The Morning Briefing: Coronapocalypse Memorial Day Edition

A Brief Memorial Day Briefing

This is the first Memorial Day that I’ve been in charge of the Morning Briefing and I would like to begin by honoring those American service men and women who have sacrificed their lives so that people like me can be free to shoot my mouth off for a living. There never really seems to be any adequate way to say or do that, but I keep trying every year on Memorial Day. God bless all of them and the loved ones they left behind.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,

and let perpetual light shine upon them.

May the souls of all the faithful departed,

through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

It Is Memorial Day, Isn’t It?

I have to keep double-checking ever since we stopped paying attention to days. Memorial Day weekend, while a solemn occasion, is also the official kickoff to summer here in the U.S., but it doesn’t have that transitional feeling that it usually does now that calendars are a thing of the past.

Memorial Day traditions are out the window for the most part this year. People weren’t even allowed to continue the tradition of placing American flags on graves at Veterans’ cemeteries because the shutdowns continue to find ways to be anti-American.

The Sunday of Memorial Day weekend is the biggest day of the year for auto racing fans. I usually wake up at the crack of dawn to watch the Monaco Grand Prix F1 race, then the Indianapolis 500, then the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race. The NASCAR race was the only one that was run this year, so there was at least something. It was weird seeing the stands empty and everyone wearing masks for the interviews. I’ve been dying for sports to come back, but now I’m not so sure if the empty stadiums and freak-show masks are going to be tolerable for me.

President Donald Trump salutes the Navy Sea Chanters as he departs after speaking at the Memorial Amphitheater in Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28, 2018 in Arlington, Va.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Memorial Day weekend is typically the biggest blockbuster movie opening week of the year but now we’re wondering if theater-going as we know it will even survive all of this.

Once again I’m pondering if there is any kind of normal to get back to. Our recreational Memorial Day traditions have been upended but we can still take time to pause and reflect on what this day is really all about, and that’s what really matters.

Do People Not Know What Memorial Means?

Most Americans have no idea why we celebrate Memorial Day https://t.co/2FzZsxXGle pic.twitter.com/uZCsg3dwET

— New York Post (@nypost) May 25, 2020

I really don’t get the confusion about Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day. The words Memorial and Veterans seem fairly self-explanatory as to what we are supposed to be focusing on each day.

Bee Me

Biden: 'If You Don't Let Me Sniff Your Hair, You Ain't A Woman' https://t.co/Q1y6PpIWLE

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) May 22, 2020

The Kruiser Kabana

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I’ve eaten so much garlic lately that I want to socially distance from myself.

___

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PJ Media Senior Columnist and Associate Editor Stephen Kruiser is the author of “Don’t Let the Hippies Shower” and “Straight Outta Feelings: Political Zen in the Age of Outrage,” both of which address serious subjects in a humorous way. Monday through Friday he edits PJ Media’s “Morning Briefing.” His columns appear every Tuesday and Friday.