The United States has long rejected the holding of military parades featuring tanks, missiles and other heavy weapons as a symbol of authoritarian regimes like the Soviet Union, North Korea and other countries. We commonly have parades with marching military and military bands in Washington. What we generally have not done is add heavy weaponry — the signature display of so many of the history authoritarian enemies of this country (though, as some have pointed out on this blog, there have been exceptions where tanks or missiles were present in inaugurations). Trump’s desire for military equipment at the presidential inauguration was reportedly rejected by the Pentagon as running counter to the long traditions of the country. Now Trump appears to be close to getting such a parade, modeled on the Bastille Day parade. A military official told The Washington Post is quoted as saying“The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France.” (The current results show 77 percent against such parades with around 800 polled. The Army-Navy Times is reported opposition at 89 percent). Opposition is also coming from Republicans who are calling it “cheesy” and “wasteful.” The Navy Seal who killed Osama Bin Laden has called it “third world bulls**t.”
Ironically, as many on this blog know, I am a military history buff and love to review both vintage and modern weaponry. However, I like our tradition in not holding such military parades. Our military has long maintained its apolitical and professional distance in our system. We celebrate and honor our military but do not use heavy weapons as props. We also avoid the high costs associated with such parades. However, people of good faith can disagree and I wanted to ask the blog about the consensus (if any) on this issue below.
What does Bastille Day commemorate? France surrendering to Hitler in 1940? Vichy France? Frenchmen eating live frogs? We call Frenchmen “forgs” because they eat frogs not because they might look like frogs. Germans are Krauts because they eat sauer kraut. Italians can be Dagos because they make Dago Red wine. British are Weeneys.
When Trump closes down Congress for good we should have a parade.
It is Springtime For Hitler in Germany, autumn for Poland and France.
The revolution against the monarchy one party no franchise system of government. Think of them as monarchial socialist fascists and the people as independent human beings. until…. they sold out to socialist facism replaced Bastille Day with Guillotine Day.
Dictator: Screw Congress. Where they won’t act to give me what I want, I’ll do it through executive orders. [applause from liberals]
President: Screw Congress. Where they won’t act to give me what I want, I will trigger them to act by calling for a parade. [applause from conservatives]
The first was an accurae quote. The second I’ll need a reputable source date, edition whatever. So far what you have is one 30% of the country confirmed and 30% of the country unconfirmed and forgot about the rest of us who controlled last november 2016 outcome with 40%
Michael,
The second was my take on the response to the President’s parade statement. He seems to have triggered a call to support our active duty military and other veteran causes that have not been given adequate priority.
https://mobile.twitter.com/brianschatz/status/961059494439596032
Brian Schatz
✔
@brianschatz
A military parade costs millions. Let’s fix military housing, hire more VA doctors, fund telehealth, DOD schools, support the commissaries, daycare for families, or give more flight training time. Our highest defense priority must be the service members, not the politicians.
8:10 PM – Feb 6, 2018
Dick Durbin:
“Let’s put money into the quality of life and military families who sacrifice with our men and women in uniform,” Durbin told MSNBC. “And finally, let’s make sure that we’re doing something to stop the waiting lines in veteran’s hospitals. That’s a good way to put money, taxpayers’ money — investing in our troops, investing in our veterans instead of the amusement of the president.”
We can have a military parade in Washington only if the Commander in Chief leads it wearing the uniform he wore during his military service. No military service, no parade.
He wears the hat as The Commander in Chief, I would think that when the commander makes a lawful order the military has a moral and legal obligation to comply..
I would think that when a man promises to forsake all others and keep only unto his wife, he would do so. I would also think that a fat pig reality TV star who conned his way into the White House with the help of a hostile foreign government and who brags about assaulting women has no right to expect fealty from men and women brave enough to wear the uniform he was too cowardly to wear.
Rejected.
Yes, have the parade. Put every piece of active military machinery in it. And some of the stuff we don’t use any longer too.
And place the price tag on every one of those pieces of equipment in large stenciled bright white numbers! Not the retail price, or estimated price, but the “Pentagon price”. That might make a few folks in Washington think twice about how much military spending consumes. Or maybe not.
Trump can get on Air Force One and take a trip down to Fort Hood and see all the Tanks, Bradleys, Strykers, MRAPS, Hummers and Helicopters he could possibly stand. The base is about a Quarter Million Acres and has over 45,000 Soldiers stationed there.
