The romanticism of a mythical Gallipoli coming-of-age only came about decades later, when the children who had grow up without fathers wanted to make sense of their needless deaths.
Now Anzac Day has become where we pretend we've changed. Don't believe me? On Anzac Day do we remember the last time we fought as a unit with our transtasman cousins?
The last time was when we invaded Vietnam where we killed innocent people and even lost a few of our soldiers doing it.
Lest we forget? It wouldn't even occur to most of us today to remember our brutal actions in Vietnam, let alone Afghanistan.
We all accept that Gallipoli was a disaster caused by our self-imposed subservience to the notion of being part of Britain's Empire. But in nearly a century we haven't changed.
This week Green MP Keith Locke sought in Parliament a referendum on whether our head of state should be a New Zealand citizen.
It was defeated at the first reading. It seems our Parliament still wants to fawn over an English monarch as our sovereign.
We somehow hang on to the same constitutional set up we had when we invaded Gallipoli on Britain's behalf.
Our boys lying in their graves at Gallipoli would, I'm sure, see the black humour if we were to tell ourselves that their sacrifice made New Zealand realise we can no longer be beholden to a foreign imperial farce.
Why are we so grateful to McCarten then? Well, today of all days, he's reminded us why we were so pleased that Keith Locke's Head of State Bill was defeated on Wednesday. He's also reminded us why we so despise the looney left which Keith Locke and his likes represent.
Thanks a lot Matt. Just remember, you only have the freedom to voice your minority opinions because a legion of brave men preceded you. Today, we WILL remember THEM.
10 comments:
Sorry Keeping Stock, I don't follow?
It's a bit too deep for you, Lewis.
Try again.
Well said Inv2.
Fools such as McCarten and Locke would do well to fully understand the import of the words of George Orwell as noted today over at Not PC.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
Very well then. You're pleased Locke's Bill failed because on Anzac Day we remember the fallen?
Or do you see ending ties with the British monarchy as somehow offensive to the fallen?
It's not deep at all Adolf. But it is sarcastic. I have quite frankly had a gutsful of the likes of McCarten, Minto and Peace Movement Aotearoa this week. They have done nothing but tarnish the memory of our fallen.
And what's worse; they try to couch their arguments in 2010 terms. I don't believe that approach is honest. You have to look at the decisions made in 1915 in terms of the intelligence, the environment and the social mores of the day. It's a bit like trying to push the line that Jesus wouldn't have been crucified had he been around in 2010. All they do is compare apples with oranges, but it they can come to a conlusion which suits their respective socio-political agendas, they won't hesitate to advance it.
However, I won't hesitate to call "bullshit" if that's what I believe, and in McCarten's case today, that's exactly what I'm saying; in a very sarcastic manner!
That makes sense to me Keeping Stock. I just can't see the connection to the Head of State Referenda Bill.
It's McCarten who has made that link Lewis. His reasoning is that because Britain may or may not have made tactical mistakes in 1915, we should cut our ties to the Monarchy. I personally don't think the two are related.
We may at some point become a republic, but to undermine the sacrifice of thousands of New Zealanders to push a political agenda says a lot about Matt McCarten's agenda.
You're right, they're not. As the saying goes, the past is a foreign country, they do things differently there.
Much of our British heritage gives us strength. I certainly don't dispute that or try to use Anzac Day to undermine it.
I'm pleased that we agree Lewis. The Monarchy issue is another debate for another day. If only Matt McCarten had realised that ...
An excellent service at Westminster Abbey with the Duke of Gloucester representing the Royal Family.
A good mix of New Zealand and Australian contributions well served up by the English who do these things so well. If I am still here I will be trying to go again next year.
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