“The Rockets’ Red Glare”

We Are Living Through a Different Kind of War

I have always had complicated feelings about “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Francis Scott Key was not simply a patriot writing about the defense of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. He was also a man whose views and actions supported the continued enslavement of Black people. For many African Americans, that history cannot be separated from the anthem itself. The song’s soaring language about freedom exists alongside the painful reality that Key did not believe freedom belonged to everyone.

Still, there is a component of his famous lyrics that deserves reflection when looking at the spending priorities of the Trump administration.

Key wrote about “the rockets’ red glare” and “the bombs bursting in air,” explosions lighting up the night sky while the nation watched anxiously to see what would survive by morning. Today, those images feel less like a battlefield and more like a metaphor for President Donald Trump’s reckless display of political vanity and overspending. If you didn’t know why he’s a 5-time bankruptcy filing CEO, alarm bells should be going off now. And the explosions you hear are taxpayer dollars.

Across America, regular people are tightening their budgets, ignoring the check engine light, and trying hard to get one extra day out of tonight’s meal. Seniors split prescriptions in half to save money and veterans who once defended this country are increasingly at risk of homelessness because housing assistance and support programs have been cut. Republicans glibly tell citizens to “take one for the team.”  They question taxpayer patriotism for squawking about the price of gas.

At a time when millions worry about affordability, the Trump administration has floated or supported a series of cosmetic and symbolic makeover projects in Washington, D.C. Expensive renovations performed by inferior companies, monument-style construction concepts and elaborate redesigns intended to leave behind a visual tribute to Trump.

Don’t forget the $60 million for the UCF wrestling and cage-fighting event. We’ve been told that someone other than taxpayers are footing the bill. Working-class Americans are just on the hook for the millions of dollars for security, logistics, law enforcement mobilization, and infrastructure. Why is there unlimited money for wars, the 122 days that Trump has spent golfing since his reelection, but never enough for affordable housing, veteran support services, healthcare access, or public education.

That is where Francis Scott Key’s imagery unexpectedly becomes relevant.

The “rockets’ red glare” now resembles a government lighting money on fire while ordinary citizens brace for impact. Every lavish project, every vanity renovation, every unnecessary spectacle becomes another explosion in the sky: dramatic, unnecessary, and ultimately disconnected from the struggles happening quietly inside American homes.

Francis Scott Key may never have imagined his lyrics applying to political excess and economic inequality. Yet here we are, watching the glare of wasteful spending illuminate the sky while too many Americans wonder whether anyone in power still understands the difference between leadership and performance, or American exceptionalism and individual greed. The true measure of a nation is not found in the monuments it builds, the spectacles it stages, or the grandeur it displays, but in how it cares for those who live beneath its flag. I guess a bankrupt leader, morally or otherwise, would have a problem understanding that.