by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
The plans for tomorrow's Trump rally for himself just keep getting more and more hideous. Now there will be military tanks on display on the National Mall even though the city government of Washington, DC, opposes them being pulled along the city's streets. Air Force One will do a flyover, and Trump himself will speak on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as campaign flunkies furiously film in an effort to capture just the right amount of patriotic hornswoggle to make a world class draft-dodger look like some type of military hero in the upcoming election. The best seating, that right in front of the Lincoln Memorial, is being cordoned off and reserved for the better people who will be in attendance and paying homage to our nation's version of Kim Jong Un.
Joe Six-Pack and his friends can fend for themselves - way out in the cheap seats.
Much of the bill for Trump's grand tribute to himself is apparently being paid for with fees that have been collected from visitors to our national parks, money that had been intended to benefit park trails and services.
Nixon made the same type of effort one time during his abbreviated tenure in the White House, and his attempt to co-opt the nation's celebration was met with so much resistance that he never tried it again. In fact, before he was ultimately driven from the White House, Richard Nixon made a famous pre-dawn visit to the Lincoln Memorial where he tried to impart his alcohol-laced knowledge onto student protesters who had gathered there - and possibly chatted with the ghost of Lincoln as well. Some might suggest that Trump may also be chatting with ghosts as he continues to spiral downward.
And while that orgy of pride and self-aggrandizement is being played out in Washington, DC, migrant children and families are still living in cages along the southern U.S. border without access to sanitary products and basic comforts - and elected U.S. officials are still being denied access to these makeshift concentration camps. Freedom, independence, and dignity are only for white immigrants who speak English - or lap dancers who marry well.
And then there is Scott Warren, a professor of geography in Arizona who was recently charged with aiding and abetting immigrants - whose case was dismissed due to a hung jury that was unable to decide on his guilt or innocence. (Eight of twelve voted too acquit.). A federal prosecutor in Arizona has just announced that the humanitarian professor will be retried on most of those charges. Professor Warren's independence deserves to be honored and celebrated, yet he continues to be ground under the iron heel of his country.
So, all things considered, this Fourth of July is shaping up to be a grand celebration of authoritarianism- and little else.
No toothpaste, no soap, no beds, no freedom for humanitarians - but plenty of god-damned tanks! Trump may have lots of reasons to celebrate - but much of America clearly does not!
Or, as one national commentator put it, "Tanks, but no tanks!"
Citizen Journalist
The plans for tomorrow's Trump rally for himself just keep getting more and more hideous. Now there will be military tanks on display on the National Mall even though the city government of Washington, DC, opposes them being pulled along the city's streets. Air Force One will do a flyover, and Trump himself will speak on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as campaign flunkies furiously film in an effort to capture just the right amount of patriotic hornswoggle to make a world class draft-dodger look like some type of military hero in the upcoming election. The best seating, that right in front of the Lincoln Memorial, is being cordoned off and reserved for the better people who will be in attendance and paying homage to our nation's version of Kim Jong Un.
Joe Six-Pack and his friends can fend for themselves - way out in the cheap seats.
Much of the bill for Trump's grand tribute to himself is apparently being paid for with fees that have been collected from visitors to our national parks, money that had been intended to benefit park trails and services.
Nixon made the same type of effort one time during his abbreviated tenure in the White House, and his attempt to co-opt the nation's celebration was met with so much resistance that he never tried it again. In fact, before he was ultimately driven from the White House, Richard Nixon made a famous pre-dawn visit to the Lincoln Memorial where he tried to impart his alcohol-laced knowledge onto student protesters who had gathered there - and possibly chatted with the ghost of Lincoln as well. Some might suggest that Trump may also be chatting with ghosts as he continues to spiral downward.
And while that orgy of pride and self-aggrandizement is being played out in Washington, DC, migrant children and families are still living in cages along the southern U.S. border without access to sanitary products and basic comforts - and elected U.S. officials are still being denied access to these makeshift concentration camps. Freedom, independence, and dignity are only for white immigrants who speak English - or lap dancers who marry well.
And then there is Scott Warren, a professor of geography in Arizona who was recently charged with aiding and abetting immigrants - whose case was dismissed due to a hung jury that was unable to decide on his guilt or innocence. (Eight of twelve voted too acquit.). A federal prosecutor in Arizona has just announced that the humanitarian professor will be retried on most of those charges. Professor Warren's independence deserves to be honored and celebrated, yet he continues to be ground under the iron heel of his country.
So, all things considered, this Fourth of July is shaping up to be a grand celebration of authoritarianism- and little else.
No toothpaste, no soap, no beds, no freedom for humanitarians - but plenty of god-damned tanks! Trump may have lots of reasons to celebrate - but much of America clearly does not!
Or, as one national commentator put it, "Tanks, but no tanks!"
1 comment:
Preach!
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