First Army (3 Star HQ)
3 Corps (3 Star HQ)
13th Sustainment Command (3 Star HQ)
1st Cavalry Division (2 Star HQ) includes a Combat Aviation Brigade
Regiments and Brigades are commonly commanded by a senior Colonel
3rd Cavalry Regiment
69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade
41st Field Artillery Brigade
36th Engineer Brigade
85th Civil Affairs Brigade
504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade
1st Medical Brigade
Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center
It is the largest concentration of military assets in the World on one site. And the Tanks he wants will not have to be transported at great expense. There are Naval Air Stations and Air Force Bases close enough to allow a Fly in of Navy, Marine and Air Force personnel and Aircraft.
Why destroy the streets of DC and spend a truckload of money on a parade. M1 Tanks will chew up the roads- in Germany during the Cold War they were limited from civilian roads because of the damage they cause. They run +/- 62 Metric Tons.
David G.,
-A guy that I knew voluteered for a second tour in Vietnam to get out of his scheduled assignment to Ft. Hood.😃
I don’t know what it’s like now, but this fellow hated that place in the early 1970s.
You are not invited. It’s for Soldiers and Citizens.
Why destroy the streets of DC and blow millions on a vanity parade? Haven’t you been paying attention? It’s all about attention to the fat swine crotch grabber who wants to pretend he’s important, at least until the federal marshals drag him away.
Somehow, I feel that parading weaponry is a mistake. Troops, fine. Marching bands, fine. Heavy weaponry, mark me down as opposed, and I don’t care what the history is about this — whether it’s been done before or not. We already have airshows (here in Cleveland, every Labor Day at the Lakefront airport) with the Navy Blue Angels and/or the Air Force Thunderbirds, and lots of other military aircraft.
If people are interested in weaponry, they could put it on display somewhere, similar to the airshow format, but parades are ceremonial, and I don’t think heavy weaponry should be used ceremonially.
fair opinion but recall a parade serces a secondary purpose. We have demonstrated the will and here is the ability.
Pretty sure people already know about the ability. If they don’t, a parade isn’t gonna sell ’em on the idea. I figured a parade would be OK because if it helps military morale and maybe civilian pride in the military, that could offset the expense.
But the big weapons shouldn’t be part of it. Celebrate the men and women, not the weaponry — and I say that as the son of a chief engineer at TRW that spent his life designing many of the things that helped jets fly higher and faster than ever before — the technology that won the Cold War (spoiler alert — it wasn’t Ronald Reagan) because the Soviets just couldn’t keep up, either with the expense or the expertise that made my dad a national security consultant. He died a year or so ago, but I think I can speak in his memory — that stuff wasn’t designed for parades.
I still contend that the preposterous Trumpisms are merely a way for the president and the republican congress to distract american citizens from what is really happening in our nation – from giving tax breaks to the super rich-to selling our national parks to private investors-to cutting health benefits-to revisiting building more nukes so that the defense industry continues to make their share of profits. There are many more issues. But, as we are distracted by the outrageous we are neglecting to see the real changes in our nation. We need to focus.
faith:
Yeah the rich (or anybody for that matter) don’t deserve their money. All they did was work or go to risk for it. Let’s keep it where it belongs. With the government!!
Da national debt has gone up by 84 percent due da tax for da billionaires. Da government is now broker than ever due to T rump. Da corporations and billionaires got it all. People like you think they deserve all da capital. In da end T rump’s and his Goldman Showers plans for us will fail and people will send this Goldman government packing, Da Koch’s are participating in stealing our assets too big time.
Da bots K en da use backs da froms aol da agins.
That’s b.s., mespo. Six Walton heirs have wealth equivalent to 40% of Americans combined. What work has Alice Walton contributed to? Bill Gates has money equivalent to 750,000,000 of the world’s population because patent protection policy in the U.S. allowed a monopoly. He’ll leave that to his kids similar to Buffett enriching his kids’ foundations with $600,000,000. The financial sector’s exploiters who drag down GDP by an estimated 2% take money at the expense of people who create national income.
Maybe there’s a country where wealth is based on something that is commensurate with the individual’s contribution to the nation’s prosperity but, it’s not the U.S., where wealth concentration is strangling economic growth.
But, I’ll grant you that in Russia, the oligarchs while not contributing to GDP, do take the risk of offending Putin, and paying for it financially or with their lives.
That would take some very stange and creative calculations to back up the claim that “financial exploiters drag down GDP by an estimated 2%.”
I wouldn’t mind having some of Bill Gates or the Waltons’ money.
Unlike Linda, I just don’t feel entitled to it.
