The Boston Globe has a daily feature called Fast Forward written by Teresa Hanafin. I enjoy reading whatever she writes. Here she is in Trump’s parade:
All I wish on this Fourth of July holiday weekend is that Trump doesn’t embarrass us any more than he already has with his co-opting of the DC celebration for partisan political purposes and a grandiose exercise in self-flattery.
Blowing up what has always been a nonpartisan event for ordinary Americans, Trump set up a special VIP viewing section in front of the Lincoln Memorial and distributed tickets to the Republican National Committee, but not the Democratic National Committee. He also gave a bloc of VIP tickets to his campaign organization and to big-money donors, essentially using the celebration as a major fundraiser for his reelection campaign.
As Jennifer Rubin of The Washington Post put it, nothing says Fourth of July like preferential treatment for rich toadies.
And then there are the tanks. And the armored vehicles. And the fighter jets. (Tinpot Trump demanded that the service commanders of each branch stand beside him during the flyovers, although CNN is reporting that some commanders, uncomfortable at being used as political props, won’t attend.)
This vainglorious show of US military might, compensation for a deceitful failure to serve, is simply not what we do. Everybody knows we have the biggest hammer in the world. We have never felt the need to brag about it.
Retired four-star Army General Stanley McChrystal suggested that Trump could have honored US values of citizenship and service by recognizing say, Peace Corps volunteers.
“Tanks, planes, they are things,” he said. “They are not the sinew of the nation.”
What is? Democracy. The rule of law. Freedom. Justice. Integrity. Civility. And, in stark contrast to Trump’s display of military muscle, it’s also the Founding Fathers’ grand experiment in civilian self-rule.
And then there’s the price tag. The White House refuses to provide taxpayers with cost estimates. All we know is that the National Park Service, which oversees the National Mall and the monuments, is being forced to transfer $2.5 million to Trump’s kingly Quinceañero, money that’s supposed to be used to maintain and improve national parks across the country. But that’s just a fraction of what the celebration will cost — an event that in previous years cost just $2 million.
Narcissism, divisiveness, reckless spending of public money, no transparency, last-minute chaos … sounds like the entire Trump reign, no?
Me the president instead of We the People. Politics instead of patriotism. Ego instead of egalitarianism. The cult of personality rather than the promise of the collective.
A new poll shows that only 45 percent of US men and women are “extremely proud” to be Americans. (What a shock.) So what to do? Celebrate with your families and friends. Embrace and encourage the good in your communities. And remember the true promise and glory of America.
From WaPo:
Trump urged Americans to prepare for “one of the biggest gatherings in the history of Washington, D.C., on July 4th . . . Major fireworks display, entertainment and an address by your favorite President, me!”
I’m waiting for the side-by-side pictures ando f the crowds — betting money that the crowd for Nathan’s hot dog eating contest will be far bigger than for his inane speech!
Inane? Hardly. I bet Propaganda Minister Miller has been up all night writing this, his magnum opus.
I’m not going to give a political speech here today, OK? Except. You know. Ha ha. I’ll just say. The Democrats. The Democrats—they didn’t want this to happen. They don’t love America. Well, we love America. That’s why people support Donald Trump. How many people here today? 12 million? Obama never got crowds like that. And the military. Not to get political, but they love Trump. So proud. So proud. Just look at this crowd. 36 million people. That’s history, folks. And Ivanka. Beautiful, huh? Good genes, right? I have the best genes. Strong borders. So, Happy Birthday, America. God bless. And Keep America Great Again. Make America. Covfefe.
Imagine the money spent on this obscenity having been spent, instead, to assist refugees fleeing starvation and violence in Central America.
Or even spending the money as it was budgeted by the national park service. The park service has been starved for funds for all the Obama administration during the republican sequester, and our parks serve more and more with less and less. As horrendous as trump has been for the other aspects of government, his environmental policy has been even more harmful.
Mix intelligence
With humility and there’s
Abraham Lincoln
Combine ignorance
With arrogance and you have
PresDunce Donald Trump.
Ignorance and arrogance. A most toxic cocktail!
Trump tweet on the morning of the 4th of July, 2019:
Great news for the Republican Party as one of the dumbest & most disloyal men in Congress is “quitting” the Party. No Collusion, No Obstruction! Knew he couldn’t get the nomination to run again in the Great State of Michigan. Already being challenged for his seat. A total loser!
4 hours ago
So statesmanlike!
Speaks for itself.
Crude, stupid, cruel, outlandishly inappropriate and out of proportion, un-American, etc.
Yup. QED.
Amash is in western Michigan, which is not just “Republican” but is wholly owned by the DeVos family.
They should worry if they’ve lost him. Just a couple of years ago they all promoted him as a rising star in the Party. He was the new face of conservatism- younger, smarter, more diverse.
Apparently they’re going with Trump’s face 🙂
I don’t get network tv anymore so I know I won’t be watching it. I will let NPR tell me how it went. Happy 4th if it is anyone’s birthday out there……lol.
NPR took $600,000 from the Waltons in 2013 (6 Walton heirs have wealth equivalent to 40% of Americans combined). The money was from the pot the Waltons set aside for their anti-public school campaign.
That immoral, illegal, narcissistic, and illiterate moron is definitely getting more outlandish, CRAZIER and yes … DESPERATE.
His actions are: a CRY for help. Honest. He wants to be stopped. He’s a perpetual two-year-old throwing fits for attention.
Where’s the psych ward?
Google Translate
Trumpspeak
I don’t care about offending people.
————————————————
English
I don’t care about desecrating the constitution, the same way a mob boss doesn’t care about rubbing out an informant with ties to ‘the family’.
