Should we have a empty, bunting covered float with a “Zuma” sign on it?
Too soon?
I was thinking more of an empty, bunting covered float with an “F-22” sign on it.
(It is a stealth aircraft.)
Yeah it’s uncanny how much it’s playing out just like it always does and how easily. You have the intentional rewriting of history (slaves were happy!); the apologists for every outrage (France does it!); the Quislings (meet Ben Carson!) and the it can’t happen here (hi moderates!). Sure, a military parade, why not? What’s one more compromise? A parade, let the baby have his bottle, what’s the worst that can happen?
Where’s the vote for “Wow, this is stupid.”?
My read of the article is that this isn’t attempting to ape the habits of any fascist state. It’s simply a straight-up example of the tiny-dicked manchild in charge wanting to put on a big show of himself playing with his toys. He saw an impressive spectacle elsewhere and wants to play too, like the big boys do. That’s all this is.
Moronic dipshit flushes money down the toilet. Again. Film at 11.
Idi Amin Dada? That’s three "i"s, three "d"s and one gun.
(Really old joke I believe from SNL that has always stuck in my brain)
FYR, I found an video of a Soviet military parade from 30-some years ago. In particular, note how the armored vehicle/tank commanders snap off a sharp salute as they pass the review stand. If they insist on that, I know it will make me more than just a tiny bit uncomfortable if I happen to be watching it.
To be fair(gag), the President is the Commander-In-Chief. A salute is required in his presence.
He just doesn’t need the rows of tanks and artillery and missiles to go with it.
Have the guy with the gun march past, then run behind the stands and do it again. Keep it up as long as necessary. Maybe pass the gun to another guy behind the stands if the first guy gets tired.
Anwar Sadat? Well, maybe not the last one.
My graduate field was in Eastern European history. You bet your ass I’m squicked.
I really don’t give a shit about it. I voted “ok with it.” There are a million other things that are far more of an outrage to me regarding Trump. I don’t think it’s inherently fascist to have a military parade, and I’m not gonna get all worked up about something just because it’s Trump’s idea.
Everyone I know who’s in the military or has been in the military recently, if not liking Trump outright, likes the military leaders that he’s appointed. Mattis in particular seems to be revered by a lot of military guys. I’ve heard veterans say that even though they think Trump sucks, his national defense appointees are a “dream team.”
^ with that being said, I hope Trump actually consulted with military officials and got a consensus on whether or not this was a good idea. Not in terms of its optics, but in terms of “is this going to be a giant pain in the ass/waste of money for the military”? If the answer was “yes” and he did it anyway, fuck him.
Kim Jong-un? Kim Jong-il? Kim Il-sung?
Seriously, though, I’ll be happy to have a parade when:
The last troops come home from AFGHANISTAN!!
So that means they are a fascist country now?
In those parades they always used vehicles with shiny paint jobs that were not suited for their designed role. The US doesn’t have anything like that. (The Berlin Brigade used to but that’s long gone) And our military doesn’t spend a lot of time marching after basic training. They are either going to spend a lot of time doing stupid shit to get ready or things aren’t going to be that pretty.
There were always questions about the Soviets operational readiness but they knew how to throw a parade.
Don’t really need those IRBM’s, thats more of a soviet thing. But I think a squadron of B-52’s followed by a Squadron of A-10’s would get the can of whoop ass across nicely.
It’s not about whoop-ass, it’s about penis. Plus flyovers are nice but you really want to be trundling this stuff past the review stand at five miles an hour for maximum display and impact - and if you tried that with the aircraft they might not fit on the road.
Trump has got an outstanding inferiority complex. Russia and North Korea may have their own reasons for parading their military equipment, but those reasons are theirs and not ours. Yes, the entire world knows, many of them firsthand, that we have a military that will kill ya dead. To parade the equipment as a way to satisfy a personal shortcoming on Trump’s part is obscene and antagonistic.
Agreed, but I think in this case it’s also a case of shiny toy syndrome. He as America doesn’t have such a parade and he wants one. And it will be bigger and better because “America, fuck yeah!”
+1
It would be more appropriate to have an empty float labeled F-52… 