The coverage of Trump's parade reminds me of a story told by my SO.

[thucythucy]

This was from when she was a child.

She grew up in a small town--and I mean REALLY small. No traffic lights. Three churches. A one room public library. A public school "system" where one school housed K through 12 and the typical graduating class was maybe two or three dozen.

Every 4th of July they had a parade, which, as you might imagine, was rather on the small side. The school marching band and baton twirlers. The volunteer fire department. All the local veterans. The antique car club, the winner of the local beauty contest, the members of the town council--the town was too small to have a mayor. A state police car brought in for the occasion. The whole show lasted maybe a half hour if that--up main street in one direction ending at a park with barbecue and Bingo and such.

One year there was a woman there watching from the sidewalk who began to weep. My sweetie, who was not yet a teenager, asked what was wrong.

The woman, who was there visiting friends, said she'd grown up in Franco's Spain. Every public holiday in her hometown the military threw a parade with tanks, and armored personnel carriers, and soldiers in formation with rifles and bayonets. Marching bands playing songs celebrating "El Caudillo" -- the Great Leader. Everyone had to attend. Everyone had to cheer. If you were absent or didn't evince the proper amount of enthusiasm you had to worry your name might be reported to the authorities.

She was weeping because the spectacle of this parade in this small American town was so very different. So unlike any celebration a dictator would throw. So utterly lacking in militarism, so wonderfully unimpressive.

Granted, a lot of this had to do with the town itself, how small and rural it was. Still, I can appreciate the sentiment.

And now we have a president determined to be our own "El Caudillo."

The woman is probably long gone by now, but I expect, seeing today's spectacle in Washington that she would have wept again, this time for an entirely different reason.

I've been so lucky, as an American, to have escaped living under a regime such as Franco's, not to mention living under a Hitler or a Stalin or a Putin.

And it is sad and distressing to think so many of my fellow citizens seem willing to throw our system, flawed as it is, all away, and for what?

Anyway, just a story that came to mind as I've been watching today's events in DC, in Minnesota, and across the nation.

My own town had a "No Kings" rally that was amazing. Such a welcome uplift in an entirely depressing context.

Best wishes, everyone. Don't let the bastards grind you down,

[Enter stage left]

1. Because you mentioned Minnesota, I have the feeling you're from there...

We are full time RV'ers who happened to be in International Falls today. We drove by "Smoky the Bear Park" to support the protest.

I'm guessing, but I'll bet there were 200 to 250 protesters and virtually every one we saw drive by them gave a thumbs up or a honk in support.

There might still be a chance if we can get these lazy idiots to get off their fat asses in other states and VOTE.

[electric_blue68]

2. TY. Very meaningful story!

[NJCher]

3. As I read your post,

I thought about the comparison/contrast essays I'd assigned and read over the years (as a writing teacher). I no longer teach those classes, but if I did, I'd be showing my students your post.

It is the best way to make your point, as well as its being a narrative and eminently readable.

Re this:

snip
so many of my fellow citizens seem willing to throw our system, flawed as it is, all away, and for what?
snip

I think about this every day. Do they have any idea whatsoever how hard it is to create a government?

[thucythucy]

7. Thank you for your kind words.

The story made a deep impression on me, in fact I think of it pretty much every fourth of July.

I understand that what we have in America is deeply flawed, and that so many people are marginalized, and that much of our history is ugly. But we at least have, until the last decade or so, been making progress. The strides in LGBTQ rights for instance have been so heartening. As a child I never would have imagined we'd have openly gay political leaders, for instance. Again, not that it's perfect, but it was I think getting better.

And now we seem to be rushing to undo all the progress we've made--in civil rights, in dealing with gender violence, even in science and medicine.

I thought, when President Obama was elected, and then re-elected, that we'd turned a page. I had no idea that there were so many of us willing to toss the entire book into the flames.

Best wishes, and thanks again--

[Godot51]

4. Sadly...

... fascists seem to want and have "great" parades.

[NJCher]

10. welllll

I don't know how great that parade was:

Putin must be enjoying it very much. Squeak, squeak.

[mountain grammy]

5. Love this story

Because so many in America have similar experiences. We are so lucky, like Zelenskyy said we have that big ocean. Why would anyone want to throw it all away?

[dobleremolque]

6. My immediate family lives with your story. My

daughter-in-law came of age in the last years of the Franco dictatorship in Spain. The father of her best friend in school was one of the last people executed in Catalunya for "political crimes." She has a few cogent observations about what the United States has apparently decided to put itself through, and she is unrestrained in sharing them.

[thucythucy]

8. I spent years as a volunteer with Amnesty International,

responding to "Urgent Action" bulletins and working with the Campaign Against Torture.

Some of the stories were so heart rending.

When I hear Trumpers talk about "the Biden tyranny" or some such nonsense, I think: "You have no idea..."

Best wishes to you and your daughter-in-law.

[dobleremolque]

9. You're absolutely correct.... we do not have any idea. Several years ago

my daughter-in-law's brother, who owns a small construction company, was forced to halt work on a project when his excavators uncovered a previously unknown and unmarked mass grave dating from the Spanish Civil War, or shortly thereafter. People in the construction industry in Spain say it's not all that infrequent and it occurs in all regions of the country.