THE MILITARY IS NOT A TOY

President Donald J. Trump oficially cancelled his planned fall military parade in Washington, D.C., complaining about how much the District wanted to charge the federal government for the cost of hosting. Members of Congress had urged Mr. Trump to spend the money (as much as $92 million by one estimate) on veterans’ mental health services. Instead, the president tweeted that he might just use the money on “some more jet ighters” — demonstrating that, even if joking, he doesn’t know how much such aircraft cost (as the latest Joint Strike Fighters run north of $100 million each). This came after Mr. Trump revoked the security clearance of former Central Intelligence Agency Director John O. Brennan not because he had violated the law or leaked secrets or any of a number of legitimate ways one might lose the privilege of top-secret access, but simply in retaliation for Mr. Brennan’s harsh criticism on television and social media (and perhaps to send a message to others who might be cooperating with the Russia investigation). In an oficial statement, the White House claimed it was done because of Mr. Brennan’s “increasingly frenzied commentary,” a description that Sarah Huckabee Sanders could easily have applied to her own boss. And then there’s the matter of “Space Force,” the comically inappropriate new “branch” of the military that President Trump expects to be blasting off by 2020 but has quickly izzled with little ground support in Congress or among Americans.