I currently have NO WORDS to describe my reaction to this other than repeating WTF??? ~ ~ some "live links" in the original ~ Sooz

Trump directs Pentagon to prepare a military parade
02/07/18 08:00 AM—Updated 02/07/18 08:06 AM
By Steve Benen

In theory, Donald Trump seems to have a lengthy to-do list. The president and congressional lawmakers are engaged in difficult talks over everything from immigration to the budget to North Korea, and there’s no shortage of pressing deadlines.

But in practice, Trump seems to have quite a bit of time to consider some of his other priorities – such as military parades. NBC News reported overnight:


A Pentagon spokesman confirmed to NBC News that the president has made the request. A senior administration official added that Trump has “given the directive to begin the planning so the planning has begun.”

And while plenty of details still need to be worked out, the Washington Post’s report included this tidbit: “The location is still being discussed, though Trump has said he would like it to proceed along Pennsylvania Avenue, which links the Capitol and the White House. It would be the same route as Trump’s inaugural parade and pass by his family’s showpiece: Trump International Hotel.”

It’s as if the president heard criticisms of his authoritarian instincts and responded, in the voice of a James Bond villain, “I’ll show them….”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders added yesterday that the plans are an extension of the president being “incredibly supportive of America’s great service members,” which is true, just so long as we overlook the instances in which Trump wasn’t incredibly supportive of the military.

If this sounds vaguely familiar, you might be thinking of this Huffington Post piece from early last year.


On the show in March 2017, Rachel showed footage of military parades in Russia and North Korea, and added, “There’s no law against parading your military, whether or not it’s an important anniversary. But through American eyes, this is a little weird, right? If this gives you the willies to look at, it’s because it’s supposed to. This is an unabashed, uncomplicated, undisguised display of military prowess or national insecurity, depending on how you look at it.”

And now it seems we know exactly how our current president looks at it.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-directs-pentagon-prepare-military-parade

I'm thinking the $$$ + resources necessary to fund this paean to the DiC's ego would be far better spent on necessities for homeless/hungry vets ~ ~ Sooz

‘Not about showcasing our military’: Retired admiral attacks Trump’s ego-driven demand for military parade
Sarah K. Burris / 07 Feb 2018 at 07:21 ET

President Donald Trump demanded a military parade as part of his inauguration but it never came to fruition. Now he’s demanding the Pentagon make it happen, but a retired admiral and general think it’s all about the president’s ego.

“I don’t like it, not at all,” said retired Rear Adm. John Kirby on CNN. “This is not about showcasing our military. This is about the president showing off. This is all about his ego.”

Kirby went on to explain that a military parade for Trump is “an inappropriate use of time, talent and resources” at a time that the United States government is strapped for funding and budgets are being slashed.

“The second thing is this is beneath us as a nation,” he continued. “We are the most powerful military on earth. We don’t need to be parading our military hardware down Pennsylvania Avenue to show that to anybody. Thirdly, I think it is a waste of resources. Millions of dollars could be put to other better uses: operations, training, not to mention just taking care of our people. Spouse education programs, that kind of thing. I think this is just a tremendously bad idea.”

Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling couldn’t agree more. During the first Iraq War, former President George H. W. Bush held a parade in celebration to an “unofficial end” to the war. Hertling was ironically still on the ground fighting in Iraq at the time.

He said that a soldier told him about the parade and said “I would rather be in combat than marching down Pennsylvania Avenue.”

His Twitter survey yielded about 100 responses from soldiers who all agreed that they “don’t want any part of these kinds of parades.”

“The reason for it, John [Kirby] is exactly right, there are resource issues, implications for logistics,” Hertling said. “It would be extremely expensive. It would tear up the streets. You could get past all of those arguments and just say one thing: It’s not who we are as a military.”

He explained that the United States military has a different kind of culture that doesn’t strut.

“We do not portray ourselves walking down the streets,” he explained. “Instead, we do the parades on Main Street in the middle of Idaho during the Fourth of July with flags taped to kids’s handlebars. That’s the kind of parades we have. We don’t have to portray military might because the world knows how strong we are. It is not part of our culture. It hasn’t been since the military was founded in the 1700s.”

Kirby said that the plans will be interesting to see if they try and walk it back.

“I think the military leaders at the Pentagon are trying to think how they can scope this in such a way that it isn’t a waste of resources and being a little too grandiose for our boots.

Cuomo cited a friend of his who is in the Army who said that the U.S. military is “all go, no show” in how they see themselves.

Watch below: [video accessible via the end link]

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/02/not-showcasing-military-retired-admiral-attacks-trumps-ego-driven-demand-military-parade/

Comparisons to Hitler and Stalin are definitely in order here.

I warned a certain person at another site that we'll be hearing the sound of jackboots marching in the streets. She said my hair is on fire (even though I'm as bald as a bean).

I'm guessing we all know who "she" is ~

Sooz

Keep going.

