And you know what? He will probably never, ever understand that this is just something American leaders don’t do:
President Trump’s vision of soldiers marching and tanks rolling down the boulevards of Washington is moving closer to reality in the Pentagon and White House, where officials say they have begun to plan a grand military parade later this year showcasing the might of America’s armed forces.
Trump has long mused publicly and privately about wanting such a parade, but a Jan. 18 meeting between Trump and top generals in the Pentagon’s tank — a room reserved for top secret discussions — marked a tipping point, according to two officials briefed on the planning.
Surrounded by the military’s highest ranking officials, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joe Dunford, Trump’s seemingly abstract desire for a parade was suddenly heard as a presidential directive, the officials said.
“The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France,” said a military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the planning discussions are supposed to remain confidential. “This is being worked at the highest levels of the military.”
American shows of military strength don’t come cheap. The cost of shipping Abrams tanks and high-tech hardware to Washington could run in the millions, and military officials said it was unclear how they would pay for it….
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PLEASE NO!!!!!!! Why does the country have to suffer for this idiots ego?
I was actually recently looking at a video of A North Korean Parade and actullay thought to myself how thankful I am that the strongest country on earth doesn’t have to showboat like an arrogant teen.
Nooooooooo!
Who doesn’t like a parade? Sheesh! You’d think his minions would get upset at the money this will cost. I bet this will never actually happen. The optics are just too awful.
I don’t love a parade. Never have. Except Mardi Gras, back when I lived in New Orleans in junior high. They throw you stuff…
Grump
Yep. But I DID say I liked Mardi Gras. Or I liked chasing after doubloons, anyway. I guess it was kind of a safety hazard, though — kids racing in and out between moving floats, trying to get to the doubloons first.
We weren’t so competitive about the beads, because they threw more of them and you didn’t really have to try to get some. But far fewer doubloons were thrown, imbuing them with value.
Oh, and I also enjoy a parade that has my children or grandchildren in it.
Other than those conditions, I’ll pass…
I drove my little electric motorcar in the St. Pat’s Parade a few times. We brought trinkets to toss out, but the police officers made it very clear that we were not to do that. Instead, my bride walked along beside the car and handed them to kids.
Oh, yeah; I forgot: I was in the same parade several years ago.
Does that count? Yeah, I guess it does….
OK, so my list of exceptions grows. I don’t love a parade, except:
1. When it’s Mardi Gras, and I’m 12 years old.
2. The parade has my children or grandchildren in it.
3. I’m in it, and there’s a credible promise of beer at the end of it.
I was shocked this morning when I flipped by Trump and Friends to hear Brian Kilmeade say he thought it was a huge waste of money.
Of course he said that right after Steve “Parrot” Doocy said he loved the idea. ( Doocy reflexively loves any idea Trump has no matter what it is or how stupid it sounds).
Doocy had a goofy look on his face when Brian Kilmeade didn’t automatically agree with Trump as apparently is company policy at Fox. That is all I could take of Trump and Friends so I turned it back to I Love Lucy.
It’s interesting to think about why the USA doesn’t have big military parades. Lots of other countries do them, and some of them are democracies.
We have military planes do flyovers at sporting events and we have rifle drill teams perform all over, so it’s not like we Americans are against actually displaying our military hardware.
New York City has “Fleet Week” where New Yorkers get to see the Navy show off a little, and there are lots of airshows all over the country which sometimes incorporate ground forces. (I’m thinking of the SC Guard Air and Ground Expo, for instance.) These shows are all over the country, but are mostly confined to being on an actual base for a lot of good logistical reasons. (Safety, open space, cost, etc.)
We have lots of veteran marches around holidays like 4th of July, Veterans Day, etc., but what we don’t have is an actual parade of military hardware rolling down the streets of our capital. This is a very fine distinction I’m trying to make here, and I’m probably not doing it very well.
I think the USA has plenty of military events, and I don’t think we need more of them. The idea of seeing tanks rolling down Pennsylvania Avenue isn’t one I want to see, and I certainly don’t want to see our nuclear missiles on display. While I think it’s important to have a capable and reliable nuclear triad, it’s not something for display. These weapons are terribly destructive, but not interesting to look at or beautiful to see (like a Blue Angel demonstration, for instance).
Also, there’s something wrapped up in the idea that the head of our armed forces is a civilian. Sure, the President has Marines everywhere, and a cool helicopter, but other than that, I’m struggling to think of ways that the President openly displays the trappings of the military. I think it is best that way.
