World War 1

Trump's Military Parade Would Have Been Foolish, Expensive, Authoritarian. Canceling It Was the Right Move.

There will be no military parade today. There shouldn't be one any other day, either.


President Donald Trump is in France today, attending ceremonies to mark the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended the First World War.

That's a far, far better way for him to spend his time (and our tax dollars) than what originally had been penciled into his calendar for today: a military parade through Washington, D.C., that would have been completely unnecessary, ridiculously expensive, and symbolically awful.

Trump canceled the plan for such a parade in August, citing cost overruns after Pentagon officials leaked to the press that the parade was on track to cost $92 million—about three times the initial budget. That was three months before the parade was supposed to happen, and this is the Pentagon we're talking about, so there's really no way to know how large the final price tag would have been. It's true that $92 million is a drop in the bucket of federal spending—heck, it's not even 0.01 percent of the Pentagon's budget—but America is going to face trillion-dollar annual deficits over the next few years, and you can't start saving money until you stop wasting it on frivolous displays of militarism that accomplish nothing.

When Trump initially conceived of the parade—after returning from a visit to France for Bastille Day in July 2017—he pitched the idea as a show of American military force and a way to honor the men and women of the armed forces. The problem? Veterans groups, members of Congress, and top military officials said it was a bit too much militarism for their tastes. Paul Rieckhoff, the CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, told Politico the idea was "overwhelmingly unpopular" among "folks from all political backgrounds."

Polls show that a vast majority of American military personnel are opposed to the idea of having such a parade. Presumably, the America they volunteered to risk their lives for isn't the type of place where this sort of thing happens.

To be clear, an American military parade should not happen at all, but scheduling it for the weekend of Veterans Day just added insult to injury. Veterans Day, of course, is celebrated in November because it was originally Armistice Day—back when we were foolish enough to believe that November of 1918 was indeed the end of all wars. The name has changed, but the purpose of the day remains the same: a somber remembrance of the horrors that war has inflicted, not as a celebration of the terrible tools used to kill, wound, and maim human beings.

Let it be said that Trump is doing the right thing today by celebrating peace, rather than indulging his fetish for America's power to make war.

He gets credit even though he ended up canceling plans to visit an American military cemetery in France because of bad weather, and even though he may have mistakenly believed he was going to see another military parade in France like the Bastille Day one that he so enjoyed, and even though he's leaving France one day before the opening of an international peace conference hosted by Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron.

He gets credit for all that because at least he's not holding a parade celebrating war on a day that should be a reminder of how awful it is.

If the president returns from France determined to have a parade anyway, it should be, as Rep. Justin Amash (R–Mich.) has suggested, a parade celebrating the men and women who have fought during the 17-plus years of American's seemingly interminable War on Terror. And it should coincide with the ending of those largely unauthorized conflicts. The last time tanks went rolling down Pennsylvania Avenue, the justification was the end of the First Gulf War. If Trump brings the troops home, he should get his parade.

In the meantime, no. Just no.

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175 responses to “Trump's Military Parade Would Have Been Foolish, Expensive, Authoritarian. Canceling It Was the Right Move.

  1. In before John defends the military parade as a brilliant idea.

    1. Aren’t they having it on the Mexican border right now?

    2. No, no, no – John has already explained how announcing the military parade was a brilliant idea, even though actually having a parade would be a terrible idea, which is exactly why Trump never had the slightest intention whatsoever of ever actually having a parade. It’s all a part of Trump’s 8th-level wizard chess mastery wherein he announces he’s going to have a big patriotic display of the flag and baseball and apple pie just to own the libs by tricking them into vociferously denouncing patriotism, the flag, baseball, apple pie, and America itself. Brilliant!

      I haven’t yet seen the logical explanation for the brilliance in Trump’s hiring of the most excellent, most capable, most glorious, most honorable Jeff Sessions and the subsequent brilliance of firing that horrid piece of shit Jeff Sessions without in any way suggesting that the hiring was any less brilliant, but I’m not smart enough to square that particular circle, just smart enough to be dimly aware that the squaring of the circle is a foregone conclusion.

