June 14th, Trump’s birthday, he intends to sit on some wannabe throne looking out over Washington DC admiring what he considers his personal tools of war and governance. And what will he see: 6,000 troops, 50 fighter jets and bombers, and 150 military vehicles, including some Abrams tanks. Hut two, three, four. Perfect cadence. Trump seeks an auspicious, utterly fascistic, profoundly militaristic moment with which to elevate himself and intimidate the world. All eyes to focus on tanks and him. No interruptions. Heil Trump. 

So what can we do in the face of such monstrous conceit? We can give the world and the U.S. something better, something worthy to cheer. For example, see https://www.nokings.org for a map with hundreds of June 14th demo sites all over the U.S. and https://www.fiftyfifty.one for connection info. Even the Washington Post already talks about “The National Protest Against Trump and the War Machine.” Think on it. The scale is magnificent.

But what about at the march itself? What about something for the world to see? How about counter demonstrators up and down four miles of Washington streets that the military messes up with its giant treads? That will also happen. But can resistance include even more?

Well, one thing it can do is to make sure that the message that the June 14th demonstrations convey isn’t only to get rid of Trump, but also to massively tax the rich, immediately end the genocide, urgently reverse global warming, unrelentingly advance feminism, and aggressively battle racism. But what about tactics for the Washington events?

Imagine Bernie Sanders, AOC, and some other politicos, plus a phalanx of uniformed ex and perhaps even some current soldiers, and also Bruce Springsteen, Robert De Niro, and some other musicians and actors, plus, I don’t know, maybe a few lawyers, doctors, and university trustees (with all of these folks hopefully too famous to shoot) all together forging a path into the street, plus lots of citizens also prepared to sit and block the parade just before it arrives at their position. Maybe this could be Sanders, AOC and all the rest. Or maybe it could just be Sanders, AOC, and some other famous folks because regular citizens won’t be able to get into the street anywhere. Or maybe it could be just one lone dissenter who manages to slip through what will undoubtedly be loads of trigger happy security — after all, we have seen one lone person get through security before to block a tank, though in China. Maybe it could happen here too, this June, despite that in the U.S. the damn tank driver is likely to have orders to and may even want to keep right on going. Any variant of such blockage and the world will watch replays, over and over. Or perhaps the Arlington military march is met by a march from Washington that sits down, halfway. Or, whatever makes sense. And not only in Washington but at the other locales across the country. The world would cheer the resistance, not fear Trump. 

We can’t yet shut down Washington or the government. Not quite. But we can shut down Trump’s despicable display of militarist self-glorifying intimidation. Trump banks on public subservience. He expects it. He’s confident of it. He has created a massive opportunity for himself to preen before the world despite that he has no moral, no intellectual, no civilized clothes to wear. But, hold on. He has also unwittingly created a massive opportunity for the resistance to stand tall before the world. He has set Washington’s stage for our resistance to seize. We just have to pursue our country-wide demonstrations but also enter from stage left at good spots along the four mile parade route. Can we organize such civil disobedience? Can we turn out numbers and unyielding resistance in town squares all over the country — and also in front of the world, in Washington?

Our actions always need to evidence our views, commitment, and staying power. They need to show our ability to threaten what elites hold dear. They need to demonstrate our capacity to increasingly diminish and even dissolve elite power, status, and wealth. Our actions, plus our surrounding discussion and outreach, also always need to welcome new people to resist. 

Does Trump’s birthday provide a fantastic opportunity to educate before the eyes of the world? There should be no fascistic military displays, of course, but, since Trump’s is scheduled, isn’t our best option to turn it into a day that the resistance seizes all over the country, and in the nation’s capital too?