By any measurement, June 14 is going to be a busy day.
In Washington, D.C., the United States Army will hold a massive parade and fly-by in recognition of the service’s 250th anniversary.
The day is Flag Day and also the birthday of Donald J. Trump, who has long admired the military parades in authoritarian countries like Russia or North Korea. America and other countries have had military parades to celebrate the end of wars and inaugurations of new political leaders.
Trump wanted a military parade in his first term, but it never worked out. This term, he’s got 6,600 Army personnel marching, driving tanks and such, doing fly-bys and parachuting.
When I first heard of the military parade on his birthday, I imagined 200,000 Trump protesters blocking the street and handing out flowers and cookies to the troops, who deserve recognition for their service.
Fortunately, Trump opponents will ignore the parade, and Trump, in favor of people marches, rallies, and demonstrations all over the country, but with a special focus on Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love and home to both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Organized by Indivisible and other pro-democracy day groups, “NO KINGS Day of Defiance” on June 14 is a nationwide day of protest against Trump and his authoritarian, wanna-be king actions.
Instead of allowing this overblown military parade to be the center of national attention, NO KINGS organizers want public attention everywhere else, in every state, every capital city and many hundreds of other communities and campuses.
According to a map of the plans, Colorado has some 60 demonstrations registered, with more likely to come in the days ahead.
I do think efforts should be made to reach out to veterans and off-duty military personnel on that day. They stood up to a king in the past. Trump isn’t honoring that history, just hijacking it to celebrate his inflated ego.
Maybe we can ask vets to repeat their oaths to preserve and protect the Constitution, against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
And guess what? There’s some unexpected help coming from Pope Leo XIV, who will celebrate Mass and speak to the young people of the world, from the home of the Chicago White Sox.
Gonna be a busy day, and Trump will not be the exclusive focus of national attention.