      1. No parade. No wall. No Mexico funding wall. No lock her up. No Obamacare repeal. No economic salvation of downwardly mobile America.

        Other than that, though, it’s going bigly.

        1. There already is a wall.

          Obamacare has been gutted as much as possible without congress repealing or the SCOTUS declaring it unconstitutional like they should have in the first place.

      2. John sure chaps your asses, doesn’t he.

    3. Trump was trolling Lefties like you. You fell for it.

      1. Or.. his advisers told him it would look bad if he held a parade directly after Dems took the house. And, for once, he actually listened.

        1. If only there were a group that investigated what our government officials do and say and then report those findings unbiasly.

    4. If a gay rights parade is to show pride… A cultural parade is to show pride… Why shouldn’t we show pride in our volunteer army, hinor those who sacrifice for our freedoms? What a weird statement to make. And how is this authoritarian in any way?!?

      1. It’s a bit telling that you conflate “cultural pride” with the military.

        1. Parades celebrating ass sex and sadomasochism and parades celebrating martial prowess seem equivalent enough to me.

        2. “It’s a bit telling that you conflate “cultural pride” with the military.”

          It’s even more telling that you don’t, you little pussy.

          1. I’ll give you credit, Last of the Shitferbrains.
            You always answer the question: “I wonder what retarded people think about this issue?”

            1. You always answer the question: “I wonder what retarded people think about this issue?”

              Retarded person’s self-awareness meter is reading zero.

      2. As a former member of our volunteer military I can tell you that we’d rather just go home at the end of the work day and have a beer rather than march in a line (at any time) for other people’s amusement.

        We have dedicated units for that sort of thing. Military specialists. Who do the dirty work the rest of us don’t want to.

      3. “Why shouldn’t we show pride in our volunteer army”

        … by making them march for our amusement?

        1. Of course that’s how an unpatriotic subversive, such as yourself, would see it.

          1. Don’t take this the wrong way, Last of the Shitferbrains, but I wipe my ass with the Stars n Stripes and I think your anthem is a song for faggots.

            1. Of course you do traitor. Which is why you and your friends should be executed. Although I’m willing to piss mercy upon you and merely exile you to some commie shithole.

          2. “Of course that’s how an unpatriotic subversive, such as yourself, would see it.”

            You see those who served as unpatriotic subversives? That explains a LOT.

  2. Yeesh.

    Anne Arundel police say officers fatally shot armed man while serving protective order to remove guns

    Maryland passes a “red flag” law that allows damned near anyone to seek a court order to confiscate a person’s guns. An extended family member made a call about this man. Cops show up before 6 am and bang loudly on his door to take away his guns. The man answers the door holding a gun. “Firearms were discharged” and the man is now dead. Good going, cops and the unnamed extended family member. You really protected the public from this madman.

    1. The public is fine. The guy is no longer a threat. Sounds like public protection box was checked.

      Whether the guy deserved to die, and whether he would have been the next disaffected mass murdering gun nut (living in an apartment above a garage), are different issues.

      Grabbing a gun when police are at the door with a court order seems an ineffective strategy. It did not work this time unless the guy wanted to die but was too cowardly to do it himself.

      1. It will be a far better result when you are executed for your treason Arty. I only wish I could be the executioner.

        1. I bet a lot of people wish you’d drop dead, Last of the Shitferbrains.
          Maybe it’s just me.

          1. It’s just you with your violent eliminationist rhetoric, leftard.

      2. “Murder gun owners NOW!”

        The good old “libertarian” Rev.

    2. So anyone can report someone for ANY reason and have them harassed, huh? Of course. Typical. Total fucking violation of due process. Completely fucking shreds the Constitution, to say the least. I bet that aunt of his is a real bitch, too. Maybe someone should flag her, huh? See how she likes it, LOL.

