“Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Old Oak Tree” is welcome home for felons

There’s a new yellow ribbon on our block. Anymore, yellow ribbon stickers on cars designate wives of servicemen, or realtors sucking up to the military because the only real estate sales here come from Fort Carson’s ever expanding war training. Actually, vehicles of military families are now often festooned wildly with ribbons designating service, regiment and very specific distinctions. Their tailgates mimic the colorful macaroni worn by soldiers on parade. Fine time too, to abandon the old yellow ribbon and the specialization it stood for.

“I’m coming home, I’ve done my time.”

You remember the lyric. He’s about to be released from prison, after three long years, so it wasn’t for littering. What has his homecoming to do with US killers overseas except the obvious?

Our soldiers at war are serving their time, and there’s an argument to be made that they too are war’s victims. Hasn’t it become fitting that the yellow ribbon of pop music lore forgave a felon?

But the song forgave a felon for the crime he’d done, a changed man, now repentant, returning to make a humble appeal for forgiveness.

American soldiers coming home offer no sign they are rehabilitated, nor even that they have an inkling of crimes commited, nor certainly that they bear any of the responsibility. Our soldiers coming home probably mirror a real life parolee’s likelihood to be a recidivist.

4 thoughts on ““Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Old Oak Tree” is welcome home for felons

  1. Yellow is the color of the US Calvary. Women wore a ribbon in a pledge of faithfulness to their beloved. This way they would let the world know that they are set apart and not available for courtship.

  2. Goes way before the Cavalry. Anglo-Celtic Herb-lore has a similar designation for a yellow rose.

    Doesn’t make the war right or the absolute stupidity of the Magnetic Ribbons any saner. I’ve got to upload a picture of another “Store Bought Patriotism Gone Wrong” that I picked up out of a ditch today.

  3. When I think of the Cavalry, by the way, I think of stuff like the Trail of Tears and then there’s always the Little Ouachita Massacre and then there’s the closer to here Sand Creek Massacre and then when Custer and “his” men (officers are an anachronistic reminder of when Knights actually OWNED the soldiers under their command… which also goes back before Cavalry or Chivalry either one.) were backing up an Illegal Land Grab by a bunch of jerkoff Mining Corporations, and thought they were going to just ride right in and slaughter a(nother) group of Indians engaged in religious rituals on Indian Lands.

    Not saying they got exactly what they deserved, but they did get exactly what they dished out.

    Oh, and the Cavalry also murdered Crazy Horse while he was handcuffed and helpless, stabbed him in the back. Bayonet to the kidneys.

    That’s pretty low. Despicable comes to mind. The Troopers who offed him got commendations and, just like the Granai and Baghdad and Fallujah etc etc Mass Murderers of today, got smooth away with it.

    Kangaroo Court military tribunals work both ways.

    But at least the Cavalry wives were faithful. Too bad about their husbands.

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