We honor our military servicemen and veterans. Just last weekend we had all the Medal of Honor recipients at the Super Bowl in a wonderful commemoration of their valor. The President goes to Arlington every Memorial Day. However, the idea of a big military parade doesn’t seem to be a thing that we do (at least not since WWII).
And I’m fine with that. I’d love to hear what the SECDEF thinks about this.
” I certainly don’t want to see our nuclear missiles on display”
So you’ve never been to a SAC base… where they’re displayed at many of the main gates. Didn’t the old museum in Florence have missiles on display? Theyre not that exciting… they look about how you’d expect them to look.
Yep. And not worth spending millions to drive them down a street on a trailer.
I always thought it really, really weird that the commies did that. I mean, really, guys — you’re all going to gather and worship a phallus?…
Because in your mechanical expertise it’s better for vehicles to sit parked… when it’s just the opposite, as the owner of several restored vehicles the worst thing you can do for anything mechanical is just let it sit and not exercise it.
I see your one of those that sees military hardware as penis references.
No, I see missiles as penis references. The way everyone does…
Yes, it’s called “compensating”.
What does that say about Elon Musk, since today’s news is all about how his launch vehicle is bigger than any of the others?
One thing it says is that he just proved NASA has dropped the ball and most there could be replaced. Obama’s fault.
That’s he’s pimping rockets?
“what we don’t have is an actual parade of military hardware rolling down the streets of our capital. This is a very fine distinction I’m trying to make here, and I’m probably not doing it very well”
You did fine. I mentioned the Romans earlier. This is a bit like their rule against a general bringing his legions into Rome, or even into Italy. Which Caesar broke, so the republic came tumbling down.
Trump, of course, is incapable of understanding such distinctions…
Cool, I bet you even complain about military flyovers at sporting events.
Nope.
Of course, I don’t see them anyway, since I don’t go to sporting events…
Cadet Bone Spurs has an ego problem.
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/372452-duckworth-fires-back-at-trump-i-swore-an-oath-to-the-constitution-not-cadet
So how does Duckworth feel about every other rich kid and kid of politicians who got excused from service or light service such as our own hero Marine John Courson who never left South Carolina soil during the Vietnam War? What did she say to Joe Biden about his five deferments?
Probably about the same. Although I should point out that a) Courson did serve, and b) she’s probably never heard of him…
I didnt ask her. Maybe she believes joe Biden doesn’t walk around acting as if he’s more patriotic than those that disagree with him like trump does.
She’s earned the right to say whatever she wants to cadet bone spurs.
BTW- The retired SEAL that killed Bin Laden called trump’s parade proposal -well, I can’t use the language he used on this website.
Let’s just say he wasn’t impressed.
Related thought: If I were President, I would be terribly embarrassed to ask for (or order) a parade.
I’m not even sure embarrassed is the right word. I recoil at the thought of asking the military to show off for me as President. It just seems so…boy king.
Yep. That’s the main point. It’s a Kim Jong-un move. The sort of pathetic neediness you get from an insecure tyrant.
That’s why this sort of thing is best left to the Nazis and the Bolshies.
The last republic I can think of that went in for this was the Roman Republic. And their taste for this stuff is why they LOST their republic.
They say he got the idea from the French. Gee, can you think of any reason THEY might have for overcompensating?
At least with the Romans, the leader — Sulla or Pompey or Caesar — didn’t order the triumph himself. It was awarded by the Senate. That’s what made it valuable…
That’s the difference. You and I and most Americans have a sense of shame that guides our actions somewhat.
Wasn’t it Teddy Roosevelt who said, “Bluster loudly and nurse a big ego.”?
The difference, of course, is that Teddy was a man.
Yes, a real man.
And he fought for Americans to make all Americans free…!
Wait, wait! Don’t go away! I haven’t gotten to the best part. Here it is:
1991, after the Gulf War, $8 million for the last military parade. I was still IRR (Immediate Ready Reserve) and grateful not to be called to serve, but did follow military matters closely. Those in active duty, by far and away, felt the parade was a waste and did not want to march.
Major General James Marks was saying that yesterday as well.
I’m cool with military parades if we conduct a war, win it, and a nation signs a peace treaty or truce in our favor. Other than that, not so much.
Trump would probably like this idea:
We could declare war on France, they could surrender immediately, and our troops could march under the Arc de Triomphe. Again.