That’s quite a roadmap she’s laid out in her posts to upend the oligarchy.
Straighten out the Jews, straighten out the evangelicals, straighten out GOP candidates, staighten out Putin, straighten out GOP voters, get the police and the military to join the anti-oligarchy campaign, etc.
Sounds like a piece of cake to set all these people straight.
And they’ve got people like Linda to show them the way.
Don’t you deserve a big tax cut like da billionaires and corporations got or are you happy to get your buck fifty dat Da oligarchy bestowed on theit minions.
K ens da if’s use da gots out a da basements and gots da jobs use mights gets to bees a billionaires, well maybe not you.
Linda – “Maybe there’s a country where wealth is based on something that is commensurate with the individual’s contribution to the nation’s prosperity but, it’s not the U.S., where wealth concentration is strangling economic growth.”
You are so full of it. I am no huge fan of Gates since I think he is for the most part a pirate, but there is no way that you can argue that Microsoft and it’s products didn’t help this nations prosperity. No one is stopping you from being rich other than yourself.
Tell that to someone who works 50 hr a week. And to someone that works 2-3 jobs just to pay for LIVING. Tell that to a worker that busts their butt, only to be laid off. Tell a trust fund baby to go to a real job, and quit living off their free funds that they get from some else working for a living.
Tell a trust fund baby to go to a real job, and quit living off their free funds that they get from some else working for a living.
Why? Why should someone that has the means (acquired legally) to pursue their own definition of happiness have to go get a real job if they do not have the need for it?
Oiley,
Because the founding fathers opposed aristocracy…because the U.S. was a meritocracy
until Reagan, a highly paid entertainer, championed the rich against people who work.
Because the founding fathers opposed aristocracy
The founding fathers opposed a great many things, all of which were rooted in a philosophy far deeper than merely opposing aristocracy. It’s clear you either have never studied it or you reject it. Here’s a hint: the right to property is natural and unalienable.
“Six Walton heirs have wealth equivalent to 40% of Americans combined.”
***************************
So? It’s family money and it was worked for and risked. Maybe you want to confiscate family money, too? How very Stalin. What exactly is a financial sector exploiters? Entrepreneurs who accept risk you find unacceptable? Face it — you hate capitalism and everything it produces like jobs, wealth and freedom. BTW I’m happy to compare it to your worker’s paradise.
The Koch’s are the Stalinists. ALEC’s draft laws led to the U.S. having the most incarcerated population in the world. The U.S. should practice capitalism instead of the corporate welfare system it has, created by politicians bought by anti-competition businesses and groomed by their lobbyists. At ALEC Exposed, there’s a full roster of laws aimed at stifling capitalism.
Linda:
“ALEC’s draft laws led to the U.S. having the most incarcerated population in the world. ”
*******************
Obviously. The perps criminality had nothing to do with their incarceration! Nor their habitual offender status, nor their ignoring the break they invariably get on the first offense, nor their violations of parole and probation. Nope it’s the nasty laws that the Koch’s somehow got passed verbatim over the steadfast objections of all the governors, legislators and supreme court judges in those states.
Do you believe this stuff you write or is it dictated for you.
The sentences that Black men receive are 20% longer than Whites, for the same offenses. If punishments were fair, many of the people currently in jail would be replaced with the slime on Wall Street. Check out the judge’s speech at the end of Molly’s Game, the movie. The Black Atlanta teachers incarcerated for long sentences by a good ole’ boy judge, committed the crime of filling in bubbles on a sheet of paper.
I want the apples to apples comparisons which include prior criminal history.
“the most incarcerated population in the world” — What are we supposed to do with all of those “super predators” Hillary told us about except incarcerate them? Can “super predators” be rehabilitated? Not likely. Locked up, yes. Defanged and lobotomized, yes — but the chances of rehabilitating anyone that has earned the right to be labeled a “super predators” by the “smartest woman in the world” are virtually nil.
There’s your “most incarcerated population in the world.
Bayer, You’re illogically saying the U.S. has more super predators per capita than even Russia? I’m laughing. But, I’ll grant you that extreme income inequality is linked to crime. The variable wouldn’t likely account for 5 times as many “super predators”. All things equal, statistical distribution, among countries, can be predicted to be somewhat similar per capita. When there is a shadow government, ALEC, funded by businesses taking money from incarcerations, then, higher imprisonment rates result.
It’s interesting that you defend the Koch’s political activities.
“Six Walton heirs have wealth ”
Envy is her game.
She thinks working is lame.
mespo.,
as Linda says below…that is a lot of Bull.
