Our dear leader Trump wants a parade now
Columnist Bill Press discusses President Trump's request for the country to hold a military parade.
In his short time in office, which already seems like an eternity, Donald Trump has had a lot of dumb ideas: pulling out of the Paris Accords; giving out “fake news” awards; hiring Michael Flynn; firing James Comey; shutting down the government; and building his stupid wall.
But now he’s pushing his dumbest idea yet: staging a huge military parade down Pennsylvania Avenue. Both the White House and Defense Department confirm that serious plans are underway for a massive show of military strength sometime later this year.
Reportedly, Trump first got the idea when he went to Paris last July for France’s annual military parade on Bastille Day. “It was one of the greatest parades I’ve ever seen,” Trump told reporters immediately afterward. “We’re going to have to try to top it.” According to The Washington Post, that childish wish became a presidential directive at a Pentagon briefing on Jan. 18, when Trump told his top generals: “I want a parade like the one in France.” Trump gave the order and the generals, sadly, simply saluted and said, “Yes, sir!”
But don’t blame the French. Trump’s idea of a military parade’s not modeled after Bastille Day, on which day French troops have been parading down the Champs-Elysees every year since 1880. No, this is strictly a Vladimir Putin affair. Or, better yet, a Kim Jong-un extravaganza: a one-time, obscene display of military might staged only to further fatten the ego of “our dear leader,” not to pay homage to the military.
The truth is this gigantic military parade is not only one of Donald Trump’s dumbest ideas it’s also one of his most dangerous. Because it changes the entire nature of our relationship to the military: From a nation that honors and supports the military to one that glorifies it; from quietly maintaining a strong military presence to brazenly showing it off. From considering war as a last resort to trumpeting to the world: We’re big, we’re strong, and we’ve got more and bigger tanks, missiles, bombs and killing machines than you do.
Even if Donald Trump does not realize it, this is not who we are. We are a peaceful people, not a militaristic people. We are not a nation that leads by military might. We are a nation that leads by democratic example — the “shining city on a hill” — with a strong military backup, in case we need it. Immigrants come to America, not because we have more tanks, but because we have more freedoms.
And what’s the point of a parade? To show everybody how strong our military is? Hardly. Nobody doubts we have the biggest, baddest military force ever assembled on the planet. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, our Pentagon budget of $700 billion is greater than the military budgets of China, Russia, the UK, France, Japan, Saudi Arabia and India combined. Our superiority’s most evident in airpower, where the United States boasts 13,400 military aircraft: four times that of China; three times, Russia.
No, the only point of Trump’s parade is so he can brag about staging the biggest military parade in history and being the military’s best friend, which is itself a joke. Trump may surround himself with generals, but how much respect for the military did he show when he attacked war hero John McCain and a Gold Star family? How much love for military families did he show when he told the widow of a Green Beret soldier killed in Niger: “He knew what he signed up for.” Or how much commitment to the military did he show when he sought and received five deferments to avoid serving in Vietnam?
Yet the White House is already selling this parade as an occasion to show our patriotism. See the pattern here? If you don’t stand for the national anthem, you don’t love your country. If you don’t applaud the president, you’re committing treason. If you don’t show up for Trump’s dumb parade, you are un American. Trump proves Samuel Johnson was right when he said: “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.” And a wannabe dictator.
Of course, if Donald Trump really wants to show support for the military, both active and veterans, there are other ways. With all the millions of dollars that will be squandered on Trump’s military show, we could provide countless meals, shelter, doctor visits, mental health counseling sessions and more for vets. That’s what real patriotism looks like, not a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue.