Let Trump Have His Birthday Party for Trump
And let us all ignore it.
Does that mean the NYTimes will not be covering it?
Let's see if you can restrain yourselves from giving his brand the lion's share of free advertising, again.
16
If President Obama has done this, the NYTimes would have called for his impeachment.
With Trump, this paper is asking us to shrug our shoulders.
8
what a disgusting waste of money that could be used for real things and not to feed the ego of someone so out of touch with everything but himself
8
I just hope that NRA meltdown would prove to be permanent and irreversible
NRA meltdown has Trump campaign sweating
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/03/nra-guns-trump-campaign-1395970
3
"I am not a Know-Nothing. That is certain. How could I be? How can any ne who abhors the oppression of [minorities}, be in favor of degrading [Democrats]? Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid.
"As a nation, we begin by declaring that 'all men are created equal.' We now practically read it 'all men are created equal, except [minorities]'
"When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except [minories], and foreigners, and [Democrats].'
"When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty...where despotism can be taken pure and without the base allow of hypocyicy...."
Derived from a letter written by Lincoln that he wrote to Joshua F. Speed on August 24, 1955, explaining why he detests Know-Nothing Party...
... which is what the GOP under Trump now is, let's face facts.
5
Maybe ICE and Border Patrol can have chain link floats in the parade!
2
We should celebrate the historical freedoms delivered to the world through our Declaration of Independence.
Our president wishes to display our weapons of mass destruction and to take pride in the machines we built to kill people.
3
If anyone wants to join the protests in NYC
here's some links for upcoming events...
https://www.amny.com/news/politics/trump-protests-planned-in-new-york-city-1.13037005
https://www.eventbrite.com/d/ny--new-york/rallies/
1
Illegal. I’m shocked that no individual or organization filed suit to seek an emergency injunction to shut this blatantly partisan use of federal (our) resources for personal aggrandizing
3
If Trump were not spending millions of taxpayer money on what is essentially a political rally cum tanks, I could ignore it. I probably will not watch any of it, as I cannot stand his voice for more than a few seconds.
This is all about a man with an inflated ego and a poor sense of self-worth (thus the need for aggrandizement). I just hope the roads of Washington and the Lincoln Memorial do not suffer.
5
A parade by the Old Reliables would be fine. Eyes right while the Blue Angels fly by? Really cool. Patriotic music and fireworks to follow? Great.
TANKS?
A bit much.
Trump’s speech? This week’s outrage.
3
Trump represents an enemy to the state Majority.... I thought about not posting this opinion, however silence is exactly what many of the Germans did in 1932. If we do not collectively speak out consistently and regularly, some States will rationalize and authorize citizens to start “manning” key roadways in their communities. I can assure you it will get very ugly from there.
1
Tomorrow I'll be doing the most appropriate thing I can think of to celebrate and honor this nation of immigrants: I will be attending the annual July 4 naturalization ceremony for new U. S. citizens at the Fischer Pavilion in Seattle Center. A band will perform at 11am, and the ceremony will begin at noon.I attended for the first time last year, and it was profoundly heart-lifting. For readers in the Seattle area, you can learn more about the event here: http://www.seattlecenter.com/events/event-calendar/naturalization-ceremony
5
Trump asked Ben Carson to bite the head off a live chicken while standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Carson declined. He will ‘resign’ on July 8.
1
I volunteer in our National Parks. It is my way to give back to my country. Every Saturday, I donate 4 hours of my life to the Parks service. I am almost 72 years old, byw. Now this person in our White House wants to spend over 2.5 million dollars of Park funds for his glorious display to salve his ego and make his people happy. We could use that money for better facilities, benches and repairs at our parks. I am really upset. When visitors that I encounter now ask "why isn't this or that done? "don't we care"?? I will refer them to the plans of the glorious "leader".
8
Exactly. Thank you.
Shame on you Donald Trump! For Your spending of our hard earned money (tax dollars) on Your unnecessary Fourth of July Machinery display! Mr. Trump you are a wealthy man, please pay for any military display you want with your money and not ours!
In truth, a better service use of that money would be to spend it directly on the military families!
You, together with a modest amount of people will enjoy your excessive puffery extravaganza. If the same money were distributed to military members it would grow and extend for generations to come! Had you a true care about the meaning of the Fourth of July you would have allowed our valiant military service members to be with their families on the Fourth!
2
We've allowed Trump to spend money in the wrong places.
His July 4th idea for Washington is a complete waste of money.
It should be cancelled and that money spent on the poor and needy, everywhere.
Kingsbury's suggestion that this foolish expense should be ignored was unnecessary and better left unsaid.
What, Trump -- no talk of a military parade this year?
C'mon, Iran and North Korea are touting their nuclear warheads on holiday. Why don't you?
God may take matters into his own hands. Thunderstorms and rain are predicted for DC all day tomorrow.
So, Trump - a Know-Nothing if there ever was one - is having his campaign rally on our dime at the Lincoln Memorial.
Really? The Lincoln Memorial? Lincoln detested what Trump represents.
Don't believe me? This link leads to a letter he wrote to Joshua F. Speed on August 24, 1955.
In describing how disgusting Know-Nothings are, it certainly does sound like a description of Trump.
https://www.nps.gov/liho/learn/historyculture/knownothingparty.htm
1
If anyone is curious about what to expect on 4th of July show, here is some images for you to "enjoy"...
https://www.google.com/search?q=image+of+moscow+and+north+korea+military+parade+show&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi3mL-ztpnjAhWsc98KHRRkD3wQsAR6BAgHEAE&biw=1598&bih=772
https://www.google.com/search?q=image+of+Moscow+military+parade&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiAv9Kmt5njAhXpp1kKHQLYDOkQsAR6BAgGEAE&biw=1598&bih=772
I still remember this "show" growing up in Kiev.
We successfully morphed into Bizarro World.
1
Or, to not turn on the TV at all. I'm sure the great buffoon cannot imagine life without the TV, but some of us can and do. Anyone who turns on the TV to watch this charade or who shows up at the Mall, deserved to have this gangster as President.
2
I respond to a lot of the Trump 2020!! memes that are all over social medial with the meme Trump 15-20!!
1
Boycott tomorrow's "Birthday Party for America" by not turning on your TV or giving any credence to the dictatorial presence of Trump. Don't feed his narcissistic ego. Have your celebration in your own backyard and in your prayers of thanks to God or whomever you choose, pray that November 2020 ends in the election of a moral and ethical leader with the country's best interests at heart.
I agree. I won’t be watching and I sincerely hope the media will ignore it too. Trump,
a nasty narcisiste does not deserve American attention on our family holiday. That fact that he is militarizing it is disgusting and unAmerican while his repetitive ignorant ranting is a bore
We should all stay home with family, including the over zealous media.
The Left wouldn't be happy no matter what our President did for the 4th..
If he didn't have the parade, he is unpatriotic.
If he is having the parade, since its Trump, let's ignore it.
Whatever.
Better get used to it. Our President will beat the Dems once again in 2020.
16
@DB
Whistling past the graveyard....
60
@DB
Sorry. I don't respond to threats anymore than I support a president who clearly has no interest in serving America more than serving himself.
Another thing.
I'll NEVER get used to it.
122
@DB Oh, I would be happy if he just played golf.
64
God Bless America, land that I love!!! Yes, I'm one of the 45% of Americans that are actually proud to be an American.
12
@barb
Really? You know and can speak to what is in the heart of 55% of Americans? No. Just no. You can't.
95
@barb I am not sure where you are pulling the 45% number. But I want to point out two things about the ratio:
First, if, as you seem to be claiming, 55% of Americans are not proud to be Americans, then something is wrong about America, not the 55%;
Second, although it's possible that you might not be including me in the 45%, you should. I am proud to be an American. In about an hour I will lead my Rotary Club in "God Bless America" without any qualms or feelings of hypocrisy. But please understand that I think military displays like this are best done on Memorial Day or Veterans Day.
Independence Day, for me, is a celebration of American ideals - The Declaration of Independence, the spirit and intent of our Constitution and Bill of Rights, and that, for 246 years, the American Experiment has endured. We have stumbled, sidestepped and ignored our ideals many times over those years, but those ideals remain a shining light to the world. And in our fractious, argumentative and sometimes really petty ways, the vast majority of Americans believe in those ideals, or at least want to.
So Happy Independence Day, Barb. You have more company than you know.
77
@barb
You can still be a proud American and detest this incompetent, corrupt, and vile President along with his administration.
173
Capt. Bone Spurs shows his bravery by imprisoning women and children and showcasing military hardware. His kind of courage has no place in America alongside genuine heroes. Perhaps he will enjoy his day, but I want no part of it.
4
I'm fine with Trump having his little ego-stroking party on July 4th, as long as the funds for it come out of his pocket. I see no reason why taxpayer dollars--at least $2.5 million--should pay for an ego-trip and campaign rally.
On the other hand, if he gets voted out of office next November, I will gladly donate to a party seeing him gone.
5
My Northern Virginia military family, after over 20 years of attending the celebrations in DC, will not attend this year. We are true patriots who value the integrity of our Constitution over this narcissistic dictator-want-to-be president. We are sitting this out as Trump has already spoiled July 4th for us. Instead, we will be together grilling burgers and hot dogs. We will gather together and read the US Constitution, letting each adult and child read from it. Then we will discuss its meaning. Every single person who attends this "celebration" on the mall is stating that he or she is okay with Trump's taking over the 4th as a campaign rally featuring our military hardware and using the military for political reasons. My father was awarded a Silver Star for bravery during the invasion of Southern Italy during WWII. We lost how many lives to liberate Europe from the dictators that threatened democracy everywhere? Dad and thousands of other US soldiers did not sacrifice to see an American president praise dictators, demonize the free press and run over our precious constitution. We are very disappointed that soldiers and airmen/airwomen are agreeing to take part in this display. We are hoping for rain and a military "sick-out". The military brass in attendance will no longer have our respect. No one will care that we will not attend, but we will.
10
Apparently no one in the White House thought to check the weather forecast before committing millions of taxpayer dollars to Trump's ego fest. The Weather Channel calls for scattered thunderstorms and strong gusty winds all day and all night. How will Trump be able to blame the Democrats when the winds and the storms blow away the bigwigs he wanted to impress?
3
Under the equal time rule, does this mean that Fox and any other network broadcasting candidate Trump's taxpayer-funded campaign event has to provide equal time to the other presidential candidates?
2
Fear not the Sherman tanks. OK, but what I do fear are the masses that blindly follow the charlatan named Trump. The masses that blindly follow the narcissist who wants us to kneel before him. The masses that see Trump as a savior.
Just as voting is a civic duty, so is learning about the views and deeds of candidates who present themselves for public service.
We should remember that Democracy is most cherished after people have lost it. Our choice for the future is obvious. Our choice for a leader is simple. Choosing a learned person who cherishes our Constitution.
7
I do not know what others of The New York Times readers think about this but as for me, I take great offense in the mentioning of Abraham Lincoln in the same item as tRump.
It is pure blasphemy.
10
Let him write a personal check for $2.5 million, reimbursing the Park Service for taxpayer funds being used to pay for this charade.
5
Doubt that he can actually cover that much. Not his style. He is a taker that gives back nothing but heartache.
A number of veterans have commented on this issue here, and most agree that the parade should not go on. But what would you expect from Times readers, I hear someone ask! Well there is no scientific evidence yet, one way or the other, but there is this:
As of Thursday afternoon, more than 51,000 readers of Military Times had responded to a poll about whether Trump should hold his military parade on the 4th of July. A vast majority of 89 percent responded “No, It’s a waste of money and troops are too busy.”
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/02/08/89-of-readers-say-no-parade/?fbclid=IwAR0efVypgKy8qBvzguuD1_f7icZCsuaDdHJjr4o40wC4cHV12zyx_lr8QOI but what would you expect from Times readers, I hear someone
5
Too expensive for me to ignore!
25
Tiananmen Square had its Tank Man. Will anybody stand up on the National Mall?
3
I completely agree that we should ignore it. Attention is the fuel that feeds the narcissist in chief and if we all just agreed to stop uttering his name, he will probably just go back to the reality tv show world he came from in a huff. He is obviously much more comfortable perusing fabric swatches than solving any of the nation's problems anyway. It get very annoying when the news media (and that means ALL the news media) makes it headline news every time he burps.
4
I'm not in the mood to let Trump have anything. Let all true Americans beware allowing Trump, step by step, to follow the path of Mussolini (or name your dictator of choice) to authoritarian power.
2
Will only few tanks, armed vehicles, and some limited number of aircraft be enough to satisfy this megalomaniac president? Even a poor country and Trump's new found love, Kim of North Korea, can display far higher number of such military hardware.
BBC reported that- At least two Bradley armoured carriers and two M1A1 Abrams tanks will be moved to the heart of the US capital for the president's "Salute to America"..
3
Samuel Johnson said, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel".
8
I'll be watching baseball.
2
Sadistic concentration camp guards at our border while Trump orders his vanity show must alarm us all. We appear to be slipping into depths of vulgarity not even our founding fathers could have imagined. There can be no retreat from the resistance, we must all rise up lest the time be right for fighting in the streets. Hijacking democracy towards white supremacy authoritarianism requires an appropriate response. That time, sadly has arrived.
2
If Donald Trump discovered the cure for cancer, the Democrats would blast him for the loss of jobs in the health care industry. No matter what he does or doesn't do the Democrats and the liberal media will always take the opposite position even if it harms our country
3
Tanks but no tanks.
6
It's interesting that so many Trump critics associate tanks only with Russia and NK. Talk about a distorted view.
3
Agreed, everyone should just ignore trump's homage to himself. Tiniest crowds ever.
6
This salute to Trump is of course all about him; it has nothing to do with America. He is barring residents of DC from holding their traditional Fourth celebrations because he is using public park land for his own glorification. Nothing that Trump does is intended to benefit anyone but himself. Taxpayers are funding his Stalinesque campaign event.
5
My hope is that if Trump starts to veer off into political grandstanding, the patriots on the mall raise their voices and drown him out. It's bad enough having to listen to his ridiculous comments the rest of the year but it would be wonderful to have a Trump-free 4th.
2
Nationally televised – why? All the media should just ignore him and concentrate on the concerts and fireworks.
2
As Nancy Pelosi continues to nap, then occasionally wakes up and speaks gibberish, Trump and his minions continue to destroy every moral fiber left in our democracy. We need to stop coddling and looking the other way, as the 79 year old Nancy Pelosi mangles the job as Speaker of the House. Pelosi's ridiculously slow or mostly no responses to the Trump admnistration's lawless behavior should be setting off alarm bells. Pelosi is generally incoherent and weak, not what we need in a leader. Chuck Schumer is just as bad, but he's in the minority and powerless, whereas Pelosi's idiocy is hurting the country. The impeachment inquiry is pretty much gone. The late response to the atrocities on the southern border and the subsequent aid bill was a disater. There's still no checks on Trump. The reason the Democrats took the House in the Midterms is we wanted a check on Donald Trump, and Nancy Pelosi has failed. In fact, at this point, Pelosi essentially abets Trump's criminal behavior. It's time that Nancy Pelosi immediately resign.
4
George Orwell could not have imagined this. To picture trump at the Lincoln Memorial is sacrilege. I can only hope for chants of lock him up.
4
When a neighbor shows up at your party with a fleet of tanks under h/h command, a wise host might choose not to extend the party, but h/s would be absolutely foolish to ignore it.
1
Perhaps the most appropriate thing to do this July 4 is what many do on Memorial Day: Go to our local veterans' cemeteries and honor those who actually fought in our wars and were killed by the kinds of weapons Donald Trump is so proud of.
51
No. we should not ignore the shameful spectacle of a man who would gladly be a vicious slave owner standing on the steps of the memorial to the great liberator. Do not overlook the symbolic triumph of this unelected and unworthy resident of the people's house over the memory of Marian Anderson and Martin Luther King. Never forget that this creature has publicly aligned himself with national and international powers intent on destroying the concept and reality of government of, by, and for the people.
4
Regardless of how many tanks and the size of the missiles Trump is able to include in his parade, it still will not alleviate the under lying cause of this obsession - his intense feelings of sexual inadequacy and impotence in implementing his agenda.
Surely providing him with a therapist would cost tax payers way less than this unnecessary extravaganza.
3
@Greg Trump wants to BE Kim Jong Un. We're lucky our troops aren't required to goose step.
Trump can glitz things up as much as he wants. Separating babies from their parents and stashing them in detainment centers is not my definition of "land of the free and home of the brave".
4
Just one brave person needed, to stand in front of the leading tank and defy the column, as one brave Chinese man did, thirty summers ago.
6
@simonwinchester Remember, though, that our military people do not necessarily support Trump.
2
The President craves attention...the best way to spoil his day playing with his "toys" ( the brave men and women who will follow orders, and actually defend our freedoms) is to not only ignore it as the writer suggests, but to not cover it on tv, radio, cable, or the internet....imagine this, Trump gives a parade and nobody shows up( except HIS supporters who were given tickets)...no press coverage, no tv or cable coverage....the writer suggests we have the freedom to change the channel...what would be his reaction if it was totally ignored? The money being wasted could be used for better things. The Fourth is OUR celebration, not his! 🇺🇸
6
@Jw I suspect if the media could ignore him for a week, he would completely wither away. Couldn't the Pentagon's resources be used to figure out an exit plan from Afghanistan instead of supporting a phony and embarrassing celebration of the Dear Leader ?
Military parades like this are the preserve of kakistocracies or tin-pot dictatorships. We are now the former and destined to become the latter.
4
"Let Trump Have His Birthday Party for America", like we have a choice? We can ignore it all we want, but we'll still be paying for it.
6
We hold military parades for veterans after the end of a war.
We do not hold parades to showcase military might for draft dodgers.
We prefer to celebrate veterans who actually served.
11
@Yuri Vizitei wrote, "We do not hold parades to showcase military might for draft dodgers. "
We do now unless we get aggressive about shutting Trump's disgusting political movement down.
If Trump wants to pay for his little shindig out of his own pocket, then the approach in this article would be fine. But when he diverts National Park Service funds from entrance fees to a useless enterprise like this one, then it should not be ignored. Most national parks already can't afford the maintenance costs on existing park facilities. They certainly can't afford to contribute to this.
12
Don't change channels, just don't watch trump's spectacle at all. Watch Boston's Fourth. Boston is, after all, where everything started. And Boston celebrates America, not trump.
6
Why is squandering my tax money allowed in this supposedly civilized, law abiding nation?
7
@Andrei Schor
Because the president and the political party that supports him don't believe in law and order or the Constitution or any limitations on their selfish greed for money and power. The rest of us are just collateral damage to them.
1
As an American living overseas, I will be asleep during the festivities. All I want from the event is a list of the people in the VIP seating who received invitations. The American taxpayer is paying for the extra security..awe have a right to know who is receiving the special privileges.
5
@Agostino
They are Republican campaign donors. So it'd good for us to know who they are.
2
PT Barnum is as American as apple pie.
This show will be as American as May Day in Moscow or Great Leader Day in Pyongyang. Mr Trump has to keep up with those democratic buddies he has. Are Putin or J-Un coming? I'm sure Mr Trump has extended invitations.
But PT, the ultimate showman, would never sink this low.
3
Let Trump Have His Birthday Party for America
It is not a birthday party for America he is planning it is Trump aggrandizing party.
If you want attend birthday party for America go elsewhere. We have a nice party in Boston - but is awfully crowded here already with tourists and celebrants. Duck boats are in high gear! The Esplanade is being prepped. The Boston Pops are rehearsing. Fireworks are in the ready.
All without a political rally.
1
Where was all this enthusiasm for the armed forces in the late 1960s when Trump had the opportunity to actually serve, instead of just playing military cosplay in his old age?
His Deplorables however, will lap this up. Which is the entire point of everything he says or does.
7
@Jay Sands I keep wondering why Trump's voters seem serenely unconcerned that he will never betray them the way he has done to his wives, other relatives, business associates, staff, other politicians, etc. The track record of people who believed in and helped Trump is not very encouraging (ask Chris Christie, Michel Cohen, Paul Manafort, etc.)
As usual President Trump takes a day that is non partisan day celebrating American Values and makes it about his preferred topic, Donald Trump. "And an address by your favorite President, me" What a remarkable egotistic statement for the Fourth of July. And, as usual, factually incorrect. His unfavorable ratings have been consistently high during the last two years and tanks on the street won't change that. But any man so insecure that he buys a gold toilet and puts up phony "Man Of the Year" Time Magazine covers in his clubs would probably do anything to bring attention to his self proclaimed genius. Our founding fathers made sure that we would never have Kings or a family aristocracy but this President is determined to end that glorious tradition.
5
The United States was not the creation of a Corsican general who conquered Europe from Madrid to Moscow. That's why the military parade is woven into every French patriotic spectacle - a nation forged by the sword. Not so the Anglo American democracies - nations forged by parchment and ink. That's our origin story and it's a mythos worth defending.
4
There is something so immoral about spending 62+ million dollars on his military extravaganza while we have vets who can't get the medical care, food and housing they desperately need but can't afford.
4
@Pamela Katz and immigrant children still in distress and poorly treated in ICE custody
One tends to see displays of military hardware and soldiers marching in step if not goose step, mostly in socialist countries. Such a socialist display is this somewhat of a puzzle when socialism is hated and condemmned so much in rhetoric.
5
Mr. Kingsbury, what Trump is doing has very, very little to do with America's birthday. You may advise people to ignore it but you simultaneously give him the credit of doing this for America. It's for his ego and nothing else and you should be smart enough, articulate enough and straightforward enough to say so.
5
Let’s be clear. This is a celebration for and about Trump. It is NOT about celebrating America. We’ve been doing that well before P.T. Barnum got elected to the presidency.
5
Just don't go.
Let Trump speak to an empty Mall. Let his donors gaze out at the emptiness they have made. Let Trump's few DC-area supporters wander the Mall aimlessly. Let them compare what they see with their own eyes vs. how their Leader describes what happened.
7
@Bill Camarda
Then it will be a turnout similar to his inauguration.
4
What petty journalism this is. Grow up NYT.
5
@Pono
I am not surprised that Trump fans cannot distinguish editorial opinions from news.
4
@Pono A president taking over public parks and costing taxpayers many millions of dollars to bolster his ego is not a petty issue. It speaks strongly to his lack of concern for the needs of the country, his poor judgment, and his unstable narcissistic personality.
@Pono
It's the opinion section.
1
He wants to have a birthday party, then let him pay for it and not the taxpayers. The vast majority of taxpayers are against this sort of outrageous and inappropriate display. And will he have soldiers marching in goose step?
4
How can it be legal to fund what is essentially a political reelection rally with taxpayer dollars?
6
Surely there must be moderate Republicans out there who do not want this travesty of an administration to continue for another 4 more years either?
5
@Why Me Maybe such Republicans exist, but they must be in hiding, or maybe keeping quiet in hope of another big tax cut.
A house divided against itself, cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South...Abraham Lincoln. So what is different in the year 2019???
2
He can pretend it is a party, but I am 4 generations American and consider it a comment on his commitment to delegitimize democracy.
3
Will someone please blindfold Mr. Lincoln.
8
The Blue Angels fly over many professional football games and other sporting events where players take a knee in protest. At least tomorrow, it's for an event that celebrates the United States and everything this country represents.
3
@Melissa M. Trump sees it as a celebration of himself. He does not represent the country, only his own interests
I cant ignore it.
We have no money for things that are badly needed. Military allocations are being redirected at medieval solutions to protect our southern border. They must not have taught even military history at that vaunted prep school (New York Military Institute--hardly a Choate, Adover, Exeter, or St Paul's). Otherwise he might have learned that The Maginot Line did not deter, Vauban's forts were runaround and I could go on.......
He got his tanks (even if he called then Shermans--a model that was last used in Korea nearly 70 years ago !!!) The planes he wants to fly by cost serious money to operate: B-2 bomber, $135K per hour, V-22 Osprey $70K per hour, F-22 $44K per hour. and F-35, $32K per hour. They will be only be overhead for a couple of seconds. But they have to take off and land somewhere. Your defense $ at work. Just saying.
This is what we get when someone has so much "executive time" available to be involved personally in planning.
7
@Hirogliffix His golf trips with his entourage are estimated at a cost, so far, of over $100 million. He loves to spend other people's money.
1
It's supposed to rain.
4
@Tom Hah - a good thunderstorm would really be karma!
I disagree - why should we taxpayers pay for this ego boost to Donny? Today I’m writing letters of outrage to my congresspeople and — praying for teeming rain in DC on Thursday.
6
We still don't have enough women in the military, so I'm planning to take it in stride tomorrow when Trump makes Ivanka a General in the Army.
4
In Latin America, when we see tanks in the streets we call it a military coup rather than a patriotic celebration. What is Trump up to?
110
@Phillip Parkerson it is a coup.
3
Protesters should drown out his speech with renditions of "This Land is Your Land" and "We Shall Overcome"
5
This is all on your nickel and mine, you know. And it's not okay to take a family day for picnics and barbecues and turn it into a military charade honoring Trump. I'm disgusted!
5
The word you're looking for is "appeasement."
1
But the triumphal videos and photos will not fade along with the warplane contrails. They'll be featured prominently in Trump's 2020 campaign ads, along with those monuments that are supposedly nonpartisan.
Holiday parties may come and go, but Trump's need to promote himself goes on and on.
1
This is nothing more then a campaign style political distraction effort by Trump. IN essence a free republican rally at taxpayer expense.
I will not watch it, i will not endorse it, and I will not listen to anyone who thinks it is OK.
Trump is politicizing Independence Day.. and Americans seem to be OK with that for some reason. OK... as in doing nothing to stop it from intruding in Thursday.
5
@Chuck
I don't think most Americans are in favor of this...As always there will be some who will love the spectacle and I expect some will feel it's another message to bully those who don't agree with Mr Trump.
This saddens me.
1
I value the lives men and women who serve in the U.S. military way too much to be comfortable with them being used by Trump, either as visual backdrop or as the clean-up crew for his mistakes. His reckless and aimless foreign policy mismanagement is right now, at this minute, putting American troops at risk of participating in unnecessary conflicts.
4
With all due respect Mr Kingsbury, that "just ignore" attitude is exactly what they are counting on and exactly how fascism takes hold. It is in the slow, but exhausting, chipping away at our democratic norms and laws that causes us to look the other way and sigh "not again" out of shear exasperation and to protect our own psyche. I don't know what the "best response" would be to this abhorrent charade, and I certainly don't plan on watching, but I fear that the more we ignore the authoritarian leanings of this administration, the more emboldened they become! May God bless America and protect it from Tyranny and from ourselves!
4
Oh, please. Who do you think you're kidding, Mr. Kingsbury? This isn't a "birthday party for America." It's nothing but a prop for Trump's ego.
5
Cage people and treat them worse than animals, while celebrating yourself at a national holiday. Trump's brand of dictatorship.
We are so lost. Hopefully, we can rid ourselves of this sadistic, monster before it's too late. If he entrenches himself, everything we have known will gone.
5
Regardless of all other arguments and opinions on President Trump, there is nothing fundamentally wrong to have a patriotic parade on July 4.
I just returned from Paris yesterday and the Champs Elysees were already being prepared for the Quatorze Juillet (Bastille Day) annual parade.
If President Obama had done the same, you would have all applauded him. If the USA can not spend a few million dollars to celebrate our Independence, then our problem is much worse.
So let's enjoy the event and, if it is nice, then let's make it a regular celebration.
2
But this is not a 4th of July celebration. It is a political event sponsored with GOP $ AND tax payer money re DJT re-election. This a GOP pre-2020 celebration we are paying for with no choice involved. No elected official should be able to mix party and gov’t funds. This does not seem to be a legal production if all of the above is confirmed.
2
@Marianne Handler For me it is the celebration of the great nation that we are, and yes the President in power gets to benefit from it. I am sure that in 10 days Emmanuel Macron gets to benefit from the Quatorze Juillet.
There are many reasons to criticize Trump, choosing this event to voice one's displeasure with him is wrong.
1
But a "patriotic" parade to be used for his own political gain?You are good with that? This man has shown he does absolutely nothing unless it benefits him. Can't wait to hear his speech!
While I have no problem with a flyover with red, white and blue vapors streaming from the wingtips of the Navy's high-performance flying team, The Blue Angels, I do object to tanks on display. Outside the area of combat, tanks have become more symbolic with surpressing citizens opposed to brutal autocracies and crowd control in urban streets.
The other thing we must caution against is a typical Trump rally speech. Will he take the high ground (uh, no!) and speak to the glory of the Constitution (the document he endlessly ignores at OUR peril), or go into full campaign mode with speeches of division, racism, and hate? Will he point to the hundreds of TV cameras focused his way and clamour for his fans to attack "the enemy of the people?" Will he mock the coming Mueller hearings? Will he go into his blame-game against the Democrats?
Frankly, trying to guess exactly WHAT Trump will do or say on our nation's birthday is a tough call. But there is more than an even chance he will embarrass us all in front of the cameras that came in from the rest of the world.
And he going to have the taxpayers footing the bill through the already cash-strapped National Park Service. Our NPS rangers need more than lip service. Billions are needed to repair and maintain our natural treasures while Trump runs up the tab on his newest reality TV show. A few million bucks may seem like "Trump change" to the feds but, it would go a long way to closing child gulags on our southern border.
5
"Undeterred, Mr. Trump has thrown himself into the planning of the event with the sort of gusto that he can’t seem to muster for briefing papers longer than a single page ... "
This reminds me of the ghostwriter who said Trump always seemed to be picking carpet swatches for his buildings and did not seem to be interested in anything else to do with their financing or construction.
6
@DB
The DC celebration has a long history of being nonpartisan. It’s a celebration of the birth of our nation, not the birth of a political party or the president. At 76, I can’t recall that the DC celebration ever got a lot of news coverage. Why bother when most people are outside celebrating with family and friends or attending local ceremonies honoring those who gave their lives for our protection?
I believe you are completely mistaken about the left’s reaction to Trump doing nothing, or at least nothing more than any past president. The charge of being unpatriotic almost never comes from the left. The left’s complaint is more typically that something is unjust or undemocratic. It’s the scions on the right with their flag pins who are continually on the lookout for what they consider unpatriotic acts. In this particular case, I’d say there is good reason to criticize a man who used a dubious excuse to avoid military service, crudely criticized John McCain, and insulted the parents and the memory of a Muslim American soldier killed in battle. If Dwight Eisenhower never thought to call for a parade with tanks, why should President Bonespurs?
11
Don’t go to it and don’t watch any network that carries this spectacle.
7
History will be a far greater judge on Donald Trump as we all know. Anyone with a half of brain can see right through these theatrics. If you object to these theatrics and believe in the United States of America, then get out and vote, volunteer, communicate with your elected officials, make a difference in your community. It is We the People, not the Kingdom of Donald Trump.
7
I will only support this if there are T-34 tanks and goose-stepping involved...
So there!
2
Like everything he says and does it is an expression of his innate insecurity, fear and cowardice.
9
So the biggest, baddest nation on the planet will be showing its might. Will there be goose stepping? What's the message: if you're not our friend beware? We're alone and don't mess with us. I'm embarrassed. This is not what my country should be. We should be promoting peace, human rights and fairness. Under Trump we are not that anymore. Please voter for a Democrat 2020.
11
Somehow Congress should wrest control over the July 4 spectacle from this disgrace of a president, so that taxpayers aren't subsidizing his politics, which include accusing others of politicizing other events, including whatever he politicizes! We can ignore it for one year--and if those who object to specific blatant acts of politicization want to walk out or otherwise demonstrate opposition, let's hear about it in the NYT--but let's stop this monstrosity of mimicking authoritarian, militaristic regimes cold, asap.
6
PLEASE .... everyone in DC, DON'T GO. You can show how you feel by ignoring this illegal use of National Parks Service funds, being used by the pompous windbag, trying to inflate his own vain-glory. Just stay home.
And Mother Nature, if you are reading this, will you provide the thunderstorm, exceedingly dangerous lightning and a monumental downpour on his parade? Thanks from America if you do.
11
I seriously cannot stand this charade, this con-man, this totally unfit gargoyle, squatting in the Oval Office, running his newest Reality Television show with the whole world bracing for his next totally ignorant and very real-with-actual-consequences maneuver.
I await the day he is gone from office and our political and traditional norms return. I'm turning my back on him on July 4th. He does not deserve my attention at all on that day.
11
Ok if he pays for it.
6
@ldc
Pay for it? That's a laugh. Apparently he already owes millions for damages to the grounds from his inauguration and hasn't paid up yet.
1
The best thing the MSM can do would be to NOT televise the would-be dictator's speech, nor the box where his ticketed bribers sit.
6
The Declaration of Independence was an agreement by angry citizens to overthrow an autocrat with the world's most powerful military - maybe the President should ponder that.
13
On a tour of Berlin recently which focused on the rise of fascism in the 1920s and 30s in Germany, I asked our tour guide (an historian) if Germans and their leaders (the ones that did not support fascism) believe, in the beginning, that their system would right itself. Aside from my accent, his response was “you’re an American, aren’t you?”
He went on to say that there was an initial confidence that the last small act, the last rally, the last denunciation of opponents would be the breaking point - that what was happening would hit some roadblock, some horrendous action too much for the population and its leaders to stomach, and the fascists grip on power would collapse. What they found was that the more outrageous the action, the greater the support for it and the greater the fascists’ power. Each event, each act, each rally became a weapon whose sole purpose was to solidify an us vs them stance - a war waged within the country itself.
He also said that Germans look at America now and see their own country in the 1920s and 30s. Given our history and American identity being built on democracy, they at first thought we would not stand for what is happening. Now they realize that our democracy will not protect us and we will fall victim to authoritarianism just as they did.
Given the rise of authoritarianism in the world right now, imagine if WWII were being fought ... and there were no Allied forces. Just various versions of the Axis powers.
18
Does Trump really believe his expensive display of this country's military equipment on the Fourth of July will make Americans forget that he negotiated five deferments so he would not have to join other Americans fighting in the Vietnam War (one deferment was for bone spur on heel -- poor baby). And, doesn't he know that military might is not the reason we Americans celebrate Independence Day?
He dishonors our military.
17
Your headline misinforms. Trump isn't have a "birthday party for America." He is having a party to honor himself. You are right, however, to say we should ignore it. Though I think "shun it" is a better turn of phrase.
10
I'm going camping. let me know how it turns out, or lack of turnout.
6
"Let Trump Have His Birthday Party for America."
I couldn't disagree more. The RNC is handing out tickets. This is a partisan event. It is illegal for such events to make use of taxpayer dollars and public property. In short, what the textbook demagogue Trump wants is a Nuremberg rally replete with shows of military might, claims of a return to greatness, and symbols of white supremacy, e.g., the Confederate flag. With this event, Trump and his minions are celebrating the fact that brown babies and children, ripped from families who are legal applicants for asylum, are sleeping in squalor on concrete floors without blankets or sufficient food. In America, the military takes its orders from civilians. We don't worship the flag. Or actually hug it, which Trump often does at his rallies. We revere the principles and values for which the flag stands, e.g., democracy, the rule of law, the Constitutional free press, the separation of church and state, justice, equality, and the inalienable right to life, liberty and happiness. True patriots are skeptical, critical, thoughtful, willing to stand up and speak out, and concerned about the least among us.
16
@Robert
Somebody else noted here what Sinclair Lewis said. "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."
11
So Trump will posture as a tyrant for the Fourth of July. His obscene political co-opting of what is normally a celebration of liberty and democracy should remind us all why we fought the Revolution and how imperiled the Republic is now.
9
"Yet for all the norm-shattering brazenness, there’s a good argument for checking the outrage and letting the show, complete with flyovers and armored vehicles, buckle under the weight of its own absurdities and contradictions."
I imagine someone wrote words to this effect in Berlin in 1933 0r 34 ...
15
@edlorah
Yep.
1933. Bonhoeffer wrote that the Germans were falling for an idolatrous personality cult. Later that same year the German national church made anti-Semitism official church policy.
7
Trump's reality show, a.k.a. 4th of July event, is design to produce political campaign propaganda for viewing on Fox News, other alt-right news sites and at Trump/GOP campaign rallies.
Americans will continue living Trump's mockery of Independence Day throughout the presidential campaign season.
8
As a former military officer, what concerns me most is the politicization of the armed forces by President Trump. This seems to be a pattern of his, and it is dangerous for the country and for the military. He can't seem to see it and neither can his supporters. I don't get it.
13
While there were independence celebrations as early as a year after the Declaration of Independence was written and affirmed, most were localized and little attention was paid to the document. In fact, little attention was paid to the Declaration until the 1790s when the Democratic-Republicans began touting Jefferson as its author.
On the other hand, the Federalists argued that the document was written by a committee of delegates to the Continental Congress of which Jefferson was one participant. Later, he would hold the first "national" July 4th celebration on the grounds of the White House during his initial year as president in 1801.
As for the current occupant of the president's residence, Jefferson - warts and all - could have been speaking directly to him: He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.
5
If it turns out to be nothing more than a campaign rally, bill the RNC. Make them pay for it!
10
But this party is not for America. Trump will say it is, but clearly it's meant for himself.
8
So Trump is holding this stunt at taxpayer expense "to irritate his opponents?"
If that is the case, it is working. But he has also created new opponents with this very expensive stunt.
It already is turning into a fiasco. The RNC is distributing tickets to Trump supporters, who will occupy the entire area visible to television and photographers. MAGA hats, anyone? They will undoubtedly be distributed.
Protesters with Trump baby balloons will also be there along with veterans protesting Trump, but unless one is physically on the mall, these protesters will be invisible to the viewing public.
Even if Trump delivers a neutral message perfectly from his teleprompter, make no mistake, this is a partisan event--a campaign rally--designed with one purpose: to aggrandize Trump!
Trump has further cheapened patriotism and denigrated our nation. Just when we think he has hit bottom, he goes even deeper into his self-created fetid swamp.
27
Wasting Parks Service money on this shameless display is just one more bit of damage in Trump's campaign against our public lands. Remember that parks were closed to the public because funding was withdrawn, park land has been opened to commercial development, and the administration has tried to destroy Bear's Ears, among others.
The Trump re-election committee should be billed for the expenses arising from this ugly, partisan hijacking of our national holiday.
18
Celebrating the 4th of July happens in a lot of corners of this country. They will all happen mostly like they usually do. The President wants a photo op with tanks and a political speech. Sorry they couldn't get any Sherman Tanks. I can easily ignore it. Real Americans celebrate the 4th of July in traditional ways because we like them. Missing a Donald Trump Speech is my plan. The TV highlights could be funny as in "funny peculiar" not "ha ha".
5
Apparently the streets might not bear the weight of the "brand new Sherman tanks". Oh would that a sinkhole appeared just before trump's car!
7
Kingsbury has it all wrong. Its not a birthday party for America its a birthday party for Trump. Trump never does anything that isn't for himself.
Its sickening.
13
You're a 50-50 country. As soon as someone says black the other side says white and the verbal nonsense is on. Elections are endless. But I always believed the one day you are all on the same wave length is July 4th. What could anyone take issue with? Celebrate the way you want. Go to your local parade, wave the flag, watch the fireworks, fire up the BBQ, pop a couple of cold ones, lay back and take a break from the everyday nonsense. But I guess this one day respite is one day too many for trump. Despite him, hope you all have an enjoyable July 4th.
6
@RNS Thank you!
The news media should just say no. No coverage and let the clown show go on without us. Vanity, arrogance and stupidity are not what Independence Day is about. We should recognize how lucky we are to have achieved independence - if Trump and his kind were among the founders we would have surely lost the war.
8
As a WWII buff, I thought Trump's inclusion of Sherman tanks in his stupid parade was a particular hoot.
I shouldn't say hoot. The Sherman was a tragedy for those who served in it -- not so funny. It caught on fire so easily that the troops' name for it was "The Ronson." It simply was no match for the German tanks -- too thinly armored and out gunned. The German Panzers mounted guns with better range and higher caliber which easily penetrated the Sherman's relatively thin armor. So their fire could reach and penetrate the Shermans before the Shermans could even get within range. Whereas if the Shermans did get within range, their shells would bounce off.
The Soviet tank -- the T-34 -- was superior to the German Panzers (much to the astonishment of the racist Nazis). A key thing making the T-34 better was its sloped armor -- a technological innovation sold to the Soviets during the 30's by an American designer after it had been rejected by the U.S. military. Sloped armor set up an angle to an incoming shell which made the shell glance off. It could have saved a lot of American lives.
So the Sherman represents an instance where the pigheaded American military bureaucracy cost the lives of hundreds of American tankers. And this is the tragedy the idiot Trump wants to showcase.
13
I always thought of the Fourth as kind of Norman Rockwellian or inner city kids playing in an open fire hydrant. Hot dogs, Hamburgers. Music, Beer. Fireworks. Street Dancing. Square Dancing. Laughter. Whether it's in a field in Iowa or Battery Park in New York City.
But I like your take, Mr. Alex. Let the President do his thing. He's just showing the world yet again what he is.
4
I don't understand how this ego trip can be justified considering the cost, the possible damage to the streets, the rerouting and chaos and inconvenience of bridge and road closures and making government workers miss their well earn holiday by having put on the spectacle that he yearns for - and which will no doubt turn in to another Trump rally rather than honoring the USA.
Can't anyone say "No"?
8
Well the fact is there's nothing we can do about it. It seems this is generally true of trump: he gets almost everything he wants and we're helpless, along with Congress.
5
This headline is deceptive as we have no choice but to "let" the president use our tax dollars to divert national park funds to have his "birthday party" for himself and his reelection campaign, with contributions and invitations from and by the RNC, featuring military hardware, the Lincoln (turning over in his grave) Memorial as set dressing and a VIP section for supporters minus the fig leaf invitations to Democrats as if they as he must fantasize simply didn't exist.
This is the behavior of a delusional, malignant narcissist, who conflates refusing to take no for an answer as support and who imagines that whiting out or bludgeoning disagreement, criticism and dissent is an effective tactic when in fact, it a symptom of his own inability to see beyond his distended navel.
Yes, we can change the channel, which would mean not tuning in to the few that will carry this preposterous display of tone deaf hubris. But that won't change the view from abroad where our allies will be rolling their eyes, our enemies gleefully chortling. It's entirely appropriate to label this facade of patriotic glory what it is, thievery and an insult to our longstanding, if now rattled, republic.
8
We have fighter jet flyovers at football games and NASCAR races all the time. Suddenly, this is a big deal? Some say the 4th isn't a military celebration. Really? The Revolutionary War was a result of our declaration of independence, which we needed the military to actually win to obtain that independence. Stop your hatred of Trump for 1 day. Sheesh.
3
I am proud to be an American, independent of thought and spirit, and absolutely free to express my disgust with the current regime.