I have no problems with the rich people. My issue is with their control of the government (through money) and thus benefiting themselves monetarily.
The money is moreover kept in tax havens (meaning they do not pay their fair-share) through the use of loop holes which they have created through their control of the government.
Why is it that the fed government gets a paltry sum for the lands it leases for mining etc….why is it that while almost all the fundamental research and even drug research is done in the federal government yet very little makes it way back as patent royalties.
There are many ways the rich DO EXPLOIT the system to make themselves richer. There are many more examples…
That is my peeve.
“I have no problems with the rich people. My issue is with their control of the government (through money) and thus benefiting themselves monetarily.”
*********************
I’m all ears about how you’d change human nature so that people who have what other people want won’t use that power to get what they want. Fact is the only solution anyone has come up with is the rule of law and the separation of powers but knowing you don’t want to be considered a whiner who complains without offering solutions, I’m happy to hear your thoughts.
Make shadow governments like ALEC illegal. Prohibit industry insiders from decision-making jobs in the government. Pass a law forcing SCOTUS to render decisions against campaign donations greater than $100 from any individual. No businesses can hire lobbyists nor contribute to campaigns. No elected, nor appointed government official, nor government employee, at any level can be wined and dined.
The fines and community service punishments should be so great that they significantly hurt the violator and his briber.
We can start with the DNC.
Let’s start where the richest 0.1% have been entrenched, since before Reagan- the Republican plutocratic party.
Carter was beford Reagan…I didn’t know that Jimmy was a plutocrat…..he claimed tp be a Democrat, but I suppose he could be both.
In other words you take issue with holding the DNC to any accountability. You believe that the leadership of the DNC does not cater to the wealthy elite? Look at the candidate they anointed, Hillary Clinton–the ultimate wealthy establishment politician. Since you are one of the largest complainers here about certain individuals, how about starting with her and her secret squirrel paid speeches to Wall Street elites and financial corporations.
“Pass a law forcing SCOTUS to render decisions against campaign contributions greater than $100”.
Then, pass another law when Scotus shoots that law down.
Then another cycle of this, then another.
Pass many laws forcing the Supreme Court to reverse themselves on any decision one doesn’t like.
You forgot issue tin foil hats to the populace.
Russian trolls torture blog readers- originality would ease the pain.
You bring to light the premise that Russian trolls are greatly harmful to the readership. Why does this happen and what threat are they?
Having an open mind and a quality of independent and critical thinking renders whatever influence attributed to Russian trolls meaningless since they can be dismissed if their writings are not intellectually honest. They pose no relevant threat to those of better minds.
But of those weak minded individuals who blindly subscribe to whatever rhetoric or propaganda perhaps these trolls might find success.
I propose that since most of what you write here is limited to rhetoric and in lockstep with what your political icons dictate to you, a propagandist does for you represent a threat. Since you are one of those who is unable to counter this influence acting on the realm of your own thought in only stands to reason why you project that an alleged troll sitting behind a laptop computer in Vladivostok wields power over others.
Rhetorical musings- Andrew Workshop’s analytical depth? Why does Squeeky limit his neo-Nazi propaganda to racial divisions, not religious? Why does Tom Nash defend the Koch’s? Why the reliance on labels, like Stalinist and communist, when there is no foundation for them relative to commenters at this blog?
“Torture” was hyperbole. The sensitivity is understandable.
Now you are just rambling.
The wind-up doll was made between 1922 to 1952 in Russia.
“Why does Linda pose non-sensical questions, when she answers none?
Focus number one is never forgetting under the progressives since 1909 607,000 dead in wars while they held the oval office. Under the opposition party 6, 600. So much for the war monger party.
source for starters World Alamanc 2016 and 17 and 18 and going back the earliest I have is 2002.
……are merely a way for the president and the republican congress to distract american citizens from what is really happening in our nation ….
I fully agree with your observation. Every action is carefully designed to ensure a win for republicans in 2018, yet that is the only chance sanity will get.
That is where the focus needs to be.
Definitely YES! It’s time for the people of the US to meet their overlords and their beautiful equipment that will be stationed throughout our neighborhoods (not just the poor ones like now). I thought these picture of the superbowl were just stunning! I love a police state parade!!!!
Here is how your neighborhood can look under an open police state:
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-02-04/super-bowl-security-has-turned-minneapolis-military-police-state
Scroll down all the way. Now who wouldn’t want to live like this?
