Did you hear? President Trump wants to have a military parade, and we can join ourselves in by entering the “vehemently hate everything the president does” bandwagon!
Yes, according to the Washington Post, President Trump is collaborating with the Pentagon to set in motion a procession of military prowess some time this year, and as you’d imagine, there’s been a bonanza of concern surrounding the 45th president’s desired parade. Complaints of a totalitarian image, a reckless showing of power against North Korea, and the funds needed to bolster this momentous occasion have flurried around the internet, and there comes a point where you have to consider how much objection to the president is enough.
I’m certainly no fan of the president and find myself criticizing a parade’s worth of his decisions, but this is one in which the only reaction elicited from me was a “Oh that’s neat that he wants to honor our troops.”
While I understand that there will always be opinions opposing the actions of the administration, I find that there are certain things that become unnecessarily plucked apart until an over-politicized husk is all that remains.
Of all the things people are vexed about in regards to President Trump, a innocuous military parade seems to be the least of our concerns. It is admittedly rare for a president to want to hold such an event, especially since the last military parade held by a Commander-in-Chief was by President George Herbert Walker Bush in celebration of victory in the Gulf War, but there isn’t anything that decrees the President can’t hold a casual military stroll down Pennsylvania.
However, the point that gets lost among the antagonisms towards this proposal is that President Trump merely wants to honor the service of the armed forces and that he was reportedly impressed with the military march he witnessed in France. Claims of a Soviet-esque image of totalitarian might are blowing the image out of proportions. It takes the initial reaction of peculiarity into a frame of unjustified fear and aggression.
This isn’t a deliberate tableau of some fascist or communist army extravaganza, it’s merely attempting to pay respect to the people who serve to protect our nation abroad.
In regards to the frigid showdown between Trump and Kim Jong-Un, I wouldn’t be in such a hurry to potential conclusions. Unless an explicit message is sent by the administration to North Korea (which is very unlikely), I believe that shouldn’t be a heaping concern that we’re resurrecting a Cold War era showoff of arms.
We have made an actual show of force to North Korea before and it was far more direct than President Trump’s planned parade. Even if you’re certain this is more of an exhibit than a commemoration, it would seem folly to exhaust your efforts to protest something that as of yet, is obviously intended to be a purely laudable thanks to our armed forces. We’ve already seen how showboating to North Korea took place on their home turf, why do we have to automatically assume a parade here at home has a vindictive intent?
However, the finance of such a parade is a genuine concern, potentially “running into the millions” as stated by the Washington Post, but the point I want to make is that if Trump wants to have a military parade because he was impressed by one he saw in France, then it’s not a big deal.
I simply see no harm in his intent. It has an honoring of the brave men and women who serve our country.
The controversy that seems to magnetize towards Trump’s actions Trump isn’t based off his exploitative intentions; we crave to lambaste the president so much that when we can’t find controversy, we create one.
The criticism of this parade allows our contribution to the political divide to bleed through, preying on whatever scraps that have Trump’s name tied to it. Protest is not wrong, but if we keep opposing every action made by President Trump, we will be swallowed by our own contempt before we can focus our attention to issues that truly need solving.
