Wednesday, November 12, 2008

National World War II Memorial

Thank you Baby Boomer Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur for introducing the World War II Memorial Bill to Congress 4 times over 7 years. Thank you Baby Boomer President Clinton for signing it into law. Thank you Baby Boomer Frederick W. Smith, CEO of FedEx, Baby Boomer Steven Spielberg and Baby Boomer Tom Hanks for leading the fundraising.

The whole thing was proposed, financed and basically designed by Baby Boomers. OK, so chill out, you say...it's just a stupid memorial. Well in and of itself, a World War II Memorial is something I have zero problem with...never mind that there's no Revolutionary War Memorial, War of 1812 Memorial, Civil War Memorial, Spanish-American War Memorial or World War I Memorial. There's a million memorials in D.C., what the hell do I care? D.C.'s a huge place with plenty of space, I'm sure they can find a cool place.

Along with the rest of America, I blindly put my full trust in two obscure executive agencies, the American Battlement Monuments Commission and the Memorial Advisory Board -- both chock-full of Baby Boomers from top to bottom. And so what do these bureaucratically-empowered Baby Boomers do? They decide to put this thing right smack on the National Mall in the middle of the whole fucking city (i.e., our nation's front lawn).

Could the defensive mentality of being such a pathetic successive generation be any more transparent? Well, good news everybody! I'm starting a commission to rename it from the National World War II Memorial to the National Baby Boomer Inadequacy Memorial.

Sometimes there's nothing worse than overpraise -- it lacks sincerity. Better to let and the History Channel do the speaking. Instead, what was once a small, understated reflecting pool between the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial is now an ill-fitted, grandiose marble obstruction. The National Mall -- yet another precious resource being devoured by the endless appetite of the Baby Boomer.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I watched the History Channel once. I'll tell you, The Learning Channel is much more informative. One time, they had a program about a 1,200 pound man in Mexico. Now *that* was historic.

I'd suggest they make a monument for him, but, well, he kind of just sat there, blubber in bed, in a window for the townspeople to check on him/pay their respects.

"Si," they'd say. "Still el fatso."