Living like “that” beats “not living” like “this”:
http://tapnewswire.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/bataclan1.png
FWIS, that was the Bataclan Concert in France.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
My compliments
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/us/mass-shootings-timeline.html
As others have suggested, it’s time for SkueeKKKy to grow up.
anony:
I like the way you post that NYT article like is some sort of “drop the mike” moment. You mention no articles where armed citizens averted just such tragedies as though the don’t exist. They do and in droves. Squeeky doesn’t need the maturity to see the complexity of life. You do.
mespo retorts: “Squeeky doesn’t need the maturity to see the complexity of life.”
Oh yes, she does. And so do you.
But your a nonentity… REJECTED
Now there’s the retort I expected! It goes with “and what am I?”
You should hook up with K en, Isaac and Natacha the four of you could sit around and tell each other how great socialism and communism is.
https://www.massshootingtracker.org/data/2017
https://www.massshootingtracker.org/data/2018
In January of this year: 46 dead, 106 wounded.
And this has nothing to do with “socialism or communism.”
As others have suggested, it’s time for SkueeKKKy to grow up.
Grow up? And what, toe the party line? Squeeky clearly has opinions that run counter to those favored by the Left, but she routinely provides sources, data and links to support her opinions. The opportunity is there to challenge her opinions, but apparently providing sources, data and links requires more effort than her critics are willing to extend. Perhaps you and others believe name-calling is a mature response, but in reality, it is an intellectually-deficient and lazy response commonly found in juveniles. In other words, NOT mature.
And predictably, the not-so-mature OLLY piles on.
Thank you for proving my point.
Another predictable response. (Well, two: One from you and the other from the Screecher.) Carry on, kids.
As I said, “Kids!” Little cliques, laughing at each other’s stupid jokes.
Exactly what was either mature or even intelligent in your response to me??? You Liberals plop stuff like that out, as if the mere existence thereof somehow supports your position. Sorry, but this is a LEGAL blog and you have to “connect it up.” Which activity you and your cohorts here seem spectacularly unable to do. On darn near every issue which comes up. Perhaps you guys need your own blog, and you could call it “Ipse Dixit”. Which begs the question of exactly who it is who needs to grow up?
I submit that it is you Liberal Democrats whose answer to the illegal immigration question is to run around waving your hands in the air hollering, “There are no illegal people! There are no illegal people!” Whatever the f*ck that is supposed to me. Or, you Liberal Democrats’ demand for “safe spaces” on campuses whenever Mean Old Conservative speakers are invited in. If you don’t just go straight to the physical tantrums of tearing stuff up.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
“Perhaps you guys need your own blog, and you could call it “Ipse Dixit”. ‘
*************************
Roll on the floor time! Love the Latin but the Vietnamese title “Itze Phó Dix” works well too.
REJECTED machine response
So, let me see if I have this right; you’re saying it’s better to be “safe” than free?
this is to “but Mussolini DID make the trains run on time” SqueeKKK
You might want to play out the dream scenario to the end; under such a regime, how long would the (unfree) remain “safe”?
Safe vs. Free is a false alternative .It is NOT an either-or choice. Particularly when we have the 2nd Amendment, which I am glad to see that you support since you also fear the government getting out of control. Thank goodness you are not as stupid as that person above, anonymous, who thinks that the answer to maniac and terrorists with guns, is to disarm law abiding people who are neither maniacs nor terrorists! Wow, what a shallow and immature twit it is!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Squeeky,
We have decimated whole nations with the weapons you love so much.
I notice that many “patriots” are scared to live without the govt. weapons surrounding them. We will all die. These weapons won’t keep you safe. They will take the lives of others and everyone’s, including “patriots” freedom.
So what??? Some of those nations intended on decimating us. Others, I admit, we should not have attacked, like Iraq. And frankly, yes we will all die, and it probably won’t be a terrorist or foreign army. It is a lot more likely to be at the hands of some black thug named Tyronius or DeMarkarius who takes us out in a car jacking or home invasion, or during a robbery. And you can eschew weaponry if you want, but not me. I will try to make sure those animals either die first, or at least accompany me on my journey!
I bet if the hordes of savages ever explode from the ghettos like a Zombie Apocalypse, you will be screaming for people like me, with my AK-47 Home Defense System, or some nice well armed Army soldiers, to protect you.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Little “Girl” SqueeKKKsie loves her parades:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/08/17/the-day-30000-white-supremacists-in-kkk-robes-marched-in-the-nations-capital/
You’re not tricking me! I am not going to spend a dollar feeding the WAPO beast! Plus, I am pretty sure whatever you say will be irrelevant anyway. And just a canard.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
“It had extensive women’s auxiliaries and even a number of auxiliaries for children, which had names such as the Junior Ku Klux Klan, the Tri-K Klub, and the Ku Klux Kiddies.”
