Despite concerns over the spending of taxpayer funds for a North Korea-style military parade, especially when thousands of veterans are homeless in the United States, Trump is continuing on with his plans to show off America’s military equipment. On most teleivision networks, however, the focus will be on pretty much anything else.
We obtained the Pentagon's guidance to troops in Trump’s July 4th event: Say "I am proud of my job and my vehicle/tank" https://t.co/semva3EtIO pic.twitter.com/GhDfM7kXnq
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) July 3, 2019
All three major television networks will air their regular programming, although they will show the parade and fireworks show (which is still subject to be cancelled due to impending storms) on their websites. The people who do want to see the spectacle, which probably won’t be many as most people have their own plans for cookouts and fireworks, are Fox News viewers, and that network will of course show the taxpayer-funded monstrosity of an event in its entirety while hosts fawn and gasp and shiver with excitement over the staged patriotism while ignoring the costs and the consequences.
According to The Daily Mail:
‘ABC, CBS and NBC will not cover the spectacle in full on their evening programs but will air the Independence Day celebration on their respective online and app streaming platforms.
‘MSNBC also won’t cover the event live but might show clips during its newscast. CNN hasn’t commented on its plans for the hour-long event at the National Mall.
‘Meanwhile, Fox News will have a two-hour special on the event and C-SPAN will air it live starting at 6.15pm.’
Those consequences have been discussed throughout the planning, but Trump isn’t listening. Six-ton tanks might do damage to Washington, D.C.’s city streets and bridges, storms could create dangerous conditions for the pilots of fighter jets as well as the crowd, and the cost is exhorbitant and a bad look for the “fiscally conservative” party. Most importantly, turning the Fourth of July holiday into a partisan spectacle goes against every norm for a United States president, but the RNC is selling VIP access and Trump will give an attention-grabbing speech sure to be filled with self-praise from the National Mall in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
The event will also interrupt air travel and other normal operations in the city.
‘On Tuesday, it was announced Washington D.C.’s Reagan National Airport will be briefly shut down on Thursday in order to accommodate Trump’s ‘biggest fireworks ever’, as he adds extra touches to this year’s event.
‘The Federal Aviation Administration announced on Tuesday that flights would be grounded from National during the flypast featuring Air Force One, the Blue Angels – the US Navy’s flight demonstration squadron – and other military planes from 6.15pm to 7.15pm.
‘It will also ground flights again from 9pm to 9.45pm when the fireworks kick off.’
as corrupt as it gets!https://t.co/wtcmopsIl3
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 3, 2019
Regardless of the expense, the interruptions, and the partisanship of the spectacle, Trump will carry on, whether anyone is watching or not. Although many in the White House are concerned that people will stay away, both because of the weather and because of anti-Trump sentiment, Trump is sure to say it was exactly like his inauguration: the most highly-attended event in history, even if photos and other evidence proves otherwise.
According to Vanity Fair:
‘the White House and Republican National Committee are worried that the event’s last-minute nature will turn July Fourth into a repeat of Trump’s poorly-attended inauguration debacle, as barely any of the VIPs they’re inviting to the festivities are expected to actually attend. “They started this too late and everyone has plans already,” Republican donor and Canary, LLC CEO Dan Eberhart told Politico. “Everyone will be there in spirit, but in reality, people planned their July Fourth activities weeks ago.”‘
Can you think of anything less patriotic than diverting taxpayer money for America’s national parks to a one-man vanity show on July 4th?
The National Parks Conservation Association called it
“A breach of the public trust”
Which is the perfect slogan for Trump’s 2020 campaign. https://t.co/NmbGC1qAew
— Adam Schiff (@AdamSchiff) July 4, 2019
Featured image screenshot via YouTube
