TRUMP ORDERS PENTAGON TO ORGANIZE A MILITARY PARADE - FOR TRUMP

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

TRUMP ORDERS PENTAGON TO ORGANIZE A MILITARY PARADE - FOR TRUMP

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Donald Trump’s childish propensity for meaningless and over-the-top ostentation and bombasity has once again reared it ugly head. The Washington Post reported that Trump has ordered the pentagon to organize a huge military parade to be held in Washington, D.C. in the very near future.  While several other countries routinely stage such parades as a part of their national tradition, the United States as a rule has shied away from that kind of military muscle-flexing except upon return of our troops from overseas and to punctuate the end of foreign wars. Adjusted for inflation, the cost of the parade that George H.W. Bush gave after the Gulf War was $21 million.
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Nevertheless, according to the Washington Post, Trump's “marching orders were: ‘I want a parade like the one in France [on Bastille Day],’ a military official told The Post,” and the details are currently being worked out at the highest levels of the military. But there's a burning question that begs to be answered here - what’s motivating Trump to waste badly needed taxpayer dollars to indulge in such an unprecedented whim?  It's an extremely bizarre demand, to say the least.
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White House Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said in a statement that “President Trump is incredibly supportive of America’s great service members who risk their lives every day to keep our country safe," she said, so "he has asked the Department of Defense to explore a celebration at which all Americans can show their appreciation.” That neither rings true, nor does it reflect his actions with regard to veterans. Yes, Donald Trump is more than willing praise our military veterans to promote his whims and agenda, but he’s also made it clear that he’s willing to cut their throats at the drop of a hat.
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Military.com, reported the following:
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The Trump budget “would cap the next military pay raise; hike healthcare fees ‘modestly’ for working-age military retirees, and increase co-payments on pharmacy drugs for TRICARE beneficiaries, including retirees of any age.” It goes on to say, the “administration has fresh cost-cutting plans. Many target federal civilian employees but one that would hit 208,000 seriously disabled older veterans particularly hard. These “IU” veterans have disability ratings from the Department of Veterans Affairs of 60 to 90 percent, but because they aren’t able to work they receive VA compensation as if 100-percent disabled.  Individual Unemployability or IU status provides, on average, an additional $1300 a month in VA disability pay. The administration wants Congress to end IU eligibility next year for any veteran 62 and older who qualifies for at least minimum Social Security payments. Their VA compensation would be rolled back to amounts payable based on their actual disability ratings of 60 to 90 percent.”
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That budget doesn't reflect the actions of a man who "is incredibly supportive of America’s great service members who risk their lives every day to keep our country safe," at all. What it reflects is a cynical manipulator who has absolutely no problem with using suffering vets to promote his own interests. Especially when we consider that they just wasted $24 million on a new refrigerator for Air Force One, and $349.2 million last year just to  play golf. Are these the same Republicans who are always complaining about wasteful government spending?
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In addition, I find it quite odd that all of a sudden Donald Trump has morphed into this super-patriot who loves the military. If this is indeed the case, his passionate love for the military must be a newly acquired taste, because when Donald Trump had the opportunity to demonstrate his love for this country he obtained 5 deferments (FIVE!!!) to avoid the draft, and that has been a Trump family tradition.  Both his father, grandfather, and now his sons all avoided military service as well. So four generations of Trumps ran like hell when they had an opportunity to serve their country. But now he loves the troops so much he wants to give them a parade, even as he’s robbing them of their benefits to finance nauseatingly huge tax cuts for the top 1% of this country’s controlling oligarchs. 
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So all of that strongly suggests that it's not very likely that Trump wants to stage a parade for our troops. The much more obvious answer - and the ramifications of which should be absolutely chilling to all Americans - is he wants to squander millions of taxpayer dollars in order to hold a parade in honor of himself.  That's not only terrifying due of his gross disregard and manipulation of the American people, but because it speaks directly to his narcissistic vision of himself, and his widely suspected mental instability and autocratic tendencies.  And what's equally terrifying and disgusting is, instead of trying to protect American democracy the Republican Party is catering to Trump's obvious instability for their own selfish gain.
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Retired Major General Paul Eaton penned what some have referred to as a "jaw-dropping" response to Trump's call for a military parade. The general said the following:
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MAJOR GENERAL PAUL EATON

“Donald Trump has continually shown himself to have authoritarian tendencies, and this is just another example, 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.
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“The military is not Donald Trump’s to use and abuse in this way.” The retired major general went on to say that the military would not be “reduced to stagecraft to prop up Donald Trump’s image.
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“Unfortunately, we do not have a commander in chief, right now, as much as we have a banana republic strong man.”
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So the stakes are too high for us to continue to tap dance around this issue - Donald Trump is unstable; we all know it, and the heads of state of all of the nations of the world know it. In fact, many of our long-time allies are distancing themselves from us for just that reason. Due to Donald Trump, America is no longer being led buy the best among us, but the loudest, most obnoxious, and craziest among us, and he's flooding our government with more like himself on a daily basis.  That's not only a huge threat to our democracy, but to our very existence. And further. we cannot trust this man's judgement, that's why his attorneys don't want him to be interviewed by Special Prosecutor Mueller.  What if Trump's approval ratings fall into the twenties and he decides that the best way to get them back up is to engage in a "limited" nuclear exchange with North Korea, or if Kim Jong Un says or does something that fractures Trump's fragile ego or sense of narcissism? A simple slight could lead to the end the world.

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And finally, Trump's demand for a military parade for himself clearly shows that he's not interested in what he can do to improve America or the world at all; it's all about Donald Trump. Through his narcissistic eyes all America represents to him is a powerful extension of his own ego.  So we're in a precariously dangerous situation. Absolutely everything that Trump has done since he's been in office has been designed to make himself look good to his mindless supporters, so this can't continue.  Donald Trump is about to implode, so it is absolutely imperative that we take the necessary steps to insure that he can't take America, and the world, down with him.  This man doesn't belong in the White House; he belongs in a state hospital - and if we continue to just sit on our hands and do nothing, maybe we belong there with him.

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SO FACE IT, TRUMP

NOT EVEN A MILITARY PARADE WILL MAKE YOU

EQUAL TO THIS BLACK MAN

Eric L. Wattree 
wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)

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Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

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