Memorial Day is a time for all Americans to put away partisanship and reflect on the sacrifice of the brave men and women who have died w...
Memorial Day is a time for all Americans to put away partisanship and reflect on the sacrifice of the brave men and women who have died wearing the uniform of the United States of America.
It’s a day to come together.
That is, unless you are Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
On Monday, Brzezinski diverted attention from the solemn purpose of Memorial Day and instead attempted to bait her guests into attacking the commander-and-chief, President Donald Trump.
The two guests, “Morning Joe” contributor Mike Barnicle and veterans activist Paul Rieckhoff, were by no-means Trump supporters, but, to their credit, appeared to recognize — and reject — Brzezinski’s tactics.
Instead of taking the low road, they taught Brzezinski a patriotic lesson she likely won’t soon forget.
First, Brzezinski asked Barnicle a long question about attitudes toward American troops, but threw in a tasteless jab at the end.
Brzezinski asked about members of the military who “are being deployed by this president by, let’s say maybe perhaps, controversial means in terms of their deployments at the southern border for caravans that are coming in. It’s a convoluting time, is it not?”
Barnicle completely ignored Brzezinski’s political bait and responded with great respect for the moment.
“Mika, because of my age, my background, my family history, there’s a certain sadness with me about Memorial Day,” Barnicle responded.
“Because you think of the word ‘memorial’ and part of that word incorporates ‘memory,’ he added.
“And with all the tools we have today with Snapchat and Twitter and our smartphones, they’re incredible instruments, but they’ve caused a loss of memory in America — memory about who we are and who we’ve been.”
When the time came to ask Rieckhoff a question, Brzezinski did not appear to have learned her lesson.
Clearly trying to illicit a Trump-bashing response, she asked him how he feels regarding “the way the military, perhaps, is being used by this presidency.”
“Does it really match their role in history?” she asked.
Like Barnicle, Rieckhoff did not take the bait. And if Brzezinski has any shame at all, she should be embarrassed by her question given the respectful and classy answer.
After politely and very quickly acknowledging the premise of the question (which is taught in Interviewee Etiquette 101) Rieckhoff rose above the typical MSNBC Trump derangement programming protocols and delivered a whopper of an answer.
“Memorial Day still can be a time where we come together in this time where we’re so divided.”
But Rieckhoff didn’t stop there.
“Even if you just take one minute on the moment of silence that’s observed at 3 o’clock local time everywhere in America — just take one minute and reflect on someone that you know that has died.”
“It’s actually an opportunity for us to reinvigorate what patriotism means. There’s an inspiring generation that served overseas. We take inspiration from the ones that came before us, and I think that can be kind of a silver lining in this sadness,” Rieckhoff added.
Regardless of one’s politics, Memorial Day is exactly that — a chance to remember the men and women, the Republicans and Democrats, the black and white, the brothers and sisters, who sacrificed it all for the greatest nation on earth.
Barnicle and Rieckhoff taught us all the right way to remember the importance of Memorial Day.
I wonder if there's another country that has this high percentage of idiot women?
ReplyDeleteYes, and also to give tribute to the Veterans alive today.
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