Remembering the Fallen, Extending the Patriot Act, Expanding ROTC – Memorial Day Weekend Notes

1) Memorial Day is to remember those who “gave their last full measure of devotion” to our country and our cause. Think of the brave men (and more recently the women) who fought and died from Bunker Hill to New Orleans to Buena Vista to Shiloh and Cold Harbor to Chateau-Thierry to Cape Esperance and Kasserine Pass to Taejon to Khe Sanh to 73 Easting to Fallujah and Marja.

1) Memorial Day is to remember those who “gave their last full measure of devotion” to our country and our cause. Think of the brave men (and more recently the women) who fought and died from Bunker Hill to New Orleans to Buena Vista to Shiloh and Cold Harbor to Chateau-Thierry to Cape Esperance and Kasserine Pass to Taejon to Khe Sanh to 73 Easting to Fallujah and Marja. Some were drafted, some were volunteers; none returned to enjoy the pleasures of what we call our “American way of life,” including the gifts of culture, food and habits given to America by waves of immigrants who also gave their sons in battle.

Too many soldiers die without knowing that we appreciate that what they do provides the space for us to eat, drink and laugh; to fly our flags; to go to a furniture sale or to the beach on a long, lovely weekend.

Ensure that the next soldier you see knows how you feel about the sacrifice – while you can do it and while he or she can appreciate it.

2) Patriot Act: Thank you to Congress for passing another extension of the USA Patriot Act before leaving town, including the “lone wolf,” “business records,” and “roving wiretap” provisions.

• The “lone wolf” allows the government to track a non-American suspect who has no discernible tie to a terrorist group or foreign power.

• The “business records” provision allows the government to compel third parties (telephone companies, banks, etc.) to provide them access to a suspect’s record without notifying the suspect.

• “Roving wiretaps” allow investigators to apply one FISA court warrant to all forms of electronic communications used by the suspect (phone, cell phone, BlackBerry, home computer, etc.) if the government can show that the suspect is switching devices to evade detection.

The vote reminds us that members of both political parties in Washington do, when it comes right down to it, know that the United States is still at war and they are unwilling to handicap our law enforcement authorities.

The Ivies: Yale University has restored ROTC to campus, following Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, and the University of Pennsylvania. Stanford voted (29-7) in April to restore ROTC to campus and Columbia said it will sign a restoration agreement shortly. While Dartmouth College pronounces itself “proud” of its ROTC students, they still have to take their classes off-campus. While we think the military was working pretty darn well without the “Ivies,” the Ivy League will surely benefit from its association with the officers and future officers of the United States Armed Forces. These premier educational institutions were historically the source of many outstanding American military officers, and they will be again.

We do note that Brown University’s Committee on ROTC reaffirmed this past April the 1969 resolution that banned ROTC from campus at the height of the Vietnam War protests – putting paid to the lie that the ROTC expulsion had something to do with the armed services’ ban on homosexuals. Now, the Brown committee claims, the services have not explicitly included the transgendered as suitable for service. Talk about moving the goalposts.