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Memorials

I'm unfazed by a lot of memorials; so many seem to be about remembering the person's name and some very brief reason for remembering them. Some, about famous people, assume you know why to remember the person (I'm looking at you Washington Monument) which seems to miss the point unless the point is a really huge phallic symbol.

For me the peak memorial is the Lincoln Memorial, not because of the big seated statue but because of its proximity to inscriptions of the Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural address, both classic statements of who we should be as a country. The words have meaning for me and have for most of my life. The inclusion of many more details in the museum underneath the memorial is icing on the cake; the words state a devotion to fundamental decency to all, and are truly inspiring. Others have felt so; Marian Anderson performed there after the Daughters of the American Revolution denied her a venue because of her skin color; MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech; there is much history there directly related to hopes and aspirations.

None of which seemed relevant to the press conference for the UFC fighters that Trump invited to fight to celebrate his birthday (they mentioned the nation's 250th birthday but none of what they were celebrating had to do with liberty and freedom, so, meh). Like Trump's smearing of his feces on the Kennedy Center it seemed to be about supplanting our nation's hopes with a celebration of himself, as always, in a crude fashion.

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