I hope that MOTHER nature pours rain down on his parade and his hair.
I would not mind if there was also some hailthe size of softballs or canteloups. I’d like the weather to be bad enough for a total cancellation, for safety reasons, of all of the flyovers and fireworks.
I hope swirling winds strip bare the dividers set up for fat cat donors to Trump and the Republican party.
I hope locals have the good sense to stay home and deprive Trump of bragging rights about the MILLIONS of people who turned out for HIS parade. I hope the Twittersphere crashes.
And that is a mild version of my opinion of the Comandeer in chief of timid toadies.
Otherwise have a good July 4th.
From your mind to God’s ear, Laura! #45 is a national disgrace.
My mother just texted me that she’s been doing a rain dance, so maybe your wish will come true, Laura!
Now, that, Laura, is what I call a curse! Bravo!
Trump’s Authoritarian Perversion Of The 4th Of July
https://mailchi.mp/df20ac0b69d1/trumps-authoritarian-perversion-of-the-4th-of-july
“In spite of the way many Republicans conflate the two, patriotism is not nationalism. Loyalty to our country is not equivalent to loyalty to the President. Celebrating Independence Day is not about celebrating the President. Nevertheless, Donald Trump persisted in his endeavor to turn the 4th of July into an authoritarian ego boost. The event is called “Salute to America,” but in reality, it is really just President Trump’s salute to himself.”
” Trump is making a mockery of the day Americans celebrate our Declaration of Independence from a tyrant, by trying to make the historic day a celebration of a tyrant. The 4th of July is supposed to be a non-partisan moment of unity where Americans celebrate our country. Instead, Trump is holding a campaign-style event at the National Mall.”
Veterans for Impeachment
Tom Steyer
Uploaded on Jul 2, 2019
Dear Ms. Pelosi, . . .
Trump really, really hates walking his hair in the rain.
Not going to watch, but it is striking, even for this moron, that he’ll do the “speech” even in the rain. Compare his response to D-Day commemoration. Just watched 5 minutes of the “news” and the consensus seems to be if he doesn’t throw poop, he will be “statesmanlike.”
Let’s hope it pours and he gets the William Henry Harrison consequence.
I just read that the Orange Buffoon is planning to speak.
This from CNN:
Nearly 100 flights are scheduled to arrive or depart from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport today during the time the airport’s runways are scheduled to be closed due to Independence Day festivities in the nation’s capital, a CNN review of flight records found.
The airport’s website lists 63 arrivals and 33 departures during the two windows when the FAA has ordered airport operations suspended due to a military plane flyover and extended fireworks show.
Breaking:
No fireworks. Only Jimmy Fallon coming out to muss Trump’s hair under bright lights. Then Fallon will launch into a Shakespearean-style soliloquy matched by a giant muppet of Trump’s hair announcing admin successes in monotone, with Simon and Garfunkel music in the background that shifts into The Rolling Stones. Finally, Trump and Miller jump out and cement each other into concrete barriers. Lights dim. Everyone goes home.
Shakespearean-style soliloquy of regret and shame
LOL. Epic!
On July 4th, a billionaire Trump supporter, a coal billionaire from W. Va., died in a helicopter crash while on a luxurious vacation in the Caribbean islands. It’s clear after reading the comments of average citizens that followed the report, anger against the ruling class is gaining.
“We are one people, chasing one dream, and one magnificent destiny,” Trump said. “We all share the same heroes, the same home, the same heart, and we are all made by the same Almighty God, the one that changed the time consortium (sic) so that our revolutionary soldiers could seize the airports at Yorktown and Howard Beach. And, by the way, we kept all of our time portals. In fact, be careful when you use the gold-plated port-a-potties, be very careful. You may feel transported, OK? At $100,000 a go, why not? Some of you may be changing history, some may plant a flag on Mars. Who knows? We’ll see how that goes. Or we may be on Mars right now, or fifty years ago. You know, time wars are good, OK? They’re easy to win, as I will tell you, when you look at real estate, when you see what’s happening to banking and the climate, OK.”
Cogent by Republican standards, both for a speaker and the audience.
Can we fast forward to a time when Trump is not president?
Within the continuum of our democratic ideas, the American experiment, he is not the president, he is not a voice. He is a glitch, a crack, a typo, a virus, a pretender, an affliction, a heavily leveraged historical mishap, a blight in search of validation, an infection that exposed an underlying condition.
Beautifully, beautifully said, AKademos!!!
So, so beautifully written. Perfect. Bravo!!!!
This is off topic but one that most likely the Orange Buffoon/Tangerine Tyrant/Pussy-Grabber-in-Chief doesn’t understand. I’ve written comments back to people who insist that these rapists and drug dealers should apply for amnesty in their home country.
……..
Can Asylum-Seekers Apply at U.S. Embassies Abroad?…Snopes
A frequent but wholly inaccurate talking point used by some opponents of more open southern border immigration policies is the claim that asylum-seekers can present themselves and apply for asylum at locations outside of the United States, such as a U.S. consulate or embassy. Why, the argument falsely posits, would persons with genuine claims to asylum risk their lives (and potentially the lives of their family members as well) to cross the U.S. border illegally when they could simply wait out the asylum approval process from the relative comfort of the countries in which they currently reside?:
The answer, in part, is that one cannot apply for asylum anywhere but in the United States. Though nine U.S. consulate general offices and one U.S embassy are indeed located in Mexico, those facilities would be useless to asylum-seekers. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), “To apply for asylum in the U.S., you must be physically present in the U.S”:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/asylum-at-embassy/