Our Lady Liberty-

 compassion for all

 innocent victims of war. 

 

Veterans Day History

Veterans Day was officially created in 1926, but the seeds for Veterans Day began in 1919. November 11, 1919 is forever known as the day World War I ended. Famously, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, an armistice was signed between the fighting nations.

The next year, President Woodrow Wilson officially proclaimed November 11 a national holiday, exactly 90 years ago. Back then it was known as Armistice Day instead. It also ignored that although November 11 was the day the US and Germany stopped fighting, the Treaty of Versailles that officially concluded the war didn't get signed until June 1919.

In any case, the United States celebrated Armistice Day for the sole purpose of honoring the end of WWI and those who fought and died there. Armistice Day was honored each year with parades and celebrations, and suspensions of business at 11 a.m.

However, it was not an official national holiday until 1938, one of the last peacetime years in post WWI America.

When World War II came and went, World War I took a backseat in people's memories. The sacrifices and fighting by America's WWII soldiers, and those that were fighting in the Korean War, now needed to be honored as well.

Therefore, Armistice Day was changed to Veterans Day, as now Veterans Day would honor all Americans from all wars, not just WWI.

Dwight Eisenhower created the new Veterans Day in 1954. In 1971, Veterans Day was no longer celebrated on November 11, but on a Monday in November to encourage three day weekend travel.

But that created confusion and controversy, so President Carter returned Veterans Day to November 11, regardless of what day of the week it fell under.


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Obama Reinstates "Death Book" For US Veterans of War

President Bush suspended the veteran's "death books" last year.
Unfortunately, Barack Obama reinstated the practice for veterans.

Is it really worth it?

The book asks veterans to decide whether their own life would be "not worth living" under certain guilt inducing scenarios.
The Wall Street Journal reported:

If President Obama wants to better understand why America's discomfort with end-of-life discussions threatens to derail his health-care reform, he might begin with his own Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). He will quickly discover how government bureaucrats are greasing the slippery slope that can start with cost containment but quickly become a systematic denial of care.

Last year, bureaucrats at the VA's National Center for Ethics in Health Care advocated a 52-page end-of-life planning document, "Your Life, Your Choices." (pdf) It was first published in 1997 and later promoted as the VA's preferred living will throughout its vast network of hospitals and nursing homes. After the Bush White House took a look at how this document was treating complex health and moral issues, the VA suspended its use. Unfortunately, under President Obama, the VA has now resuscitated "Your Life, Your Choices."

Who is the primary author of this workbook? Dr. Robert Pearlman, chief of ethics evaluation for the center, a man who in 1996 advocated for physician-assisted suicide in Vacco v. Quill before the U.S. Supreme Court and is known for his support of health-care rationing.

"Your Life, Your Choices" presents end-of-life choices in a way aimed at steering users toward predetermined conclusions, much like a political "push poll." For example, a worksheet on page 21 lists various scenarios and asks users to then decide whether their own life would be "not worth living."

The circumstances listed include ones common among the elderly and disabled: living in a nursing home, being in a wheelchair and not being able to "shake the blues." There is a section which provocatively asks, "Have you ever heard anyone say, 'If I'm a vegetable, pull the plug'?" There also are guilt-inducing scenarios such as "I can no longer contribute to my family's well being," "I am a severe financial burden on my family" and that the vet's situation "causes severe emotional burden for my family."

Page 21 of the book asks: "What makes my life worth living?"



But, don't worry seniors... You have nothing to worry about with Obamacare.
Skip the surgery. Take a pain pill instead.


VIA

Cindy Sheehan Targets Obama's Vacation

Sheeeee's Baaaaack.

It wouldn't be an official presidential summer vacation without her. Cindy Sheehan is going to follow President Barack Obama to Martha's Vineyard.

The "peace mom," who famously protested the Iraq war by camping out near President George W. Bush's Texas ranch during his vacations, plans to arrive on the island Aug. 25 -- two days after the first family gets there. Sheehan's son was killed in Iraq five years ago. A statement on Sheehan's blog says she and "other like-minded peace activists" want to remind Obama "the body bags aren't taking a vacation."

The Washington Examiner's Byron York gives Sheehan credit for consistency, but thinks "her days are over." He says the anti-war forces that rallied around her when Bush was in office have fallen silent and moved on.

Sheehan and the Obamas will find the Massachusetts resort all decked out for the presidential visit. The New York Times notes they could chill out with an "Obamarita" at Sharkey's Cantina or shop for T-shirts bearing slogans such as "Barackin' the Vineyard."

While the president's vacation will give a boost to the island's economy, one columnist is urging Obama to opt for a "stay-cation." Tracie Powell writes on CQ Politics that with health care reform hanging in the balance, it would be better for Obama to stay home -- even if it's just for the sake of "good public relations."