Memorial Day - Then and Now

On this Memorial Day, let us remember those who served their country in the military and gave their lives so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have in this country of ours.
That is what the Memorial Day Holiday (actual Memorial Day is May 30) is about and unfortunately, it seems to be politicized too often, especially the last few years with Barack Obama serving as our nation's 44th President of the United States of America.
Remember the Fox News Channel lambasting President Obama at a wreath laying ceremony in recent years?
What is that all about?
There were those too that bashed former President George W. Bush when he was doing the annual honors at Arlington National Cemetery in our nation's capitol.
Just four short years ago, right here in Illinois (where yours truly resides) when Obama came to Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in the "Land of Lincoln," there was a torrential downpour on Memorial Day when the President of the United States came for the ceremony.
Fox (and others) cynically remarked the rain was an "ominous sign" about Barack Obama, who was just five months into his first term.
In 2003, GW Bush was riding high on the Memorial Day holiday just a few weeks after the "Mission Accomplished" ceremony that declared the Iraq Mission was over (at least combat wise according to Bush) and that things would be winding down on a military scale in that country.
Bush was lauded at the time by Fox and other network news broadcasts at the wreath laying ceremony at that point.
However, five years later, the country was ready to welcome a new President of the United States as Bush was in the final months of his second term while laying the wreath in the ceremony. Future POTUS Barack Obama was pulling way ahead of Hillary Clinton in the Democratic polls heading into that year's historic Presidential election.
The fact is both of these men are or were our nation's leader and they deserve the respect of doing the honors of the Memorial Day ceremony without partisan bickering entering the conversation.
The men and women who served in our country's military and gave their lives so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have is what it is all about on Memorial Day.
So on this Memorial Day here's hoping we don't see or hear any of the sniping on the cable news networks, especially on Fox which makes its hay doing just that sort of thing.
Enjoy the holiday and remember those who gave all in service for the United States of America.