The Triumph of Trump’s Will
When I think of celebratory military parades with lots of heavy weaponry and the like, images of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union come to mind. Authoritarian regimes, strongly militaristic, led by dictators.
When I think of U.S. military parades, featuring large numbers of troops, I think of victory parades after World War II that celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany. Back then, the idea was to celebrate the triumph of the free world over darkness, not the triumph of Trump’s will over wokeness.
The naked celebration of military strength in Trump’s proposed parade is yet another example of American militarism on steroids. It marks the further erosion of democracy in America and a coarsening of the human spirit in America.
Trump’s parade, scheduled to coincide with his birthday on June 14th (Flag Day as well), may cost as much as $100 million. But that price tag is minuscule compared to the damage it does to America’s image.
For Trump, openly embracing the idea (and ideal) of America as a dominant empire built around a trillion-dollar-a-year military just seems commonsensical. An acknowledgement of the obvious and the irreversible.
It’s high time America acted to prove him wrong.
Bracing Views 
“But that price tag is minuscule compared to the damage it does to America’s image.”
That used to be a sentiment of mine as well, but as I’ve become aware, America’s image is only what we ourselves have been duped into thinking it was for democracy and human rights and doing good in the world. We’ve not only drunk the Kool-Aid, we’ve been swimming in it.
Everyone else has seen the US for what it is, e.g., Iraq, Iran, Viet Nam, Nicaragua…, even our supposed allies, e.g., the UK, Australia, Germany, etc. ‘cept they’re on the take for the Benyahims too.
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I took a motorcycle trip into Mexico when I was in college. I was startled by the presence of the military. I saw troop trucks driving, with troops aboard, right along with traffic in the cities, something I had never seen in the US.
It is still rare to see military vehicles here, but police and security agencies are everywhere now. Since the Luigi Mangione killing of a CEO, vans with “Protective Services” are everywhere, apparently a bodyguard service for the wealthy. Doors are locked, permission is needed for, it seems, everything and the government has made all kinds of documents secret. We did have an open society, right down to the front doors of homes on residential streets, but now every property needs a fence, alarm systems, etc.
How lucky I was to have been a child in the US in the 1950’s. Now it is “before you ask, the answer is no”, “alarm will sound”, and “no trespassing”
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Bill, this comment comes long after your posting, but I thought the subject matter is related and worth putting here. This comes from Glenn Greenwald who writes today, July 9…
“Several senior executives of America’s leading tech companies – including major tech companies like Palantir and Facebook – have recently and proudly boasted publicly that they had just become commissioned officers in the U.S. Army. Even though they had no previous career path in the military, the Chief Technology Officer of Palantir and Facebook and others of that kind, were just made lieutenant colonels out of nowhere. Strange and sudden as that is, one could write it off as symbolic. This integration is multi-pronged, has been developed over many years and it has serious implications. We’ll analyze that.”
The full program can be watched at https://rumble.com/v6vmvv9-system-update-show-480.html
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Can we send them into battle in their new uniforms and rank?
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