June 7, 2019
Yesterday marked the 75th anniversary of the landing at Normandy. (The anniversary of the landing at Anzio was hardly noted, as far as I can tell. Quick quiz: name the most famous literary character to take part in that debacle?)
It seemed very odd to have a president at that ceremony whose only protest against the War in Vietnam consisted of his concern to avoid military service. Of course, that would also be more or less be the case if his main opponent in the 2016 election had won instead.
But this is not the most depressing aspect of the current push to expand this country’s military might, all in preparation for another major global conflict. The sad fact is that even the most liberal of the current political candidates have made only the most tepid of commitments to fielding a policy built on the following premise:
A military is strong only in proportion to its capacity to engage in comprehensive disarmament.
I keep getting “personal” e-mail requests from Democratic candidates to support their party. Why should I feed the War Machine, which enjoys feeding at their trough just as much as it does at Trump’s?