North Korea
East Germany under Ulbricht and Honecker
Romania under Ceausescu
the former Soviet union
the British and the French in their occupied zones in Germany
(the Americans did the little Octoberfest in their zone, don't remember a military parade at all)

I'm trying to find a pattern here.

How much mental health treatment for vets could we fund for that? Oh, right. that might cut down on mass shootings and hurt the NRA

kakistocracy

The genius satire of Andy Borowitz just showed up on my Facebook feed ~ ~ Sooz

Military Refuses to Participate in Trump’s Parade, Citing Bone Spurs
By Andy Borowitz / 10:54 A.M.

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—The Pentagon has turned down Donald J. Trump’s request for a grand military parade in Washington, D.C., citing a sudden outbreak of bone spurs that would prevent men and women in uniform from participating.

Harland Dorrinson, a Pentagon spokesman, said that, within an hour of Trump’s request, more than a hundred thousand military personnel complained that they were suffering from acute cases of bone spurs that would make marching in such a parade a painful ordeal.

“In the history of the U.S. military, we have never experienced a bone-spur epidemic of this magnitude,” the spokesman said. “Regrettably, however, we have no choice but to issue thousands of deferments.”

A statement from the bone-spur sufferers said that they would continue to valiantly serve their country around the world in a non-marching capacity, and offered an alternative to their participation in Trump’s proposed pageant.

“President Trump is welcome to march in the parade all by himself if he would finally like to enlist,” the statement read.

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/military-refuses-to-participate-in-trumps-parade-citing-bone-spurs?mbid=social_facebook

Another distraction... and once again he suckers the media.

VERY strong words ~ ~ Sooz

Ret. major general pens jaw-dropping damnation of Trump parade: ‘We do not have a commander in chief right now’
David Edwards / 07 Feb 2018 at 15:27 ET

Retired Major General Paul Eaton on Wednesday responded to the news that President Donald Trump has asked the Pentagon to begin preparing for a military parade to celebrate the country’s service members and fighting hardware.

The group Vote Vets released Eaton’s statement on Wednesday.


“Donald Trump has continually shown himself to have authoritarian tendencies, and this is just another example,” the statement from Eaton said. “For someone who just declared it was ‘treasonous’ to not applaud him, and for someone who has, in the past, admired the tactics of everyone from Saddam Hussein to Vladimir Putin, it is clear that a military parade isn’t about saluting the military — it’s about making a display of the military saluting him.”

“The military is not Donald Trump’s to use and abuse in this way,” the retired major general continued, insisting that the U.S. military would not be “reduced to stagecraft to prop up Donald Trump’s image.”

“Unfortunately, we do not have a commander in chief, right now, as much as we have a banana republic strong man,” Eaton concluded.

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/02/ret-major-general-pens-jaw-dropping-damnation-trump-parade-not-commander-chief-right-now/

Saddam Hussein

Moamhar Khadafi

It's still a little faint but I can make out something like a pattern by now, Sid.

Ya think?

We're definitely hearing things that bring this to mind ...

Well, Kim had his parade yesterday. I reckon the Donald wants a bigger, better parade now also.

I'm not a fan of this John Kennedy, but his "Confidence is silent. Insecurities are loud." quote is TERRIFIC! ~ ~ Sooz

LIVEWIRE
GOP Sen. Shuts Down Trump’s Wish For Military Parade: ‘Confidence Is Silent’
By Caitlin MacNeal | February 8, 2018 8:36 am

Following reports that President Donald Trump has asked for a military parade, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) on Wednesday offered a succinct explanation as to why that show of force is completely unnecessary.

“I don’t think it’s a particularly good idea. Confidence is silent. Insecurities are loud,” he told ABC News.

“When you’re the most powerful nation in all of human history, you don’t have to show it off, like Russia does, and North Korea, and China,” Kennedy continued. “And we are the most powerful nation in all of human history. Everyone knows that, and there’s no need to broadcast it. I think we would show our confidence by remaining silent, and not doing something like that.”


Trump reportedly asked Pentagon officials in January to put on a military parade, possibly to celebrate Memorial Day, July 4, or Veterans Day. The President enjoyed the parade he said in France on Bastille Day, and he asked for a parade similar to that put on in France, according to the Washington Post.

Defense Secretary James Mattis said that the administration is “putting together some options” when asked Wednesday whether there would be a parade. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also stressed that the administration had not made a final decision.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/john-kennedy-military-parade-not-good-idea

Sidartha wrote:

I warned a certain person at another site that we'll be hearing the sound of jackboots marching in the streets. She said my hair is on fire (even though I'm as bald as a bean).

Was that video yesterday of you getting on a plane?

suspect this is going to backfire.

From one of my favorite political muses ~ ~ Sooz

None of them have the Bone Spur Medal, though.

That one goes on the pant cuff so it would have been cut off in this pic.