Memorial Day is a convenient holiday for politicians, who can show the public their patriotism without actually supporting any specific military position.
So to that end, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis, posted a social media message one week ago which showed that the St. Louis Democrat (or a member of her staff, at the very least), did not quite know what the holiday actually commemorates.
According to several news sites, Bush posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) which said: “This Memorial Day, & every day, we honor our veterans in St. Louis.”
Bush then went on to list several ways that the government should aid military veterans, such as in the areas of “universal health care, affordable housing … as we work to build a world free of war and violence.”
One small catch: Memorial Day is not for honoring all veterans, but only those who died in the line of duty.
So a short time after Bush’s original message appeared, it disappeared. And in its place, Bush released a revised tweet which amended her good wishes toward honoring “those who served and lost their lives for our country …”
But Bush was not alone in mischaracterizing Memorial Day.
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota, a colleague of Bush’s in “The Squad,” a group of progressive members of Congress, made the same mistake. Her post also was taken down within hours of its debut.
On the bright side, the social media machines of both Bush and Omar should be squared away for Nov. 11, which is actually Veterans Day, which is actually when the nation honors all who have served in the military.
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