“When Bigotry Paraded Through the Streets”
“A century ago, millions of Americans banded together in defense of white, Christian America and traditional morality—and most of their compatriots turned a blind eye to the Ku Klux Klan.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/12/second-klan/509468/
One might guess that the little SqueeKKKer participated, with glee and gusto.
As a socialist leftist of the woar monger party you should be well acquainted with police states.
sorrry about the extra o
You have a lot more to apologize for than that, it is your RWNJ opinions that are offense, ).
From the internet- “Since people didn’t show up for his inauguration, Trump wants to re-stage it with people forced to show up.”
T rump can wear a fake military uniform uniform for his staged event. Wants to proclaim to da world that he a military dictator with da p0wer to destroy da world. He is a wanna be Pinochet but lacks his intelligentsia.
Dems won a special election in a Missouri district that was a Trump stronghold.
“However. Republicans won three other Missouri State House seats, and the Republicans retain a House super-majority”.
SMILE they always leave out the rest of the story.
Nationally, 4 gained by Repubs…. 35 by Dems., including a governorship and a U.S. Senate seat.
The U.S. Senate seat was won by anveleventh hour accusation, and massive campaign funding for Jones….ain’t unlimited campaign contributions great in some cases….and the budget that allowed Jones to run 10 times as many ads over the airwaves, primarily TV.
The lower profile races I generally don’t follow, so I don’t know about the other 35 “Dem.gains” that were mentioned.
The Missouri “Dem. gain” posed earlier left out that little detail of 3 GOP wins v. the one “Dem. gain” for the same Missouri State House.
Stupid people voted for Trump. Ignorance still exists in Missouri.
Is Putin really elected? Or, is he just lucky that all of his opponents die of natural causes?
What kinda Dem? Hopefully not Establishment like that biatch McCaskill – pro TPP traitor
No source, no date no edition REJECTED
“The United States has long rejected the holding of military parades featuring tanks, missiles and other heavy weapons as a symbol of authoritarian regimes like the Soviet Union, North Korea and other countries.”
*******************************************
Somebody ought to tell Gen. Schwarzkopf and President Bush about it then. The howitzers are my favorites. From 1991:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?18328-1/national-victory-celebration-parade
Kennedy’s inaugural featured missiles:
https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170119123616-tbt-jfk-inauguration-restricted-super-169.jpg
mespo,
I posted a link to this too. Amazing how it was ok for FDR, Eisenhower and JFK. At least these images haven’t been “erased” 1984 style yet.
Jim:
We’ve paraded military hardware around since the Revolutionary War. Lots of it during subsequent wars especially WW2 parades when hardware ruled the day. I’ve seen it live and on TV since I was a kid in relevant conflicts. I don’t know what JT is talking about.
And what victory would be celebrated with such a parade…Trump’s 2016 election? where half the country didn’t vote — and of those who did, millions more actually went for his problematic opponent? That’s worthy of a parade?
Complete waste of money; try another justification.
Although I do love C-Span.
Dave137:
“And what victory would be celebrated with such a parade…Trump’s 2016 election? ”
**********************
Can you spell I-S-I-S?
I guess for him, it depends on what the meaning of I S I S
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Powerful.
Good one, Sqeek!
Thank you Debbie and Mespo!!!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Well it does resemble “is.” As in “What is, is?” Good work, Squeek.
it’s a Clinton versioni of the Nuremberg Defense. Confess and beg for clemency and then a pay raise.
She shoots, she scores!!!
ISIS is gone? Mission accomplished?? We took back desert. Hooray. Plenty of terrorists aligned with I-S-I-S exist elsewhere.
And Trump wanted a parade before their “defeat.” But nice goal-post shifting.
You never took back anything contested. We took back desert from the Afrika Corps too. Wanna bad mouth those troops at Algiers, Oran and Casablanca, too?
Your brain must be pretzel-shaped. You’re overstating “victory,” I’m not bad-mouthing our troops. But now we’re far away from talking about a parade, so job well done.
Dave137:
“I’m not bad-mouthing our troops.”
*****************************************
That’s exactly what you’re doing by rdenigrating a victory over a monstrous evil with stuff like “We took back desert. Hooray. ” Lots of blood in that desert but how would you know. Some of it American; most of it terrorist. Thank god.
