Hold the Date! Trump announces July 4th Huge Celebration!

[PeachyKeane]

I predict Trump's speech includes the phrase "even the losers and haters".

 

[GoldenBoy89]

I predict Trump's speech includes the phrase "even the losers and haters".

I'll be seriously let down if he behaves himself the whole time.

It's just not the Trump I know.

 

[essentialsaltes]

The military should learn a neat two letter word that could save them from this: No.

Unless it's an illegal order, the armed forces can't really say no to the Commander in Chief. Though they should certainly point out any logistical impossibilities or improbabilities.

 

[Speedwell]

I'll be seriously let down if he behaves himself the whole time.

It's just not the Trump I know.

You needn't be concerned. I am sure he will make it clear just what subset of the American citizenry he considers himself President of.

 

[Ringo84]

Unless it's an illegal order, the armed forces can't really say no to the Commander in Chief. Though they should certainly point out any logistical impossibilities or improbabilities.

Well, I would argue that putting tanks on the Mall is an illegal order that should not be obeyed.
Ringo

 

[essentialsaltes]

A US defense official said that the current plan is to have a very small number of armored vehicles participate as part of a "static display" at the event on the National Mall. The vehicles will not be moving thereby reducing the chance of damaging local infrastructure. The number of vehicles will be very small with the current plan to have two M1 Abrams tanks, two Bradley fighting vehicles and an armored M88 Recovery Vehicle, along with an "appropriate" number of accompanying personnel.

As there are currently no armored vehicles stationed in DC, the vehicles are likely to be brought into DC via trains and transported to the location on the back of trucks.

One military official told CNN that F-35 stealth jets will also likely participate.

The Pentagon declined to comment on any costs associated with the July 4th celebration and with the units associated.

 

[JackRT]

I think Donny's mentor would be pleased that I am celebrating the defeat of Napoleon by the Russian army. tataTAtatataTAtata BANG!

Just how fast can you reload that 12 pounder???

 

[JackRT]

One military official told CNN that F-35 stealth jets will also likely participate.

Why use a stealth jet? No one will even notice.

 

[Speedwell]

Just how fast can you reload that 12 pounder???

Three minutes is considered safe, but you have to push that some to do the 1812 Overture with three guns. In battle (safe procedure and innocent bystanders not being so much of a concern) three or four shots per minute was considered attainable by a well-trained gun crew.

 

[SummerMadness]

A US defense official said that the current plan is to have a very small number of armored vehicles participate as part of a "static display" at the event on the National Mall. The vehicles will not be moving thereby reducing the chance of damaging local infrastructure. The number of vehicles will be very small with the current plan to have two M1 Abrams tanks, two Bradley fighting vehicles and an armored M88 Recovery Vehicle, along with an "appropriate" number of accompanying personnel.

As there are currently no armored vehicles stationed in DC, the vehicles are likely to be brought into DC via trains and transported to the location on the back of trucks.

One military official told CNN that F-35 stealth jets will also likely participate.

The Pentagon declined to comment on any costs associated with the July 4th celebration and with the units associated.

When people complain about the debt and deficit, always remember garbage like this.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Per NYT: "Another problem is that Arlington Memorial Bridge, which spans the Potomac River and connects Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial, might not be able to hold the weight."

We may find an even better metaphor for the Trump Administration than dumpster fire.

 

[Ringo84]

According to TPM, the RNC is charging tickets for this ego trip (which is a mild term for it). That takes this out of the realm of celebration of ̶D̶e̶a̶r̶ ̶L̶e̶a̶d̶e̶r̶ the Fourth of July and into the realm of "official event that should be illegal": Big Deal

Saying this doesn't really work anymore, because national Republicans have no shame, but: just imagine if Obama (or Clinton. Or Carter) had co-opted the Fourth of July for a dictatorial display of putting tanks on the National Mall. These same people would be losing their minds so much that it'd be like the head popping scene from Kingsman: The Secret Service.
Ringo

 

[cow451]

According to TPM, the RNC is charging tickets for this ego trip (which is a mild term for it). That takes this out of the realm of celebration of ̶D̶e̶a̶r̶ ̶L̶e̶a̶d̶e̶r̶ the Fourth of July and into the realm of "official event that should be illegal": Big Deal

Saying this doesn't really work anymore, because national Republicans have no shame, but: just imagine if Obama (or Clinton. Or Carter) had co-opted the Fourth of July for a dictatorial display of putting tanks on the National Mall. These same people would be losing their minds so much that it'd be like the head popping scene from Kingsman: The Secret Service.
Ringo

Not unlike what happened with the National Prayer Breakfast. Took a bipartisan thing and made it a GOP thing.

 

[Fantine]

The parade is estimated to cost $92 million. At $15 a child for a toothbrush and sleeping bag, that $92 million could provide sleeping bags and toothbrushes for six million imprisoned children at the border (and, thank God, there aren't six million who have been imprisoned.) What a waste of money, and what a repudiation of our ideals and Emma Lazarus' poem on the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free...."

We will be one nation under God again when this godless amoral dictator is no longer in office.

 

[Ringo84]

Not unlike what happened with the National Prayer Breakfast. Took a bipartisan thing and made it a GOP thing.

Yep.

People who are secure in their patriotism generally don't co-opt events to make them into ego trips.
Ringo

 

[wing2000]

The White House is distributing tickets for President Trump’s July Fourth speech on the Mall to Republican donors and political appointees,

[...well of course they are...]

The White House has also provided a select number of tickets to top staffers at federal agencies, who are free to distribute them as they would like.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” said Sen. Tom Udall (N.M.), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, in a phone interview. “No ticketed political event should be paid for with taxpayer dollars.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...d2942f73d70_story.html?utm_term=.6ce17d52421c

 

[hislegacy]

Still thinking about going.

 

[wing2000]

...at a time when our national parks need millions of dollars to catch up in overdue maintenance...

[...on edit, I low balled the figure...."the National Park Service faces nearly $12 billion of past-due repairs and maintenance needs."]

......
"The National Park Service is diverting nearly $2.5 million in entrance and recreation fees primarily intended to improve parks across the country to cover costs associated with President Trump’s Independence Day celebration Thursday on the Mall, according to two individuals familiar with the arrangement."

....to placate our glorious leader's ego.

 

[essentialsaltes]

"The National Park Service is diverting nearly $2.5 million in entrance and recreation fees primarily intended to improve parks across the country

Thank heavens it's being used to provide entertainment for the RNC's invited guests, and not being used to rebuild (for instance) Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park after the damage done in 2018.

 

[Fantine]

All the fat cat donors who get these freebie tickets will be contributing to his campaign. More emoluments violations. Someone needs to.sue over this, adding to the current suits by Maryland and Virginia. I guess the DNC? Since they are the ones hurt by this shameless electioneering at taxpayer expense?