Monday – June 9: Just heard that Trump is coming to preen & prattle on my old stamping ground— Fort Bragg-Liberty-Bragg tomorrow, the 10th. It’s part of the hoopla buildup to his totally unnecessary and utterly narcissistic Mussolini-wannabe parade in Washington on June 14.
I helped with protests aimed at several Bragg visits by two presidents, and a couple more boosting a third.
If I was putting together a protest for tomorrow, today I’d be hosting a-poster-making party, and futzing with wide colored markers, scribbling notes for messages to scrawl on them.
I can still do that now, only online and social media.
The messages always felt important, tho they also had to be brief, readable by speeding passersby in a second or two.
This time, several motifs stand out:
— Voicing respect for the troops (you can do that while rejecting the wars they’re sent to fight)
— Restating that they ALL take an oath to defend the CONSTITUTION, not some monarchical wannabe;
— Pointing out a few of the innumerable ways that 47 soils and tramples that oath, which he took too; and how he mocks their service & sacrifice.
— That the defense they mount is on behalf of all our RIGHTS under the Constitution.
Events in Los Angeles over the weekend underscored the salience of these points. And opportunities to repeat them should come several times between now and the conclusion of the Saturday parade and all its grim gaudiness.
Here is a sampler of what some might look like. If any appeal, feel free to copy and pass them on.
We’ll begin with one aimed at the rabidly resegregating Secretary of Defense:
Next an allusion to the depthless criminality of the 34-count convicted and adjudicated sexual assaulter/memecoin bribe-sucker now auctioning off pardons on the side in the oval office . . ,
And taking a wrecking ball — ummm, or is it still a chainsaw —to veterans services?
No Kings , or using military for repression of our rights . . .
In summary . . .
This billboard originally stood near Ft. Bragg-Liberty-Bragg, I wish it looked like this tomorrow
The forecast for Washington DC on Saturday June 14 is typical: hot, muggy, and with maybe a passing thunderstorm. The expected “realfeel” is pegged at 97 degrees, Fahrenheit, with high humidity.
Sweltering, in sum.
I lived near D. C. For a long time, before global warming was a thing. Late spring and summer were the worst.
George Washington sweltered here.
It was ever thus: “Very hot and sultry; indeed extremely so, “George Washington noted from nearby the not-yet built capital city in June of 1769. “A small breeze from the Southwd.” In July 1771 he memorialized a brief respite: “Clear & the Sun very hot but a pleasant breeze from the Westwd.”
To be sure, weather forecasts can change and cool. But if I were a lad in the uniform of the armed services, I’d sure be hoping that the orders to report for the president’s day of self-adoration would spare me.
Eons ago I was such a lad, unspared: lined up on a side runway at Schilling Air Force Base in Salina, Kansas, with several hundred other trainees, standing at parade rest under the same pitilessly bright sun. Even in our supposedly lightweight summer khakis, it was an ordeal: the waves of heat shimmered around us like silently shrieking demons, making the large hangars tremble in our vision, and we felt the heat reflecting up, melting the polish off our newly-shined shoes.
Schilling AFB Salina Kansas
What ceremony it was I have forgotten; surely no ego larger than a colonel — likely doing penance for some bureaucratic misstep — was in charge.
Anyway, the main event, glimpsed sidelong as we stood, was counting the number of airmen and my fellow ROTC cadets who withered and keeled over onto the white concrete pavement during the droning ceremonies, to be retrieved by a busy first aid squad, carried into the blessed hangar shade, and revived with water and salt tablets.
I wasn’t the first, or second among them, but soon enough the vertigo arrived and I sagged. There was no real shame to it; we weren’t there vying to be Green Berets. By that night, one of us had recovered enough repurpose a song from the movie West Side Story as our impromptu getaway anthem. It was a refrain from “Maria”, as crooned by the lovestruck Tony (Richard Beymer) in the film: Maria, I’ll never stop saying Mariaaaah. . .”
Which scanned perfectly as
Revised ”Sa-li-na,
I’ll never come back to Sa-li-naaaa.”
Sure enough, I never did.
Overall, our Schilling crucible was over in a couple of hours: we marched briskly out to it, unencumbered by extra equipment, and then shuffled back, damp and weary. But the 9000 men, women (and any daring disguised trans) warfighters on June 14 will not be so lucky. They’ll be coming in early, bunking up in government buildings, up and out early for setting up and assembling, a long day in heavy uniforms, costumes and weapons. Then afterward, breaking down, cleaning up and clearing out.
Lots of old tanks withbasphalt crunching metal treads. Planner say the treads will be specially cushioned. What could possibly go wrong?
This does not include allowance for that venerable military traditions of SNAFU/FUBAR (for civilians they mean Situation Normal All FouledUp, which can easily progress to Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition. With regional variants for “fouled up.”) Any of this could quickly lead to the military condition of “Hurry Up & Wait,” which is much more annoying when the temperature is above 90.
Even if the whole schmeer goes off like clockwork, it will mean long sweaty days for troops, many (most?) of whom would rather be somewhere else. ForNo Kings protests, I hope friends will keep this in mind.