Write this clown a letter, tell him respectfully, that he is wrong, and that it would be an act of patriotism and statesmanship to resign, or at least withdraw from next years race.
7
We have no right to such a parade when we are running concentration camps.
12
I hope that many people indeed boycott the event. Primarily so that when the crowd is small compared to previous years, he can repeat his specious claim from his inauguration of biggest crowds ever.
3
If Trump wants a "Look at ME!" party, that's fine.
But HE should pay for it.
Not our struggling national parks.
9
No, Mr. Kingsbury, I believe you are incorrect. Trump's celebration of himself at the birthday party for our country should not be ignored. We have overlooked or dimissed his egregious actions for too long. We continue to do so at our peril.
10
It's going to be a tremendous fireworks show, an amazing show, a beautiful show unlike any the world has ever seen before, ever. A lot of people are saying this. And the crowd will be huge, so huge, even huger than the crowd for Trump's inaugural, which was the biggest inaugural crowd ever, despite what the Failing New York Times Enemy of the People witch hunters say. The speech will be given by our favorite president, who, believe me, is the most favorite president in U.S. history and probably the most favorite leader in the history of the world, and his speech will be the best speech ever in America, the best, because Trump, who is a very stable genius, has the best words.
12
Trump hates to be ignored. So don’t go and don’t watch.
7
This article made me think of that Grand March of soldiers down Washington Streets after the Civil War which represented so much blood spilled and human suffering and a martyred president. Bone spurs Trump demeans all of that into a political spectacle for his own egotistical election bid. His march represents everything we have lost as a nation, our honor and dignity which has been up to now so valiantly represented by our military. This march has nothing to do with them, only Trump's ego.
I know it is probably politically best to ignore this wast of time and money. After all we do ignore Trump's endless golf trips. But how can I not be outraged.
5
This bleeding heart liberal grew up a military brat. I've enjoyed air shows and military museums my whole life. I don't have any problem with displays of the flag, or singing of the national anthem, or any (reasonable) displays of patriotism.
I have a huge problem with Donald Trump. Because it is always about Donald Trump. The parade isn't about celebrating America. Is is about the Dotard drawing attention to himself. Celebrating himself.
By far my biggest objection is the fact that he has a VIP area for billionaire donors to his campaign, including a special speech, that will undoubtedly be a campaign speech yet again. At no point has he stopped promoting himself, and started working for the United States of America. And ALL AMERICANS, instead of his supporters.
We have children in concentration camps. We are begging Iran to please have a war with us. America is as divided as ever. And the person responsible for it is hosting a parade in honor of himself. I have a huge problem with that.
19
I heard the Mayor of DC voice her opinion of the trump 4th of July parade display in an interview on NPR and she did not mince words. It is purely political and the military display is disgusting over reach; not in the spirit of the 4th of July at all in-fact it is parroting North Korea. We are better than this.
6
@Mother
We are better than this. That’s why we should be protesting en masse in the streets. We have become lazy and far too complacent. People are outraged, but they feel helpless. Bring back the draft. That will change everything.
6
Absurd and obscene drastically understate this spectacle of Trump-ism. The tragedy in all this is Trump doesn't have a clue. He is just not capable of understanding the far-reaching consequences of his complete incompetence. Exhibiting all the characteristics of a predatory, he preaches fear and cherishes demagoguery. Sadly, it is only people who live in fear that relish in his empty words.
4
This is not patriotism because Trump is celebrating himself and to achieve this, 2.5 million has been diverted from Washington's parks services for this charade.
6
Historically, Americans live by these two statements:
"Speak softly, but cary a big stick"
"Do Justice, Love Mercy and walk humbly in the eyes of the lord they god"
The world would be a better place if Trump would just learn to live by the meaning of these two statements.
1
This rally will do wonders for Armed Services recruitment. Who wouldn’t want to put their life on the line for The Donald?
5
Did we have a choice?
2
@kathryn thomas
Yes. We do. It's called V-O-T-E!!!!
5
You forgot to mention the $2.5 million taxpayers will pay for this extravaganza. While Trump is excitedly planning his big do, he has children without their parents, without soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes and showers sleeping on cement floors.
9
"Mr. Trump has many foes and many supporters, just as President Lincoln had in his time."
If you're a writer and ever find yourself comparing Trump with Lincoln about anything, delete the sentence.
12
His move to hijack the holiday
From residents inside the beltway
May be the dumbest thing
Done by our would-be king
Since his chat with Kim the other day
4
“Major fireworks display, entertainment and an address by your favorite President, me!”
Attendees....be sure to wear your John McCain T-Shirts and drape a shroud over anything that says Trump. (Wouldn’t want to upset any real Americans.)
3
So the advice is because America is inherently stable and strong and enduring, just don't worry about what's going on in the present moment. There is a tremendous amount of historical evidence demonstrating how mistaken that idea is.
6
We were warned this was going to happen almost a year ago after Trump's attendance at France's Bastille Day celebration in Paris. Using "his generals" as human shields at the campaign rally he is holding for big money donors and hijacking the traditional celebration as an extension of his campaign is both clever and profoundly corrupt. We can condemn the whole affair as vigorously as we like, but only while causing collateral damage to our own patriotic 4th of July celebration and wounding our military for their involuntary participation.
2
Trump should appear in a Gilbert and Sullivan uniform complete with his many bone spur medals singing "If you think this country's messed up now just wait'll I get through with it." President Rufus T. Firefly does it again with gusto and a bizarre panache recalling a drunken Patton. Sure, give the spoiled little Richie Rich his toys-just make sure they're locked up after he's done playing.
4
It is appropriate to express disgust at Trump's hijacking and militarizing this national holiday. It needs to be called out for what it is. And it is a dangerous sign of America's slippage: denying that is worse than foolish. Trump should be completely ignored, but being POTUS he will not be ignored at all. Calling for Trump's malignant narcissism party to be ignored is amazingly clueless. Since it can not be stopped, mockery is called for. Trump Baby blimp is perfect. What we don't need is pompous drivel from a member of the editorial board, telling us grandly to let Trump have Birthday Party for America.
7
Hopefully, his heel spurs will keep him in bed with his twitter feed.
3
I would not put it past Trump and his crime family to have the tanks and other military equipment become permanently stationed outside the White House.
4
President Trump's conceit that he is patriotic is his second most absurd delusion, next to the whole armamentarium of his Narcissism.
3
Since the GOP is handing out reserved-seat VIP tickets to Republican donors, turning this even more glaringly into another Trump political rally, the RNC should be billed for the whole thing. The moment Trump turns to politics in his speech, which he undoubtedly will, attacking candidates vying to run against him or touting his own reelection, his campaign committee should be included in the billing.
I would love it if as soon as Trump starts speaking, the crowd would erupt in a chant of "Lock him up!" Maybe he would learn that the self-deluded audiences at his pep rallies don't reflect the opinions of the majority of Americans and show him what happens when he faces unfiltered audiences.
9
Trump supporters will show up. Others I hope ignore or demonstrate or celebrate appropriately in their home towns. What can we do? Trump will blemish us again on this day.
4
It's not enough that Donald Trump has co-opted the Republican party, now he's taking it one step further by inserting himself into the nation's identity by claiming Independence Day as a backdrop and monument to himself.
With tanks and guns of course.
But worst of all, he continues to drive the narrative forward that those who don't stand by him as he runs the country into the ground, or a war -- whichever comes first -- is not patriotic and doesn't love America.
When in truth, it's those who believe in a free and democratic society who take exception to the threat he now poses.
Ignore him.
But celebrate our country.
8
Trump's little manliness booster parade is going to cost the country millions of dollars. He has already taken away tax deductions, saddling us with thousands of dollars in extra taxes. Now he wants to squander all my taxes on the clean up from this farce. I sacrifice so that his ego is soothed? Real patriotism is helping fellow Americans, fixing things that are broken, creating better business and work opportunities, not empty, wasteful flag-waving.
10
@Locavore
And don't forget the cost to American taxpayers for flying himself and his brood aboard Air Force 1 to Mar-a-lago and all those non-stop rallies...
7
@N. Smith Yes, $1 million of taxpayers' money for each weekend golf trip. The taxes we pay for a whole year probably don't even cover the dinner tab for the Secret Service agents.
1
The President and Congress must get moving on an infrastructure bill, so that Pennsylvania Avenue can be resurfaced and strengthened. Then we can have military parades with Abrams tanks and Bradleys and, yes, even Shermans (there are several still around in museums) from the White House to the Capital.
Just like Red Square.
5
Mr. Kingsbury is entitled to his opinion as I am to mine. I believe that trump, as potus, has the authority to inject himself into the nation's celebration of the fourth. He can order the military to parade and he can demand the time and place to give a public address. But I, as citizen, can protest his actions. I will not listen to him in any manner. And I heartedly encourage those in attendance in Washington, to turn their back to him during his time on the stage. Stand in silent protest. Reject his branding of patriotism.
9
NOPE. Military displays are for dictators and their victims. Americans should stay home and cook their weenies, but not participate in this strange, foreign bungle.
12
Ignoring it is definitely our plan here in Lafayette, CO. That, and rounding up a list of sponsors for his TV show later, so that I know who to boycott for the rest of my life.
13
When President Trump is wasting our tax dollars on unnecessary things like this, we cannot simply ignore it.
10
So Conway says that in his remarks trump will list his administrations accomplishments. Well, at least the speech will be short.
13
No better way to depress a July Fourth celebration than an address by Trump about what a wonderful president he is.
11
Perhaps he’s thought of fashioning a uniform for himself. Remember General Pinochet of Chile? Medals, cape, military cap, sword, astride a horse, leading parades - although maybe Mr. Trump’s advisors might have told him to ditch the horse as it couldn’t support his considerable weight.
Not to be deterred, he’ll plan a gaudy, empty, cheap and useless spectacle, one that will mirror his presidency.
All the while, desecrating the Lincoln Memorial.
11
How utterly sad that a celebratory day honoring the founders of our 243-year-old country, our long-dead ancestors who fought for our Constitution, and for a government that was to be of, by, and for our people has been cheapened into a political spectacle.
13
I'd like to see all the media groups show up like DJT is dying for and film BUT not live--- don't broadcast for days. Watch how high the egotistical Pretend leader's blood pressure goes up . Tell him that the American people chose to have a traditional 4th celebration not a political rally
8
Nothing this man does surprises me now, and the adulation heaped upon him by his faithful hateful thralls with each new threat he poses to the union surprises me either—they’re too bitter, selfish, short-sighted and mean for any of us to expect better and are lost.
But in spite of our exhaustion and knowing that at least part of this is an attention-seeker tactic, it’s irresponsible to suggest that we ignore it, ignore him, as if he were merely a child acting out. Metaphorically, he is of course, as are his most ardent supporters, but even if we had any evidence that he would desist when he is neglected, that he would exhaust himself and settle down like we might expect a badly behaving child to after a while, a child is not in a position to damage the union, its governing institutions and fellow citizens the way a president can and that he has already.
I actually think that this presents an opportunity for protest—to co-opt the theater he seeks for our own ends. Letting it ride is not a good strategy with this specimen and his cult. This is not normal. This is not fine.
10
@David I agree. Turn it into a protest by turning your backs to trump, holding American flags upside down in the distress position, and not uttering a sound. For Putin's puppet administration, silence is the best response.
2
Trump is not staging a birthday party for America! Quite the contrary-he is staging a death of democracy party.When Abrams tanks rumble down the streets of Washington it is a picture which we have seen before in dangerous times-Tanks rolled down the streets of Berlin and also in Rome.I remember the time-it was chilling then and it is chilling now.
11
Please stop referring to the holiday by its date: it is Independence Day. This opinion piece uses the date reference three times to the one correct term.
Using the correct terminology should remind people of the reason for the federal holiday, and allow less room for the day being coopted.
4
@MarieH
It will only be Independence Day once we're free of having Donald Trump in the White House.
2
Alex, you give the President way too much credit. He doesn't need a 4th of July extravaganza to irritate his opponents, he does just fine on his own.
8
This is so upsetting..The Fourth was my father’s birthday. He was an Army Air Force veteran.
I not only will not watch, I will mourn this “holiday” !
9
Washington’s last military parade left in its wake 1.2 million pounds of garbage, $12 million in bills, and literal scars on the city’s public art and infrastructure. If history is any guide, a march in 2019 will bring its own unanticipated headaches for the District. It also goes without saying that Donald Trump is no George H. W. Bush. A large-scale deployment of government assets under the current administration is sure to be accompanied with a clown car of unforced errors and distasteful performances. Will nuclear weapons be showcased at the event? Will Trump wear epaulets and a sword?
5
The article seems to call for kicking the can down the road yet again for a reckless and bizarre show of Presidential power.
It’s time to stand up to Trump before he becomes a dictator like Putin, MBS, Kim Jong Un and the downfall of Democracy is complete in the US.
8
The best thing is that it will all be over by Friday.
1
While I doubt that Trump has read 1984, since it would involve, you know, reading, perhaps one of his minions has explained to him that under Big Brother, there was no option to “change the channel.”
A perfect world.
5
Mr. Kingsbury's piece tries to moderate Mr Trump's need to appear more like generalisimo instead of POTUS. Americans generally celebrate July 4th as a celebration of the founding of our nation, of our constitution which lately seems to be attacked and abridged. So let this ego-driven small thinker have his way, with his old tanks and jet flyovers while we have thousands of men women and children caged under subhuman conditions. My guess is that world leaders are quite amused by this man-child POTUS who has nothing to offer but his combover and bluster while China continues to out manouver us with trade, and North Korea orchestrates the Chairman's Dance just as Chairman Mao did 40 years ago.
4
@Guitarman I don't think world leaders are amused by Trump, Guitarman. I think they are repulsed and disappointed in Americans who elected him.
This is Trump desecrating America’s most beloved holiday. It is a day we celebrate our independence, our patriotism, our freedom and our democracy.
It is a day families get together and sit on lawn chairs to watch local parades that feature marching bands, school children waving American flags and the members of local VFW’s proudly adding their presence to the festivities.
It is a day when families and friends gather at backyard BBQ’s to enjoy hamburgers and hotdogs and desserts made in red, white and blue to commemorate the holiday.
Trump’s turning this festive birthday party into a show of military might shows how ignorant he is of American culture.
6
Tanks and planes didn't seem to be very effective in stopping Russian interference in the 2016 election. And Mr. Trump and his henchmen are doing nothing to change that.
9
No one should attend the administration's July 4th party. The crowd should be no larger than the one at the 2017 inauguration. Have your barbecues and honor our democracy elsewhere. And, please, no protesters. You will only fuel his twisted belief that he is the most unfairly maligned President this nation has ever known. Let him see that no one actually cares about his pomp and circumstance. Let him lie to his base while photographs in the newspapers and videos on TV tell the real story.
6
NO!
Our extended military ohana (“family" in Hawai’ian) has met each year since the Vietnam War to get together and celebrate the Fourth on the mall in DC. We mourn those who died in the last year and celebrate new spouses and children. Our kids and grandkids now serve in the Middle East--all grads of our military academies: West Point, Annapolis, Air Force Academy, and the US Coast Guard.
Not this year! Cadet Bone Spurs wants to stand (well sit) in the military parade viewing box as REAL heroes smartly salute him.
This day is NOT about him or his campaign rally at the Lincoln Memorial!
NO ONE in his family has ever served. Even his grandfather Friedrich Trump bailed on the mandatory military requirement in Germany and was NOT ALLOWED back into the country! All cowards who don’t even pay income tax to actually support our troops or pay for these weapons of war from F-18s of the Blue Angels to the USMC silent drill team.
He is so uneducated that he wanted “brand new” Sherman Tanks which were all decommissioned in the 50s!
NO. Tomorrow we will be in Hawai’i celebrating a place that actually saw great damage in 1941 and 1942 from Japanese Zeroes and subs. My uncle was a nisei member of the 442nd in WWII--ALL first generation Japanese who were the most highly decorated unit in all of the USA while relatives were confined to internment camps.
There were NEVER any foreign tanks here in the USA. We don’t know war except for our Civil War and 9/11.
This is WRONG!
13
As a matter of curiosity, is the Trump rally/gong show/farce going to be televised and by whom? Just so I don’t go there by mistake, eh?
9
absolutely. And my next sincere proposal is to replace Mitch McConnell with a horse!
8
It's impossible to ignore the obscene, using a patriotic celebration for self-glorification. Obviously.
Then rubbing salt into into the wounds, sneering.
In 2020 America will be taking its final exam. It better pass it.
10
I disagree most strongly!
3
Our chicken hawk president wants to play military hero now it seems. Too bad he didn't feel that way when he was dodging his required military service. Old bone spurs makes me ashamed to be a veteran, if having him as president was what I fought for.
9
Send the bill to the RNC. This is a nothing but a Trump campaign rally for 2020.
13
I hope news organizations that are NOT mouthpieces for the GOP will refuse to show glamor shots of Trump and his grifter family glorying in OUR national holiday with this disgusting misuse of our military and our taxpayer dollars. Show instead the horrible contrast between this parody of a Fourth of July and what freedom and sacrifice are really about, such as the memorials to fallen soldiers, sailors, and other service members. You know, the military that NOT ONE TRUMP has ever served.
8
We live in a fire hazard zone so can't have fireworks of any kind lest we burn the city down. So we've always watched the 4th of July program on PBS. Well the end of a tradition has come. There is simply no supporting the military reality show program of an impotent dictator. I'm so ashamed of this country, its failed institutions, and its greedy corporation. The media created this disaster and now we all have to live with it. It's really sickening.
10
"Ask not what you can do for your country, ask what your country can do for me"--Donald Trump.
I anticipate a few pouting baby Trump balloons in protest.
More seriously, this really is an abuse of public funds on behalf of a divisive, partisan spectacle.
11
And change the channel, I will! And think of this administration not caring one iota whether or not immigrant children are lonely, or hungry, or cold, or in need of basic supplies. Imagine someone being told to "drink out of the toilet" if she was thirsty by someone in charge, while all of this extravagance is being paid by taxpayers' dollars. I am proud of being an American, but I think that our taxpayers' dollars could be better spent than on this parade and golf course trips for the P.O.T.U.S. And God gave me the gift of mercy so that when I see someone from another country in need, I think to myself: "There but for the Grace of God, go I." I don't like an administration who paints the picture of "it's us against them". Where is the Christianity in that kind of reasoning? Tell me, Dr. Jerry Falwell, Jr., ardent supporter of all things Trump, where is your humanity? Do you even know the Bible?
11
The line about the backdrop being “...a memorial t...” to Lincoln who ordered Sherman to wage war without mercy is inappropriatre and reflects a lack of historical understanding.
Sherman marched to the sea for a number of reasons, one of which was to draw the Confederate Army into battle. That Army, having lost every battle in the Atlanta campaign did not choose to fight Sherman again
Second, the rest of Georgia was still producing war material and food for Confederate Armies.
Third Savannah was still an open port importing war supplies.
Fourth, it was time to bring the War home to the South. The Civil War was not a contest between Armies. It was a contest between peoples and systems. It was not about a given city or region.
The War had to end and the Southerners had to know they were beaten.
Sherman’s men burned mansions and factories. The tales about rapes and murders are Neo-confederate propaganda.
2
As President Obama was fond of saying “Votes matter”. Let’s focus all this energy on November 2020.
8
The most patriotic thing Americans could do is not show up to Trump's rodeo show in record numbers that couldn't be denied....even though Trump and company would surely try on their Fox "news" propaganda machine.
6
@Concerned American If they do go, they should turn their backs when trump goes by and turn their flags upside down in the distress position.
1
@Norma
Great idea. I suppose suggesting they burn their flags might be too much?
1
Complacency is what got us to this point.
6
The day before he rode down the escalator in 2015, I posted on FB: what if he gave a press conference and nobody showed up. I thought, at the time that it was simply a publicity stunt and a joke. Well, they all showed and kept showing up, and keep showing up to give this man child free campaign media coverage. The press needs to stop enabling Trump, but they won’t. God forbid that someone, other than Fox covers him, and you, NYTs, and I am looking at you, didn’t cover him. The press needs to Stop giving the Trump machine oxygen.
4
For the sake of all of us, I hope that he gets his numbers right this time. I would no like to hear him talk about the size of "his" 4th of July crowd until Memorial Day next year. Which will be also about him despite his feet problem that precluded him to serve.
Who knows? He might not even see the crowd that will be there opposing him with "baby Trump" et al. The same way he did not see anybody protesting against him in London.
Tomorrow It will not be about America. It will be about Trump and... Ivanka.
3
With the roll out of all the "beautiful" tanks and planes, we will finally be among the countries who are run by 'tin pot dictators' wanting to flex their muscle publicly. I think he is just in need of a hug.
3
Our current president is not a leader. Rather, he is much like a circus performer. It's very sad for our nation. Real government leadership demands innovative thinking and leading by example. Instead we have a buffoon who lacks maturity and integrity.
God Bless America.
3
It would be nice to know WHO is buying those trump-tickets...!
2
Trump is moral coward. His Presidency, this 4th of July publicity event- reminds me of a Third Reich military parade- a propaganda piece to lull the masses into militarism and nationalism- associating their grand leader with all things American and good.
Yet as many of his critics now realize, Trump and cronies relish in the above critique- they boast how they can do overtly what others in American history- even if so inclined would not attempt. And in their vainglory they think them self special and not debased.
And while History will certainly render judgement- these words are no longer consoling. Instead, I hear the gavel go down, impeachment proceedings and removal. Not because he has debased the country's morals- but because of treasonous acts- he has convinced the rest of the world- Americans are an angry, lost and bullying people worthy of HIS Presidency.
