Dear John,
It’s bad enough that Trump wanted to have a full military parade, with tanks rolling through the streets reminiscent of Tiananmen Square, a line-up of doomsday missiles on oversized trucks, and lines of uniformed American soldiers marching in lockstep.
The fact he had to hold this parade on his birthday holds the key to its meaning: This parade was all about Donald Trump.
June 14 may have been the anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Army, but let’s be clear: Trump chose the date to celebrate himself.
The fact that Trump, a so-called “strong man” with a 4-F draft deferment, who is cutting veterans’ benefits while calling them “suckers” and “losers,” wants taxpayers to foot the bill makes it even more grotesque.
Fortunately, Rep. Steve Cohen has introduced the HAPPY BIRTHDAY Budget Act – a bill to block federal funding for any president’s military parade in the future. Congress controls the purse strings. It must act now to prevent this authoritarian-style spectacle from ever happening again.
Send a direct message to Congress: Pass the HAPPY BIRTHDAY Budget Act, and say no to dictatorship-style parades in our democracy.
In a dictatorship, the military is used as a symbol of personal power – a tool to create fear, not freedom. In a democracy like ours, on the other hand, the military serves the Constitution and the people. It’s grounded in sacrifice, humility, and a duty to defend all of us, not to prop up a leader’s ego. The U.S. armed forces don’t serve to glorify any one man.
The acronym may be tongue-in-cheek (“Halting All Parades for Presidents’ Yearly Birthdays; It Risks Taxpayer Harm, Damages, And Your Budget”), but the need for the HAPPY BIRTHDAY Budget Act is real.
We must honor our troops by upholding the Constitution, not by turning their uniforms into props for political theater.
Tell Congress: No taxpayer-funded military parades ever again. Demand they defend the values our armed forces truly stand for now.
Thank you for helping protect democracy, and the dignity of those who serve it.
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
