June 6, 1944 ... Anyone? ... Anyone?

A long-ago event somewhere

The piddling regard that our political leaders showed for the anniversary of the D-Day invasion yesterday still burns me up.

It wasn't only President Obama who took a pass on commemorating D-Day. And it wasn't only Michelle Obama, either, who went to a fundraiser of her own in New York while her husband was raising campaign bucks in California.

D-Day was an afterthought at best in this election year. Mitt Romney spent the day campaigning about small businesses, and Joe Biden was in North Carolina doing whatever it is that he does.

What really annoys me, even more than their avoidance of that incredibly momentous event, is the cheap and easy way they toss off a tweet with some trite sentiment. Romney's staff sent one saying "We should never forget #DDay.” Obama sent the same thing: “We have never forgotten their heroism. —bo”

Okay, they haven't forgotten it, great. But I notice they won't do anything to remember it, either. Maybe take a beak from fundraising long enough to meet one of the dwindling number of D-Day veterans. Or go to some suitable venue and hold an entire event with actual people. Or even just make a phone call to the French Ambassador, since at least they aren't bored with the whole 'World War II and all that' thing yet.

I have seen an excuse put forward for this non-observance, which is that Official Washington only makes a big deal out of D-Day on round-number anniversaries anymore. Therefore we observed the 60th and the 65th, and we'll do it again on the 70th, assuming we feel like it then. But it would be going overboard to do something on each and every little old anniversary.

Really? The 68th anniversary of a day on which 10,000 men were killed or wounded to get a toehold on the continent of Europe from which to liberate it from Nazi oppression is considered too small a matter to deserve more from our politicians than a couple of tweets?