2
This year’s 4th of July will be remembered for tanks roaming the streets of Washington DC while children, separated from their families, are held under subhuman conditions at the nation’s southern border.
A Date Which Will Live In Infamy, brought to you by a president who declared a war on his own country.
7
Sure, just keep changing the channel on one corruption after another. That's the suggestion? Turn a blind eye? Put your head in the sand? You know what? That just emboldens ever more corruptions.
Here's another suggestion, say No, this is NOT okay. Clog streets with protesters, scream and yell. Do another Women's March -- just as big, and just as paralyzing.
Maybe due what our forefathers did and overthrow this tyrant and his puppet regime and liberate the country. Perhaps that is what is really called for on this Independence Day.
4
This is a taxpayer-funded photo-op, nothing more. He wants film footage of himself standing in front of Lincoln, tanks in front of him, cheering donors, and fireworks overhead. His supporters will thrill to the video in every campaign commercial and ad to come. His narcissistic need for this knows no bounds.
3
Well, Mr. KIngsbury.
I sense indignation seething behind the detached tone of your piece.
This President has an unparalleled knack for getting under your skin.
He has another two and a half years. Always supposing he isn't impeached or declared incompetent to administer the affairs of the nation. Or--who knows?--he might conceivably choose to resign.
No he won't. A pipe dream. I know.
And as for "changing the channel."
Would to God we might! But in many parts of our great nation, the Donald J. Trump Reality Show--
--is garnering smash ratings. People tune in all over the place. Park themselves in front of the TV--lips parted, eyes glowing. They love the guy. The din of their ongoing adulation (if the wind is right) blows all the way to New York City.
Bet you can hear it, Mr. Kingsbury.
"Your all-time favorite president--
--ME."
The impenetrable folly of that remark--it blows my mind. The man's approval ratings have never topped fifty percent--
--but Mr. Trump remains oblivious.
Maybe November, 2020 will rouse the man to a sense of his real position.
He is thoroughly detested--
--by half the nation. But in the meantime--
--be prepared for glowing estimates of the sheer numbers already "champing at the bit" to attend that Glorious Fourth bash.
"Unprecedented!" we'll be told. "The place was thronged with admirers and well-wishers."
No, it won't be.
But who's to know?
And who cares?
1
I expect Trump to show up in a uniform with a chest full of undeserved medals
2
Maybe this would have been good advice in November 2018, but not today. Trump's opponents, all of us outside the political inner circle, flipped the House for Democrats and for what? To keep our powder dry? Trump and his enablers keep escalating. Oregon Republican legislators left the state rather than do their jobs, and we're supposed to keep our powder dry? Nancy Pelosi has been clucking her tongue at a rogue president who is out of control and we are supposed to keep our powder dry while he stages a blatantly political event in front of the Lincoln Memorial, sells tickets to wealthy supporters (call it what it is), and excludes citizens? No! Just no.
Powder's gonna blow.
7
He has coopted OUR 4th of July celebration and appropriated NPS funds all to support his fragile ego and narcissism.
No, we should not ignore it or just "let him."
His behavior continues to be --sholistic (my new favorite word) and needs to be called out every single time.
VOTE, people. VOTE bigly in 2020.
4
Another Trump fiasco in the making.
3
No. The *resident is taking $2.5 million earmarked for improvements to our national parks to pay for this tinpot spectacle. So no. No. This is not OK. Not in any way.
7
Weather report's not lookin' too good. Sad.
4
I'm just not going to show up or watch it on tv. I've got another party to attend, and it's going to be a lot of fun. I suggest you do the same.
2
The petulant man child has a whimsical need to be a tough guy at taxpayer expense never thinking this country doesn't need to emulate tin pot dictators who are insecure about their military strength.
So much winning trumpees and not a word from spineless republicans.
4
Trump knows exactly what he's doing. He's creating this faux imbroglio over the Fourth of July to turn our heads away from the boarder crisis, the impending Mueller testimony, his tax returns, the North Korea show, the G20, and most of all, the audacity of #unwantedivanka.
4
Perhaps if he had served in the military he would knowledge about it that exceeds that of a 10 year old in the fifties. The man is an embarrassment.
3
Future writers will say, "On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where Marion Anderson sang, Martin Luther King had a dream, and Donald J Trump...."
what? what? fill in the blank.
2
This promises to be the very worst 4th of July ever......brought to us by the illegitimate squatter in our Whitehouse and his criminal anti-American cohorts. Hopefully people will go elsewhere to enjoy our national birthday. This crass vulgar travesty is all on our dime too.
7
Will someone stand in front of the tanks?
7
KellyAnne doesn't want to "politicize" it by answering questions wonder what George thinks...
2
I have long advocated for ignoring this president. Nothing would frustrate him more. Get off his Twitter, stop dissecting his every stupid lie. This doesn't mean ignore the damage he's doing. Reporters will still report on what we need to know, and hopefully good citizens who have the opportunity to thwart his bad impulses will. But splashing his every tweet across all media? He lives for that. Just stop.
2
How can you ignore imaginary Sherman tanks?
Maybe he meant “Sherbet tanks”... though a whole tank made of sherbet doesn’t sound very effective... maybe just the seats, or maybe it dispenses sherbet out of the main gun... if you’ll forgive the pun, that’d be cool.
I’m imagining a popular flavor from the primary gun and where the .50 cal machine guns would be, the less popular flavors or even FroYo would be dispensed.
Maybe he tipped his hat about our new strategy in the Middle East... instead of confronting extremism with bullets, we’re gonna do it with frozen treats...?
It’s pretty warm over there, it might work.
It’s a crazy new world, if you had told me five years ago this imbecile would be in the White House, I’d have snorted out loud... politely of course, but if this fool and his cadre of grifters can hijack our government and pretty much caper around breaking everything he touches with impunity... who knows what else is possible?
I wonder if the B-2 will be dropping hamberders on the crowds?
3
“It will be the show of a lifetime!” he tweeted.
I'd say we should put on our own show by taking it to the streets in every city right now!!!
Time to act!!! Hong Kong mass protests are really aspiring and should be the inspiration for our next move.
6
Hopefully, he and his "brand new Sherman tanks" will be made to feel about as welcome at the Lincoln Memorial as would a skunk at a garden party.
2
The big question is:
WHY, why did it take forever for Congress to file this lawsuit, knowing all potential challenges ahead...
The courts packed with extremely partisan conservatives, the existent legal system that could be played any which way, even when undisputed clarity of the word "shall" is there.
Anemic approach of Congress is really frustrating for progressive democrats. This lawsuit was suppose to happen much more expediently, with all the brilliant legal counseling at the congress's disposal.
Also, seeing him stonewalling and blatantly rejecting all the subpoena and any request for documents, blocking his people from testifying...
"The statute says the IRS “shall furnish” tax returns to the committee chair upon request and that’s the end of it."
https://www.vox.com/2019/4/9/18296806/trump-tax-returns-congress-legal-experts
So what now...what recourse do we have left...
The time is on the side of the crook sitting in a Oval Office.
He was handling all this legal issues through his whole pathetic, corrupt mobster life with the same cheap trick...all he has to do is run out the clock.
Did this horrid criminal mess prevented him from occupying the WH, fundraising 105 millions for 2020 re-election & putting tanks on Pensilvania Ave...
Where are we??? The country that is guilty and complicit in child abuses on the border, the little kids in cages, the boarder patrol agents awful cruelty openly mocking the deaths of immigrants and insulting the members of Congress...
6
Trump is nauseating and absurd, as always. But it's especially disgusting that he pretends to celebrate America while he's got human beings locked in standing-room-only holding pens and sleeping on the floors of cages. Trump and his followers hate the values set forth in our founding documents, and their show tomorrow will be a massive desecration of the American flag and the Lincoln Memorial.
3
Stupidity will be on t.v. on July 4th for the world to see. I can't wait to see Trump and all his little Trumpettes surrounded by things military, but I probably won't see them. I will not go to D.C. and I will not turn on my t.v. I am going to put a bag over my head and pretend this is not the United States of America and this is not our leader again making a worldwide fool of himself.
2
Trumpiganza is the opposite of what America has always stood for.
Tanks on the streets and kids in cages.
He will not rest until he has destroyed every last remnant of the country.
10
Of all the damage that Trump has done, this is just a pinprick. Yes, it is vain, stupid etc. But it is (we hope) mostly harmless. He is but a young child in a man'd body, and this is a dream for the child. Sad
1
I have said this from the moment the jerk rode that escalator and began spouting off: attention is Trump’s oxygen. He wants millions of Americans to be angered and to show it. Ignore him and he will suffocate.
The best way to defeat Trump? Don’t show up. Or show up and protest in silence, by turning your back and looking the other way. In droves. Nothing would drive him crazier than the sight of a sea of backsides, pointedly making not a sound.
1
@chambolle I would agree, but we are way past that point. There will be masses of MAGA folks out there, screaming in joy about their leader, the saint, the second coming of Christ. The biggest, greatest show ever!!! If only we as Americans were so united as to do what you suggest we do. I wish....
1
I disagree STRONGLY with this opinion. Contrary to what it may seem like some days, America is not a military dictatorship. The 4th of July celebrates the words of men who pulled off an audacious and astoundingly successful experiment who wrote those words down on paper.
Without the words there would be no America.
We The People.
There is no place for a tank in the 4th of July.
5
Better get used to it. Trump is not going anywhere. This is no longer a democratic republic. It is a dictatorship ruled by a megalomaniac. There will be many more military parades, prison camps and violations of law. It doesn't matter what the election results will be in 2020. Trump will never leave the Whitehouse and there is nothing we can do about it.
1
We ALL are not ignoring it. I love a parade. So I will be excited and watching it on TV.
A salute to America?
No - it's a salute to himself and his base - and a middle finger to the rest of us.
9
"The rest of us have the hard-won freedom to change the channel if we wish." For how much longer? I'd love to ignore the ignoramus for the next 2 years - but we do so at our own peril. No. Democracy is not a passive institution. That type of nonchalance is how we came to this point in the first place, where a minority is usurping the power that should be in the hands of all Americans. I plan to resist creeping fascism to my last breath. And pray the Almighty makes it rain like hell in DC tomorrow night.
6
It has been said that Trump sucks the oxygen out of a room. Please don't allow him to hijack your patriotism and values
Perhaps we all need to try harder in taking positive actions to counter the damage that is being done by this administration.
Telephone calls and letters not only to our own elected officials but to the congress members in other states whose salaries are paid for by federal taxes, donations to worthy organizations, and local community service are ways that I must make more of an effort to do.
1
The best way to handle a bully is to ignore him.
I will be white water rafting on the 4th with friends.......... but I m grateful for the men and women in this country who have served in the military, as teachers, as scientists, pilots, social workers, road workers, in the vast service industry, as police officers, civic servants, fire fighters and everyone else who has gotten up and figured out how to make it in this country against all odds. I also would like to apologize to the ethnic groups that we have oppressed, killed, and treated like they are less than people.........the indigenous people of this country, the black people........for the unconscionable history you have experienced in this country and because every day you are looked down upon as if you are less than...........the Chinese that were a huge part of building the infrastructure of this country, and to the multitudes of Hispanics that keep this country running every damn day............... and to every other non white person, I salute all of you!!!
On Independence Day, I will not be watching the little boy's spectacle, I will be toasting all of the men and women that get up every single day and make this country the place that I love. Happy Independence Day to all of my brother's and sisters no matter the color of your skin, ethnicity, socioeconomic standing, or religious or non religious preference. We're all One!!
3
After almost 3 years of this mess and the "party" planned by Trump, July 4th is losing it's luster. July 4th and Thanksgiving always seemed to be the perfect national holidays - celebrate survival in a new land, birth of a nation, creation of an idea and dream - all without undue commercialization. Yes, we are revisiting the myths of Thanksgiving and July 4th but that doesn't diminish their symbolism. Trump and his ilk have truly ruined these days - they are no longer about celebrating an idea, a dream or a vision. Now it's all about naked power and aggression. That's not our dream, our vision nor is it our idea.
7
I kind of understand why our favourite President gets so excited about all things military, especially parades. I remember, at the age of 7, getting a green toy soldier set for Christmas. It gave me hours of enjoyment, especially playing with the tanks.
5
I wish it were as simple as this. I wish we could all just ignore this president, a small man after all, and go about our business. The problem is that the changes in culture that we are now witnessing, emanating from Trump and his minions, are indeed worth paying attention to: This is a display of a country that is moving in the wrong direction, and it is moving very quickly. This is the arrogant display of an autocratic system that is quickly evolving into a stranglehold of power that prescribes nationalism and does not tolerate deviating opinions. Allegiance to the flag has morphed from an appreciation of the principles that used to guide public life to a fetichism of nationalist symbols. So we better pay attention to this horrid show that we are going to witness tomorrow, if only to steel our resolve that this kind of government will not stand, that we will do all we can to re-establish the kind of country that we profess to love so much.
13
And might the celebration include a reading of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, with particular emphasis on "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. "
3
We have a block party scheduled followed up by us all walking to our the park where we will see the local fireworks display. There will be a barbecue, sparklers, kids running around with those glow sticks and people sitting in lawn chairs while our fire department orchestrates the display. Republicans, Independents, and Democrats will all sit side by side unaware of each others' political affiliation. The kids will chase around on the lawn playing with one another blissfully unaware of the political affiliation of their parents. It will be an all-American event. No one will be turning on the TV to watch our President attempt to co-opt this wonderful holiday and turn it into a political rally for his ego. Happy Fourth, America, here's wishing you will all find a way to celebrate it with people of all colors and creeds and enjoy the unity of spirit that this day should be.
17
Trump's base, by in large, could care less about National Parks. People who fly confederate flags don't go to parks, they aren't welcomed there by in large, so taking that funding doesn't matter to them. Trump's base could care less about migrants or their babies. They see them as threats even though not too far back their ancestors were migrants, most likely Scot/Irish leaving poverty and Government harassment, and treated with scorn when they arrived in America.
7
If he wants it, he should pay for it - not those of us who actually pay taxes for the common good.
24
We're paying financially and emotionally, as well as in internationally standing, for Trump's infantile indulgences. Where do we draw the line? If the higher ups in the military don't have (what it takes) to say "No" to this oligarch, that reflects very poorly on their suitability for leadership.
18
In the Declaration of Independence, most mentions of the military relate to its excessive role in colonies' life. The signers protest that the King has "kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies", has been "quartering large bodies of armed troops among us", and has sought to make the military "superior to the Civil Power". We should honor the Declaration by lowering, not raising, the military's profile in our society.
20
Why would anyone but his followers go to his misplaced military parade our day of independence? Let them go, Who cares. I know up here in New England, we will be having our local parades with all the kids and bands and old cars followed by family and neighborhood barbecues with music and dancing and games. Trump should simply be ignored as many of the states and many countries around the world are doing. And the most important time to ignore him is next Nov.2020 when we all vote in a new democratic president and Congress.....
19
The military does not have to snap to and salute smartly. Responsible Officers have the moral choice - they can refuse, and they can resign. But that takes courage. Let's see if any of them have enough.
5
@Pierre D. Robinson, B.F., W.S.
Jim Mattis had such courage and resigned. He deliberately slow-walked Trump's earlier attempts to politicize the military in this way. I guess there aren't any more like him.
12
@Rick Yes. But remember that Mattis was not in the military at the time. Would he have reigned when his retirement was at stake? I would like to think so, but ...
1
I hope the major networks do not plan to broadcast live coverage of this event. It should be folded r usual Fourth of July footage as just one event among many. Please do not give this spectacle credibility by treating it as newsworthy!
18
@LD
Anything the president does is newsworthy.
One example -- this article was written and you and I commented on it.
1
It's all about Trump. He doesn't want a military display for the people on the Fourth; he wants a military display for himself. He's the only person I know of that could mess up America's holiday.
While praising the intelligence of the American electorate, he secretly knows that they can be led around like bulls with nose rings - only instead of bull rings, he uses their beliefs and prejudices to lead them wherever he wants.
If DJT doesn't destroy our fragile democracy, he has published the blueprint and playbook for some other demagogue to do it later. If a democracy like America's is going to exist, there will have to be a paradigm shift in human thought throughout the world.
In the near future, we will program the human mind in the computer based on a "survival" algorithm, which will provide irrefutable proof as to how we trick the mind with our ridiculous beliefs about what is supposed to survive - producing minds programmed de facto for destruction. These minds see the survival of a particular belief as more important than the survival of us all. When we understand all this, we will begin the long trek back to reason and sanity.
See RevolutionOfReason.com
6
The trump inauguration committee still owes DC something like 2.5 million. The city should stop the parade until the debt is paid. The cost of this folly is being paid out of national parks funds. He is very good at raiding the funds from worthwhile programs to glorify himself. Lastly he was bragging about the « new » Sherman tanks that will be on display. New dating from WWII! You think maybe the Pentagon is laughing at him? Tickets for Republican donors in a huge cordoned off area for what is supposed to be a national holiday celebration? A new low.
19
unfortunately, there are thousands of people fawning over trump thinking he is god. they think he rescued the economy, he is saving them from terrorists, rapists, and murderers invading the country every second. they believe Barr who claims trump did nothing wrong even though it is clear in black and white trump went out of his way to break the law over and again and will continue to do so because barr decided he can while president. and who is being groomed to carry on the legacy? none other than ivanka.
9
Why do I have to pay one cent for this guy's campaign rally?
18
This is like preaching politics from the pulpit and I object to having my tax dollars spent on the Trump show which is not intended for Americans but for him. This does not ignite feelings of heartfelt patriotism for me at all. We don't need a distraction from perceived enimies that are created by him only to focus more on all things about him. I have had enough of fake leader, him. What we need is a real leader. The money spent on this ego extravaganza could be used to repair roads and bridges. I won't be watching it but I am sure we will all hear about it later from "himself".
9
My social media will be black on this July 4th as he has conscripted our national holiday and turned it into a grotesque and expensive day of self aggrandizement. Nothing to celebrate here.
The most I will do is tune into the Boston Pops if I need to feel a touch of nostalgia for who and what we the people used to be in this country.
14
I agree to spare the outrage - it just energizes him & his supporters. I'd rather see some lawsuits about the appropriation of the National Parks budget for his political campaign. It's his campaign fund that should be paying the bill for this.
Aside from that, the amplification of smoke and fossil fuels for this event is another assault on the environment and the inconveniences an assault on the residents of Washington, DC. Taxation without representation - we need some path to votes in Congress for American citizens living in the District.
6
When they bring in tanks you know things aren't going well.
6
A simple partial solution: The networks boycott this entire stupidity!
14
@B. Granat And on the inevitable giant screens flanking his stage they show run footage of the Border camps and the worse than animal treatment being doled out there.
2
Good suggestion!
Ignore Trump's parade, but if you happen to be wandering through the national mall in the midst of the travesty, turn your back on Trump and his cowardly brand of patriotism.
Mr. Kingsbury, you need to brush up on your history! General Sherman didn't burn down a wide swath of Georgia, from Atlanta to the sea, to smother insurrection. He did it as revenge upon an already-defeated people.
9
@AynRant
I do not think the Georgians at the time would agree with you as to being defeated. They still fly those battle flags!
1
@AynRant
Bas suggestion. An national media organization shouldn't ignore a national event because they don't like the president.
Any chance members of the press and the news media could just NOT cover it? Or, for that matter, every inane, badly spelled, off-the-wall tweet? Give us all a break.
9
A celebration worthy of fascist dictatorship. Think I’ll watch the Twilight Zone marathon instead. How fitting.
12
I will be glued to my TV, for hotdog eating contest. Tanks alot Donnie.
3
Can't think of anything more inappropriate to watch on the 4th than a tin horn despot with fake bone spurs having others parade around him while they pick up the bill.
Not for you? Then try to celebrate the way you 'normally' would with family, friends and food. But don't forget to remember the parade created by your government's disgraceful acts occurring in real time at your borders. That's the parade of shame.
Vote.
13
It’s hard to believe our elected leader actually wrote “an address by your favorite President, me!”. Can you imagine Lincoln, FDR, Ike, Kennedy or Reagan ever uttering such an egocentric line? Why is this behavior overlooked?
406
@Rick Malone
Because it is funny. Poor left of center have no humor.
2
It’s as if he writes for SNL!
18
@Arthur Blank II
Sure, Trump is being "funny" when he TWEETS it.
Nope, he's telling us in all caps that we're supposed to believe he's our favorite. The fact that he actually believes it and thinks he can tell us to believe it is what makes it unintentionally actually funny.
52
trump is a vile wannable dictator who consistently puts his own interests above those of the country. And he thinks that by hugging our flag we will be fooled.
trump will disgrace and contaminate the Lincoln Memorial as well as the annual celebration of America's birthday.
I WILL NEITHER WATCH NOR LISTEN to any broadcast of this horrible man's speech, nor will I watch of the Capitol Fourth celebration. Will not support the media outlets who promote our blasphemous hypocrite of a president.
8
@grammyR
Media outlets are not promoting the president; they are reporting the news. The Trump 4th extravaganza, as awful as it is, is news - otherwise, you wouldn't be reading about it or commenting on it here.
It's everyone's choice to watch or not.
1
The Trump presidency is holding up a mirror to Americans. The mirror is asking: "What are your values? Do you want to hate or relate?" We'll get the answer November 3 next year.
5
Mother Nature, if you’re listening...please rain on this parade.
