This is an important one to me. My service was an eon ago but it still affects me to this day. And what’s happening now needs attention. See below for what I need.
But here’s why…
Hundreds of thousands of veterans (half of them disabled) are losing their jobs, including 86,000 jobs at the VA alone (that includes the 6000 there that Trump already fired). Trump is still funding the VA records modernization project, but gutting its IT department (a contradictory move). He is cutting some veteran benefits, and though his budget claims to boost a few others, those plans seem disingenuous, as they contradict other directives that entail net losses in the same programs. We went through this before, when he gutted nearly every veteran’s program his first term; so we know what Trump really means to do. Military.com has a balanced story about all this by Patricia Kime: “Veterans Organizing ‘Call to Action’ Rally.”
One of the organizing committees for this protest is Unite for Veterans. We will march on the national mall the afternoon of Friday, June 6—the 81st anniversary of D-Day…and the week before Donald Trump’s North-Korea-Style birthday military parade. The hope is to rally far more than the 6,000 troops he will be ordering to march for him then.
Here’s what I need. My default plan is to drive up to DC the day before and down the day after, and camp in my RAV while there. But I’d like to pull off something more. I have a lot of book stock to sign and sell to cover gas and food and sundries. Plan B is to bar hop the evening after the march, somewhere I can park near enough by that anyone in DC watching my social media then can come hang out, buy me a drink, and walk to my car to buy some books and get them signed. I can’t plan a specific location because I expect DC will be chaos that night and I won’t know what places will have room to stop at, so it will all be on the fly.
However:
I’d love to pull off Plan A instead!
It would be excellent if I could find someone who will let me crash at their place in DC that Thursday and Friday night, rather than have to camp. It would be even more excellent if someone could take me in thus and host a party that Friday evening that we could publicly invite local atheists to, and I can drink and sell and sign there instead of barhopping.
And as Always:
Regardless of whether I am lucky enough to get either kind of host for this, you can always donate money to my PayPal window if you’re inclined. It would be no strings attached (just funding my trip, a tank of gas and probably a scotch or two). I will also publicly thank any donors that ask me to!
You can also contact me to arrange to pre-buy a signed book and pick it up at the rally (or in the hours before; I’ll likely be getting breakfast somewhere you can stop by), if that works better for you. We can discuss details in comms.
I am also open to giving someone a ride, if you want to join the march. You’ll have to find your own place to stay (or cover us a motel), but if you are on the main route from Atlanta to DC, and can travel all day Thursday and Saturday (or one of those days, and plan your own transportation for the other), I will have comfortable room for three (and their gear). Get in touch.
81st anniversary of DDay? (not 80)
Yes! Of course. Fixed.
I suppose Harrisburg PA is too far for you for a place to stay, eh? I, and my husband who was army sapper, would love to go to this march. Thanks for giving out the info about it.
Alas, yes. Wrong side of DC. 🙂
When I was living in New York that would have been spot on. But I’m down south now.
Your husband or any vet you are friends with are welcome to link up with me though.
I have a home in Northern VA & one with relatives in PG County, MD that I’m sure could give you a place to stay if that’s close enough. I also have relatives in Northwest DC that I can check with if you need to be even closer. The VA location is closest to the metro if you prefer walking rather than driving in DC. Please let me know if I can help.
Thank you. Very kind.
I’ll need to drive (and deal with parking costs).
And I have a place now to stay in MD nearby. Though I definitely would prefer one in DC (closer to venue the better). If you can work that contact me privately.
Glad you got what you needed. I won’t bother my DC relatives unless something changes & you let me know. Hope I get a chance to meet up with you someday. It’s good to find people I agree with on key issues. If you’re not rich already, I hope you get rich. Would love to work with others who have the same goals.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
Done. Good luck!
Thank you!
All you ever do is criticize! Why don’t you say something positive about trump for once??? Who cares about lousy ‘veterans’, real estate agents actually serve our country!
How do you know I haven’t said anything positive about Trump?
It’s hard to find anything in that category, I admit, since even his good ideas are attached to shit execution. So, we kind of have to scrape the bottom of the barrel, like, “He’s probably too impotent to rape a child.” But peruse my scoring of his pre-election platform for things that are at least not “all” bad.
As for your dumb joke, I’m tired of that. Act more seriously here. You aren’t any good at being flippant. It just comes across as annoying. Please leave jokes here to people who actually are humorous.