SMALL GESTURES KEY TO HONORING THEIR SACRIFICE

By Tom Purcell

“Parades, mattress sales and burgers on the grill are all nice, but I feel we should do more to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.”

“Ah, yes, you speak of the Memorial Day holiday, a day intended to honor the men and women who gave their lives to protect the freedoms too many Americans take for granted.”

“That’s right. Look, there should be debate about the wars we have been fighting, but there should be no debate about honoring the men and women who died serving our country — or the men and women who continue to serve.”

“I couldn’t agree more. Millions of service people have sacrificed plenty over the years. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, nearly 42 million American men and women have served during wartime. Nearly 1.5 million were wounded. Nearly 1.2 million died.”

“Honoring these people with annual parades is a nice gesture, but we can all do more to support our troops.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“The Veterans of Foreign Wars says we can write to people who are serving overseas or recuperating in military hospitals. These individuals love receiving emails, letters and care packages.”

“A wonderful start. What else can we do to better support the troops?”

“Donate time. The local VFW, the American Legion and other legitimate organizations are always in need of volunteers to support a variety of fundraising and recognition events. Simply contact your local VFW or American Legion office to learn how you may help.”

“Surely we can donate money, too?”

“Anyone can help fund a variety of needed services for military members — or support the Red Cross to provide basic necessities to service members in military hospitals. Just be sure you are funding a legitimate organization. Regrettably, there are some charlatans out there. Before giving money, check out the organization at a respectable validation service, such as charitywatch.org.”

“That’s sound advice. What else can we do?”

“Lori Felix, an Army veteran and founder of More with Less Today, offers simple and inexpensive ways we can serve the military and its families at Military.com. She suggests that even small gestures of kindness, such as volunteering to place flags at gravesites, are more than welcome.”

“Great!”

“Offering assistance to the families of service members who have been deployed is helpful, too. Life can be tough for a husband or wife left behind as his or her spouse serves overseas. Felix writes that we can ‘Extend a hand in friendship to a military family. Invite them over for a meal, bring them a meal or invite them out for dinner. Something as simple as running an errand or taking a walk together can forge a friendship.’”

“What can we do to help the older men and women who have served?”

“Felix suggests we contact a nursing home or a veterans hospital: ‘A visit can brighten a day and help veterans to know they are not forgotten. The Walter Reed National Military Center has a Facebook page that provides inspiration and ideas.’”

“I have another idea that is near and dear to my own heart. There are war memorials in many aging communities that are being neglected. It takes a few volunteers, basic lawn equipment and some elbow grease to bring them back to life. Cleaning them up for Memorial Day is one of the most rewarding projects I ever participated in!”

“So we have a plan: If we want to especially enjoy the Memorial Day weekend, first offer up a small gesture of kindness in honor or those who served and are still serving!”

DEMOCRATS HAVE AN OBSCENE NEW MANTRA

By Rick Jensen

Has anyone noticed the moral and organizational collapse of the Democratic Party?

While the president’s tweets and his lack of command over the English language earn him nationwide “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” the Democratic Party itself is in a stunning meltdown that threatens to dissolve whatever sense of decency and morality its members once strove to maintain.

Perhaps being on the front lines of fighting against rights to life and religious freedoms has some bearing upon the issue, but it’s gone far beyond that.

In some dystopian left-wing fantasy, a CPAC convention in which the president of the NRA leads a multitude of conservatives in chants of “F@&* Obama! F@&* Obama!” would be front page news in the New York Times and Washington Post.

Liberal icon Rachel Maddow would host guest after guest, psychologists, historians and Democratic Party leadership in dissertations explaining why Republicans would be so callous as to expose their children to such profane behavior.

And yet, it is the Democrats who did just that.

On May 20th, the California Democratic Party’s State Convention showed the current soul of the party.

Outgoing chair John Burton called upon the packed Sacramento Convention Center crowd to chant the new Democratic Platform slogan, “F@&* Donald Trump.”

Burton signaled the generally unfaithful using the official Democratic Party gesture, both middle fingers held high, and led a gleeful throng in a chant of “F@&* Donald Trump.”

This is what now passes as Democratic Party messaging.

We’re not talking about some small group of liberal recalcitrants. These are thousands of Democratic Party leaders and activists. California party leaders were actually onstage proudly “giving the finger” to the President.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Obama’s Former Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis looked on, laughing it up in the background, totally in support of this profane meltdown.

Were children in attendance?Was Children’s Caucus Director Judy Jacobs onstage shouting obscenities?

Hey, kids!Show Mommy and Daddy what you learned from the California Democratic Convention!

Perhaps the California Department of Family Services should consider children of Democrats to be living in unsafe households.

Even if kids weren’t at the convention, they got the message.

The message is that as long as you’re a Democrat, language forbidden by the FCC is a perfectly acceptable form of intellectual debate.

California is an excellent example of the Democratic Party’s self-destruction in a couple more events.

When Bernie Sanders supporters expressed their support for single-payer government health care, they were shouted down by the party chair, using the convention’s most popular word, the “F” word, in such a way as to instruct the liberals to perform a most difficult physical contortion upon themselves.

If you want your kids to be “good Democrats,” it’s going to take more than a few yoga lessons to abide by these new rules of the party’s leadership.

And in keeping with the party’s respect for elections, Democratic organizer Kimberly Ellis, who lost the race for party chair to Eric Bauman, demanded a recount.

She and her supporters doubt all the votes came from credentialed party delegates.

Recalling how Hillary and the DNC shut out Bernie delegates at the Nevada State Convention, it seems a reasonable suspicion.

Nearly 3,000 party delegates voted in the election and Ellis lost by 60 votes, the kind of margin California political veterans will recall cost Republican Tom McClintock the State Controller race (0.03 percent) after some “missing” absentee ballots miraculously appeared just in time to keep the Democrat from losing.

She knows how her party plays the game, so, of course, she doesn’t believe the outcome.

To their credit, the liberals chose not to riot or commit the violence seen so often in Berkeley and D.C.

The foul language, delighted displays of obscene gestures and dishonest electioneering isn’t just a California version of the Democratic Party.

It’s a nationwide dysfunction.

Add to this the angry soft-porn “comedy” stylings of an unapologetic Stephen Colbert and you get the idea of just how toxic this new, unhinged Democratic Party is to families and reason.

Evansville Police arrested 19 year old Donovan Wilson for two counts of possession of a handgun without a permit during a shots fired call early Sunday morning.
Police responded to the El Rio restaurant, 1919 N Green River Rd., just before 1:00am. Several vehicles were struck by gunfire. Police were told the suspect fled in a gold Impala. Officers stopped the Impala nearby. During the investigation, officers found two guns in the car. One was a .40cal handgun and together was a .44 magnum revolver.
Wilson did not have a permit to possess the weapons. He was arrested without incident. There was very little witness cooperation at the original scene.
Anyone with information on the shots fired is asked to call WeTip at 1-800-78-CRIME.