17
So to prevent evil, good men should do nothing? I hope the tanks leave when the fun’s over.
2
@Borntalkingback: I hear that!
1
Silence is golden.
2
"A memorial to the man who ordered General Sherman to wage a war without mercy, Abraham Lincoln, will be the backdrop."
If this is sarcasm, it doesn't work. It sure sounds like this is criticism of Lincoln for cruelty in connection with Sherman's march to the South and that this piece is celebrating July 4th by trashing Lincoln.
2
What better way to celebrate the throwing off of the yoke of an oppressive government than with tanks and demagoguery amirite?
2
John Adams is turning over in his grave.
2
Maybe we can borrow the Trump baby blimp from Britain for the day. I hear it makes flatulent noises that will match the fire and fury of Trump’s rhetoric. Lincoln must be face-palming somewhere.
3
Watch no TV coverage of this event. Only glance at the newspaper coverage. Pay it little mind, let it wash over you like water off a duck. It's pageantry for his followers, that is all. He's not going to ruin my 4th of July.
2
A better way to honor the 4th of July would be to let the children out of the cages they reside in currently at border detentions and reunite them with their parents. I'm happy to use my tax dollars for that.
9
The last time tanks were in Washington DC at the order of a President, was when, during the Great Depression, Hoover ordered Patton to disperse “Bonus Marchers” (WW1 Veterans and their families promised a bonus for their service) with tanks and troops. Trump would have loved that, had he any idea that that had once happened.
3
Those of us who live in the Washington area can’t just change the channel. Trump’s little Fourth of July pageant will close down a substantial portion of downtown Washington, along with all the downtown bridges over the Potomac except one. The fences have already gone up around the Lincoln Memorial and a large part of the National Mall. But the detours and traffic snarls are small potatoes compared to the political chaos Trump has caused, here and elsewhere.
The really sad part is that Trump is a kind of political idiot savant; he knows with an almost animal-like instinct just what his public will go for. He knows that his base will eat up his Fourth of July spectacle, tanks and all; and he’ll be that much closer to another four years in the White House.
So it really doesn’t matter whether we go downtown and demonstrate against his speech, or stay home and ignore it. The damage will have been done.
327
@Constance Warner
True -- traffic is always a mess in DC on the 4th of July
@Constance Warner My advice is to stay home and barbecue with friends. Do not fuel his ego by demonstrating. Make believe it's a day in winter when a huge snowstorm shut down much of the Metro and you can't get downtown. Make sure the crowd is even smaller than the one at his inauguration.
20
@Constance Warner: I hope you and others go anyway to protest, on behalf of the rest of us who won't be anywhere nearby. "I have a dream" that protesters will line the streets and stand in front of the tanks with posters quoting defenders of democracy like FDR, Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. King, and others. This week, the tanks will be parked on the Mall. I hope we never see the day when they roll down the streets of DC, as they did in Tiananmen Square.
28
Patriotism is way down among Democrats. They aren't in the mood to celebrate America's Birthday.
3
@Robert James You confuse nationalism with patriotism.
11
@Robert James
Actual "patriotism" is totally non-existent with Trump and his supporters. Trump's repulsive "Salute to America" is nothing more than a taxpayer-funded campaign rally and has nothing to do with our national holiday. I hope the media ignores it.
The despotic countries and leaders that Trump fawns over use military hardware and vehicles in parades to intimidate the populace and remind them that the state will mow them down if they don't bend the knee. That is un-American to the core. The only thing tanks remind me of is the massacre in Tiananmen Square.
7
@Robert James This event is not a celebration of America's birthday. It is a celebration of the enormous ego of a shameless narcissist, a party Trump is throwing for himself. Patriotism has nothing to do with it.
1
This is Trump's adulatory imitation of the military parades of the dictators and murderers he so admires. And like his "no-fly" rule, he kept at it until he managed to get it done.
1
I'm surprised this article doesn't end with "Ttch, ttch. Boys will be boys." (wags finger).
Comparing Trump's martial partisan cooptation of Independence Day to Lincoln's waging of the Civil War is specious.
While those who oppose the move intelligently contemplate its incongruity and brazenness, patiently wait for the stupidity to fall under its own weight, and change the channel, Trump, unchecked, destroys everything he touches.
That next chapter of history will largely be spent picking up the pieces.
208
@Nereid -- I think including in the article the Lincoln Memorial as backdrop to Trump's speech and Trump's mention of Sherman is to point out that the symbolism Trump invokes is contradictory to much of what his base stands for and much of the anger he seeks to exploit.
12
@Nereid
"Trump, unchecked, destroys everything he touches."
Unfortunately, that may include American democracy.
7
Trump looks in a mirror and not only sees a general but also a man for the ages. He needs the tanks and the adoring few and will imagine the rest, hundreds of thousands chanting his name as troops parade by eyes fixed on him loving him as no president has been loved. Tomorrow will be his assurance, however much a figment and fiction, that he surpasses all world leaders when it comes to love and loyalty. That this is the delusion of a truly ill and dangerous man is of less importance than that there are those in the Republican side who continue to support and feed his wild fantasies. In their reckless quest to cling to power, they are the true danger to America and the world for they care for neither. They will stand next to Trump and look in the same mirror as he and say, without a hint of shame, yes, they too see a general and a man for the ages.
3
Has anyone else associated the scenario on the Mall with the iconic image of the Tiananmen Square Tank in Peking?
What a striking message right before a presidential election in what once was a country to be proud of.
4
Does anyone see the parallels between this spectacle, designed in the fashion of Kim/Putin and refugees at the border? Parallels between recent SCOTUS decisions which affect voting rights? How about the money being spent for Trumps' ego? How could that be better spent? What say you, Mrs. Kushner? What say you, Religious Right? Go back in time, and picture children languishing in fear at the border in Germany, while other nations turn their backs and walk away, waiting for the tanks to pass as they salute their leaders.
4
How about we DON'T just ignore when Trump steals money from the Parks Service for an illegal political use of public money, public space, and the military! This is not something to ignore, this is something to protest and call out for being an abomination of all America stands for.
I know Trump's lawlessness and erosion of norms is exhausting, but we can't just ignore it!
458
@Jeff As soon as his speech become a campaign speech, Congress should bill his campaign committee for the "event". I know it will become another bill not paid by Trump but.....
42
@Jeff
No, we shouldn’t ignore him, but nobody is stopping him or even bothering to limit him... his republican cohorts are just ignoring and excusing his antics because he’s the perfect cover for their evisceration of democracy.
On the flip side the democrats are either powerless or too busy worrying about making bad career moves by going “too far”...
In the mean time he’s having a terrific time playing Generalissimo while turning America into his own personal banana republic.
28
While Trump is campaigning at the Lincoln Memorial, I plan to be reading the Mueller report.
8
I was thinking the easiest way to protest the episode is in absentia. Trump wants "the biggest, greatest, best show ever." Simply deny him that by not attending. Turn the television off so to speak. If the National Mall is going to be the Trump show this year, I don't need to watch. I've been to the Mall on 4th of July before. I can skip this year. If enough people feel the same way, Trump will get "smallest crowd size ever" as his headline again. That's insult enough.
At the same time though, I have this nagging suspicion that we're still defeated. Indifference, even when plausibly justified, is still the easy way out. Yeah, peaceful protest and outrage is responding to the goad. However, staying home is easy because it's also lazy. Laziness is where democracies go to die. If enough people shrug at their own abuse, there is no more freedom.
That's sort of the point here. We need to stop doing things in half measures. If you're going to ignore Trump, you can't just go to the Mall and enjoy your holiday as though he wasn't there. If you're going to protest, a few signs won't make any difference. We either need to boycott the festivities en masse or protest like DC is Hong Kong. Tear gas will hurt Trump's supporters as much as his opponents.
Trump is a man of extremes. You need to treat him as such.
3
The Mall over July 4th week has usually hosted an international folk-life festival. Has it been abandoned this year in favor of the arms display?
1
@Jazzmandel
The folk life festival was was scheduled long in advance and took place last week, June 29-30 https://festival.si.edu
1
We can laugh at Trump or complain all we want, but he has a good chance of being re-elected. Then he can complete the final destruction of our democracy while the lethargic electorate re-runs their moaning. How could a president, who is allegedly unpopular, succeed is such a childish display of playing strong soldier with our military. If our president can be allowed such financial and military waste, then we are surely doomed.
All fascism needs is a lethargic electorate which thinks it is in charge.
253
@arp a lethargic electorate but more importantly a complicit senate.
15
@PSF
I agree with you both. And I'm scared. Actually I'm more scared now then I was during the Cuban missile crisis.
11
@PSF
Yes, The Senate!!! So much for checks and balances.
5
We all know that this "parade" is a charade. It has nothing to do with doing anything for the country. There is just one word for it: shame.
3
I look forward with fond anticipation to the day I no longer hear his name.
5
There is a vast difference between refraining from hysteria about the latest Trump travesty and blissful ignorance. Using our 4th celebration to sell seats to donors is far beyond the pale. From NYC it may seem like no big deal as you have your own celebration. For hundreds of thousands of Americans the event will be an anathema. We will not celebrate this year in DC. We will celebrate when this con man is gone.
5
We live in 1930ish times and it is scary and sickening.
I understand that the younger generations might not resonant with my feelings in a big way - that they lack empathy with them because they really did not live close enough to the trauma of WW2 to feel that trauma fully. That's sort of normal I guess.
Now should they have more sympathy and fear vis-a-vis Trump-world and in particular about the existential significance of such shades of 1930s? YES!
Just like they should defend strongly the liberty and modernity they causally now have - things we fought so hard to obtain - things we are are on the cusp of reversing/losing.
But they don't because it seems something was lacking - in their civics/history lessons? in their environment that emphasized venality/show over go? I dunno - something - call it WE - failed them.
It doesn't surprise me because WE failed ourselves - we became complacent - we disrespect our own progressive achievements!
I hold US to blame. WE allowed the GOP to disintegrate.
We allowed the Party of FDR to become wishy-washy and less effective.
We opted for theater over truth, justice, and real progress.
We allowed a con-man wannabe dictator as President and the GOP to become a vector for liberal democracy's destruction and a force for theocratic plutocracy.
Think existentially. Vote en masse to remove the cancer that afflicts us! Ds NOT perfect but they are NOT an existential danger - vote for our better natures/ideals - vote D now!
4
The Fourth of July? Or May Day in Red Square?
7
Righto! Let him do whatever he likes. It (America) belongs to him and his family, because they've sacrificed so much.
1
I, personally, plan to ignore the trumpth of July this year -- preferring more to join other like minded citizens in our own celebration of the anniversary of our country's birth.
Let the emperor have his naked parade -- it's about all he has left.
2
The Times is too complacent. I for one will never again set foot at the Lincoln Memorial, nor will I ever watch fireworks. That will show Trump.
The Sherman tank was gasoline powered, which made it considerably more hazardous than the diesel tanks of Germany and Russia. The US has often supplied its troops with inferior equipment. We still don't know when the repulsive drip who is the US face to the world thinks the US was great.
1
Dear Simple,
Trump intends his military parade to celebrate HIM - and at your expense. It would be better if we all raised barricades along the entire "parade" route.
1
Other than the disgusting absurdity of celebrating a draft dodger with his own military parade while thousands of immigrants seeking freedom are locked in crowded detention camps, it can be said that the person occupying the oval office has made the term "crossing the Rubicon" popular again as well as put "The Onion" satire news out of business. Who could make up this absurdity?
8
The colossal monument to Trump's vanity wouldn't be so intolerable if he were paying for it himself. But it's the American people who are picking up the tab for this "extravaganza" whose only purpose is to celebrate himself. And this at a time when vital publicly-funded initiatives are cut to the bone. It's a tragic waste of precious resources that are desperately needed elsewhere for the good of the people. Despicable.
6
Mr. Trump's military love-fest is a dangerous absurdity. Two years ago it was reported he asked why we could not use nuclear weapons if we had them in our arsenal.
There is a technological imperative to the military-industrial complex. Having more and more weapons systems increases the chance they will be used. Mr. Trump would have preferred to drive tanks through Washington and tear up the streets just as he has torn up the Constitution.
Having military might is not the sine qua non of the greatness of the United States. Such greatness as we still have in our accounts has accrued from such activities as the Marshall Plan to rebuild a pulverized Europe after WWII or the use of our national resources to quash an Ebola epidemic in a far-off country.
We could show our goodness by ripping out poverty in our own country root and branch and raising up the least of us.
We could show our goodness by ending senseless incarceration and a cruel and unevenly distributed death penalty.
We could show our goodness with a program for compulsory national service for young adults joining the nation's ranks in both military or civilian roles.
Or we could spend our time listening to a bloviating buffoon.
Our country, our choice.
7
One of the reasons Trump banned transgender people from serving in the military was the associated expenses. Yet, he can spend millions on an unnecessary spectacle that is nothing more than a campaign gimmick to glorify him.
Change the channel? Sure, but what I want is to change the president.
354
@Willis It's all about priorities. Why is it we can spend more on defense (war) than China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, France, the UK and Japan combined. Yet we cannot afford decent health care for all our citizens? Priorities!
42
@Willis
There is no expense with trans people. It's beyond documented at this late stage. Give that lie a rest. It was about appeasing his base of homophobes.
19
@AG From PBS: The Defense Department treated 1,525 service members between July 1, 2016 and February 1, 2019, who were diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a condition of extreme distress from not identifying with one’s biological gender. Currently about 1,071 are serving, including 20 senior officers.
The military spent about $8 million on transgender care, including about $5.8 million on psychotherapy and about $2 million on surgeries mostly for breast reductions and hysterectomies. There were about 23,000 psychotherapy visits and about 160 surgeries.
Trump used the "expense" argument to justify his ban.
4
How about take all the time & money for the parade & put it towards helping homeless & disabled vets. Not as fun to watch but surely more important.
6
Those who are deeply disturbed - but have trouble being surprised - can ignore this Authoricon Extravaganza fairly easily. But the idea that no one will be harmed is hard to swallow.
3
What Trump is trying to do with his continual onslaught of outrageous behavior is to normalize the unacceptable. Mr. Kingsbury falls into his trap.
5
Though a never Trumper, I find the constant nitpicking from the press and the left counter productive. There is so much legitimate and material matters to complain about that the constant harping on the smaller matters of style (not the big matters of style) show the Press to not a reporter of the truth but simply an opponent of all things Trump. Presidents play politics - Dont bother looking into how Kennedy got elected or the dirty tricks of Obama's Senate run, Karl Rove - a political devil who helped bring Bush to power all the way thru the Clintons - need I say more. Trump is a gold plated Trans Am that likes to think he represents America. From his buildings, to TV, to the extreme gaudiness of his apartments, the man's "style" is what it is. So, the "biggest fireworks", tanks, generals by his side (compensating for what?), and installing a section of his sycophants is not only consistent but should be ignored
4
No, we cannot ignore it. The only other time I saw tanks in the streets was during the Newark riots when they were deployed to threaten Black rioters. The presence of military machines was frightening. Trump knows that his core welcomes the show of force, not only to send a message to other nations, but to illustrate his power and willingness to use military force against American citizens and residents. His conduct cannot be ignored. It must be challenged and decried, with protests greater in number than even he can draw. America's future is at stake.
6
A more fitting emblem of our independence and the freedoms promised by the Revolution would have been to put that money on the Trump extravaganza to the bolstering of humanitarian rights in our immigration detention centers. The media should not televise this event.
6
I hope there is someone keeping track of the added costs of this campaign rally, so they can bill the Republican party for the increased costs over what is "normal" for a non-partisan celebration. Also bill them for the damage caused to the roads and streets by all of the military equipment . . . .
Oh, and I also hope it pours down rain in D.C. tomorrow.
6
I predict Abe gets up and walks away.
332
@Quilly Gal Hope so and thanks for that.
24
@Quilly Gal Unfortunately he is a forced to witness this farce.
1
Save the military resources for self-defense, and buy the president the largest box of toy soldiers he wants.
8
I would like to mention I am a veteran but the article is not about veterans health or hiring veterans it’s about our commander and chief and the current military. Another veteran told me we have no enemies at our borders. I disagree. Mexico is a failed state and this victory parade will accomplish something-get our minds off of Afghanistan. Trump executed a victory in Iraq but Afghanistan is a bipartisan failure and this parade will distract us from our faux enemy (Afghanistan) and our neighbor (Mexico) that needed money for nation building but was used on the border instead. What about our war on drugs? Mexico is front lines.
4
Mexico’s economy is growing a heck of a lot faster than ours is.
Actually, if you want to tell how close a state is to failure, look to see how often Fearless Leader breaks out the heavy weapons for a parade that has nothing to do with celebrating freedom or liberty or democracy, and everything to do with “Obey or I will silence you”.
13
Patriotism is what this country needs to bring us all together! The President will be giving a non-partisan speech. The problem folks are having is with the person giving the speech.... BUT who cares whether it’s Obama, Trump, Sanders or Cookie Monster? It’s celebration for all of us. So excited to see emphasis on our great country and the freedoms we have fought for. God Bless the USA!!
13
Do you really think trump’s speech is going to be non-partisan? What would a non-partisan speech by trump sound like?
This is a campaign rally paid for by the taxpayers. The only tickets he is giving out is to republicans. Democrats are not even invited to his VIP section.
There is one idea of yours I do agree with. I must say that a speech by the Cookie Monster sounds a lot better.
89
@Meredith No other president has turned July 4 into a presidential celebration. They have had the decency to step aside and leave it as a holiday for everyone. Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan, Carter, Clinton, Bush, Obama: none of them turned the day into a military parade for themselves. THis is the parade Trump has asked for for years, and he's finally found a way to get it.
I'm genuinely saddened to hear that you think that this is patriotism. It is not. It is a campaign rally for Trump, disguised as July 4. Patriotism would be leaving the holiday to all Americans.
As for a nonpartisan speech from Trump? I'm still waiting. This is not a celebration for all of us. It was, until Trump decided to take it over.
42
@Meredith I had to laugh! Are you kidding me? Trump has never, ever give a non-partisan speech. This will be all about him, and that's definitely not what the 4th of July is about. And just for the record, he is not America's favorite president, not when you are at 40%.
22
Since Donald John Trump,Sr is the one and only Article II executive office President of the United States that we currently have he can't be ignored.
Smiling and smirking and hacking and meddling Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin along with the useful idiots at Facebook, Twitter, Google, YouTube, Amazon. Apple, etc. made this malign mess possible and probable.
Cowardly, dishonorable and unpatriotic military draft dodging Donald Trump is the worst President ever to turn a non- partisan event into a farce to comfort his diva narcissist intemperate insecure nature.
55
I thought these kinds of military displays were better suited for Memorial Day and Veterans Day. And I always sort of liked the togetherness of Independence Day in Washington, with the National Orchestra and fireworks and politicians from both sides of the aisle on PBS.
One more sign of the decline of the American Experiment. We have all got to do better than this.
1
Well said. Trump and his vile family will soon be relegated to the dustbin of history. Taking out the trash. A tradition in our country much larger than the little man who currently sees himself as king.
18
Wait for the twitter torrent of braggadocio about the size of “his” parade.
10
Letting Trump have the event and then ignoring it is no way to discourage Trump! He will go ahead with something even more outrageous next time-although I cannot envision anything more greedy and thoughtless.He does not do nuance-he is “in your face” inappropriate on every occasion.The let Trump be Trump and roll your eyes crowd is aiding and abetting this delusional authoritarian.
16
I will be otherwise occupied during the Fuhrer’s Nuremberg-like rally. My bathroom will need cleaning that day.
28
It would be hilarious IF, in the middle of Trump's speech, the statute of Lincoln stood up and left the Memorial!! Now THAT message would be "loud and clear!!"
Just hoping!!
14
@scoobydoo
It’s going to require real live Americans, and I’m afraid you’re all too busy on social media to stand up.
I agree with this and would go a step further by asking the major networks to show celebrations anywhere other than in DC. Of course Faux News will broadcast Trump-of-July from start to finish, but other networks should show avoid giving any air time to the event.
17
I do plan to ignore it. I wish the media would as well. If I watch the evening news, it will be on it.
Small man, small hands, small brain, the guy has to prove his masculinity again and again (which is why he needs to assault women, Hispanics and African American, to name a few).
Problem here is that it is costing the taxpayers (of which I am one) a ton of money and for why? Ah yes, to prove his masculinity to the world.
17
@esp
There might just be another reason for the tanks, though?
@esp Remember -- the media's non-partisan job is to report the news, and the 4th of July celebration on the national mall is definitely news.
@esp
Agreed! Our family will also ignore Trump’s so called party.
The failed democracy at its best no one person one vote for president , no independent electoral commission, slave era electoral college, senate majority elected with as little 18% of the national vote, then the there is Dear Leader Trump emulating the military May Day parades of the Soviet Union and of course his best new friend Kim who relishes military parades, I hope we get some Republicans goose-stepping in celebration of the Triump of the Trump!
10
Thanks for the invite, but no tanks--er, thanks.
11
Ignore it? Too late. Plus will never happen with Trump as long as he has his Pravda, Fox News.
And how is the RNC-funded VIP section not a violation of the Hatch Act?
12
Unfortunately, the office of the president is exempt from the Hatch Act. Not that it would matter if the current occupant were subject to the Hatch Act. He faces no consequences for anything.
7
"But the president’s political opponents would be wise to keep their powder dry."
But 90% of your article consists of firing at the president. How about taking your own advice?
