Raining on a military parade
Editor: Everyone loves a parade. President Trump wanted an immense display of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and possibly the core team of the nation’s newest branch of service, the Space Corps, in a vast body processing through Washington, D.C.
Picture it — not merely men and women in uniform bearing flags and banners, but also Abrams M-1 tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, Humvees, motorcycles, and overhead, every aircraft in the nation’s military inventory.
What a mess! The Capitol City’s streets would have to be repaved. And the eventual price tag! That was what the president claims killed his pom-poms and high-stepping cheerleaders in short skirts scheme, according to an Aug. 17 article by Yahoo News senior editor Dylan Stableford:
“President Trump on Friday blamed local Washington, D.C., lawmakers for ballooning costs that forced the cancellation of his planned military parade.
“‘The local politicians who run Washington, D.C. (poorly) know a windfall when they see it,’ Trump tweeted. ‘When asked to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade, they wanted a number so ridiculously high that I canceled it. Never let someone hold you up!’
“Instead, the president tweeted, he will ‘attend the big parade already scheduled at Andrews Air Force Base on a different date’ as well as an Armistice Day parade in Paris on Nov. 11 celebrating 100 years since the end of World War I.”
Mr. Trump’s budget, tax cuts for the wealthy, benefits elimination for senior citizens and low-income families, and taxpayer-supported lavish lifestyle of his family do not leave money for a ridiculous parade.
The Republican would-be “President for life” hands Democrats another issue with which to sear GOP candidates in November.
Trump should worry about the predicted “blue wave.” If the opposition party takes control of the House of Representatives and eliminates Reeps’ small majority in the upper chamber, impeachment efforts are certain.
The president might consider an option to avoid that humiliation. While abroad, he should petition French President Macron for asylum.