Today is Black Day

No, this doesn’t have anything to do with Black History Month.  Nor does it have anything to do with the day after Thanksgiving, the day that retail stores make such a profit off of the Name of Jesus, pandering to the indulgences of an overfed and oversexed American public.  Nor is it a day of any apocalyptic significance.  But it is kind of like eating bitter herbs at Passover.

To celebrate Black Day, you eat jjajangmyeon.  It is a dish which is served in Chinese restaurants in South Korea.  (But Chinese people know that this has nothing to do with Chinese.)  It tastes terrible.  It is made according to the following instructions (Click here to see a picture):

1. Cook some sutamyeon (thick, handmade wheat noodles).

2. Make the jjajang

            Stir fry onions with ground meat or seafood and vegetables

            Add chunjang (a thick, very salty, black sauce made from roasted soybeans and caramel)

            Dilute the mixture with broth

            Add starch to thicken

3. Pour the jjajang over the cooked noodles and sliced cucumbers (optional)

4. Serve with raw onions sprinkled with rice vinegar and danmuji (a Japanese daikon pickle, daikon is a type of radish)

Why would you do this?  Well, this is a traditional South Korean observance.  You see in South Korea, they observe Valentine’s Day on February 14^th as Americans do except it is the women who are expected to treat the men to chocolates and candy.  But the men are then expected to give gifts to women on White Day which is observed on March 14^th.  But just so no one is left out, anyone who did not receive any gifts traditionally celebrates Black Day (April 14^th) by eating jjajangmyeon.

But I am thinking of a twist on the meaning of this day and making it more American.  Instead of being about sulking over not having a significant other, let’s make it relevant to the situation we are facing in America today.  Consider what has happened to America over the past two decades. 

The Republicans promised us a “Contract with America”.  They said we would have term limits, a Balanced Budget Amendment, and limited government.  During the 6 years of complete Republican control, not only was Roe v. Wade not overturned, but Congress actually when right on passing measures increasing the amount of money appropriated to Planned Parenthood, to the shame of the President and 99% of the Republicans in Congress.  And, of course, we did not get a balanced budget, much less a constitutional amendment guaranteeing it and no term limits or reductions in inflation.  The National Debt just kept going up and up as usual.

Then we elected a Democrat congress and Democrat President.  We elected them on the hopes that they would at least stop the wars and killing overseas.  We elected them in hopes that they would get the economy back on track, and that they would start creating shovel ready jobs with our tax dollars instead of using it to bailing out large corporations.  They did not stop the bailouts.  Obama did not stop the war in Iraq; it is still going.  He did not stop the war in Afghanistan; it is still going.  Not only that, but he has actually expanded the war into Pakistan, killing more innocent children with more predator drone strikes than even President Bush ordered!  And now he has gotten us involved in this war against Libya with no approval from Congress whatsoever!  Obama did not help the economy either.  The National Debt is through the roof!

If you feel you were lied to by the Republican Party, if you wanted a balanced budget, if you wanted a reduction in the National Debt, if Obama’s economic stimulus bill did not get YOU a job while the CEOs of AIG and other institutions got theirs, if you did not get anything from either party, then consider (as you are suffering through your last minute aggravations over your income tax filing) “celebrating” your (political) “singleness” by observing a political version of Black Day.  Don't worry if you get jjajang sauce on your 1040.  Just mail it in anyway as a protest.  The day before Tax Day is the perfect day for Black Day because that's when everybody else gets their "bailout" except you, the hardworking taxpayer.

And if anyone asks you why you are eating black noodles which taste awful, you can tell them this story and start conversation about how we have worshipped government as if it were God and tell them what is needed to restore our government to its proper place.  (And in case you don’t know what that is, it’s the Bible and the Constitution.)