1
I take great offense to Trumps name being used in the same sentence as Lincoln. Lincoln, was a member of the “Wig” party, which was the progressive Republican Party, the party that put the country over party during the civil war, keep in mind, Lincoln wasn’t a racist. He would have emancipated the slaves whether the civil war happened or not, society was moving away from the idea of slavery, it is a fact that the US was the last civilized country to abolish the slave trade, but not slavery.
Because then as in now, decent people grow tired of racism, hatred, and every vile thing the Republican Party has become known as, well more accurately proven themselves to be, since decent people have always known what they represented from the Reagan era welfare queen, to George Bush’s Willie Horton T.V. ad, to Trumps overt hand holding and kumbayaing with white nationalists, we have a so called president that sidles up to autocrats, and strong men, while degrading our allies. Meanwhile at the the G-20, Putin declares that the great experiment that is the United States, is dead, that multiculturalism is what did it, and Trump stands by with his thumb up his....nose. But even that’s not enough....
Now he wants to corrupt the Fourth of July for his own ego, and I’m sure his ego, is the only big thing he has going for himself. For Trump to color something that isn’t about him to start with is a-typical for Trump-O The Clown.
6
Do you get the 4th July off work anyway?
That’s the deal we make with our Queen. She wants us to celebrate some wedding or similar; we agree to show up, wave our little flags on The Mall and get the bunting out for street parties. We all get hideously drunk and shout “we want the Queen” at her window until she comes to the balcony to wave at us all. In return the Queen declares a national holiday for everyone. Bobs your uncle - everyone goes home feeling patrioticly drunk.
5
He’s a Yankee Doodle Dandy.
1
You lost me when you loosely compared him to Lincoln.
3
Let Trump write the check for this "Celebration of America" = "Look at me I am the Greatest president ever!"
6
I would bring out the Army, Navy, Marine Corp, Air Force and Coast Guard to celebrate a National Mental Health Day, if we had a President to help us do it.
5
I'm praying for heavy, repeated rainstorms with lots of lightning and thunder for the big parade. At least that could help to minimize the farcical sight of trumpy saluting and basking in his authoritarian trappings. Will he wear some form of uniform? Or return salutes? If so, that should tell us that he aims to be our own version of Generals Alfredo Stroessner or Augusto Pinochet. This July 4th in DC will be a freak show, just like the person who ordered it.
13
Hello, McFly?! Think McFly, think. Trump is spending OUR tax dollars to pay for what will be the most expensive re-election campaign commercial in history. Sorry, but constantly letting the criminal in the White House have something is working out so far, right? Let him obstruct justice. Let him profit off of his position. Let him run the country like a mafia boss.
You know that if a democrat had even hinted at doing what Trump is doing on the 4th, your editorial board and every other media outlet would be howling about how he was turning the country into a dictatorship.
10
“A speech by your favorite president,ME !”...and I have heard that tickets for prime seats are for $ale. Follow the money, and the yellow brick road, through the looking glass, with this self dealing crook.
6
@MK I've looked all over the Internet and have found no verification that tickets for prime seats are for sale.
@Linda. Not literally for sale, that could be construed as non-partisan. VIP seating will apparently be given only to high Trump donors, who have already paid their dues. The optics of that tell me that Trump is terrified of having possible non-supporters physically close to him.
4
Trump is America's shame.
11
I hope his shenanigans are being paid for out of his campaign and not by the taxpayers. No one needs to listen to Trump screeching on the 4th. At least theres comfort in knowing the soldiers in the Korean War memorial will be looking at him, staring him and his sycophantic cult down during the entire show.
4
Let's hope it rains hard....
5
How far into the speech before he goes off script and starts bashing Democrats, Obama, HRC?
6
This is going to be the largest crowd in history to see a military parade on July 4th. Wow! What a guy. I'm certain the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial will be equally stupendously bigly huge.
1
Shakespeare nailed it: What fools these mortals be."
5
Maybe our fearless leader can take a ride in the tank wearing a helmet like Mike Dukakis did in an infamous campaign ad.
5
The major news outlets and media organizations need to ignore this spectacle. No pictures on front pages. No lead stories. No commentaries or editorials.
It's time they do a tough love on this attention monger.
7
@furnmtz It's national holiday being celebrated on government land. It would be wrong not to cover it based on personal politics of employees in some media organizations.
But as an individual citizen, you don't have to watch it.
You are too indulgent by far. "Let the profanation go forward," is no motto for those who venerate The Declaration and the principles The United States of America was founded upon. "Down with the wannabe tyrant" or "Sic semper tyrannis" would be manifestly more appropriate.
5
This is appalling! Where are all those fiscal conservatives? What a waste of tax payers’ money! To say nothing about all those men and women serving the country who won’t be able to enjoy the holiday because this spoiled rich brat (the bone spurs draft dodger) wants a military parade! Where are the generals who stopped his previous insane ideas?
This is nothing more than a campaign stunt! His reelection campaign must be billed for this. I do hope none of the networks cover this. They gave him enough free coverage last time around.
I won’t be watching this episode of the wannabe dictator reality show! It needs to be cancelled ASAP!
By the way, I am not an expert but I suggest that the Office of Special Counsel look into this. It appears to me that this might be a violation of the Hatch Act which is the “law that seeks to keep government functions nonpartisan.”
SEE:
cnn.com/2018/03/06/politics/what-is-the-hatch-act/index.html
vanityfair.com/news/2019/07/donald-trump-parade-sherman-tanks
4
@M. Natália Clemente Vieira
I just thought of another way that shows how out of touch the wannabe dictator is. While he and his one percent friends are enjoying the parade, many of us of the 99% are going to be working. To the best of my knowledge, there are now NO holidays where the American working class (other than government employees) actually gets a full day off. He and his fellow entrepreneurs are only interested in having holidays for themselves. Some have even done away with holiday pay! MAGA!
Instead of tanks he should have giant Big Macs rolled in. Those he can relate to. Tanks? Not so much, seeing as he got about as near to battle as a polar bear gets to the equator.
7
The POTUS “Me” show continues.
1
Were there Germans who kept saying over and over to themselves, ‘this must just be a nightmare’, as they lost their country to fascism?
We can not let this continue.
Just donated again to Bernie.
#NotMeUs
3
He never served. Imitating a warrior is the most disrespecting thing one can do. The most cowardly also.
8
@Randall Brown
And members of the military know that better than anyone.
Here's hoping Trump will lose a lot of military votes over this.
1
trump has no sense or understanding of history. Of course this is all about trump, not the good 'ol USA.
He wants so much to be Joseph Stalin. Touching.
5
Have we gone mad? We're bringing in tanks to the mall because our unhinged president wants them? No one is reigning in this man.
8
perhaps, the funds for July 4th could be used to help homeless vets, or children in border Texas cages, this pres likes to make a big blowhard splash, i find his idea of July 4 offensive, and heart breaking, a disgrace.
10
What a pathetic essay. We should just ignore this colossal Trump abomination and wait patiently until November, 2020, to meekly register our discontent? That’s exactly how such ridiculous, costly, and entirely unnecessary Trump vanity projects like this get normalized. No, it’s the duty of every sane citizen to call this out for exactly what it is: yet another brazen attempt by an insecure, overcompensating, draft-dodging coward to pretend like he’s a tough guy by wasting millions of taxpayers’ dollars —money that is sorely needed for infrastructure, health care, education and many other things that might actually help make this country “great again.”
8
As I was visiting the DC Mall yesterday, I was wondering how these 60 ton tanks would be brought into the city, since they can’t roll in under their own steam. Would they be transported by rail over rusting and decrepit trestles? Will they be carried on flatbed trucks across the warped and buckling pavement of the 14th St. Bridge or would they split the crumbling concrete on the Arlington Memorial Bridge? How much of our already ailing infrastructure will be damaged in this 12 hour display of might?
It should be lost on no one that he is spending as yet untold millions of dollars (not to mention diverting $2.5 million from a cash-strapped National Parks Service.) on a military parade spotlighting the inclusion of tanks not supported by the very ground on which they will stand.
We all knew his lack of seriousness in declaring “Infrastructure Week”. Just like his character, his spectacle will march on feet of clay. And the weather service is predicting rain.
But sure, let him have his parade.
10
I disagree that "changing the channel" is the right response to this. This boastful waste of taxpayer funds and misuse of our military are dangerous if they are tolerated. We may not be able to stop them from happening, but we should let our elected representatives know that we abhor them. Re-read VP Henry Wallace's 1944 essay on American fascism, and you will be chilled to the bone at how accurately he described our present situation, right down to the embrace of the authoritarian leader by huge businesses that hope to profit from his rule.
I think protesters should line the streets with posters showing quotes from Lincoln, FDR, Dr. King, and other true leaders. They should stand in front of the tanks with those quotes, countering the vicious symbolism of parking tanks on the National Mall.
13
I love a parade. I'm eagerly looking forward to this one. The highlight will be the sight of an aircraft carrier sailing up Pennsylvania Ave. As Ivanka might say, that will be a surreal moment.
7
@RNS Don't laugh. Our child-president can do whatever he pleases. The sight of that aircraft carrier would be no surprise..........and Americans would love it.
1
My friend just found a letter written to his grandfather by his great grandfather discouraging him from having a son, who would be my friends father. At the beginning of the 20th Century he counseled not to bring a child into a world that would soon see a war so great, it would be like none other and that child would suffer great hardships. He was scared.
If Putin lets Trump win again, he could possibly put 4 to 6 more justices on the supreme court.
I don't know what's scarier now or then, or how you judge it. Are all the times in our lives unconditionally frightening?
Fifty summers ago two Americans stood on the moon in a moment of triumph. Their landing was a moment of pause in yet another troubled time, but their mission was a political one.
In a continuation of Eisenhower's plan to master the new high ground and Werner von Braun's plan to land on the moon. JFK's national charge was a result of a series meetings and tours during which he was told NASA could achieve a Moon landing by the end of 1970. Science and exploration was politicized.
Trump's exploitation of the 4th was inevitable. He's another in a series of TV presidents since JFK but unlike him, Trump is as shallow and disturbed as the people who voted for him. Simple thinking and overemotional, so what better way to validate their collective inadequacies? Just honor thy selves with an overblown spectacle.
4
Agreed under two conditions:
1-Don't let the tax payer pay for it. Make sure Trump pays for it.
2-Ignore it by not attending it, but demonstrate against it nearby.
14
@Paul You must be dreaming. The taxpayers will pay every penny of it, just s they pay for children in cages.
The parade will not be ignores. Trump will have plenty to crow about (the huge crowds).
3
I'm often in situations of wanting to help spread a message of universal love & realistic hope, like I tried to do in my book "The Stories I Tell Myself". I wrote it despite not knowing what every American might be in need of. I'd like to help all Americans, & yet I lack a real grasp of what I could plausibly offer; I'm hoping most of us haven't become jaded & our minds aren't impenetrable or opaque as we celebrate the 4th of July. I think we all possess a superpower, a capacity to give people something we can be sure they fundamentally require, founded on a primordial & basic insight into human nature: that all of us are in deep need of reassurance. With that said, I find comments against Trump's celebration beset by a sense of insecurity and, beneath some excellent camouflage, to a greater or lesser extent, of sadness. If this sounds like you, you are not alone. On November 2016, I experienced 3 weeks of torturing myself with the most negative self talk imaginable. I've come to realize, we are the stories we tell ourselves. We must not become distracted or take the bait of any of Donald Trump's antics. With that said, no one has the right to tell you what celebration to attend. In Trump's defense, he may be confusing & attempting to utilize insincere flattery & pageantry as reassurance. Regardless if you attend or not, I hope we can tell the difference between both. We flatter in order to extract benefit, we reassure in order to help. When has Trump been reassuring?
2
Here's hoping for a torrential downpour, that wlll rain on his parade.
51
@ctbe1 40% chance of thunderstorms in DC tomorrow, according to the Weather Channel. Here's hoping ...
2
This is a party for Trump, not the nation.
Colonists threw off the thousand-year yoke of established monarchies that could take one’s land, one’s wealth, and one’s life on a whim. These monarchs proclaimed what god to worship, what religion to practice, what people believed and what people could say.
Our Independence Day is a celebration of human freedoms and rebellion against the oppression of autocracy.
There can be no celebration when the Administration treats asylum seekers like animals. There can be no reverence for the men and women who died for freedom and to preserve democratic ideas when the President has no reverence for the ideas that created this country.
There was no President on the first Independence Day. It was a day for the people. It has always been a day for the people.
23
Pardon my pessimism but the brilliance of the Trumpkins is being ignored. Planning a military coup in a location like DC is difficult. Having a dry run of seeing which armor can be successfully mobilized into DC to keep Trump in the presidency no matter what the results of the next election might be and doing it at taxpayers expense will be seen by future generations as the consequence of the constant underrating of the cleverness and malignant intent of this administration.
20
@Billdoc2
A few tanks may be a threat to other tanks in the open and improvised hardened postions, but not in urban areas as they are rather simple to defeat by the unmounted with relatively unsophisticated methods.
2
Yes, ignore it. If you absolutely have to watch fireworks, go to your local event. As for me, I’m heading to the Adirondacks, to celebrate in nature preserved by the forward thinking of a long ago honorable president.
34
This needs not to be ignored but to become as big an anti-Trump demonstration as the Women's March of Jan 2017. He needs to be booed so loudly that he is entirely drowned out.
15
"Ignore it"? Absolutely wrong. We must never ignore the acts of a wannabe tyrant.
The problem is that there is little we can do except vote. And look what happened the last time.
21
Except it's not a birthday party for America. It's an exercise in feeding the insatiable maw of the dark, dark place inside himself where most of us have souls. It's an exercise in self-aggrandizement and it's intended to be nothing else. But yes, we should ignore it. He hates that more than anything else.
27
This is a terrible precedent. We should protest against the politicization and militarization of everything. Ask yourself if the holiday is enhanced by this new normal.
19
All military All the time. We can't even have a National Symphony concert without it being overwhelmed by military and the requisite country "singer."
16
"The answer to political spectacle is to not give it too much weight." Except when that answer is the wrong answer. Let's not forget Pastor Martin Niemoeller's poignant observation about what happens to those who shrug off acts of tyranny, nor Edmund Burke's statement about the one condition needed for the triumph of evil.
36
Never have so few done so much to disparage America to the rest of the world. And now we have a draft dodger who thinks he deserves a big MILITARY parade with tanks and jets and all the trimmings and gaw gaws just to satisfy is great ego.
I wonder if Ivanka will lead the parade or sit next to Daddy.
This is one forth of July parade and celebration I will not bother to watch.
38
@USMC1954
Trump has wanted this since the beginning- maybe he’ll ‘go away’ once it done.
Yes, most of us can, and will ignore the spectacle of Trump making our Independence Day celebration into a paean to himself at our expense. But the tragedy is that this is yet another well he has poisoned.
24
We know Trump has been talking about this parade since 2017, and nothing has been done about it yet. Look forward to the same thing July 4, 2020. My only hope is that he sticks to showing off our military might with WWII tanks instead of nuclear weapons like Kim Jong Un. Surely we know the next wars won't be fought with tanks, and won't be restricted to other continents - the next wars will be happening in our back yards. Find time over the Fourth to watch the first couple episodes of HBO's Years and Years. It'll scare you to the bones.
6
So the taxpayers pay for this...as well as his Golfing Security Details etc....and even his supporters are ok with this? I just cannot imagine a line up of Americans cheering a Parade of Tanks as the asphalt in front of them gets chewed up. There's going to be some complaining when traffic comes to a halt through the repaving process during the road repairs. Can a President just do whatever they please?? Who Voted for this ...and more importantly...why?? Oh why be Party Poopers...let's just have fun and add it all into the rest of the rising deficit!!
16
I want to comment on the headline as I believe it's exactly the right answer to Trumpism...
Everyone is wanting the democratic candidate to be someone who can go toe-to-toe with Trump... I want the guy that's going to ignore him and all his insanity.
I just want to go back to driving past the crazy man with the sign of doom on the street corner... and when we stop interviewing him and debating him... he loses his normalcy.
(Buttigieg is the guy for the job.)
14
I just a read a tv listing that says PBS will be broadcasting A Capitol Fourth, just like they do every July 4th evening, that has nothing to do with the self-aggrandizing event that you're writing about here.
I almost feel bad for those people who are obligated to go to the trump party.
12
@Russ
Here’s info about the 8-9:30 PM PBS event:
http://www.pbs.org/a-capitol-fourth/concert/concert-highlights/
"The 39th annual broadcast of A Capitol Fourth will air on PBS Thursday, July 4, 2019 from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. ET before a concert audience of hundreds of thousands, millions more at home, as well as to our troops serving around the world on the American Forces Network. The program can also be heard live in stereo over NPR member stations nationwide."
-----
I didn’t notice anything on exactly when the President’s speech would be.
1
This is not a celebration of America, this is a celebration of Trump. He is throwing himself a party and asking his guests foot the bill.
36
@DP You are so right. And does anyone think we won't be seeing a lot of this footage at election time?
12
Mr. Kingsbury suggests that we not get all that upset about Trump’s military parade on the 4th. Perhaps.
Perhaps not. However, one tenet of dealing with a willful child is consistency. Firmness about acceptable conduct. Not tolerating acting out. Addressing the small things helps the child learn about the big things.
Trump approaches the world as a child with his needs and wants on public display. Granted, at 72 years old, the time to foster emotional intelligence is long gone, but just turning away and ignoring the fact that his spectacle will tear up the lawn and leave the front yard strewn with debris is a concern for the rest of us.
Moreover, the rest of us have to foot the bill. We don’t know if Trump contributes anything to this pageant through taxes. Perhaps the House Ways and Means Committee can find out. Yes, perhaps Mr. Kingsbury is right, we should focus on other questions.
Questions like, has Trump benefitted from laundered money from Russian kleptocrats? Just to pick one completely random example.
18
According to the DoD there will be four tanks, two of which are technically IFVs and not tanks. Pretty underwhelming.
At least he's finally come up with a way for his hotels to make money.
3
It is worrying enough to watch day after day the President attack basic democratic rights let alone having a member of the NYT editorial board arguing in favor of saying yes to this outrageous demand of his.
10
Republicans have been deathly quiet about all the obscenities of this presidency. How is that working out for our democracy?
23
I would love to see thousands of protestors show up and chant, "Close the camps", while trump is trying to rally his base under the guise of a 4th of July celebration. I would also take a huge thunder and lightning strike also.
14
No, All will not ignore it. The Trump administration is giving out passes to his supporters, and, if necessary, he will pay them to attend. You know how he is about small crowds.
Wouldn't it be great if instead of spending millions on this tribute to Trump, he allocated the money to provide decent living conditions for the children at the border camps.
What a classless, non-caring, self-centered individual Trump is.
29
At this late date before the event tomorrow, there is still one significant thing we can do: DON'T ATTEND. Let Trump face the embarrassment of a small turnout, just like at his inauguration.
12
This may be counted as the final capitulation of the Republican party when they accept free tickets to sit in a special section to kiss the autocrats feet in public as he makes a mockery of the Declaration of Independence, the Lincoln memorial, the lives lost in war and the desires of the American public for what this day should mean.
Betcha not one Republican has the spine to say "This is wrong". Of course not , they have been letting this poor excuse for an American citizen have his way for 2 years plus.
31
However extravagant this becomes, it will pale in comparison to the party when Trump is voted out of office. And I am 'holding that date open' for the greatest celebration in the history of mankind. And the photos will bear that out.
13
@Walking Man
Keep holding it open. With the way the Democrats are behaving (and I am one) trump will be the president until 2024. And by then the Republicans (McConnell), trump and the "Supreme Court" will figure out how we can have trump for the remainder of his life.
2
@Walking Man From your lips to God's ear.
Mr. Kingsbury, Trump's motives are purely political, and have nothing to do with our annual July 4th declaration of independence.
He is providing special seating to his patrons who have donated to his reelection campaign. These are emoluments which pursuant to our Constitution are illegal for him to give.
The access and seating belong to all of the people, and just not those who donate to him. All of those political contributions belong to the Library of Congress, not to his campaign.
ALL, and not SOME of the people have the absolute rights and access to the Lincoln Memorial.
Finally, Trump's remarks must be apolitical, as this is for and owned by all of the people, and not just for his contributors. This is not Mar-a Lago.
18
Freedom, true freedom, is not dependent upon the world's idea of power - which is most often just the idea that one can force someone else to do your will. This will be, in the end, a silly attempt to justify one man's ego. I fully agree, let's just get on with other things, like enjoying the company of those we love.
3
This year's DC extravaganza has absolutely nothing to do with our country. It is a political rally.
34
And imagine what next year’s will be like, four months before the election.
4
One small point. Sherman's march was not especially brutal. Yes his soldiers did burn barns and so on, but they also were trailed by escaped slaves who found in Sherman's march a sign of rescue and jubilee.
10
@Terry McKenna
Many historians would disagree that Sherman’s March “was not especially brutal.”
Please do not utter the names of Lincoln and Trump in the same breath.
44
I love it! America is great.
1
@M
Not so much since Trump. America was great before him.
5
I wonder if he's having the military participants learn the "goose step so they can do it on the 4th. I bet he thought it looked pretty cool when the North Korean soldiers did it.
23
Waste more millions on what amounts to either a campaign gig or a tin-pot despot’s display of power?
And the poor of the City of Washington DC will probably have to pay for the repaving - ever see the damage a “light” tank, equipped with rubber “street pads” on its treads does to the road?
Covered a Veterans’ Day parade once, where the fool legionnaires convinced the more foolish NJ National Guard to let them borrow one of the two ultra-light WW-II 2-man crew beasts kept in their armory.