    3. Who the fuck answers a door with a gun knowing there are cops outside? That’s just asking to get suicided. I’m all for gun rights but you got to be pragmatic to live another day.

      1. Thats right. Dont answer the door with a gun. Dont open the door or You kill cops before they try to kill.

        It makes them think twice about violating the constitution.

      2. Did he know there were cops outside? Or did he just know that people were banging on his door and shouting in the early morning?

    4. Swatting is a thing. The red flag laws are going to make it even worse. The frog will be boiled!

    5. They go to his home knowing that he has guns, they see a gun, go “eek”, and kill him.

      “Good shoot!”

      The guy never goes shopping? If you weren’t eager to murder someone, wouldn’t you go to his house to take his guns when he isn’t home?

      If you’re simply confiscating objects, and not even arresting people, why go when the guy is home?

  3. If Trump brings the troops home, he should get his parade.

    Unlikely. President Hillary Clinton would certainly be bringing them home, since I learned in college female leaders are less belligerent and warlike than male leaders. But Drumpf is a white nationalist militaristic authoritarian who loves the idea of American munitions blowing up black and brown bodies all over the planet. Foreign policy is one of the many reasons all serious libertarians should have voted for Clinton in 2016.


    1. You’re slipping. You forgot to point out that Drumpf, along with being a white nationalist militaristic authoritarian, is also a racist sexist cishetero male deploranazi poopenfuhrer.

      1. Also, the number of troops overseas has increased since Trump came to office.

    2. female leaders are less belligerent and warlike than male leaders

      So men and women are the same or are not?

    3. She saw. He died. She came.

  4. frivolous displays of militarism that accomplish nothing

    What kind of drugs are you on? They aren’t frivolous and they don’t accomplish nothing – they indoctrinate the collective in the worship of the state. It’s why Dear Leaders of all stripes insist on these massive public displays of glory and might and majesty, anybody who doesn’t cheer with sufficient enthusiasm gets marked as suspiciously unpatriotic if not insufficiently subservient. And the nail that sticks up gets hammered down.

    1. What the fuck is wrong with some of you. Do you get annoyed when service members board first on airlines too?!? Those commercials of military members returning to their families? Military parades are to show pride to our members. Just like parades for other people. For fuck sakes some of you are paranoid little shits.

      1. Then end the fucking wars and BRING THEM HOME. THEN we’ll have a goddamn parade, for THEM, NOT for fucking Trump. I’d be ALL for that! Otherwise, fuck it.

        1. How many troops do we even have overseas in combat zones anymore?

          1. More than there were under Obama.

            1. Do you have any figured to back that up?

              1. Trump not long ago ordered more troops, a surge if you will, to Afghanistan despite campaign promises to draw down. Same with Syria, if memory serves.

                1. “A surge”. Ok, how many though? We’re not running very high troop levels anymore. A small fraction of what we used to.

                  1. “A small fraction of what we used to.”

                    No, troop levels under Trump have increased over the number at the close of the Obama era. This was in spite of repeated promises on the campaign trail to reduce levels of troops overseas.

      2. Military parades are to showcase the size of a nation’s dick, they’ve got fuck-all to do with “honoring” our service members. My dad served in WWII, I have an older brother and two brothers-in-law that served in Vietnam, several nephews who served in Iraq and Afghanistan including one that’s in Afghanistan right now and one that’s so fucked in the head from 3 tours in Afghanistan that most days he can’t go outside and his dad quietly got rid of every gun in the house – and I can assure you that not a goddamn one of them wants a parade celebrating the glory of our military. Veterans Day is – or should be – a solemn day of remembrance and appreciation of what freedom costs and who picked up the tab for the rest of us and that’s infinitely more appropriate than the sort of spectacle Trump has in mind. That fucker whined like a little bitch about his bone spurs to avoid getting sent to Vietnam and now he wants to bask in the reflected glory of those who sucked it up and did what they felt was their patriotic duty? Fuck him.