Hurts your friends friend’s reshaping and redefining got it’s ass kicked. doesn’t it.
Hurts your firends are getting their asses kicked doesn’t it.
55% Anti Clinton 45% Clinton
as a side issue we hired Trump as an outsider to help destroy the left.
Here’s Eisenhower’s inaugural. Not much declining here:
http://c8.alamy.com/comp/F2B5W7/us-army-tanks-pass-eisenhowers-reviewing-stand-during-the-inaugural-F2B5W7.jpg
I think those are Patton Tanks. My father had some toy ones that I played with as a child, until he caught me and told me those were no-nos. Because they were his childhood toys and he did not want me losing them. They told you on the bottom of the little plastic tanks what kind they were.
If I am right, that is pretty good for a girl, isn’t it! If I am wrong, well what do you expect, I am a girl!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Not-So-Lonesome Bill Clinton and the write up from his 8000 soldier military review in DC in 1995:
“No one should doubt,” Clinton said, “NATO’s resolve to prevent the further slaughter of innocent civilians in Sarajevo and the other safe areas in Bosnia.”
The president’s remarks came on a day of spectacular military pageantry. Members of the Army’s Golden Knights parachute team floated to the ground, canisters strapped to their legs leaving trails of red smoke in the sky. There were marching bands and flag displays. And as the ceremony came to a close, the skies filled with vintage and modern-day combat aircraft flying in formation, dramatically low to the ground.
Despite the day’s grandeur, it was simply the opening event in the ceremonies commemorating the 50th anniversary of the victory over Japan and the end of World War II. The president’s speech here on Saturday, White House aides said, is to be a sweeping statement of gratitude to the entire World War II generation.”
(WaPo, 9/2/1995)
Our Howitzers and artillermen have saved countless American lives!
Absolutely right. Never getting the credit they deserved!
For that you need US Army Infantry and/or The Marine Corps. All kidding aside even the spoons should get a share but REMFs not so sure.
While Trump directs our attention toward a parade created for his aggrandizement, donors to the Kochtopus met last week. The donors were given forms with a box to check if they wanted their dollars spent to subvert university independence. (UnKochMyCampus.org)
DeVos is pushing an Uber-type model to destroy public schools. Public education is a unifying institution for the nation. The Trump family was privately educated proving that ignorance is the by-product of schools for the richest 1%. Oligarchs like the Waltons, Koch’s and Gates have been hacking away at the most important common good for some time.
Comrade Linda has resorted to the last refuge of The Party dialectic wall banging and bled out on the carpet.
We have our military saber-rattling ritual….it just happened Sunday in Minneapolis overhead the opening ceremony. This fact kinda refutes the JT assertion that the US doesn’t make displays of military strength.
Nobody has complained about this flyover ritual. I don’t know how much it costs, but I’m going to guess about $100,000.
Part of the symbolism of a fighter jet formation flyover is the U.S.’s air superiority. A ground parade would showcase ground-based weaponry, which isn’t as decisive as air power in the 21st century.
I’m in favor of keeping the SuperBowl ritual. I see no point in expanding to a street parade of ground-based assets.
More than that and it is part of the Recruiting Budget.
The parade is now in front of the Capital Building. Tanks, jeeps, artillary, missiles, and other devices rolling along. Look: there is a drone overhead too! That is cute. Oh, something fell out of the drone. It hits the ground on the marchers and EXPLODES!
Yikes.
False Alarm False Alarm it was not a drone but a clone.
I don’t care either waty but I really wish the libtards would STFU. Gee, it was ok for FDR and JFK to do it, but not President Trump.
“An Army Pershing missile mounted on a tank-like carrier catches the sunlight as the inaugural parade for President John F. Kennedy draws attention of spectators along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, Jan. 20, 1961. Other missiles, from front, are: Lacrosse, Nike Hercules and Nike Zeus. This view toward the Capitol was made from a stand at the Treasury Department.”
I forgot, Pershing missiles were just for amusement rides.
“However, I like our tradition in not holding such military parades.”
So what “tradition” of not doing this is JT talking about?
And then the cost argument. Really? So tell me, how much does it cost? Do you really want to go down that road?
Here you can look at the pictures yourself.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-isnt-the-first-president-to-request-tanks-at-his-inauguration/article/2618186
What narcissists FDR, Eisenhower and JFK were.
