Action 111 NO KINGS June 14
Background: Military parades serve a function besides stroking the ego of a despot: “Modern armies use parades for ceremonial purposes, encouragement and show of discipline and to instill confidence in the country's military forces.” (1) Wikipedia has a descriptive listing of countries that hold military parades. For the most part, in civilized countries, they are more modest affairs than the fascist parades of Mussolini, Stalin and Hitler (2) – and today’s North Korea (3) and maybe the USA.
In 2018, a national debate was sparked when Trump proposed a military parade for Veterans Day “This was seen as expensive and authoritarian-like and by August of that year, the Department of Defense announced that the military parade would be postponed until 2019” (1). In that year, a fourth of July parade was held. But it was nowhere near the grand spectacle planned for this June. Back then, there were guardrails.
On June 14, Trump is having a $45 M military parade (4). It will be on Trump’s actual birthday, which just happens to be on Flag Day when, in 1777, the US approved the design for the national flag. It’s also the 250th anniversary of the US Army. Army Divisions will pay for the parade out of their budgets (which means of course that YOU are funding it.) Trump says $45 Million is “peanuts” (5).
Action: Plan ahead to attend the demonstration of your choice. The poster above shows the current locations in Maine. MORE WILL BE ADDED and we will send updates. You can also check the calendar at https://www.activatemaine.com. A word of caution: Trump and his henchmen are looking for any excuse to claim “insurrection” so he can revoke habeas corpus and deport people without due process. We cannot get away with the behavior that the January 6 rioters displayed, with their violence and gallows construction. Make your signs hard-hitting but relatable to the large number of people who are just waking up and smelling the fascism. Their concerns are prices, possible loss of health care and social security, billionaires ripping them off and lying about it, job losses, etc. Hold sign making parties, arrange carpools. This needs to be big.
Extra Credit:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_parade
2. https://www.bowdoin.edu/coursework/classics/class-exhibitions/spectacle/project5.html
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_parades_in_North_Korea
4. https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-military-parade-cost-birthday-rcna205872
5. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-defends-high-cost-military-parade-peanuts-rcna204581 Does this mean the $35 M that was just cut from Maine’s broadband funding is also “peanuts”? Can we skip the parade and restore our broadband funding already?