      3. Do you get annoyed when service members board first on airlines too?!?

        Actually, a little bit, yeah.

        Just my personal experience: Most of the veterans I have known, excluding members of my family, are people who are rather up front that the only reason they joined was to get the government to pay for college. I had one of them tell me that to my face, straight up, that he was going into the Army just so he could get ‘free’ medical school. It wasn’t about honor or duty or patriotism. It was about the free shit. Now OF COURSE that does NOT describe all vets. But of those vets boarding first on the airplane, there’s a not-insignificant number of them who have just as much of the moocher mentality as your typical welfare leech. And yes, that does irritate me a little bit.

        1. Its telling that you conflate exchanging service in the military for benefits with mooching, chemjeff

        2. Regardless of initial motivations, they make the sacrifices and do the job. Much more than you will ever contribute Jeffy.


          A career in the military has always been the last resort of misfits, the lazy, the stupid and the unmotivated. It seems the heighth of foolishness to let these people on airplanes before normal people.

          1. Well Trueman, you really are scum. The worst soldier is a million times better than you. You are valueless garbage and belong face down in a landfill.

            With trash like you posting here it explains why the libertarian party will never get anywhere.

            1. “With trash like you posting here”

              What other trash can quote the venerable Jonathon Swift who spake of the army as a body “where the least pretention to learning, to piety, or to common morals, would endanger the owner to be cashiered.”

              1. I don’t give a shit who you can quote. that means nothing. The only thing you’ve done is outed yourself as an American hating unpatriotic, ungrateful piece of garbage.

                Which is why Ive been pushing on several of you. To see what i could get yo auto say, and its been telling. America largely cares about and respect its armed services veterans. People like you disrespect and scoff at them. This is a big part of why the LP is a fringe party and will remain so.

                Decent Americans simply don’t want to be associated with someone like you, nor should they.

                1. Swift was spaking about the English army. America or her ever-winning army didn’t exist at the time. Decent Americans voted in Obama twice and Trump once. We we’d be wise to keep this in mind.

          2. You should be bringing this up at the boarding gate. Loudly. Maybe bring a sign. See you on you tube.

      4. Do you get annoyed when service members board first on airlines too?!?

        Yes. Its personally embarrassing to me to be in uniform and then singled-out for special treatment.

      5. Take the army’s spicy nuts out of your mouth, Jesse.

        1. Take your tongue out of Democrats’ bungs, leftard.

        2. NYP is a weak little pussy who could never handle military service.

  5. Fuck that parade. Hashtag veteran.

    That shit is for the Kim Jongs of the world. Not the USA. Not for the indulgence of the pink, soft, and oily men of the hawkish chattering class.

    1. pink, soft, and oily men


  6. It was a shitty idea and profoundly unnecessary; save that for “people’s republics”.

    Now, if the soldiers would be throwing THC-infused edibles to the crowd, while riding on floats featuring gyrating, ‘undocumented’ homosexual Mexicans dressed in nothing but crotchless panties and nipple clamps, I think reason would find a way to justify it.

    1. We got those

      It is the gay pride parade. The retail downtown, bars and restaurants the hotels and casino love it.

      The best I hear is NYC, Tel Aviv, and Amsterdam.

  7. The announcement of the parade certainly caused a display of anti patriotism among the commentariat.

    1. You’ll just have to fap to your back issues of Sgt. Rock, Last of the Shitferbrains. No parade for you.

      1. And case in point………….

        At least some of us are patriotic.

        1. Having a big hard-on for dudes in uniform is how you’re patriotic?

  8. Why would Trump snub that Paris peace conference? It sounds *so* productive! From the link Reason provided:

    “In practice, the first edition of the Forum will host around 2,500 people in the Grande Halle de la Villette, a former slaughterhouse turned cultural center on the northeast edge of Paris. Attendees from government, businesses, NGOs, foundations, the media, think tanks, and religious institutions from all corners of the world will take part in dozens of simultaneous debates?or agoras?on global challenges, will wander around stands presenting and raising support for 119 global governance projects?selected from a pool of 848 applicants?or will join the live hackathon on global financial transparency.”

