President Trump is just radioactive for some folks. He cannot say anything without raising the ire of a certain segment of the population. It's really pretty sad and is getting very tiresome. It seems that almost every day there is something else that causes a certain segment of the population to go apoplectic. As I've previously written, He wasn’t my guy but he’s now my President. I get that some are opposed to him. And that's as it should be. But the blind resistance that results in paralysis is just not good for any of us. One of the latest things is that in the last week he has made the comment that he'd like to have a military parade. This idea has met with resistance from many quarters. The usual suspects are mightily against it, but some who you wouldn't expect to raise objections are doing just that.
Here's the back story (at least how I see it). Trump went to military school as a young man. He credits that experience for instilling a lot of traits that he has carried through his life. Discipline, a certain dedication to a regimen (he doesn't drink or smoke), an appreciation for order, an appreciation for the military, and an admiration for people who step up to the call. Since becoming President there can be no denying his admiration for the military. He has been to bases and ships and has had interactions with all kinds of military people. He has picked for a Secretary of Defense someone who is widely admired in the military. Last summer he felt honored to be invited to France to witness their Bastille Day parade, which is a glorious site. As the military units march down the Champs D'Elysee to the Arc de Triomphe there is a majesty to it. The feeling of pride is unmistakable. There are similar parades in the UK but they are more situational. The Queen's Jubilee or a Royal Marriage can bring out the best in them. For my money, the Brits are the best at pomp and ceremony, but the French do it pretty well also. And there are others.
The point is, military parades are pretty recognized as providing the populations with a chance to admire and thank their military men and women who have stepped up to service, give the military a real sense of pride, show the population what their tax dollars are going toward, and show the world what we can bring to the fight, both from a hardware and personnel perspective.
But...as we see with almost everything that Trump tries to do, the first reaction is for the resistance to resist. They don't want us to look like a Communist country that routinely parades their hardware in military parades while their people starve. Of course, many of these same people support Bernie Sanders who would take us down the road to Communism. Or they think it would be too expensive citing all kinds of stats on how much it would cost. Of course, these stats might as well be pulled out of the air because this kind of thing could be measured in all sorts of ways. Or they say let's spend the money on our homeless vets citing the need for housing for them. Of course, in the course of their everyday comings and goings, they don't give a shit about homeless vets. And never will. And they don't or won't see that in an economy of trillions of dollars if we wanted to solve the homeless vets problem, we'd do it. We'd elect people who would fix it. And they'd never acknowledge that under Trump the VA has improved tremendously. Or if they do acknowledge it, they'd say that Obama really started it. So there are a ton of people who oppose it just to oppose it because Trump wants to do it and that's just the way it is.
The surprising thing to me is all the retired and active military folks I see opposing it. I assume they've been a part of parades in their lives. Is it a hassle? Generally. But it also (at least for me) sparks a real pride. Pride in country. Pride in service. Pride in fellow shipmates. Etc. So I don't see the big reason to not do it. Oh, I understand that we probably shouldn't have a big emphasis on rolling tanks and missiles and other bit hardware down Pennsylvania Avenue. That's not us. But a good old fashioned parade of people and bands and some cool equipment accompanied by an impressive flyover would, at least for me, be great. I think it should be coupled with some significant holiday and the logical ones are July 4, Memorial Day or Veteran's Day. I think any of those would work.
Secretary Mattis has said that they are sending over some options for the WH to consider. I trust Mattis to provide options that are reasonable and would be impressive. I hope my fellow citizens will take a breath, realize a couple things. Rather than ascribe the worst possible motive to the President's idea to have a military parade, see it for what it is. An attempt to thank those in uniform, to acknowledge their sacrifice and our indebtedness to them, and a hope that it might bring people together and result in a renewed pride in the country. Quit counting all the things wrong with it and see the things right with it. Give up looking for all the little reasons why it's a bad idea when in reality they just don't like Trump and it was his idea. Stop being a cynic. The best definition of a cynic I've heard is that it's someone who knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing. We have way too many cynics these days throwing up roadblocks and denigrating everything that someone that they don't agree with proposes. A popular watchword these days is diversity and I'm all for it. But I'm more for unity. We can be hugely diverse, but if we're not unified we're doomed. Because that's what makes us who we are.
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