This “billboard” is meant to be the first of a series in the runup to the June 14 “NO KINGS” protests.
The strategy of the series is to widen the gap between Trump-Hegseth (TH) and many troops, and remind them (and others watching) that their oath is to defund the Constitution (not a wannabe monarch). It also will remind them that domestic deployments (sending troops against U. S. Citizens here in the “homeland”) is both illegal AND a very REAL threat under rule by TH. (The troops have been taught this.)
This approach is based on my eleven years as Director of Quaker House in North Carolina, near Fort Bragg/Liberty. There we counseled dissident troops, and organized well over 150 peace protests, large & small, in the midst of one of the biggest military communities.
In our work we learned early on that to get our messages across, it was CRITICAL that our public witness constantly express “support” and respect for the troops, even while rejecting the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
We were surrounded by many troops and veterans who had been brainwashed by Fox News etc. to believe we hated and looked down on soldiers (which we did NOT), and were atheist commies, etc. which we also weren’t.
(Sorry, lefties.)
Just in case you think I’m exaggerating about the attempts to smear us as “troop-haters & Commies”; this was in Smithfield NC, in October 2007.
We DID “support” them, in our Quaker ways, as persons of conscience, many of whom had moral questions about the war and military culture. We worked to help them clarify their personal moral convictions (if they asked), privately and for free. We didn’t try to make them Quakers or pacifists.
The efforts to push us and our work into a polarized frame never stopped (and this was years before MAGA appeared). And our “Yes to the Troops/No to the Wars” pushback was just as steadfast.
It paid off. In the first two years of the Iraq invasion, our vigils in downtown Fayetteville often drew catcalls and one-finger salutes. But then, with the war bogged down and casualties kept mounting, morale shifted and we began to get thumbs up, and even an occasional cheer.
As the war’s cost climbed ever higher, our “Yes to the troops” became more credible, as we weren’t locked into a polarized frame.
In 2025, there are many issues facing conscientious servicemembers. Some surfaced at the West Point commencement last month. While the big media didn’t notice, the thousand graduating cadets watched and listened as West Point Superintendent General Steven Gilland subtly but fiercely denounced Trump’s character to his face as utterly beyond the pale of every section of the academy’s strict honor code. The sitting Commander in Chief would have been booted out of West Point with the first of his multitude of indictments; along with his skeezy Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth (who didn’t even show up).
Hegseth taking aim
But these two “leaders” are also the pair who seem determined to loose the military on the American citizenry, in defiance of the law and the oath those thousand cadets took to defend, not a president but the Constitution.
Hegseth published an entire book about his fixed vision of a real medieval-style crusade to “annihilate” the enemies within (mostly, besides migrants, that would be us).
If that dire push should come to shove, will there be a significant portion of the officer corps and troops who will stand by their oath in the crunch? In real life, coups fail if they don’t keep control of the national military.
Those of us who will be protesting Trump’s vanity parade are more than spectators (or targets): we can evade the ginned-up polarization and appeal to the best in the uniformed ranks. Sure, the military tends to be more conservative than the general population, and extremists are hard at work recruiting there.
But that’s not the end of the story. How we communicate with them could make a difference, maybe a key difference.
Our motto at Quaker House can be adjusted: NO To The COUP. Remember Your Oath. Defend The Constitution. NO To Domestic Deployments.
I have more sign ideas, and will add some soon.
But if you’re on board, you write the next ones. And pass this on.
pVb/h June 14 will be here quick. Get ready. I’ll catch up.
A Remarkably Contemporary Interview (from 1970) with I. F. Stone
OF ALL the idols in my personal pantheon, Isidore Feinstein Stone (1907-1989), proprietor of I. F. Stone’s Weekly, is one of the most durable. Rock musicians, novelists, even theologians who once had a place in my shrine have been dismissed, their clay feet exposed to my disappointed eyes.
Not I. F.
For this short, gruff man unquestionably was in my view the greatest, toughest minded and hardest-working journalist in America. And possibly one of the most honestly humble.
I. F. Stone, 1972.
That’s partly because it is certain that he would be embarrassed to read such extravagant praise of himself in the public press (or now, a blog).
The opportunity to interview Stone came unexpectedly.
Actually I almost ran into him, one day in 1970, amid the crowded, creeping traffic of Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I drove slowly around the corner onto Brattle Street, and nearly bumped into a short, bespectacled man making his careful way to the curb.
He glanced through thick glasses in my direction as I squeaked to a stop. I recognized him with an electric gasp, as if he had been all the Beatles rolled into one.
It was him! It was really him!
There were many snarky media cracks made about president Trump’s very weird West Point commencement address on May 24th. It was definitely up there on the crowded DJT Weirdness scale: a long shaggy dog story about an unhappy real estate developer and his unhappy trophy wife, a plop of freshly made up steaming malarkey about army recruiting breaking records (false), since his arrival, slanders of Biden, and so on.
But for my money, the real jaw-dropper came before the commander in chief even opened his mouth, and no news account of the event I’ve seen has yet taken note of it.
