As protests against the Trump Administration’s immigration tactics spread across the country, several impressions prompted this postscript:
First, as all are aware, Mr. Trump has dispatched 700 Marines to Los Angeles in response to the protest. This has particularly resonated with me. As I’ve previously mentioned in these pages, my father was a Marine, a decorated veteran of Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal. If you are a child of a Marine, you are raised in the lore of the Corps, whether or not you enter the military. I probably knew the Corps’ hymn by heart before I entered kindergarten. It recounts in part:
“From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli; we fight our country’s battles in the air, on land, and sea; first to fight for right and freedom and to keep our honor clean; we are proud to claim the title of United States Marine. … [Y]ou will find us always on the job — The United States Marines. Here’s health to you and to our Corps which we are proud to serve; in many a strife we’ve fought for life and never lost our nerve. If the Army and the Navy ever look on Heaven’s scenes, they will find the streets are guarded by United States Marines.” [Emphasis Added]
Even Marines acknowledge that the term, “arrogant Marine,” is redundant 😉 . It is their creed, in their viscera, that they go first; that they do what has to be done; that they clear the way for the lesser to follow. They take pride in it; they relish it. Putting aside the overall storyline of the movie, A Few Good Men, one of the declarations by Jack Nicholson’s Colonel Nathan Jessup is absolutely accurate: to protect our democracy against our nation’s enemies, and whether we like to admit it or not, we want them on that wall; we need them on that wall.
Perhaps it is because of my background that I find the deployment of Marines to Los Angeles so alarming. They are trained to kill; they have to be. Mr. Trump has knowingly placed the equivalent of the sharpest of knives between ICE agents and demonstrators who detest each other. Hopefully, the Marine commander in Los Angeles has a firm grasp of how his battalion should – and should not – engage with their fellow citizens. You simply don’t tell a Marine, “If they spit, you hit.” Our President either doesn’t understand that, or doesn’t care.
Next, I understand that a picture of a masked protestor in Los Angeles waving a Mexican flag atop a burned-out vehicle is being prominently and repeatedly broadcast in alt-right media. I myself have seen plenty of video in the media outlets we follow of Los Angeles protestors waving flags of foreign nations. They should stop. Even I find it jarring. Although American life appropriately embraces the cultural influences of many nations – St. Patrick’s Day Parades, spaghetti, the Polka, egg rolls, Cinco de Mayo, and German chocolate cake among them – demonstrators are presumably relying on and seeking to maintain civil rights afforded them in the United States of America under The Constitution of the United States of America, not those provided under the auspices of any other country. Those moved to hoist a flag as part of their expression should be waving the American flag – perhaps upside down as a sign of the challenge that the American way of life currently faces – but not the standards and symbols of other nations.
Yet next, it has been my privilege for the past several years to engage in a volunteer effort that has brought me into contact with immigrants from across the world. The activity is one that would only be undertaken by those from other countries who want to assimilate into American life. Participation, even in the early months of the Trump Administration, remained steady. It has now dwindled dramatically. While it is possible that the coming of summer could be having an effect on participation, one might well surmise that the Trump Administration’s activities have created the chill it desires. Some say it can’t happen here, won’t happen here. I think it is happening here.
Finally, as I indicated in the previously-published iteration of this note, I will not be able to attend the NO KINGS rally occurring in Madison (one of many across the country) this Saturday. That said, if I could give one piece of counsel to every participant of every rally, it would be this: Stay peaceful. Don’t be baited. The Trump Administration wants conflict. I would submit that every rally participant needs to anticipate that there could well be MAGA “counter-protestors” at the rally attempting to incite a conflict which would provide the Trump Administration with a justification to further extend its deployment of military forces throughout the nation.
To all those who plan to attend a NO KINGS rally on Flag Day: wave and display the Stars and Stripes proudly – but be careful out there.
And to the dads who read these notes: Happy Father’s Day. 🙂
McCoy's Noise 