Other than stroking Trumps ego and sense of inferiority vis a vis Macron of France, I do not see any value in this parade. The country is extremely divided and this parade will only contribute to the divide. Our volunteer armed forces no longer represent the population as a whole…..bring back the draft (NO EXCEPTIONS – for FAKE SPURS) and I will reconsider my view.
PS: Prof. what is the point of voting when one cannot see the result without signing for another website. Maybe you should periodically publish the results.
Somebody changed Robos name but not education level.
The draft still exists sss.gov or start with http etc It’s what every male snowflake must sign changing their draft status from potential to awaiting orders BEFORE they get a student loan. The women get a free ride in a sense but in reality remain second class citizens as every right has a responsibilty and their’s is not to be cannon fodder but baby factories.
That bring back the draft reminds me of the only person in congress to repeatedly ask fo rthat Charles Wrangel who wanted to turn the military service into a baby sitting social program. complete with stress cards
Our country’s military is a volunteer service at present with the draft and it’s miltiary conscription/slavery hangng over your heads.
The operating rule should be “If it is worth doing enough will come forward and if enough do not come forward it is not worth doing.” Draftees were more trouble than they were worth with some exceptions in any case.
There is nothing in the constitution to prevent women from being drafted however and having to sign up for it to get their current free ride except the lefts need to keep them in baby factory status.
24 years Infantry with an RA designator the whole time.
Sure, have a parade. But only if it’s led by the members of Congress who have authorized war efforts without any formal declaration of war.
That’s all of them since WWII..
I served 21 years. I never knew a single individual that volunteered for a parade, and on the whole, we thought they were a huge pain in the butt that interfered with us getting our real work done. If you want to do something for the military, how about leaving them alone and letting them actually enjoy a holiday instead of giving them one more superfluous thing to do?
Exactly.
Excellent comment and remember those who treat their military despicably end uip with a military that despises them . the Left should consider that given their record in war mongering. 607,000 or more to 6,600 or less since the progressives arrived under Wilson.
Best Change of Command Ceremony ever. the flag was passed and the new commander said, “Three day pass starting now unless you are the First Sergeants duty roster. Dismissed.
Personally, I feel that one of the great negatives of America is resting on its laurels and its national braggadocio. Too much of America is ‘right or wrong, intelligent or stupid’ if it’s American it’s alright. This is the underlying emotion of most military parades such as are performed in Russia, China, North Korea and other countries that are presenting a statement that takes the place of what should be there. Perhaps Russia’s military statement is warranted seeing as they did the most, lost the most, and suffered the most in defeating the Nazis. France’s parade helps continue the grand history that does indeed belong to France and at at the same time massages that ego that will be forever bruised; losing a war that should have been and easy victory in less time than it took for the victor to defeat Poland’s cavalries. The French, as great a nation that they are, will never live that one down. The parade helps.
For the US to emulate these countries might work if the parade was truly an expression of America. There would need to be lots and lots of majorettes, graduates from the twirling programs at Old Miss. There would have to be acres of dueling drum corps and other bands interlacing themselves down the parade route. There would have to be the Mummers, Shriners, and other Americana. There should not be a military presence outside of ‘dressed to the colorful max’ representations from each service and perhaps each type of fighter, all in their dress uniforms. For the US to parade its lethal military might is lame. The US is hands down the most powerful military nation on earth. It’s a fact; not necessary to drag tanks down the parade route. Americans love a good parade. So give them a good parade; lots of color, bagpipes, drums, floats, etc.
Outside opinion from a foreign national
“For the US to emulate these countries might work if the parade was truly an expression of America. There would need to be lots and lots of majorettes, graduates from the twirling programs at Old Miss. There would have to be acres of dueling drum corps and other bands interlacing themselves down the parade route. There would have to be the Mummers, Shriners, and other Americana….Americans love a good parade. So give them a good parade; lots of color, bagpipes, drums, floats, etc.”
Laughed out loud. Thanks.
No military person, past or present should be required to participate in a parade that is entirely designed to feed the black hole of Trump’s narcissism or to salute a five time draft dodger.
We have legitimate parades to honor veterans. No need for a Soviet style monstrosity that is the hallmark of a weak, insecure leader.
I knew that Trump was a dictator type but had no idea that the GOP would fold like a cheap suit in support of it.
kats:
Obviously a dictator type since you’re typing this drivel from a gulag in Nebraska or a computer in Vladivostok .
LOL. No, from my recliner in a red state.
Quite oppressed there in your barco-lounger. Oh whatever will we do?
Yes Comrade Robo Clone hows your party programmer these days.? Treat your military despicably you get a military that despises you. and you just made that status.