Since it was known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day has been a day to remember the dead. Let’s also remember the actions of the living.
On Memorial Day 2007, John Edwards used his platform as a Democratic presidential candidate to call on Americans to engage in activism against the ongoing war in Iraq. Unfortunately, the consistency of his position was undercut by his vote as a U.S. Senator in 2002 to start that war in Iraq.
On Memorial Day 2015, Bernie Sanders has used his platform as a Democratic presidential candidate to send this message:
This is a complicated message. As J. Clifford pointed out this morning, one of the reasons we have wars is that we are conditioned to accept without question the idea that wars are carried out to defend this country. But unlike John Edwards, Bernie Sanders had the courage to make a deeply unpopular congressional “Nay” vote on going to war in Iraq in 2002. When it mattered most, Bernie Sanders acted to prevent a bloody, deceptive and ultimately fruitless war. Remember.