    1. I hope Putin doesn’t join the hackathon, Trump would be announced as the winner of the peace conference.

      /just kidding

  9. I’m sorry, but wasting a whole bunch of money to celebrate World War I, which ended before most of us were even born, is just as stupid as wasting a bunch of money on a national parade that we don’t need. The World War I veterans are all gone.

    1. Might as well forget about them then. In a few years we can do the same thing for WW2 and Korean vets. None of tpwhat they did was important anyway.

      1. Why aren’t you demanding a parade for the War of 1812 or the Spanish American War? Huh? Why don’t you want to remember the men who died in those wars? Some patriot you are.

        1. There’s a parade every November in Gettysburg to remember “what they did here.” Sponsored and paid for by volunteers, of course.

        2. Every military parade honors those veterans too. And I served in Desert Storm, so you’re not one to question me about patriotism, or military service.

          Maybe you should go down to your local VFW chapter and regale the fine men there with some of your opinions about the military. Should you do so, please come back and tell us how it went.

          1. You were in Desert Shitstorm? That explains the brain damage.

            1. You really are a disrespectful punk. It’s orobably best we never meet. You would spend the next week setting out your own teeth.

              And I would be careful about impugning my intelligence. I have at least forty IQ points on you.

              1. You are part of the reason we haven’t won a war in 70 years, you bigoted, half-educated rube.

                1. Arty, I am superior to you in every meaningful way, and let’s be clear, you exist solely because people like me make it possible for people like you to survive.

                  Best you just thank us and quietly move along.

                  1. Violent and entitled. Yep, that’s the stereotype.

                    1. Entitled? Yes, progtards certainly are. Amd they have proven their violent tendencies of late. Real Americans will be forced to kill them sometime in the near future. Since the progs never know when to stop.

          2. When did I ever state my opinion of the military?

            Parades that show off military might, the kind your Dear Leader wanted, do not honor veterans. They are nothing more than a dictator waving his dick. Just because you wish Trump was a dictator so you could suck his dick doesn’t mean I have something against veterans. You are a disgrace to every veteran out there because you would support a dictator sending troops to their deaths simply to show that dick you wish you were sucking.

            1. Trump isn’t exactly sending a lot of troops to die relative to his predecessors. So I’m not sure what you even mean by that.

              1. He’s not exactly bringing the troops home either.

                Military parades, as in showing off tanks and missiles, are not an American virtue. That’s what dictators do.

                I’ve got nothing against vets with flags marching down Main Street.

  10. I think that they main reason that service members were opposed was because, instead of having a three or four day weekend (depending on your command, many also get Friday off, and Monday is guaranteed) they would be stuck doing this Mickey Mouse Bullshit.

    1. Yeah, give the military the weekend off, those who can safely be spared, that is – we don’t want a Veterans Day War like the Israelis’ Yom Kippur War.

  11. “Let it be said that Trump is doing the right thing today by celebrating peace, rather than indulging his fetish for America’s power to make war.”

    Don’t you ever get tired of carrying water for Trump?

    Sheesh, the amount of energy spent denouncing Trump for something that was never going to happen might be enough to send his Space Force up the space elevator.

    Do you imagine that Trump changed his mind because he was afraid of offending the sensibilities of all the journalists who were against his military parade?


    1. Changing his mind because it was overbudget is a good enough reason. I don’t think President Uncle Dolan is humble enough to admit it was a stupid, shitty idea. At least, not publicly. But canceled is canceled.

      1. I suspect Trump was trolling the media.

        He wants to be denounced for “supporting the military” (whatever that means) for the same reason he wants to be denounced for opposing illegal immigration and supporting the police.

