Best We Forget!
Alphy had just returned from a Dawn Service with Johno and Janno. Contrary to his initial expectations, he was surprised how moving he had found the experience, but he would not report this back to AC, as he could anticipate them making derisive Noble Savage remarks about the Saps, in response.
The experience had somehow drawn him closer to the Aussie Saps, so secretly he would henceforth think of ANZAC Day as ANZ A(Alpha) C(Centauri) Day.
To Alphy, ANZAC day commemorations provided an especially interesting insight into the Aussie Saps.
A day, April 25th every year, dedicated to the remembrance of all Australians (and New Zealanders), killed in military operations, and supported with a national public holiday. The event was experiencing a resurgence in Australia and was taking on an almost spiritual meaning for many, transcending the original intent. The ANZAC spirit was often cited as a quintessentially Australian trait, despite the fact that the NZ stood for New Zealand, so was, in fact, a Trans-Tasman nomenclature. Not that you would know, listening to some of the more tabloid commentary, thought Alphy. He noted that the day did, however, have numerous detractors. Some who thought it glorified war, others who thought it was too ’blokey’ with its focus on mateship, and the like.
For him, it was the bewildering paradox of the Saps worldwide, he thought. So much emotional investment in celebrating their war dead, so little public debate and discourse dedicated to the subject of preventing wars and conflict, from occurring in the first place. He wondered aloud, ‘how long will it be before a Government finally installed a Minister for Peace and Conflict Resolution?’
'We still haven’t recognised or even acknowledged, those who died fighting in the original frontier wars in Australia,’ said Janno.
'Best We Forget,’ said Johno with a sly wink.' Anyway, I’m going to celebrate the day, in the traditional manner,’ he continued.
‘And how’s that?’ enquired Alphy.
‘Watching the traditional Collingwood-Essendon footy match, of course. I am, however, somewhat embarrassed to admit that I will be watching it on Foxtel, to avoid those bloody ads during the game.
'Foxtel, part of the glorious Murdoch Media empire worldwide, that owns Fox Corp. which has just agreed to a jaw-dropping $787 million payout to settle a defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems. As the Dominion Attorney said, Truth matters. Lies have consequences,
’Unfortunately, the sad fact is, for the MAGAlomaniacs, truth doesn’t matter. Regrettably, conspiracy groups, such as My Place and Sovereign Citizens, are starting to become active here. Disrupting Council meetings and the like.
'So how long will it be before, Foxtel in Australia starts echoing the behaviour of their US counterparts regarding Sport? I can imagine the time in the not too distant future,’ said Johno smiling, ‘when you identify on your Foxtel remote, which football team you barrack for when watching a game, and you will get an appropriately customised commentary. So if your team loses, it will be because of questionable umpiring decisions, not because the other side were better. We didn’t lose, we was robbed. Sound familiar?’