Tanks A Lot

"There is one day of the year when America should receive nothing but praise.  That's July Fourth." - Paul Fussell (1924-2012) 

If Fussell were alive today, he might want to eat his own words.

On July 4, I usually publish a meme wishing greetings for Independence Day and leave it at that. But I can't do that this year.  Instead, I must speak out on how Donald Trump hijacked the national Independence Day celebration in Washington.  He plans to make a highly politicized speech not about the virtues of America but rather what he thinks the virtues of America are.  That is, military power - and lots of it.  VIP tickets to the celebration have been given to members of the Republican National Committee but not the Democratic National Committee.  Trump expects military leaders to flank him on either side when he appears, and he's leading a celebration that includes several of these.

This is an Abrams tank, a component of the U.S.'s mighty arsenal that has been used in many a military adventure, which Trump, I've been led to understand, wanted to have parade down the streets of Washington to show how bad-ass we are - no, how bad-ass he is.  These tanks are huge enough to crush rocky terrain, as well as asphalt. That may be why they will be merely parked outside the Lincoln Memorial but not be paraded down Constitution Avenue.  But we all know that Trump - and the Republican Party, which has made it clear for decades that Democrats are not a legitimate part of America - would love to have them in motion.  This celebration - dubbed a "Salute To America" - will be a political rally masquerading as a national celebration, and at a great monetary cost, with Trump acting like the dictator he wants to be, looking down at all he controls.

And by the way,  I can only think of one time a President sent tanks to a major American city.

And it didn't work out well for Detroit in 1967 either.

Trump got this idea from watching France's Bastille Day parade in Paris.  Ah, France - elegant perfume, intelligent movies, splendid urban architecture, high-speed rail - and this is the idea Trump wants to emulate?

There are other parts of the national Independence Day celebration in Washington that have nothing to do with Trump.  But this part is certain to grab all the headlines.