Donald Trump wants a great big shiny parade – bigger, slicker, and more expensive than the one he saw in Paris for France’s Bastille day celebration. The military hates the idea, and here is why.
Bro…stick to the code of not embarrassing us. Delete this tweet. China isn’t a “3rd World” country. pic.twitter.com/hNfoaC8WB9
— Kaharistotle⚕️ (@Kaharistotle) February 8, 2018
Trump trundled down to the Pentagon in person to meet with his generals and demand his parade. For sure, he wants the procession to pass down Pennsylvania Avenue, right in front of his new Trump International Hotel. What must retired Marine general and Secretary of Defense, James “Mad Dog” Mattis, have thought about this no-brainstorm?
Retired Army colonel Jack Jacobs is a Medal of Honor recipient from his time in the Vietnam War. He is an NBC News and MSNBC military analyst, and he said that the military marches in smaller town parades as a way to help with recruitment. Yet, with a military that is stretched too think to meet our obligations around the world, we simply do not have enough personnel to put on a show to satisfy Trump’s whims.
It would cost the U.S. at least $12 million to put on even a basic military parade, take months of practice, and pull much-needed equipment from the field. Jacobs had a far better idea: have the American people march down the street and let the military stand and watch.
The Navy SEAL responsible for killing Osama bin Laden and best-selling author, Robert O’Neill, sent out a tweet expressing his feelings about the situation:
‘A military parade is third world bullshit. We prepare. We deter. We fight. Stop this conversation.’
The frivolous parade funds could easily go to homeless veterans, veteran healthcare, and veteran benefits.
Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) was the first double-amputee woman in the Iraq War. She may have put her finger on the problem. Trump got five deferments to avoid going Vietnam, even as hundreds of thousands of young men and women went to risk their lives. Nearly 60,000 never returned. Duckworth tweeted:
‘We don’t live in a dictatorship or a monarchy. I swore an oath—in the military and in the Senate—to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, not to mindlessly cater to the whims of Cadet Bone Spurs and clap when he demands I clap.’
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) sent out this tweet:
‘Hey, Mr. President: Instead of copy France’s military parade, why not copy France’s health care system? Health care for all, low-cost prescription drugs, much less expensive.’
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Featured Image via Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla.