We’d show that candy-a__ Macron what a REAL parade looks like, and he could stand on the sidewalk looking all like this.
Pretext for the war? Well, obviously French values are at odds with American ones. Macron is married to a woman who is older than his mother, whereas OUR president, well, you know…
If we declare ware on France, does that implicate Article 5 of the NATO Treaty? Do all the other NATO countries have to declare war on us, or does Article 5 only apply to non-NATO countries attacking NATO ones?
I’m not saying we couldn’t take ’em, I’m just trying to figure out who we would be fighting.
Looks like someone ought to be considering these things given what’s stirring across the Bosphorus…
“Take ’em?” I was counting on their surrendering before the last vote was counted on the declaration. My whole plan is predicated on that. Nobody gets hurt…
I was thinking of this line when I wrote that: “Mr. President, I’m not saying we wouldn’t get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than ten to twenty million killed, tops! Uh, depending on the breaks.”
🙂
For Sale: French military rifle, never fired and only dropped once. Make Offer. BR-549
“Macron is married to a woman who is older than his mother, whereas OUR president, well, you know…”
You make that sound like a bad thing… in a blind survey I bet more than 50% of married men in this country wish they could do the same thing.
Well, let’s hope not. We learned in the 2016 election that America wasn’t as good a place as we’d thought it was. I’d hate to now learn that half of American men hate their wives.
It’s bad enough knowing there are so many people in this country who actually think Donald Trump is enviable in any way. The guy is pathetic, a walking caricature of everything that’s cheap and low in the male of the species, the kind of jerk who makes the rest of us look bad…
I’d say there is an equal number of wives would also be willing to replace their husbands with a much younger model if given the chance. This is no longer the country of Ozzie and Harriet, Ward and June, and Lucy and Desi that you so desire it to be. Modern America is a country of instant gratification where everything is disposable… I know people today who are multiple-divorced than I did once-divorced while growing up.
I don’t think you can blame Trump for the latest fad in this country, here’s a CNN-safe article for you on the state of the modern American husband… this is the country you live in today:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/25/health/cuckolding-sex-kerner/index.html
“Modern America is a country of instant gratification where everything is disposable…”
That’s right, and — just to be clear — that’s a bad thing…
Modern America is a country of instant gratification where everything is disposable…”
I think that exact phrase in in Trump’s latest pre-nup.
Let’s dial back the tired old caricatures about the French military, ok? In actual fact, France’s military has been actively engaged in multiple African countries for a number of years with the purpose of combating extremism there.
http://www.businessinsider.com/frances-military-is-all-over-africa-2015-1?IR=T
The Caudillo hopes to make anybody who doesn’t applaud his parade idea look like a traitor — or at least un-patriotic.
Yep, his buddies on FOX TRUMP NEWS have already been doing that exact thing
If you don’t blindly go along with Trump’s idea, you don’t love America, and might be a traitor.
Nah, I don’t think his urges are politically driven. It’s all about the ego for The Donald. We have a Narcissist in Chief…
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and predict we won’t see Abrams tanks and Minuteman missiles parading down Pennsylvania Avenue. Mad Dog will likely stroke President Narcissist’s ego a bit and convince him that a more modest parade will do just fine.
What if our entire military gets a bone-spur deferment and can’t march in a parade?
So what you’re saying is none of the Democrats in Washington ever used an excuse to get out of the military draft… did Biden and Clinton volunteer and get shot down?
No, that’s not what he’s saying. That has nothing to do with what he is saying — the points are completely unrelated.
You know what? I’m thinking about saving us a lot of trouble, a lot of wasted words saying things that don’t make sense, by banning “whataboutism” from the blog. I’ve been seeing too much of it lately, and I can’t think of an instance in which a valid point was raised that way.
I realize it’s a popular way of changing the subject among Trump supporters. Which makes a lot of sense, since before he came along, it was mainly associated with the Russians…
Biden and Clinton didn’t call people crude names or imply that they werent real Americans if they didn’t salute the flag like they desired.
Trump describing his war experience to Howard Stern. BTW-he is talking about avoiding sexually transmitted diseases despite all of his cpvwrious sexual partners
“I’ve been so lucky in terms of that whole world,” he said. “It is a dangerous world out there. It’s scary, like Vietnam. Sort of like the Vietnam-era. It is my personal Vietnam. I feel like a great and very brave soldier.”
If that doesn’t make you stand and salute Trump………..
Edit “various”