The Emperor’s (Costly) Parade, Part II

Aaron Blake, writing in this morning’s Washington Post, as part of the story of Trump’s order to the Pentagon to stage a massive military parade down Pennsylvania (Pennsyl-Vain-ia) Avenue, mentions one particular chipped facet of this flawed gem of an idea: the budget for such a extravaganza.

But Trump's hand in making this a reality, in a way, can't help but make it about him. In fact, this might be the most thoroughly Trump idea of his presidency. Not only are we talking about a huge show of pageantry and strength that could test the bounds of practicality (not to mention the federal budget) but we've also got Trump upending decades of American political tradition to do so — and undoubtedly drawing the ire of opponents who will allege he's acting like an authoritarian.

At a time when the president is cutting this and ripping out that (State Department and other agencies budgets are being slashed); and as he hectors the Congress and the American (and Mexican people, apparently) to fund his wall; tears out the financial foundations for renewable energy production; lops off whole sections of the national parks; pulls us out of the Trans Pacific Partnership and threatens to re-jigger NAFTA; is seriously considering sending millions of otherwise law-abiding not-yet citizens to homelands they haven’t seen in decades (if ever); proposing a trillion dollar infrastructure program; AND, giving the nation’s wealthiest individuals and corporations tax relief that will never, never, never trickle its way down to the common Jane and Joe, he has the gall to tell no less than 18 generals that a parade in his honor (make no mistake about it, it’s not in honor of the military) will make all of us stand up and cheer for our men and women in uniform. 

Let me make this very clear, Mr. President. I say this as the son of a veteran, the grandson of veterans, the inheritor of a bloodline of heroes extending to the American Revolution, and as a federal employee who worked for more than  30 years on behalf our our Nation's veterans and active-duty troops:

We already stand up and cheer our troops…they are the finest in the world, and they do for Freedom what our hearts do for Life. They are the tireless, ceaselessly beating defenders of democracy. Their life’s blood has been spilled in places you will never see, nor probably have never even heard of. That blood runs like a crimson ribbon of courage across the war-tattered pages of the American story.  Your parade will not change or enhance our love and admiration for those who are serving, or our abiding affection for those who rest in Elysian Fields.

If ever a sign was needed to show that the man in the White House has no sense of propriety, compassion, decency, and practicality, this nutty notion of a military parade should be like a triple flashing, sirens-blaring, railroad warning that a massive train of public outrage is rolling down the tracks, and Mr. Trump has stalled his presidency directly on the crossing.

There is simply no way our nation’s budget (or, for that matter, the meager budget of the District of Columbia) can handle such a parade without causing serious ripples across the Pentagon and beyond the Potomac. Can such a parade be paid for? Yes. Should such a parade be paid for with public funds? No. No. No. And if that is not enough. Hell no. And there shouldn’t be a parade at all (as noted in my previous column).

It is one thing for a Presidential Inaugural Committee (three of which I’ve been a part) to raise funds for the every-four-years celebration of the presidency, but even a PIC budget covers only a portion of the overall costs of an inauguration. The Department of Defense, the District of Columbia, local and state governments, all chip in, and the manpower costs just for security, maintenance, and oversight are enormous.

Trump has no idea what the fuel and maintenance costs of running just one $9 million, 60-ton M1 A2 Abrams main battle tank are (much less just getting some tanks to the parade: it takes one C-17 to fly a single tank anywhere, or two C-5s to deliver two tanks, if there aren’t enough tanks in the local DC area); he has no clue what the price of a fighter and bomber flyover would be (jet fuel isn’t cheap, nor are all the attendant costs with re-positioning the aircraft in order to organize and coordinate such an airshow, which has to be practiced); and he has no idea what the cost of assembling thousands of troops and their equipment would be against the overall readiness needs of today’s military. And these are only small examples of what would have to be accounted for should the president actually get his way with this cockamamie scheme.

We are in the middle of an opioid epidemic; we are in the middle of an education/intellectual deficit; gangs cruise our neighborhoods and bullies cruise our schools; our roads are falling apart, our bridges are falling down, our air traffic control system is on the brink of failure; too many American children are still going hungry three times a day; too many single mothers or fathers are trying to cope with slender or no budgets in order to keep their kids in school and away from violence; for too many Americans, health insurance is out of reach; too many students are crushed in debt; and we are sorely lacking in congressional leadership at a time when cool heads and reasoned debate are called for to address the systemic problems that are eating away at the American confidence in a steady drip of partisan acid. 

A military parade is not going to solve any of these problems, nor will the expenditure of any public funds for such a parade improve our treasury’s ability to wrestle with the very real and present dangers facing our nation.  Mr. Trump, if you must find a new way to admire yourself, I suggest you dig into your own pocket for another golden-framed full-length mirror, and preen for yourself like the clueless peacock you are.