As the rally warmed up, Rolling Stone caught up with Casey.
“The facts are that the Trump presidency and all those involved are disrespecting the vets.
Other vets were at the rally to protest job cuts inflicted by Trump and Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
“People over there are defending democracy, and people over here are defending democracy,” he tells Rolling Stone.
Dig a hole, dig a hole in the meadow.
According to Ken Casey, co-lead singer and bassist for the Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys, “music is sometimes a good way to kick the front door open.”.
A march on Washington D. was organized by a number of politicians and activists, and Casey and his band were the main attraction on the National Mall on Friday, the 81st anniversary of D-Day. A.
The rally, which was supported by labor unions like the AFL-CIO and coordinated by a number of veterans organizations, was ostensibly a nonpartisan demonstration against proposed cuts to federal employment, including at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and to veterans benefits.
As it turned out, it was a manifestation of anger toward President Donald Trump and his MAGA agenda.
Many Americans, in my opinion, believe that this is a conflict between the far right and the far left. Additionally, it’s not,” Casey informs Rolling Stone.
Veterans, who comprise nearly 25% of the federal workforce but only 5% of all employed Americans, will be disproportionately affected by any significant government cuts. According to the proposal made by the secretary of the department, Doug Collins, the VA alone would lose nearly 83,000 jobs, or roughly 18 percent of its workforce.
When we enlist in the military, we swear allegiance to this nation. The national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, or AFGE, which represents roughly 750,000 government employees nationwide, Everett Kelley, remarks, “And they in turn promise certain benefits if we serve.”. “The veteran is being attacked indirectly if you begin to criticize the employees who are providing the services to them. “”.
As lawsuits challenging job cuts proceed through the legal system, Kelley says his members are closely following along: “They’re saying that they want us to continue to stay in this fight.”. They are extremely relieved that the courts are realizing that these rulings conflict with our Constitution and are illogical. “.”.
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Even though we are winning some of these battles, that is not where we want to be. “We want to win the war,” he declares.
Rolling Stone caught up to Casey as the rally warmed up.
Vets are being disrespected by the Trump administration and all those involved, according to the facts. And I believe that. In addition, we will sing about it,” Casey tells Rolling Stone. He is sitting in the hot weather on a shaded bench, his soft voice purring with a distinctive Boston accent. “Everyone is aware of the reason we are here. “.”.
“People are gradually realizing this. I do believe that Trump’s strategy of simply taking aim at the wall is effective. People simply want to bury their heads in the sand because of it,” he says.
The 56-year-old punk rocker, with his dapper black outfit, clean crewcut, and vintage sailor tats, and his interlocutor are the subject of curious glances from a young woman nearby, who this reporter later finds out is also from Boston but happened to stumble upon the protest. She makes an effort to listen in politely because, after all, it’s not often that a founding member of one of your hometown’s most famous bands stops by to discuss politics with a reporter.
In reference to a confessional-turned-poem by Martin Niemöller, a Lutheran pastor imprisoned by the Nazis, of which there are numerous versions, Casey states, “I think that’s part of what keeps the moderates away, and part of it is that ‘It’s not affecting me personally right now,’ and that’s why that famous old statement from, I forget who said it: ‘First they came for the trade unionists, and then they came for me.”.
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On this day, Rolling Stone has previously heard a direct allusion to the Nazis and the rise of totalitarian political ideologies in the 1920s and 1930s, with communism on the left and fascism on the right. A newly formed non-profit organization called the Unite for Veterans Coalition, the rally’s organizers, praise Maj and compare their movement to the 1932 “Bonus Army,” a group of World War I veterans who took to the streets during the Great Depression to demand cash payments that had been promised to them. General. Smedley Butler, an iconic U.S. S. . Marine who helped put down a failed fascist coup attempt against President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933.
I’m currently in Washington, D.O.T. On the anniversary of Operation Overlord, many veterans made a conscious effort to bring back memories of the time when America sacrificed its citizens to overthrow a dictator.
The sign of one man reads, “Dad Fought Fascism in Europe.”. Here, we will fight it. “My Grandpa Fought Nazis,” a woman says, holding another. “”.
Two men are holding flags with three arrows pointing downward, one of which reads “American Iron Front.”. The reporter asks the Navy veteran holding the flag, Kris, what it stands for. According to him, he is a member of a local anti-fascist group that was established during the first Trump administration.
