BREAKING: Biden pushes for war in Ukraine in gaffe-filled Memorial Day speech

President Joe Biden spoke on Monday at Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate Memorial Day and in honor of all US veterans. The President's speech was preceded by the pomp and circumstance an occasion of this nature necessitates, as well as a prayer.

Biden and those who spoke alongside him, Joint Chiefs Chair General Mark Milley along with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, all spoke about the "idea" of America, an idea that has certainly come under intensive attack during the administration for which these three men stood on the hot Virginia afternoon.

Biden went on the repeat the same talking points he has repeated over and over about the loss he experienced of two of his children, holding up Beau Biden, who died of cancer but had served in Iraq in the US Armed Forces. Biden said he feels Beau's loss even more acutely on Memorial Day.

"Days like this bring back before your eyes their smile and their laugh, the last conversation you had, each of you know it, the hurt can be overwhelming," he said, "but for so many of you, as it was for Jill and me, that hurt is wrapped around the knowledge that your loved one was part of something bigger than any of us," he said.

"It shows a life of purpose," he said, noting that this could sound "corny" on Memorial Day.

He repeated a line that Americans who follow Biden's speeches could likely repeat word-for-word, or at least in sentiment, about how one day grief will turn to a smile before the pain comes.

"I promise you the day will come when the memory of your loved one, your patriots, will bring a smile to you lip before it brings a tear to your eye," he said.

"The only truly sacred obligation we have," Biden said, "is to prepare and equip those women and men that we send into harm's way and care for them and their families when they return home, and when they don't."

And he touted a piece of legislation he would like Congress to pass to bring "care and benefits" to veterans who were "impacted by toxic exposures."

Biden also spoke about the war in Ukraine, which Congress has not authorized American troops to fight for. Biden said that "freedom isn't free."

"When a war of aggression is once more waged by Russia to snuff out the freedom and democracy, the very culture and identity of neighboring Ukraine," he said.

"We see so clearly all that's at stake. Freedom has never been free. Democracy has always required champions. Today, in the perennial struggle for democracy and freedom, Ukraine and its people on the frontlines fighting to save their nation.

Biden spoke in glowing terms about the plight of the 31 year old nation, fighting with American weapons, funds, and humanitarian aid to beat off the army of one of the globe's nuclear nations, Russia.

"Their fight is part of a larger fight that unites all people," Biden said. "It is a fight that so many of the patriots whose eternal rest is here in these hallowed grounds were part of. A battle between democracy and autocracy, between liberty and repression, between appetites and ambition of a few who forever seek to dominate the lives and liberties of many battle for essential democratic principles.

"The rule of law, free and fair elections. Freedom to speak and write and to assemble. Freedom to worship as one chooses. Freedom of the press principles that are essential for a free society," Biden said. His administration has strived to limit press freedom through battles against "misinformation," and have sought to federalize election law, removing states' rights to conduct their own elections and enact their own laws.

"I've heard this a lot. We've heard this a lot over the years. We're now realizing how real it is around the world in so many countries as I speak," Biden said.

"These are the foundations of our great experiment that are never guaranteed even here in America. Every generation has to defeat democracy's mortal foes. And then to every generation, heroes are born willing to shed their blood for that which they and we hold dear. Ladies and gentlemen, today remember and we reaffirm freedom is worth the sacrifice.

"Democracy is not perfect. It's never been good— perfect," Biden corrected himself. "But it's worth fighting for. If necessary, it's worth dying for. It's more than just our form of government. It is part of the very soul of America, the soul of America.

"Our democracy is our greatest gift as a nation, made holy by those who have lost, we've lost along the way. Our democracy is how we undertake the constant work of perfecting our union and we have not perfected it, but we've never stopped trying," Biden said, after having issued executive orders just last week to bypass Congressional gridlock on laws he wanted passed.

"Opening doors wider from opportunity and prosperity and justice for people everywhere," Biden said, perhaps indicating the triumph of conflating sex and gender to deprive women and girls of the right to sex-segregated spaces or fairness in sports.

"Our democracy is how we endure through every challenge, overcome every obstacle we face through the last 246 years of self-government, and how we've come back stronger than before. We must never walk away from that," he said.

"We must never betray the lives laid down to make our nation a beacon to the world, a citadel of liberty and justice. For everyone. This is the mission of our time. Our memorial to them must not be just a day when we pause and pray, it must be a daily commitment to act, to come together, to be worthy of the price that was paid. May God bring comfort to all those who mourn. May God bless our Goldstar families and survivors and please God, protect our troops. God bless America and all of you," Biden concluded.