This Just In — Saturday (Flag Day) is the epic 250th birthday of the United States Army and would have been my sister’s 50th wedding anniversary. I’m sure other people have a birthday that day, but I’m not here for that.
My father served in the US Army during the Korean War era. He wasn’t deployed overseas, he worked for the national security agency in Washington DC. He delighted in telling us that this was all he could tell us. He served honorably. In doing this work, he protected our flag and took his oath to the Constitution (not to any president) as did every other soldier.
Although I’m sure my father would very much enjoy the celebration of the army’s birthday. He would be repulsed by the idea of tanks on American streets, especially in the nation’s capital. That’s because he was well aware of the signal that such a display sends to the world.
The weakness that is displayed by brandishing military strength is well documented throughout the 20th century. Goose stepping soldiers, cannons rolling and tanks chewing up the pavement are the mark of a nation’s insecurity, not strength.
I’ve been watching broad displays of great strength of character in recent days. Our national character is better reflected recently in California … where progress often starts. Ordinary people have been standing up to illegal kidnappings by federal agents, their faces covered and their lack of training and legal authority on display.
Where this has been successful, the Administration claims that protestors and non-violent citizens in the streets are paid actors.
Tens of thousands of people across many days in Los Angeles and across the country … someone must be paying them, says the 47th president.
Sure. Someone paid for all this. The too-many Americans who died on the beaches of Normandy and the thousands who perished from Gettysburg to Saigon to Baghdad and everywhere in between. The blood of courageous Americans who died or were grievously wounded .. they paid it forward for us to have the right to do what we’re going to do on Saturday.
We’re going to fly our flags and say whatever the hell we want. If you enjoyed the 2017 Women’s March, you’re really going to like Flag Day this year. Collectively, they’re all going to say the same thing: WE OBJECT.
I don’t mind having policy differences with those on the other side of the aisle. I really don’t. What I simply cannot stand is the GOP, led by their president, egregiously lying about virtually every, especially if the truth might mean they were wrong about something.
I’m not talking about “Do these pants make me look fat?” I’m talking about who pays for these tariffs and what is your legal authority for deploying Marines on U.S. soil and who do you want to prevail in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine?
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth couldn’t answer that last brain teaser yesterday. He was under oath, so he couldn’t use the usual BS in his response. He served up a word salad instead.
I hold no hope whatsoever the president will respond to any form of logic or decency. He’s a deranged and damaged person. I’m concerned with those who enable him. Those who take the knee in tribute to save their own behinds. They don’t have a free pass from the Court formerly known as “Supreme.” They can wake up one day in five years to find themselves at a defense table in criminal court, where “I was just following orders” won’t cut it.
The courts have pushed back hard on this administration. They’ve actually read the Constitution-even the big words. They know the Declaration of Independence is about separation, not unity. They know that collectively, their branch is equal to the Executive. They know they have to protect that right now, because our feckless Congress will not.
So fly your flags, Sam Alito and I’ll fly mine. The Earth plans to rain on the president’s birthday parade on Saturday… and on ours, too, says the forecast. I don’t mind if my hair gets wet. I hope it pours in DC.
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and the host of the Weekend Watercooler on 97.9 The Hill. She is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – [email protected] and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
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