        These are good things with his target demographic in the swing state rustbelt, and the more he’s denounced by elitist journalists for being something they like, the more likely they are to embrace him as “one of us”.

        1. Yah. that 9D chess paid off on Tuesday.

          1. Trump’s been trolling the tabloids since the 1980’s at least.

            That isn’t 3-D chess. It’s a fact.

            Do you think exploiting wedge issues is 3-D chess? Have you never heard the term “wedge issue” before?


            The left has gone so batty, they’ve been handing Trump wedge issues on a silver platter. He made the NFL kneeling a wedge issue. For goodness’ sake, that isn’t 3-D chess–certainly not just because you fell for it.

            1. Lathering up downwardly mobile, uneducated, obsolete America doesn’t seem much of a long-term strategy, but go for it, clingers.

              1. The deplorables you hate so much tend to have more kids than the liberal, mimosa-drinking cat ladies who die alone and childless. If Trump manages to bring down immigration from places with more leftist outlooks (or to change it to work visas, with no voting rights) his gamble may prove a winner in the long term.

          2. It did pay off. A bunch of RINOs got booted from the GOP and incumbents are tough to challenge in your own party.

  12. Figures that the people who worship Trump like people living in dictatorships worship their ruler are defending their leader for wanting a parade like a dictator.

    It’s like they want to cross a penis, a potato, and an ocean liner.

    You know who you are.

    1. Crossing a penis and a potato gives you a dick-tater, that much I know.

      Is the ocean liner the Titanic?

      The only dirty Titanic joke I know has to do with going down on the Titanic.

      1. The penis is titanic. Ocean liners are ships.

        1. Oh, I see now.

          Gosh, I flunked Dirty Political Jokes 101. Better get out my old textbooks and study them.

    2. wanting a parade like a dictator.
      Like the ones in France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, South Korea and Denmark, huh? Trump actually got the idea watching a military parade in France. Tell me about how Emmanuel Macron is Hitler again.

      worship their ruler
      But the light-worker walked on water and healed the sick with his Obamacare, right?

    3. Sarc, you are such a bitch ass little punk. I would love to meet you in person someday.

      1. Last of the Shitferbrains. Veteran of Desert Shitstorm. PTSD sufferer. Internet tough-boi.
        All-round dickless faggot.

        1. Another anti American little punk………

      2. I’ve got nothing against parades that honor veterans. I do not support parades that show off a strong man’s military might. Your longing for a strong man to worship blinds you to the difference.

        What would you do if we met in person? Please, tell me.

        1. It would depend on your ability to maintain civility. You’re frequently a nasty disrespectful ass here. Although my guess is that if things ever got violent, you would be the first person to go running to the cops. Which would be quite ironic considering you’re an anti cop anarchist.

          1. I’m not an anti-cop anarchist. That moron lc started that lie. I’m against law enforcement being above the law. I consider laws against consensual activity to be morally wrong, and I have little respect for people who go around enforcing such laws.

            The purpose of government is to cause justice to reign, with justice being an absence of injustice. Enforcing unjust laws does not cause justice to reign. Quite the opposite. Initiating violence because you don’t like what people say isn’t exactly justice either.

            That said, I would definitely call the cops if I had a dead body and a damn good excuse.

  13. You know who else has military parades?

  14. So the USA should not have celebrated it victory over Germany in WWI and the Axis Powers in WWII?

    Even those tended not to be military shows of hardware like Socialist totalitarian regimes put on. Our parades tended to showcase our heroes in uniform and a few generals that led them.

    A way to say thank you for your service to protect the US Constitution and America’s freedoms.

    There is a difference but a parade is not appropriate until we have defeated Socialism and the Democratic Party in the USA. Then have a ticker tape parade.

    1. Socialism can never be defeated. It didn’t begin in France or Russia. It’s been a plague on society since society began. It aims to apply a system that actually works in families and small tribes to large societies. It is an appeal to emotion and to human nature. We are nothing but cave men with a bunch of toys, and that cave man brain is wired for socialism. It is a war that will never end.

