Conceived in Liberty and Justice

Click cartoon to view larger image. Largest.

The photograph in the cartoon was taken during my trip with Chris to the Blogs4Life conference a few weeks ago. The World War II Memorial is on the mall between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, the latter unseen here because it would be directly behind you, the viewer, only much closer than the distance to the Lincoln Memorial. There was no water in the large center or side pools of the memorial, which I imagine was due to the fact that water can freeze in January. The long reflecting pool leading up the the Lincoln Memorial was empty as well, except for a few ducks maintaining a stubborn presence in a slight muddy strip of liquid which remained in the center.

The photograph in the cartoon is from a composite of four images that I stitched together in Photoshop. Click on the image below to see a much larger view (large download).

I have a special appreciation for the WWII Memorial because my father, a Brooklynite who's hair bore a certain resemblance to Ronald Reagan's, was drafted, became a gunner's mate on the Hornet and saw combat in the Pacific, a factor which promoted a lifetime battle with alcoholism. I didn't have the best of relationships with my father, largely because he constantly encouraged me to solve my problems with other children by fist fighting them in the street, in battles I always lost. Now and then my father would become beside himself by my constant losing and provoke fights with the fathers of my winning opponents; fights which my father would lose as well, only more spectacularly and with an even larger audience. Again, I didn't have the best of relationships with my father, but I don't blame him for all that he did wrong. We were both victims of bad fathers, and of being sensitive men living under not the kindest conditions.

World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, and all other conflicts fought by enlisted men were by proxy composed of sensitive men who didn't want to fight anyone. American draft dodgers fled to Canada during the 1960's and 70's and helped to create a culture of contempt for the military, but men like my father in earlier times didn't seek escape, fought, were traumatized, and created the freedom we enjoy today. We stand on the accomplishments of the grunts before us, men who weren't the bravest or the smartest, but were duty bound to achieving the impossible.

I received a nice email today from Alan Keyes Renew America columnist Guy Adams regarding the most recent ACLU 'Real I.D.' cartoon. Guy is a longtime contributor to Renew America; a page listing his work can be found here. Thanks also to ccnuggie who posted the cartoon in a Live Journal thread which attracted close to 150 comments.

'Real I.D.' has appeared in threads of both praise and condemnation, so it must be a good toon. I have yet to see a comment recognizing that the cartoon references the ACLU's opposition to the federal government's proposed Real ID program, which aims to standardize driver licenses across the States. One of the ACLU's stated points of disagreement with the program is that it will raise taxes. Let's hold the American Civil Liberties Union to that concern, especially to the fact that the windfalls awarded to them by Judges and paid out to them with taxpayer monies results in exactly the same.

Susan Peterson, in response to a post I made on ProLife Blogs has this request-

I marched at this march (the 33rd Annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. on January 23, 2006) with people from my son's Orthodox church. There was a big banner saying "Orthodox Christians for Life" and there was a memorial service with beautiful singing on the corner just before the steps of the court. Did you see the banner or the service? Do you know of any pictures posted anywhere of it. I took one with my cell phone but the quality isn't high. Year after year the coverage of the March for Life in the MSM is poor. I am disappointed in Fox News, though. Maybe some letters to them will get them there next year.

I took photos of a number of signs and banners, but missed that one. If you've a pic of Susan's son's banner, email me at faithmouse(@)yahoo(dot)com and I'll gladly pass along the info.