Which makes what is disclosed here sort of a scoop, namely:
Donald Trump was trolled and denounced in front of God, the1002 graduating cadets, and the world, to his face, by a serving general.
The culprit here was Lieutenant General Steven Gilland, the Superintendent of West Point, who introduced Trump.
Gilland’s speech was brief, and the opening was typically ponderous and forgettable boilrtplate, name-checking congressmen and other poohbahs, the 1975 grads there for a 50th year class reunion, families etc. Here are excerpts, with key terms in bold italics.
Mr. President . . . ladies and gentlemen good morning and welcome to West Point home of the United states Military Academy. We are tremendously honored to have you here today to celebrate the 1002 outstanding cadets of the class of 2025 as they graduate and Commission as the newest officers and leaders of character in your United States Army. . . .
But then, in a deceptively brisk monotone, Gilland spoke sternly and directly to the cadets. Here are more excerpts (Note that this commencement capped a presidential week in which Trump formally accepted a $400 million “gift” — aka “emolument, aka bribe — of a secondhand 747 jet from the Saudis; put the finishing touches on a dinner for top “investors”in his completely illegal bitcoin scheme, and ambushed South Africa’s president Ramaphosa in the oval office with false claims of a “white genocide” in his country. Just another go-round at the 2025 White House.)
Among other things. Gilland said:
[To the]Class of 2025, “together we thrive,” congratulations and well done. Today your experience at West Point may come to an end, but today really marks a milestone in your personal journey as you assume the mantle of leadership. . . for all of you, I just ask you to take a moment during the next few weeks while you’re enjoying some free time, to reflect on your time here: think about all the opportunities and experiences that you’ve had and the challenges you’ve overcome on the road to becoming a leader of character.
Think about the hard work some blood a lot of sweat as well as the grit, toughness determination and the continual pursuit of excellence. Think about the friends you’ve made and the relationships developed, the camaraderie with teammates, attacks instructors, coaches and old grads who encouraged and mentored you . . . as you pursue this journey as a leader of character remember today is about the responsibility of service. Service to our country and to the American people today is about challenging yourself, challenging others to be better: better teammates, better officers, better leaders, and character that starts with you each and every day.
Today is also about the responsibility of leadership as army officers: your responsibility to support and defend the Constitution of the United states, to be standard bearers to lead by example and embody what right looks like.
Most importantly today is about your responsibility, your obligation to the citizens of our nation and to your soldiers —America’s sons and daughters — to give them your very best leadership every single day.
Also take a moment to reflect (and)understand what it means to be a graduate of the United states Military Academy. People expect more from you as a graduate of this institution. You represent this institution and you represent the United States Army every single day.
You know you now join a proud legacy of leaders who committed themselves to selfless service and continual excellence guided by our army values and the ideals of duty honor country. Those ideals,they unify us and they define us. They define (those) who notably lead honorably and demonstrate excellence in everything that you do. Congratulations and godspeed to all of you.
Mr. president on behalf of the team at the United States Military Academy, (it) is an honor to present this outstanding class to you this morning, as our nation’s newest war fighters and leaders of character. [Applause.]
Gilland (left) speaks of character as Trump (right, in red MAGA campaign hat) looks at the floor.
Gilland delivered five calls to the class to be and stay “leaders of character” and urged them five more times to, in sum, “embody what right looks like. . . each and every day.” He even reminded them that the goal of their warfighting would be to defend the Constitution, not a politician.
All this while only a few feet away from the public official who flouts all such character standards and statutes more flagrantly than any predecessor, and is a convicted felon to boot.
Further, while Gilland lauded the “grit and toughness,” cadets had gained at West Point, there was no mention of the reigning theme of Trump’s Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (Gilland’s superior), that is, “lethality,” aka unbridled killing.
Generals of Gilland’s rank are sometimes in contention to add a fourth star and be named army chief of staff. But among all the valor and fighting skills evoked by the medals and ribbons on Gilland’s chest (he sports ten rows worth), the successful generals also learn how to be diplomatic and oblique in the indoors combat among their peers likewise aiming to grab the brass ring.
And at his level, one surely needs to know how to kowtow to a sitting president.
But general Gilland definitely did not kowtow. My guess is his introduction of Trump, if the president was awake enough to actually hear it, did not do any favors for Gilland’s promotion prospects. In fact, in a close reading it comes across more as a coded resistance communiqué.
Maybe, as a civilian outsider, I’m like an unfinished AI program, and this interpretation is just one of my “hallucinations.” But then again, it could have been a veiled warning to the cadets that one of their biggest threats they’ll face as military officers may well come, not from enemy drones or snipers, but from their home base, the Pentagon, in orders trashing all the rules and directing them to turn the weapons on their own fellow citizens.
I wonder if any if them noticed, and are thinking about it.
In our work we learned early on that to get our messages across, it was CRITICAL that our public witness constantly express “support” and respect for the troops, even while rejecting the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
The culprit here was Lieutenant General Steven Gilland, the Superintendent of West Point, who introduced Trump.