The drill hall will be rebuilt
We’re getting a new Manège Militaire. Let me rephrase that. We’re getting to pay for a new Manège Militaire. A couple of hundred million dollars to rebuild a large empty room where people can practice the ancient skill of marching together and turning on command. Just in case the forces of war need to return to close order drill and muzzle loading.
I guess that the need for traditional skills of this order has been lost on my pacifist soul. D’ya think we could use those funds for something else? Clean water. Expanded medical services. A brief respite from the constant conservative urge to take from the many and give to the few. In passing, Harper looked tiny beside the representative in uniform. Mission optics.
Not to leave anyone unidentified here: the Unknown soldier, the Harper, the pocket-Mayor
Lets carry on with the rest of this story. When the original fire occurred, four years ago, the short fellow was on an official roadtrip. He offered to come home and make things right: that’s his special power. The wheels of government grind slowly, and the actual reconstruction won’t he completed for another three to four years (optimistic view of things). Maybe the short fellow will have moved on to other things by then. Ditto for the Harper. As for the unknown Soldier – carry on.
I visited the original Manège, one spring afternoon, years ago. A lovely large room, in need of basketball hoops to complete the decor. Perhaps they’ll make the revised version, and we can have some fine summer evenings of pickup.
