To be fair to poor Kamala, much as I hate to, the nation itself has done its best to marginalize Memorial Day, which for those of us who have war veterans in our lineage (both my father and grandfather are buried in Arlington National Cemetery) has gravitas and importance.
Memorial Day was established as special day of reflection and remembrance of those who died while serving in the U.S. military, according to the Congressional Research Service. But its significance has been gradually stripped away along with cultural and historical literacy in general, so now many Americans just think of it as an excuse for a long weekend, celebrating the beginning of summer, and getting drunk. When it had its own day, May 30, the holiday held more reverence in the public. It began as Decoration Day, after an organization of Union veterans called for decorating war graves with blooming flowers on May 30, 1868. It remained a solemn holiday through the 19th century: President Grover Cleveland spent the holiday going fishing, and he was widely criticized for being disrespectful. (It didn’t help that Grover dodged the draft in the Civil War and paid a substitute to fight in his place.). Then Armistice Day, which marked the end of World War I, confused everyone when Nov. 11 became a national holiday in 1938 and was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.
Both military holidays were marginalized (along with Washington’s birthday) in 1971 and became generic holidays when Congress decided that having long weekends was more important than having holidays actually commemorate important historical events and people. A year later, TIME Magazine (what?) wrote that the Memorial Day had become “a three-day nationwide hootenanny that seems to have lost much of its original purpose.” Now, instead of remembering our fallen soldiers, many Americans consider the day an opportunity to get big discounts at Memorial Day sales. Stores used to be closed on May 30 out of respect.
Oh that!
But who knows? Maybe when the next Democratic Congress votes to change the holiday to “George Floyd Day” the Left will be respectful again…
Ethics Alarms 
Being a Democrat means never having to say you’re sorry.
Most Democrats these days offer, at best, lip service to veterans. They really don’t like them much because they tend Republican, and are therefore evil MAGA orange man supporters that they would very much like to see sanctioned via social credit systems, arrested, or killed.
It’s telling that the Twitter (X) kids at the DNC have not even the slightest respect for service members lost in combat. To them, if you are in a group not sufficiently supportive of Democrats, you deserve to be used in an attack ad.
Most holidays have gradually been stripped of their significance, except maybe black history month, which still gets a ton of remembrance by every TV channel under the sun. It just goes to show you how deeply the woke mind virus has infected the American psyche, and how it’s eating away our traditions and culture. I keep reading, “Woke is dead”, but trust me — it’s very much alive. Bad ideas never seem to die (See also: Socialism, communism).
Thanks, Jack for an excellent reminder of Memorial Day. My Dad, several uncles and an aunt served in WWII, and Danny is a Marine, served in Vietnam, returned in 1969. I remember learning to respect these holidays in elementary school, where we also learned to sing a variety of patriotic songs (even the songs that mention God), including the Marine Corps anthem (which mentions Heaven).
Somehow the left has convinced everyone that patriotism is evil. I do hope that we can overcome that obstacle. Perfection doesn’t exist on Earth, but at least we are still striving, still aspirational, still a great place to live. And we owe our existence to those who served, and owe honor to those who perished in our defense.
Thanks again for the shout-out to the military.
I read an article a couple of years ago (I wish I could include the link, but I didn’t save it anywhere) entitled “Is it time to rethink the holidays?” I was skeptical when I opened it, but the main idea the author had was designed to restore the gravitas of Memorial Day. His suggestion was to move Memorial Day to July 3rd. His aim was to make July 3rd a day to remember all those who had given the ultimate sacrifice and July 4th a day to celebrate what those sacrifices had given to us.