He knows that among other totalitarian regimes, the Iron Front was a political paramilitary that opposed the Nazis: The three downward-pointing arrows are commonly interpreted as symbolizing opposition to Communism, Nazism, and Monarchy.
One of the lessons learned from that time period is that political extremism, which is fueled by rising levels of violence and a crisis of masculinity among young men, can lead to a democracy’s collapse.
It’s part of the justification given by the veterans who planned the rally that they want to foster a moderate, nonpartisan movement. Since both sides have a vote in matters of war, the struggle for the political loyalty of veterans is ultimately a proxy conflict in the conflict over the future of the American Republic.
The majority of veterans, maybe 60 percent to 40 percent, supported Trump in the 2024 election. Trump and his followers may be giving up some of that ground by reducing benefits for veterans, but others are holding out for movements centered on the political legitimacy that veteran status is said to provide.
Veterans are a prime target for ideologues, and far-right extremists have been prevalent throughout contemporary American history. Right-wing paramilitary organizations such as the Three Percenters specifically target law enforcement and veterans, whereas organizations like the Patriot Front or Proud Boys use the terminology, attire, and symbols of the military from the War on Terror. The implicit threat of violence against dissent and a readiness to take to the streets are what unify them all.
Many of the veterans who spoke to Rolling Stone expressed concern that civil unrest could be used as a pretext for a government crackdown on liberties, possibly even as a means of defending martial law, as political violence is nothing new.
Additional veterans attended the rally to voice their opposition to the job cuts imposed by Trump and Elon Musk’s alleged Department of Government Efficiency. According to a thirtysomething former Marine mortarman who requested to be called Andrew, the DOGE cuts caused him to lose his position at the Veterans Administration. He came to the demonstration from Michigan.
Andrew claims, “I wasn’t really political before.”. I didn’t think much about politics at the time, but everyone can tell when you’re the only liberal in an infantry battalion. “.”.
I’m so fucking angry right now. “I’ll be there for anything,” he declares.
At the U, Damian Bonvouloir received his degree. S. became a member of the Navy in 1978 and remained in the service until 1986. During the Dropkick Murphys’ performance, he proudly counts the number of family members who have served in the military or held federal jobs on his fingers as he yells their role and relationship. A sign bearing the words “Who’ll stand with us?” and a shamrock is carried by Bonvouloir.
In the band’s promotional materials, the new single “Who Will Stand with Us” is referred to as “an urgent call to action to stand up against division and inequality.”. “.”.
“So here we are on D-Day today, and because you think the world is too ‘woke?’ What? How did you do the math there? Like, what do you care if someone else wants to be woke?” asks Casey. “It’s like everything that so many of our grandparents fought for — you’re willing to just walk away from that.”. It simply doesn’t add up: was it really worth giving up the nation’s democracy to feel a little more vindicated that your guy won? “.”.
Casey makes an effort to act as though he is speaking. He was on a mission to deliver much-needed ambulances and medical aid to Ukraine last month. He believes that the battle there is a continuation of the one that led the veterans to the National Mall. He tells Rolling Stone that “people over here are defending democracy, and people over there are defending democracy.”.
For the People, the Dropkick Murphys’ latest album, will be released on the band’s own label on July 4. There is a great deal of fervor and rage, much of which is obviously political. “Not every song is directly in relation to what’s going on,” says Casey, who is hesitant to call it a protest album. However, I believe that the times influence music even when it is written for a non-related audience. “.”.
He claims, “I never thought I’d write a song about the day my father died when I was a kid, but it’s on that album.”. Perhaps you reach a point where you don’t take it for granted that you’ll continue to make music, and perhaps the times simply make you feel as though everything in your life is urgent. “”.
At the rally, a punk rendition of the bluegrass song “Dig a Hole in the Meadow,” a 1927 anti-fascist anthem made popular by Woody Guthrie and others, elicited one of the strongest reactions from the audience.
“Go ahead and dig a hole in the meadow. Make a hole in the icy ground. Make sure to excavate a hole in the field. We will subdue you fascists. “.”.
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A band that is obviously unrepentant about its politics and its embrace of America’s early anti-fascist traditions is This Machine Still Kills Fascists, the title of their eleventh album.
“I just feel like when people say things like, ‘Shut up and sing!'” or something similar. I feel fine. We have been spreading the same message for thirty years,” Casey explains. “Hey, if your punk band is struggling to write angry songs these days, you know what I mean? Something isn’t working.”.