City had to replace several miles of fractured concrete and 10 miles of year-old macadam.
After one, small, lightly armored tank with a single short-barreled gun trundled off its carrier truck and took a leisurely drive.
Aside from areas of the Interstate highways still maintained to Ike’s standards for moving military hardware and serving as instant airfields, no, repeat no road surface is built to survive a modern tank.
The US is not yet a country with special routes built through the Capital where Fearless Leader can review endless lines of soldiers, interspersed with death machines and maybe a few portable ICBMs.
On Independence Day, we don’t worship the arms our rather ragtag army had to silence in order to win the vote - initially for white male landowners, then white males; whites, and, finally, in my lifetime, even most folks with brown, deep red ocher or near-black.
Unless their party doesn’t hold the Statehouse.
Let’s keep Army guns off the streets of Washington.
16
Sorry ignoring a Red, White and Blue Fascist spectacle will not make it go away. History has proven that over and over again.
I’m supporting groups going down to D.C. to protest. I can’t make it myself but I am making a donation to support those who rightfully and righteously refuse to ignore it.
I’ve read that Gregory Joey Johnson is going to torch a flag in protest. Good for him.
M
23
@Michael Torching a flag is just the extreme response we DON'T need.
3
Dear Media,
Please don’t feed the monster. Cameras off. Go enjoy the neighborhood potluck. Fire up the grill. Enjoy your burger and deviled eggs and the local fireworks display. Go home to your friends and families and don’t give this debacle the attention it does not deserve. If a tree falls in the forest, does anybody hear? Give it a rest on our national holiday
32
@Stacey 100% agree. The new channels should not provide live coverage. I heard MSNBC will not provide it -- good for them. CNN and the others should follow suit, but I doubt they will. I for one will not watch any channel that has live coverage -- what a waste of time.
17
Completely agree. Don't play into his ego! That would be the worst thing for him. He requires adoration in the form of "make-up and lipstick." He doesn't deserve any attention.
2
@Nancy Schneider
And then we will have to watch the replays on the nightly news. I agree. Don't cover it. Boycott the advertisers.
Remember, though, it was all the attention (free advertising for his election) the news media gave trump during the 2016 campaign that helped get the guy elected.
5
Tears are truly rolling down the cheeks of Lincoln's statue at the Lincoln Memorial. This is no birthday party for the country; it is an elegy for a country that once was - slowly being destroyed by a disgraceful, criminal autocrat. MAGA =
Monsters
Are
Governing
America
29
Ignore Trump?
Thanks exactly what Trump, his enablers, his supporters, want. To be ignored.
Do you think that's going to hurt them? Do you think that's going to help the rest of us? How?
Democracy demands vigilance, not IGNORance.
12
Let's just let Trump have his way? This is the problem. Letting Trump have his way feeds his ego and ruins what's great about America. Tell Trump no!
13
American voters are - for the most part- not dumb. They recognize this so called "event" for what it really is. A political stunt that is best and most mildly described as unseemly. May be too late now, but would love to see the few glorious patriots who show up all carrying white handkerchiefs that they can use to wipe the expected tears that will flow from the eyes and down the cheeks of the glorious statue of President Abraham Lincoln. He is no doubt heart broken by the actions of our clueless Supreme Narcissist. "Have you no decency" would be an appropriate inquiry - a la the Joe McCarthy era. Clearly not the readily apparent answer.
2
I’ve been starving for those words to be uttered, at just the right time like in the MCarthy era. It would be fitting since Trump’s mentor was the sociopathic McCarthy defender Roy Cohn.
At the onset of WWII, a 17 year old Audi Murphy tried to enlist, no branch of the military wanted him, he was not a large person, yet he kept trying until after three tries, the Army finally accepted him. When Murphy was discharged, he had fought in every campaign from the landings in Sicily, to the doorstep of France. That small framed man, won every single metal of valor, every branch of the US Military has to offer, he even won some of France’s highest honors for valor, their equivalent to the congressional Medal of Honor, but he also won this countries Medal of Honor. At 23, he’s one of the most decorated man in WWII, and when you read the hand written reports of those who witnessed his heroics, including hopping up on disabled Sherman Tank, and holding off a battalion of Germans, those witnesses were awe struck by this skinny short kid, mowing down Germans by the score.
My point is, bone spurs or not, if you really want to do your duty, and report when directed too, then a bone spur wouldn’t stop you.
9
Let him have his party, but make HIM pay for it from personal funds, not those of the National Parks Service. And yes, we all and the media should ignore it completely. Don't report on his, don't photograph or video it, don't interview his guests.
10
If Trump really wants to pay tribute to our military, how about using the funds he’s spending on his “toy parade campaign rally” to help fix the VA system? That would have a lasting effect on the lives of so many of those who have served the country honorably.
But no. Ego and entertainment come first as always.
14
I fluctuate from being absolutely outraged by this ridiculous show of “power” to being so sad for my country. I remember only one other time in my life when politics got in the way of patriotism. I grew up in a NJ town where 4th of July was THE event of the year. Even after growing up, marrying and moving away, people would come back for the Oradell 4th of July Parade. On one momentous 4th, I stood with my family in the same spot we stood every year, cheering on the bands, local dignitaries and war veterans. In the 60’s with a very unpopular war, as Vietnam veterans (some of our friends) marched in the parade, they were booed, as if it was their fault that our country had made the mistake of going into a misguided war. With tears in my eyes, I cheered these soldiers, but the memory remains to this day.
Now, we have an out-of-control fake leader who, every day, is jeopardizing our democracy, wasting funds that could be better used by the Park Service, and making us the laughingstock of the world. Today, with tears in my eyes, I mourn the loss of the country I love, the country my Dad served in during WWII, the country that used to treat every human being with respect.
14
I was with you until your last sentence. Sadly, our country has not historically treated every individual with respect. What about the Jim Crow laws? Japanese internment camps? Discrimination against Jews, women, the LBTGQ community, Irish, Italians? I could go on. Many things have improved, but there’s still more to do. We can’t put rose-colored glasses on and pretend these things didn’t happen just because they may not have affected us personally.
5
@Karen Jones, true but I guess I was thinking more in comparison to today. Actually, from our beginnings, we were brutal to the Native Americans, slaves, women, etc. I must have had this very vanilla view of America that kids sometimes do.
I think the very best response is to invite President Obama to give a speech at the other end of the National Mall with television coverage from aerial cameras showing the comparative crowd sizes.
25
This will be a good opportunity to judge the hearts of our media. I'll be watching the coverage, and the commentary, closely.
Of course money and clicks will win out, but if the NYT, for example, allows itself to go gaga and drums up endless heartwarming stories of the day, I think I'm out.
5
Yeah. Let him have his tanks; hardware without a heat beat. Uniformed admirals and generals standing beside him thinking unprintable words. What he won't have is what he craves: World adoration;that is reserved for his predecessor Barack Obama.
Trump will never have platitudes spoken at his funeral; he will be lucky if his family has one. There won't be a Presidential Library; who will bother for someone who hates to read: Presidential papers? Scribbles of inane Executive Orders challenged and overturned by the courts.
All Trump has are illusions of grandeur. His July 4th tribute-to-self will pass. Roads will require repair- and life with go on.
7
Another thing he won’t have is good weather. It’s supposed to rain for the rest of this week and won’t be clearing up until next Tuesday.
8
What if the machines of war are actually there to scare citizen voters.
10
November 3, 2020, will go down in history as the true Independence Day for America.
13
This past week’s episode of “The Handmaid’s Tale” had a poignant scene of June pressing her hands on the half-destroyed statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Mall, in what seemed to me to be both a prayer and protest. She then said to Serena- “You are small, you are cruel and you are empty.”
Oh how I would like to say those words to Trump when he appears at his 4th of July travesty. Resist!
11
It is probable that he will disparage democrats, the press or somebody and brag about all which he thinks he has done for us during his speech This will really be the icing on the cake.
2
The turn out should be very high with pro-American and therefore anti Trump protestors.
7
Trump's plan to hijack July Fourth is obscene and Mr. Kingsbury misses the implications. One step at a time is how we lose our country.
16
No president should be permitted to use our tax dollars for his private purposes, in this case a campaign rally in disguise, with special treatment for his donors, who will no doubt pay top dollar at his overpriced hotel down the street. It's one more case of him abusing his office. Yet weak-kneed Democrats in Congress will look the other way.
After writing to one of our Democratic senators, Bob Menendez, imploring him to support impeachment, I got this pathetic response: "As the House continues its investigations, I will be watching closely to determine whether or not the President’s actions rise to the level of an impeachable offense." Right, Senator. You do that.
9
Let's all just acknowledge one thing. Donald Trump's birthday party for America has nothing to do with America.
Like everything else he says and does, it's all about him.
And as usual, the American taxpayer will get stuck with the bill.
19
It would be nice if -for once-the media would ignore Trump and his nonsense. Then we wouldn't have to change the channel. After all, this isn't news, it's blatant propaganda and a kickoff for the 2020 campaign.
7
I wonder how the size of this crowd will compare with the size of the crowd at his inauguration.
Sean Spicer, we need your objectivity!
4
Tanks and warplanes and a huge, huge waste of money. It's not funny.
10
A nice long thunderstorm wouldn’t hurt to cool things off at the parade.
9
By coincidence I'm in Europe this week. What a stroke of good luck. Just a boring Thursday here tomorrow. I get to ignore the whole mess.
1
I'm wondering if I can file a class action lawsuit against him for destroying my ability to enjoy the 4th. I cannot believe how ostracized I'm feeling at the moment- and I pay all my taxes every year, every dollar...for this?
6
I can think of much better uses of my tax dollars than this military-theme parade spectacle. Trump is on a roll and must be stopped! He IS a bankruptcy professional.
6
The best way to beat this maniacal destructive con artist in chief is to not give him what he so desperately seeks - attention.
Do not attend the DC debacle. Implore your family friends and neighbors to also not attend.
All of the major networks should not broadcast any of this show of farce on the television.
If enough people are not distracted and the con man does not have an audience then the con man becomes ineffective and meaningless.
Remember these unnecessary expenditures of taxpayer money.
Remember this and all of the other self-serving actions of this person and his enablers when it is time to vote!
3
The best way to deal with this is to refuse to watch it and then plan another celebration similar to the demonstration we had after his inauguration. We need to remind this egomaniac that 60 percent of Americans dislike him with an intensity "like the world has never seen."
5
Do what we did for the inauguration, vote with our feet. He withers when ignored.
3
How much else should we ignore? At what point do the people tell the autocratic miscreant that enough is enough.
"Unlike ignorance, which is the lack of knowledge, ignore-ance is the act of ignoring available insight, information and consciousness building concepts because they are inconvenient, require discipline, upset the status quo, or make a person feel wrong."
1
You have to see the big picture.
Usually, you hold military parades to show strange, to show the adversaries what you have. So military parades are often a sign of fundamental weakness. The strong player don't have to show what it have.
When Trump now want to show military equipments, it's another sign of the American decline - which are visible on all fronts and have for a long time, long before Trump took office, an office he won because of the frustration of the declining U.S.
3
The guy is essentially a promoter so this is exactly what one would expect. Miss America all over again but with tanks and absurd pageantry. Fireworks alone are not quite kitschy enough on their own. Great stuff.
3
No sir, we cannot ignore this bigotry. We are not allowing this dictatorship behavior to exist in our great country. This needs to stop!
8
"Change the channel if we wish". Right. How many more months before "we" get on with it?
2
It took me awhile, but I think letting people see the size of a battle tank, will in some way, let them see the nastiness of these killing machines.
Those generals standing next to trump might as well put on those fluffy caps that stand out in North Korea.
If I see one Confederate battle flag anywhere near the Lincoln Memorial or the Vietnam memorial nearby, then trump has desecrated everything I treasured that was America's soul and heart. trump has no right to hang on the coattails of one of the greatest American Presidents to deliver, probably the weakest and most meaningless speech of his presidency.
5
The reputation of the USA, the message we will send the world, the outrageous folly of mimicking the parades of dictators of the past and of the present by perverting the historically proud, joyous, family oriented celebration of our independence, all these are aspects of having an ignorant child in the White House who treats our country like his personal toy.
There must be a limit somewhere. All this really must stop.
6
I haven’t paid attention to a 4th of July celebration in WA DC since the 1976 Bicentennial when we were rained on at a campground on the Potomac.
The 4th of July is for local community celebrations, family, barbecue and not sitting inside on a summer day watching some narcissist on TV. Trump lives for attention. Let’s ignore him that day.
Let’s give him attention regarding issues that need it — and they are legion.
But not on July 4, let’s not cede the day or the flag or the celebration to red hatted zealots. Freedom of speech, of press, of democracy and the rule of law.... we should pledge our fight to keep and maintain.
But on Thursday —— enjoy the local parade, the marching band, the family and friends, the hot dogs, the corny decorations and the fireworks where we are. We can get up the next day and enjoin/continue the fight.
4
The Blue Angels aircraft, which have been commissioned for the DC 4th, fly over Seattle every summer for a local festival.
Some people like the display of incredible speed and agility.
I so hate them.
A horrible sonic blast fills the air as they fly in, always catching me unawares, as weapons of death, go inwards towards the city.
Please?
What else do you think of when the terrifying sound of military planes drown out everything, but of bombings?
How is imagery connected to cities being destroyed, people running, being killed, dismembered, these houses ablaze, a part of your picnic?
Happy Halloween and a bah humbug from me.
4
The Washington Post reports today that the National Park Service is diverting $2.5 million away from park maintenance and other critical park needs in order to snazz up the Fourth of July event on the Mall to Trump's liking. Where is Congress on this disgrace? Surely there must be legal limits on how much money can diverted from its intended purposes by this megalomaniac, and under what circumstances. What's to stop Trump from diverting, let's say, $500 million from the national parks (which desperately need all the help they can get from the federal government just to keep running in place) just so he can make himself look higher and mightier with tanks and god knows what else. This is a national disgrace. Talk about the Imperial Presidency!
May it rain cats and dogs on Trump's parade this July 4th.
17
Trump disrespects the military on a consistent basis. From lying about bone spurs to avoid service, to disrespecting gold star families, to hiding war ships because John McCain's name is on it. The list goes as, and so does the disrespect.
How ironic that trump would give himself a military propaganda parade.
13
"The rest of us have the hard-won freedom to change the channel if we wish."
Yes, but for how long?
7
My father, who volunteered for military service twice, Wisconsin National Guard, 1938, US Army, World War II, would be appalled. A draft dodger like Trump, who let other less fortunate men be forced to fight a war that killed over 50,000 Americans, using service members as props for a propaganda spectacle to celebrate “our favorite president, me” sounds too much like something we see from the dictators Trump so admires.
6
Who would have thought I could ever think of any president of my country as a lying, phony creep but thats exactly what I think of trump. I was probably one of the most patriotic and devoted to my country citizens ever born - until he became president. I haven't flown a flag or thrown a party on a national holiday since he was elected. And I won't
ever again until he's gone. He wants military tanks on display in Washington on the 4th? Another reason not to celebrate. I'll mow my grass and water the garden. Just like any other day.
8
Kingsbury says that we have freedom to turn to another channel. CEO's of media corporations have the freedom not to carry it on their channel. Do they have the courage?
6
Since Trump couldn't get crowds at the mall for his inauguration, he's bringing out the big guns.
6
"The rest of us have the hard-won freedom to change the channel if we wish."
Or never tune to the channel at all.
2
Incredible amount of hate spewed here. I've been trying to find in the comments why and how exactly Trump has hijacked this national holiday. Other than simply attending, I can find no egregious violations of tradition or law. Some have suggested he is violating the Hatch Act, but the nature of every utterance of a president is "political." Is the State of the Union address a violation of the Hatch Act? I think the basic problem here, like every other comment in every other article about Trump, is that the writers still can't accept that he is president.
2
Fight back, it’s that simple, but fight fire with fire, remember it’s a minority of people that believe this trope, and if your old enough to either have parents or grand parents who remember WWII. And how close Australia came to being occupied by the Japanese, the threat was very real. Australian soldiers fought along side American, and every soldier from all around the world, United in one cause, the cause of killing oppression, fascism.
Today the weapons is the truth, the truth of what they really want, to win they reject the real world reality, and insert their own, based on lies, and lies tend to buckle under their own weight.
2
@PL
"Incredible amount of hate spewed here." - just following Trump's example.
"I've been trying to find in the comments why and how exactly Trump has hijacked this national holiday." - read the article, please.
"Other than simply attending, I can find no egregious violations of tradition or law." - so simply attending egregiously violates tradition or law?
"Some have suggested he is violating the Hatch Act, but the nature of every utterance of a president is "political." " - campaigning on the taxpayer's dime is a violation of the Hatch act. Ignoring the distinction between campaigning and political speech makes your statement a logical fallacy worthy of Ann Coulter.
"Is the State of the Union address a violation of the Hatch Act?" - No. The State of the Union is given at the express invitation by Congress to address Congress and therefore is not a campaign event.
" I think the basic problem here, like every other comment in every other article about Trump, is that the writers still can't accept that he is president." - we accept that Trump is President. We have a real problem with his failure to uphold his oath of office, particularly to defend the Constitution and to abide by the laws that rule us all.
The proof will be in the pudding. When he speaks at the celebration, consider how much he spouts about his (alleged) accomplishments and how much he glorifies himself versus how much he selflessly pays tribute to our nation and our nation's founders and defenders.
@Uncle Jim -- I read the article -- its an opinion piece, so it doesn't say much beyond what is echoed in the comments: that Trumps attendance at the national Independence Day is somehow inappropriate. Different presidents have participated in different ways. The assumption is that Trump is glorifying himself. Maybe, just possibly, he's moved by a spirit of patriotism -- call him jingoistic, but he does seem to have a genuine enthusiasm for this country -- and is motivated by something other than narcissism or cynical partisan politics.
1
Anything that makes President Trump's foes angry which is about everything is good. He can do whatever he wants as nothing he does is ever right with the Trump haters. He knows this and doesn't care. Some of us will be watching proudly this Fourth of July extravaganza.
I'd prefer hundreds of thousands of people to stage a peacful sitdown protest blocking access to the venue, thus preventing the arrival of his precious tanks. Failing that, just a single protester like the guy at Tienanmen, facing the driver down.
8
If Trump so much as utters a partisan word at this event his campaign fund should pay for the whole thing, parade and all.
12
I agree. Outrage over this, while justified, is not effective because it: (1) alienates Trump supporters; (2) wastes the valuable time of goverment and presidential candidates (3) Gives Trump ammunition to tweet endlessly and powerfully against Democrats.
1
Why do we have the money to finance what is essentially a Trump political rally masquerading as an Independence Day celebration, but not to provide humane treatment for migrants at the border?
Our country is indeed defined by its values, values that are being tested by the plight of those migrants. It is not defined by a megalomaniac leader showing off "his" tanks and "his" military. But what if this event is, under all the spectacle, about highlighting presidential resources and power, and this particular president's willingness to resort to it?
At least we now know the answer to the question of what happens when 62 million voters decide it is a good idea to hand the awesome powers of the U.S. presidency to an ignorant showman with a faux-gold penthouse and fake Time covers on his walls--a man so desperate for attention that he invented aliases to brag about himself to the NYC media.
We can try to ignore John Barron's taxpayer-funded party and focus on the real meaning of the 4th. But then we risk normalizing this unAmerican display the way far too many of us are now normalizing every other Trump behavior, no matter how egregious.
We have the responsibility to note every time POTUS picks up his chisel. Only so much can be chipped away from the foundation of our democracy before it begins to crumble.
7
Or else it becomes normal, when it stops bothering us, it’s been normalized. We cannot allow Trump or his supporters to normalize Trumps theft of our national birthday.
3
I'm against it because of the cost, even though no one knows the cost. I'm against it because Trump said Sherman tanks, which was wrong. I am against it because Trump will be at the center when he should be pretty far to the right. I'm against it because3 it will have as much military hardware as the introduction to the Super Bowl. I am against it because Presidents shouldn't participate in 4th of July celebrations. They should play golf at Mar A Lago, which I'm also against. And I'm against it because Trump is taking too much pleasure in it.
Actually, as you probably can tell, I don't know why I'm against it. But everybody in my all-Democrat neighborhood told me I had to be against it and we should all do what we always do on the 4th -- drive in our local motorcade of black, white, and brown BMW's, symbolizing racial unity.
1
Must be a Republicans attempt at sarcasm, but sarcasm is a sign of intelligence, which Trump supporters have yet to display. So it can’t be sarcasm, it’s just a lame attempt to be funny, but republicans don’t have a sense of humor, unless depriving small children of food and water is involved, the Republican Party and the silence of Republican voters is a tacit admission of approval.
9
Mr Trump failed to observe on his visit to Bastille Day that the French do not deploy tracked tanks and have not for about the last 15 years or so. The reason being as prefigured by this piece, that metal tracks damage the road surface given the 70 or so ton weight of a battle tank. If the US military had inquired of their French colleagues they would be alert to this issue.
A significant bill is therefore possible for the roads authority in DC. No doubt Donald Trump has not factored in any Federal subvention [for this aspect] of his pageant.
2
@JOHN COYLE
"If the US military had inquired of their French colleagues they would be alert to this issue."
This slap at the military is uncalled for. We are extremely fortunate to have a military that does not make policy.
This is egregiously wrong thinking, Mr. Kingsbury. This event is not a "birthday party for America." This is a campaign rally for Donald Trump and the Republican Party. And it is using our tax dollars to cover its expenses and is being held on the Mall in Washington D.C. -- a public space that belongs to us all.
