Patriot Day?

Being a Scout leader has introduced me to all sorts of things of which I might otherwise be blissfully unaware, amongst which is Patriot Day. For the blissfully unaware, "Patriot Day" is the official, federal-government sanctioned term for September 11 as a day of remembrance. While I'm sure it seemed to the U.S. Congress a good idea at the time to try to turn a day of mourning into a day of celebration of that which makes America great, I'm equally sure some more sober reflection would  have been an even better idea.

To illustrate, let us turn (as we must) to today's comics section. As always, Patrick McDonnell (Mutts) nails it with understated poignancy.

In One Big Happy, Rick Detorie is both serious and utterly appropriate.

Mother Goose and Grimm lost whatever mojo it might have once had a long, long time ago. This contribution is weak, but one appreciates the sentiment and effort.

 

And then there's Blondie. Oh, dear, is there ever Blondie.

 

And we're done. Flag-waving displays of patriotism have their place at 4th of July parades and pep rallies, but as working cartoonists and other persons with souls know, there is also a place and time for solemn remembrance. The adolescence of our present generation of national leaders is nowhere more on display than in the attempt to designate September 11 "Patriot Day." I don't know what the nation did to commemorate the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1953, but I guarantee you it did not involve festive displays of bunting.

Now, it may be unfair to compare those behind "Patriot Day," all of whom I'm sure are kind to children and small animals, to a comic strip which was mildly good 75 years ago but now has turned into the worst example of machine-shopped, worn trope-peddling, committee produced "funny page" soullessness. On the other hand, what more can one say about a generation which does not recognize a time to mourn?

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:     

a time to be born, and a time to die;

     a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
     a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
     a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
     a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
     a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
     a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
     a time for war, and a time for peace.

(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)