By Marcello Lanfranchi
Are you outraged that Trump’s ludicrous military parade is moving forward? If not, you’re either not paying attention, or you’re the type of person who thinks international diplomacy is best waged 280 characters at a time AND OCCASIONALLY YELLING AT FOREIGN HEADS OF STATE IN ALL CAPS.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, I envy you; I’ve been considering a move recently, myself. But to get you up to speed, several thousand US troops are expected to march this November 2018, right before Veterans’ Day, in Donald Trump’s farcical homage to himself — to the tune of $12,000,000 to $30,000,000 — yes, that’s 12-30 million dollars.
Does the Pentagon really have nothing better to do with their time? This is how the $700 billion military budget is being spent? At last, those of us with a lick of sense have found a perfect reason to dramatically decrease defense spending.
I don’t know about you, but watching 5,000 uniformed soldiers marching down the street, bearing arms, and driving military vehicles, evokes images of authoritarian regimes in places like Kim Jong Un’s North Korea, Hitler’s Germany, or Darth Sidious’ Galactic Empire. This is just one more display to remind us that our democracy is in grave danger.
Since we’ve now found the magic bullet (I swear that pun was not intended) that will convince Congress to slash our defense budget — which in 2017, at a mere $610 billion, was more than the defense budgets of the next seven most militarized nations, combined — let’s think of ways we can spend that money more sanely.
- Tens of thousands of US veterans are homeless today, and that number is rising.
- An estimated 20 US veterans take their own lives — every single day.
- Veterans are twice as likely as non-veterans to die from accidental overdoses of highly addictive painkillers.
Given that $30 million could provide shelter and mental health services to the men and women who have sacrificed for this country, a military parade is a hard slap in the face to them.
Let’s deluge our members of Congress with calls demanding they put a stop to this charade of a parade. It’s worth a shot (there’s that pun again). The final vote for the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act will likely be the week of July 30, 2018, and here’s something you can tell your MoCs:
My name is __________, my zip code is _____, and I’m a member of Indivisible East Bay. I am outraged that Trump’s ludicrous military parade is moving forward. This is an outrageous use of tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars and of the time of thousands of people.The parade is callously scheduled for the day before Veterans’ Day. Tens of thousands of vets are homeless today, and that number is rising. 20 US veterans take their own lives every single day and are hard hit by the opioid epidemic. I ask you to fight to dramatically decrease military spending. Vote NO on the 2019 NDAA which authorizes this obscene display to rival images of authoritarian regimes in places like North Korea and Nazi Germany.
- Sen. Dianne Feinstein: (email); (415) 393-0707 • DC: (202) 224-3841
- Sen. Kamala Harris: (email); (415) 355-9041 • DC: (202) 224-3553
- Rep. Mark DeSaulnier: (email); (510) 620-1000 • DC: (202) 225-2095
- Rep. Barbara Lee: (email); (510) 763-0370 • DC: (202) 225-2661
- Rep. Eric Swalwell: (email); (510) 370-3322 • DC: (202) 225-5065
Marcello Lanfranchi is a native of Silicon Valley and a long-time progressive activist who has concentrated on reproductive rights, peace, queer rights, environmental sustainability, and civil rights. He currently makes a living in television and film production.
