On Saturday morning, March 28, 2026, MA Governor Maura Healey addressed a cheering crowd of thousands in South Boston at the christening of the nuclear powered, attack submarine, USS Massachusetts, which carries Tomahawk cruise missiles and torpedoes. “This is one heck of a boat,” Healey declared with a big smile. “We have never been more proud that the journey started here in Massachusetts,” referring to the state’s revolutionary and naval traditions.
In a Boston Globe article that read like a Department of Defense press release, Brian MacQuarrie characterized the ship as a “$2.8 billion marvel built in Virginia to roam the world’s oceans.”
In anticipation of the christening, Dinis Pimentel, chair of the USS Massachusetts Commissioning Committee, asserted, “in that moment, in one visual, there will be none older, none newer, none better, and none finer than the duo of the USS Constitution and the USS Massachusetts. You’ll see Navy heritage and tradition, and our most capable, most lethal, and most stealthy submarine.” The USS Constitution and USS Massachusetts were side by side, representing revolutionary tradition, according to Healey’s reading of history. A more plausible case could be made that these ships embody the long tradition of naval military power projected across the world to serve the imperial interests of American power. And Healey is far from the only state Democrat embracing the launching of this vessel. On the website of the christening committee there are letters praising the ship from current Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Congressman Seth Moulton.
After her celebration of this attack submarine in the morning, Healey traveled to Boston Common in the afternoon where she addressed the huge crowds at No King’s Day. In her remarks, she declared, “What do authoritarians want to do? They want to confuse us and distract us with wars.” But, Healey intoned, “Don’t let that happen. Stay engaged.” As she exhorted the crowd to get out and vote, she urged: “We need to remember the core American values that make us truly great as a country…”
Unfortunately for the health of our nation and our democracy, Democrats and Republicans throughout American history have inextricably linked rosy concepts like democracy and freedom with militarism and violence and imperial adventures. Healey rightly criticized authoritarians for confusing and distracting us with wars. Yet, that same morning, she delighted in the launching of a highly lethal submarine, the USS Massachusetts. We need to ask the governor how she views the compatibility of extreme military force and democracy. Healey – and many other Democrats – believe that they can support and promote militarism and the limitless growth of American military might while simultaneously serving as champions of freedom and democracy. This linkage is completely unsupportable. Developing ever more lethal killing machines is antithetical to the promotion of democracy abroad or at home. The grotesque annual federal military budget outlay, now approaching one trillion dollars, has victimized millions around the world while dwarfing domestic spending on social issues, even before Trump came into office.
President Joe Biden embraced Netanyahu and provided weapons which enabled the Israeli state to conduct the genocide in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. When Kamala Harris was asked during her failed presidential campaign what she might do differently from Biden, she was unable to identify any issue. Harris’s refusal to break from the genocide and call for justice for Palestinians was a major factor in her loss. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) admitted that this was the case in their analysis of the last presidential campaign. However, we only learned this fact through a leak since the party that supposedly stands for democracy and openness refused to release the report that they commissioned.
So long as Democrats like Healey and others think that they can advance democracy and freedom while embracing ever greater military budgets, many will reject their stance. Governor Healey and other leaders of the Democratic Party need to have the moral and political courage to break with the Pentagon. If not, we will continue to see Democrats fail on the national level. Indeed, Harris and Healey and the Democratic Party created the conditions for the success of the fascist Trump. We may eventually witness the demise of Trump after great cost to humanity abroad and at home. But without a concerted effort to promote social justice and to contain American militarism gone berserk, Democrats may well find that Trumpism will continue unabated.
by Marty Blatt
—
Marty Blatt is a long time antiwar activist and emeritus professor of history, Northeastern University.
