Dan Rodricks: On Memorial Day weekend, honoring the real patriots who saved the union

The members of a modest church in an old suburb of Baltimore remember each Memorial Day weekend what many across this divided republic have either forgotten or never understood: Thousands of Americans have died to save democracy, guarantee freedom and preserve our union of states. The country is foolishly at war with itself again; enormous numbers of people believe lies and abide the encroachment of civil rights and democratic principles by regressive extremists who trade in bigotry, demagoguery and conspiracy theories.