The Fourth of July is a celebration for all Americans; not just a chance for Donald Trump to strut and preen himself before a national television audience. I'm not going to ignore this event; I'm going to protest it. And so should every American of every political stripe.
10
But to many of the citizens of America's allies (here in Australia, for example) it looks like Trump has usurped a national historical occasion for a fascist's parade of military strength.
Will this become the 'norm' for Independence Day celebrations we wonder?
And unfortunately, just as many of our own citizens here also support this appropriation of historical celebrations to create an authoritarian spectacle.
Our democratic world is not in a good way. What can we do?
11
With every passing day of the Trump administration's playing for ratings, the film "Network" increasingly appears to be the most prescient film of the 20th century.
4
"The rest of us have the hard-won freedom to change the channel if we wish." This time. But what about next year? Our history shows that hard-won freedoms are often easily lost, especially if people adopt the attitude of this author and don't make a stink about it. Our hard-won freedoms must stay hard-won.
19
I'll be darned if I'll ignore it, and I don't think anyone else should.
Watching Trump position tanks around Washington D.C. makes me very edgy.
That's completely apart from the damage they'll do to the pavement, which will be fixed at public expense when the tailgate party is over.
Presumably fixed by... guess whose friends?
24
I have a better idea. Let's start saying NO to Trump's undemocratic requests. I'm blown away at the weakness of our institutions and the people in them who are supposed to stand up for principles.
79
I think Trump ideas regarding how to celebrate the 4th are fabulous .Go Trump GO. We will all celebrate keeping America great again.
3
@lieberma Er...just how do you parse, "...keeping America great again."? Is it, a slight deviation from
the Trumpers, Make America Great Again. In other words, you can't depart from your leaders words, but want to let us know, America is great...again?
You think it's fabulous to politicize the holiday, make it into an Armed Forces show of strength, because we're a warring nation? I'm at a loss to see how this
4th is fabulous. Perhaps you could elaborate?
4
Yeah. The five-time draft-dodger is desperate to waste tax dollars like other authoritarian dictators he admires.
4
So MAGA is now KAGA? How fitting. Kaga was a Japanese aircraft carrier that attacked America at Pearl Harbor and was sent to the bottom by American heroes and patriots at Midway. I approve wholeheartedly.
3
Since the US, against the advice of George Washington, is now an empire, and empire do not get to rule the world by being nice, Trump's operatic "miles gloriosus" parade is appropriate, especially as it's a wonderful defense against having to think about the climate crisis.
11
This exercise in self-congratulation could be safely ignored if it wasn't so galling, expensive, and dangerous. It stands the Hatch act on its head (remember when Al Gore got in trouble for making fundraising calls from his office? how quaint!). But the security aspect is mind-boggling. This improvised ever-changing party with all sorts of VIPs is a target-rich environment on the type of iconic date that a terrorist would love. It's less likely that a VIP will get hurt than a hapless attendee gets badly injured by a security staffer. Without enough time to plan, this is a classic "Charlie Fox" in the making.
19
Afternoon forecast for July 4 in DC includes thunderstorms.
The event will probably be a typical Trump metaphor: Trump and his family will remain high and dry, while his loyal supporters and all those doing the actual work will be soaked.
44
@SomeGuy
Does Trump actually turn up for events if it is raining? His track-record suggests he doesn’t, no matter how important the event.
7
... while Trump denies that it's raining.
1
This sounds like something straight out of the usual Trump playbook - use other people’s money (here, American taxpayers) to create a spectacle to enrich his own coffers (here, his reelection campaign funds - watch who the RNC tickets are being given to).
It’s just another version of his Deutsche Bank loans and his spree of failed businesses. It’s also not dissimilar to his employment of contractors to build his casinos, and his subsequent non-payment for work done.
Just that now it involves public money, money that could be productively used to improve so many things in the lives of so many people across this great nation.
56
I have just spent the day (Tuesday) traveling on Amtrak. On the Pennsylvanian, from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, a track switch broke about 25 minutes outside of Philly. We were halted for more than an hour awaiting track repairs. On the Northeast Regional, train # 94, whose final destination is Boston, the packed train was stopped dead in the tracks for almost two hours in East Haven, Connecticut, with no air, no lights, no a/c, no working toilets, no working PA system, no café car, no information, and no power. The train cars are more than 20 years old, and those no-power power lines on that stretch of rail has been a known issue for years. Amtrak along the NE corridor is an economic and social necessity; yes, it really does provide lifeblood for the region's economy. But it's still desperately in need of repairs and improvements. All I could think about as I read the news coverage of the July 4th Trump shindig in D.C. was where is Trump's promised federal spending on infrastructure? Instead we have federal dollars being spent completely without merit or necessity to provide FREE photos and videos for Trump's campaign. Bah! Every person who regularly rides in the NE corridor on Amtrak should take five minutes on July 4 to do their patriotic duty and contact their representative and let them know they do not appreciate the monies being spent on a Trump campaign publicity stunt and how about that promised spending on INFRASTRUCTURE, especially and including Amtrak.
124
@Native Pittsburgher All true. Amtrak has been starved. BUT things did improve on the Northeast line under Obama. Amtrak got new Siemens engines and improved some track on my line. Service is much better; there are fewer breakdowns;
Perhaps it is metaphorical that under Trump Amtrak reapolstered those 20 (30!) year old cars instead of relacing them with safer, new cars.
Obama train substance-Trump train appearance.
38
@JR Thank you - nailed it precisely.
7
@JR Well said! I should have clarified. There were noticeable improvements under Obama, and his administration supported funding rail systems. Under Trump, the momentum to continue those improvements seems to have come to a standstill.
4
“Mr Trump has many foes and many supporters just as President Lincoln did in his time. The convictions of any given moment are for the scales of history to weigh.”
I’d like the scales of history to show that there was vigorous determination not to allow this country to descend into a dictatorship at this period of time.
58
@Gina Joseph Dewey
Agree. There should be a mandatory asterisk (in Bold) next to Trump’s name every time it’s mentioned in books and articles, with the notation that he lost the popular vote by almost 3 million.
33
What are we celebrating exactly? America is a corporate dictatorship that subsidizes for-profit prisons when there is nothing left to take from the poor. I ruminate on expatriation daily. Talking heads here only superficially broach issues that should be drivers of earnest national discourse. Circular reasoning and ad hominem reign. If this lifestyle is meant to be the paragon of civilized society then no thank you, I can do better. Fly-overs, salvoes, and twinkling lights won’t suffice.
37
I'm certain Trump won't make the same mistake again, and will pay people to attend this obscenity, filling up those photos with crowds. No way would he hype this display of military might if he wasn't absolutely certain the necessary bodies are supplied.
It's diplomacy, detente, governance, deal-making and history by photo-op. Bread and circuses indeed.
16
@Elena
Couldn't disagree more:
--Trump doesn't pay, he borrows and defaults.
--He'll claim the largest 7/4 crowd ever and have his aides photo-shop as needed.
--No bread will be provided unless Trump-branded and overpriced. Maybe he'll throw out a few token loaves ala Puerto Rico, though.
Sherman tanks on parade, our favorite President ever, and hamberders for all. Hallelujah, the MAGA Messiah has arrived!
It would probably be wise to take the advice in this editorial, and in fact I intend to leave Washington, DC where I live and join family in nearby Maryland, and let the right wing bigots who will likely flow onto the mall to their own devices.
But it is hard to step back while a lying, insulting, demonizing and untutored president hijacks what has been a moment nearly everyone celebrated: the 4th of July on the mall. I have the urge to seek out a protest, resist and stand under that famous balloon of our president-baby.
Instead I am going where I know I will see a diverse crowd of people bent on improving their lives, generous to those less fortunate, tolerant of those who are different, people who have served their country to the best of their ability and people who have lost friends and relatives who have served their country, advocates for liberty and justice and people who are just plain and simply decent. Being around them will remind me that they represent America, not Trump and his fellow-travelers.
By the way I served in the military years ago, and the idea of bringing tanks onto the mall or near our July 4th celebration just sickens me. It's peace we want, not war. What is wrong with these people?
141
@Malcolm
"It's peace we want, not war. What is wrong with these people?"
I too, served and have been disgusted with everything that has happened since this guy came into office. Our forefathers warned us about the treachery of a demagogue gaining power and we're seeing that realization before our eyes.
2
First, I don't do "national pride" - none of us are here in the US except for the luck of being born here, just as with everyone in the world - be it good luck or bad, we live where we live. So July 4 really isn't a huge deal for me. It will be a nice day when we will spend time with our family, who are coming over for dinner.
Second, since 9 PM election night 2016, I've unplugged - we have an illegitimate impostor placed into his position by criminal acts. So to tell the truth, I won't pay attention again until the monster and his monstrous family are gone.
55
@CSL Your thoughts reflect I believe the overwhelming exact feelings of the vast majority of voters - the silent majority is looking forward to election 2020. We will turn out the vote and Dump Trump, Ditch Mitch, bar Barr. Make America Great Again - which we certainly were prior to November of 2016. A tainted election, a tainted non-President, a huge tragedy that we must reverse.
6
I don't want to pay for the government's expensive birthday party. But who cares what I think -- I live in the disenfranchised state, and we are not a democracy. Unfortunately, if rural "USA!" chanters want something, they get it. What's most annoying is they still complain that *they* are the disenfranchised ones. Sorry, Wyoming, I don't buy it -- you own the judiciary, the executive, and the legislative, thanks to our genius founding fathers. You can't have all the power and complain about being powerless.
72
@David Johnson If we get a valid and honest census, good will flow from it. If each of our states finally comes to grips with the travesty of gerrymandering - our Democratic Republic will finally get back on the right course. Vote - Dump Trump, Ditch Mitch, bar Barr.
3
Wish I could recommend your comment
100 times. Why are Nancy and team not trying to fix our utter lack of power and influence?
3
I'll be watching the fireworks from Portland's Waterfront Blues Festival. Blues music captures my mood for this nation more then listening to Trump toot his own horn.
28
@Motherhawk Would love to see the eyes right and the military salute to our flag take place after the troops pass the reviewing stand.
If it's "a birthday party for America," fine. If it's a Trump campaign rally, then hopefully Congress will invoke the Hatch Act and the RNC can reimburse the taxpayers.
55
@JimBob for the many cities he hasn't reimbursed for his rallies as well as the inaugural expense it doesn't seem likely this will be covered. His expenses have far surpassed Obama WH expenses already. There is some sign reason is returning in certain segments inch by inch. At that rate we'll never catch up to the expense of this administration. Don't watch or attend this ridiculous show. It's the only way to get the Reps attention to prod a few more to regain their values.
1
This is not about this country. Nothing done by him or that family is about anything or one else. It all comes back to his imagined greatness. I wish people were showing more patriotism with inclusiveness. Instead it feels like it’s being used as a weapon from one group against the next. Patriotism is as personal as any other feeling you have. Yet it’s constantly challenged now. People are of the opinion now more than ever they have the right to question others. Take care of yourself. Waving our flag in others faces absolutely does not make you a better citizen. Trump runs around telling everyone how great he is. If you are a great person everyone already knows.
30
The best protest against Trump spending our tax and NPS money on his personal campaign event, and the descent of democracy into dictatorship, is to stay away from his celebration; don’t go, don’t watch. That’s the best way to send a message. There are lovely Fourth of July events in almost every town across the land, many with parades and great fireworks. Imagine how big he’ll say his crowd size is even if everybody ghosts (which they won’t).
31
@Color Me Purple, the DC commuter trains run both ways. DC folks, go enjoy a local Independence Day celebration in a community that appreciates it.
1
almost half of all Americans are in full support of everything the President does. That also means Russian style democracy.
Lets start directing the criticism and questions to the citizens of the 30 states that voted for him.
34
@Practical Thoughts
Great. Let's start by antagonizing the citizens of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, where the electorate gave us a Trump presidency by a total of 77,000 votes.
Perhaps we can antagonize the citizens of the state to the point they go for Trump again in 2020.
Alternatively, we can try to work together to make this a better country, and reach out in good faith to those we differ with.
7
@Practical Thoughts
Trump does not have even close to a 50% approval in any poll.
But, I agree, the people who support trump are also responsible for the decline of our democracy under trump and should be called out for supporting a want to be dictator who befriends other dictators while disparaging our own leaders.
2
@Practical Thoughts Less than 45%. He’s never broken 50%. He is an unprecedentedly unpopular president.
4
When the Roman emperors want to divert attention from the problems of the realm, they offered "bread and circuses".
Trump: same.
74
Circuses, yes. Bring your own bread, or, if you don’t want that, buy cake, he says.
I don't wanna change the channel. My family has watched the PBS broadcast for years. It is part of our July 4 tradition. Now gone.
13
@Patrick No, it is not gone. It will be broadcast as usual. It is unrelated to Trump's rally. Feel free to enjoy.
15
@Patrick No, it is not gone, it will be on as usual. It is unrelated to Trump's party. Please watch it.
7
The PBS show is not connected to TRump’s. Enjoy.
2
Trump is diverting a couple of million dollars from National Parks Department funding to help pay for this national campaign rally of his. That is money that helps maintain the parks in safe usable condition for the millions that visit every year.
During Trump's July 4 national campaign rally, it is easy to predict that his "few words" he promised will drift off into blaming Democrats for everything wrong and the evil media -- except Fox news -- for the fake news about it.
Let Trump pay for the whole thing out of his 2020 campaign funds. It is an election rally and nothing else. I don't want one single penny of my money spent on it.
343
@dpaqcluck I wonder if Trump will send out buses this time like he did in Florida, to round up people to try to fill the area in front of the Lincoln's Memorial. No doubt he'll offer people free food and probably cash to make the crowd look bigger. His inauguration crowd was kinda thin.
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@dpaqcluck..by his time,I wonder how much money of ours he's diverted into his pockets.I think it's time El Presidente's properties are seized.
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@susan mccall. Funny you should say that. I heard him comment when he was running for office that it would be the first time the candidate made money running for office. Who do you think is filling his campaign coffers while he utilizes public money for this partisan rally under the aegis of July 4th?
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I think we ignore this at our peril. What we’re seeing is Trump’s idea of strength and power, the likes of which we’ve seen in other autocratic, totalitarian nations. This is the kind of display that we swore would never happen here.
This has absolutely nothing to do with veterans, celebrating America, or patriotism. This is a small, but dangerous, step toward malignant nationalism. We need to wake up and start paying attention.
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@MDB Mussolini and Adolf revisited. History does indeed repeat itself.
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@MDB AKA fascism...
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@vermontague — Absolutely.
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As a veteran, I find it difficult to witness our chicken hawk president attempting to gain favor by using the military. They are not puppets to be used to gain political points. They are out greatest Patriots, willing to fight for our country of needed. And speaking of politics, since this is obviously a political stunt, it should be paid for by the Trump reelection committee. I'll ignore it and follow my usual July 4th traditions.
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@Pogo
But the 4th of July is not a military holiday. We have Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Armed Forces. And honestly - how will tanks look like on display next to the Lincoln Memorial?
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@Pogo. It’s quite different from non-combat veterans, actually. They didn’t use wealth and privilege to lie and cheat to get out of ANY type of military service, even administrative jobs or support functions. And not just once, but 5 times.
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@Pogo Try this on for size: "...I find it difficult to witness our draft dodging "fortunate son" president attempting to gain favor by using the military.".
There, I fixed it.
I too am a veteran, retired Army and served in two wars-and enlisted just as I was informed I would be drafted.
And I have that right to call this spectacle Bone Spurs is producing for what it is-"Hey Look At Me".
Now, as for paying for it-let the grifter pay. It is all about him and little about the military as many believe.
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I should think the two items that the military has had enough of are tanks and jets. The money could have been used to start to revamp the VA hospitals or begin to build new. Thank you for your service but I have a parade to myself to behold.
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I'm doing the most patriotic thing I can think of on July 4th and going to Canada, a country that actually cares about helping its citizens and providing health care and affordable education and clean air. Its also a protest against what is going on in this country and the Republican and Trump war on democracy and the 99 percent. How can anyone feel patriotic when the Constitution is being shredded every day by Trump?
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Unfortunately, I haven't felt patriotic since we were scammed into Vietnam.
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@okctipp. Do us a favor and visit the local open houses realtor event.
From The declaration of Independence
..."But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies ; and such now is the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the current President of The United States is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only."
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@HoodooVoodooBlood Thank you. A timely and important reminder. History does indeed repeat itself. Those who do not learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it. Beware.
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That Lincoln had "many foes and many supporters" has nothing to do with the partisan passions that Trump has inflamed and personal attacks upon which he thrives. Lincoln's goals in the War Between the States was to preserve the union, abolish slavery, and ultimately to "bind up the nation's wounds" Trump's agenda is to divide and rule.
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Though some shows, fireworks and picnics are standard fare for celebrating on the mall, thinly disguised re-election events, featuring Trump are not.
The GOP should pay for their advertising instead of sticking Americans with the bill.
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Sorry, Alex, but I can't ignore an illegitimate fascist dictator trying to turn the country my father's only brother (and my namesake) died to protect during WWII into his own personal Soviet Union.
The tanks and the military vehicles in the parade on the streets of Washington DC are intended to get the American people comfortable with having US military personnel patrolling the streets of major cities as a federal police force.
(Yes, I'm aware it's illegal to use the military inside America's borders, but that depends on Trump obeying the law. Good luck with that. Who's going to stop him if he chooses to violate it?)
In Trump's plan for America, minor heretofore local and states crimes will become federal crimes--i.e. speeding on a federal highway--to remove US citizens from the protection of Democratic states (New York, California, Illinois) and Democratic cities (San Francisco, NYC, Chicago) as a way to lock them up in federal (privatized) detention.
It will be a reversal of forty years of Republican orthodoxy which has favored a weak federal govt. and strong sovereign states. Trump, to get at his enemies, will create a strong federal enforcement machine to reach into Democratic cities and states and target his political enemies.
You and I, Alex, will be the targets.
The military will be used to face down Democratic governors and mayors who have thus far won victories against him in courts.
That will end when the tanks show up.
America needs to wake up. Now.
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We may change the channel but while we are doing so Moscow Don is removing money from our (future) pockets to pay for the charade of political unity. So unfortunately the remote control isn't working and there are no knobs on my 21st century TV, so I'm stuck until 2020.
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An affaire sicker than Gerald the Unelected’s Bicentennial 4th.
I was in DC with the People’s Bicentennial Celebration, a self-funded (OK, the Grateful Dead did supply the sound system) effort MC’d by John Henry Faulk, a great comedic Texas storyteller fired by CBS in the 1950s, when his name showed up on a privately published blacklist magazine.
(The network wouldn’t even hire him to play himself in the opening pre-flashback scene of its docudrama ‘bout how he beat everyone involved in court, “Fear on Trial”)
And people gathered there, I think around 20,000, to listen and sing old and new songs about the places where America hadn’t quite lived up to what we wished it had begin, starting with Leadbelly’s “Bourgeois Town”, about the day he was invited to the Smithsonian Institution to record his music - and not a single decent hotel had a room for a black man and his wife.
After dark, we passed by, and passed up, the official celebration, where a chorus line of scantily clad women was doing a high-kick routine to Woody Guthrie’s Hymn against the Depression, “This Land is Your Land” - “un-American” verses about bread lines and land marked “No Trespassing” conveniently unsung.
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I suspect that the underlying attitude of this op-ed writer is revealed in this comparison:
"Mr. Trump has many foes and many supporters, just as President Lincoln had in his time. The convictions of any given moment are for scales of history to weigh."
Lincoln had his faults, but considering his place in U.S. history, the comparison is grotesque.
Trump commits so many "high crimes and misdemeanors" that it has now become common in some circles to urge people to ignore the latest one because so many others are already a done deal, or pending litigation.
Parading tanks down the streets of the capitol is not just a symbol of an authoritarian regime. Historically it has been a way to intimidate the population, or any segment of the population that might oppose a tyrant. Many Americans are concerned that Trump might refuse to leave office if he loses the 2020 election, unless it is by an overwhelming margin. Trump himself has mused in public that his followers might want him to stay in office beyond a second term, which is in direct opposition to the U.S. Constitution. If that were backed up by tanks, or by "soldiers following orders" it would be the end of U.S. democracy.
The fact that the tanks will be kept in stationary locations is beside the point, since Trump has stated in no uncertain terms that he would prefer to have them rumbling down the streets of the capitol, if only the roads could support their weight.
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Personally, I am for a HUGE parade...when Trump is bounced from office.
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@Truthiness
And again when he is imprisoned. Veuve Clicquot time.
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@Truthiness...for that I'll make a donation!!!
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@Truthiness I've been listening for church (and town, etc.) bells to toll of our restored freedom for 2 years. What a parade and party that will be.
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"Mr. Trump has thrown himself into the planning of the event with the sort of gusto..."
As Andy Hardy used to say, "Let's put on a show." Screens off. Ghost 'em.
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I hope the Times takes it's own advice and ignores the vile episode in the worst of reality TV shows - the Trump presidency.
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Hatred of Trump should not be used to deny a tribute to our military veterans.
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@Mozart, none of our military veterans want to be celebrated with tanks in the 4th of July, nor do they want to work on that holiday instead of being with their families. Try spending the money on VA benefits instead.
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@Mozart Veterans Day is the tribute to our veterans - not Independence Day.
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@Mozart
This is trump’s tribute to himself. trump loves trump and money.
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