      1. What a bunch of meaningless crap. People like you are never part of the solution and you get in the way of those of us who are.

        1. YOu were part of a solution, Last of the Shitferbrains? Where? When?
          The only thing you’re a solution to is the question: How far can a Contard hilbilly bend over to let Trump shove it in.

          1. Look you progtard faggot. You and your faggot friends keep pushing and you will all find. Out what that solution is, personal and direct.

            You’re just a punk ass little bitch that runs his mouth. Bet you wouldn’t say shit if you had a mouthful of it to a vet in person. Not a gutless coward like you. In fact, you and your sloppy bottom pal Sarc would probably go hide behind a cop. Just think of the irony there.

            1. I see. So you will initiate violence on someone because they said something that hurt your precious little feelings? You’re just a bully. Nothing more.

              1. No, you’re a disrectful punk who won’t shut up, but hides behind everyone else to back you up. Then cries ‘bully’ when someone won’t put up with your shit. You’re ‘that guy’ at the bar.

                I believe dueling should be brought back. Cowards like you tend to mind their manners somewhat better when that is an option. Even keeping in mind that very few duels were actually ever fatal.

                1. So you resort to violence when you’ve been beaten in a battle of words. Very mature.

        2. If there is a solution, then why does socialism rear its ugly head every new generation?

          1. Oh, wait. I get it now. Your solution is to go around punching people in the face. Yeah. Great solution. Grow up.

            1. My solution is not to put up with a bunch of shit from mouthy little punks that are smug from hiding behind mommy’s skirt.

              1. I’ll take that as a yes.

                1. I’m fact, since you’re such a weak little coward, if shit ever hypothetically did get real, I would give you a chance to bring your buddies to back you up. You would need a handicap anyway.

                  1. You sound like someone in high school. How old are you?

                    1. Your really just a little squid aren’t you? Someone who just runs his mouth, acts like a punk, and then when shit gets real because people tire of your crap you then start talking about rules and maturity when you never show the slightest bit of maturity or respect for the rule of law yourself.

                      That’s you. You’re a coward on every level. You don’t even have any integrity. Yet you display disrespect for those with those qualities who risked and sacrificed for this country.

                      I pushed hard on you here to see what you would say. Just like I did with NYP, Mtrueman and Pollock. None of you disappointed me. You really showed your true colors. You folks are a big part of why the LP isn’t taking off. Open borders, ant military, counter tribalist bullshit doesn’t play well with most people.

                    2. and then when shit gets real because people tire of your crap…

                      When people resort to violence because they don’t like what you have to say…

                      You are uncivilized.


                      Fuck you. I oppose a military parade. I oppose a display of might so the ruler looks like he has a big dick.

                      You haven’t read a word anyone said. You’re just an emotional loudmouth. You talk of respect, but you have none.

                      Have another drink and pass out.


  15. More pompous than authoritarian, but it absolutely would have been foolishly expensive. We don’t need to piss money away to support veterans. Keep the parades at the local level.

    1. I think the premise of the parade was to honor active duty military as well.

      The government pisses away money on much worse things.

  16. We spend so much on the military we should at least get a parade or two out of it. It has to be far cheaper the cheapest of foreign interventions

    1. It’s both/and, not either/or.

  17. A military parade – to be distinguished from a victory parade, which celebrates a specific military victory – is just an exercise in military worship. There is TOO MUCH military worship as it is. Just take a look at this poll:…..tions.aspx

    It is a poll of confidence that Americans have in various institutions. All of the institutions poll at about 30% or less, with the three exceptions of: the military, the police, and small business. I mean, kudos for small businesses, but with regards to the other two, I can’t imagine that is a healthy state for any society.

    Take a look at this:…..d-vote-yes

    43% of Republicans would favor a military coup “under certain circumstances”. Are you fkn kidding me? That number should be zero, regardless of the circumstances. That is DANGEROUS that so many people would actually support military rule over civilian government. But the Gallup poll demonstrates why. It’s because they trust the military more than they trust Congress.

