Kelly's son in Arlington National Cemetery, "I don't get it," he said of the soldiers. "What was in it for them?" The contrast between Trump and people we can safely call human is startling.

That's why we can give special attention to Biden's words at Arlington, where he visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day. Biden said that “Democracy itself is in peril, here at home and around the world. What we do now, how we honor the memory of the fallen, will determine whether or not democracy will long endure.”

He said, “Empathy is the fuel of democracy.” And so it is, particularly for those on the left, who want to reach down past the steep slope where so many Americans are starting to slide, and bring our neighbors and ourselves back from a valley where economic promise, respect, justice, and civil rights have sickened and died.

“Democracy thrives when the infrastructure of democracy is strong,” Biden said. -- That was about the Republican Senate and its stonewalling.

“...When people have the right to vote freely and fairly and conveniently.” -- That was about Texas and other states setting up laws to keep people of color away from the polls.

“...When a free and independent press pursues the truth, founded on facts, not propaganda,” Biden added. -- That was about the liars of the propagandistic conservative press, and the attitudes of the Republicans' dark side.

“...When the rule of law applies equally and fairly to every citizen, regardless of where they come from, what they look like.” -- That would bear no explanation, were it not the anniversary of the most devastating race riot we know of in this country, carried out by Whites against Blacks in a once-vibrant neighborhood of Tulsa, then called the Black Wall Street.

Biden declared Monday to be a "Day of Remembrance: 100 Years After The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre."

But there is no way that anything we say, pay, or do on Memorial Day approaches the cost paid by human beings made for the country -- some willing, many not.

We would say that keeping Democracy alive -- and making it more real to all of us -- is the very best that we can do.

When was democracy in this country in peril in previous years? I tend to think of the McCarthy era. What do you think of?

What's the best way to honor Memorial Day?

How did you spend Memorial Day?  

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/556194-biden-defends-right-to-vote-freely-conveniently-in-memorial-day?fbclid=IwAR0oXXEHVDgAJLa7cA2r0f2_DwZ8oTd4K8E-iUKHQkDhTOVJ40zDRLRGcic