    1. Quotes the Graunaid.
      But Fox is fake news.

    2. Any excuse to be anti patriotic, right Little Lefty?

      You really are an ungrateful piece of shit. The military does so much heavy lifting for our society, including disaster relief here and all over the world. The kind of risk and heavy lifting a winy little annelid like you will always shirk.

      1. Stop jerking off to your Sgt. Rock comics, Last of the Shitferbrains.

        1. That it? That all you got, punk?


      The sign of an unhealthy society is when people fear and loathe the police.

      Naturally, “muh anarchy” types don’t get that.

  18. France and England exploited the populations of Vietnam and India to produce opium for sale in China. Germany was their competitor, with a patent on heroin. China overthrew its government in 1911 and blocked the dumping of narcotics there. The ensuing glut collapsed dope prices, European producers (The Balkan States) were immediately at each other’s throats while Americans pressed for a Hague antiopium convention. As signatures were added, a pretext was found for WWI, after which France and England both sought to evade repayment of war loans from These States. It is not the Executive’s job to worship death with Europe’s looter governments.

  19. Boehm has never heard of fleet week, I guess.

    Why not a parade in the traditional sense, its great port liberty, civilians get to see military equipment, and the businesses make some extra dough. It good PR for the US Navy.

    1. LC, a lot of the commentariat are very unpatriotic. Always crying ‘jingoism’ in the face of any decent national pride.

      1. Get a room you two war-mongoloiding faggots.

        1. You and Sarc are the faggots here baby girl. You probably take turns being the sloppy bottom.

    2. “Why not a parade in the traditional sense?”

      Because muh anarchy.

      And yes, Boehm probably has never heard of Fleet Week.

  20. Fuck a parade. If you want to honor veterans, make the VA provide medical care like real doctors do.

    1. LiborCon|11.10.18 @ 11:58PM|#

      Posting as a vet, shut down the VA now!
      Fire every single one of the employees and sell the properties. The VA is worthless and nothing the government can do will make it otherwise.
      Shut down the VA NOW.

      1. “The VA is worthless”

        Yah, that’s been my experience. All they’ve done is tell me they recommend I keep my guns locked up. They don’t trust vets not to kill themselves.

        1. “All they’ve done is tell me they recommend I keep my guns locked up. ”

          Studies have shown that suicide by locked up gun is extremely rare, even when veterans are taken into account.

      2. Also posting as a vet, I think they’re ok for some basic services, but no one should be at their mercy for any kind of critical time sensitive treatment. Mane no fucking illegal should get one iota of medical care before vets are all cared for first.

        There are an average of around 200 vets per day committing suicide. That should be addressed long before we give free tranny treatment o illegals at the border.

  21. So, according to Bohemia’s, the parade would be “completely unnecessary, ridiculously expensive, and . . . awful.” I say that description fits WWI to a T, and that an unnecessary, expensive, and awful parade would be a fitting commemoration.

    1. *Bohemia’s

  22. The comments on this piece have really allowed the authoritarians to wave their dicks around. Not too many libertarians left in here anymore. The few who are left are being threatened with violence for not worshiping government almighty.

    1. You’re a disrespectful little punk, and you’re being treated in a manner commensurate with the aforementioned disrespect. Like Antifa, you want the people you’re harassing and disrespecting to be hamstrung, and unable to come back at you. So you whine and cry.

      Which is exactly what I would expect from a little sniveling coward like you.

      1. Amd keep in mind, you’re now on the same side as Reverend Arty.

        Think about that.

        1. Broken clock…

      2. How old are you? I like parades on Main Street with local vets carrying flags. My daughter likes it when they throw candy.

        A military parade is a totally different animal. The fact that you want one and are willing to do violence on people who don’t says a lot about you. And it isn’t good.

        1. Read what I wrote upthread. I got what I wanted out of you and now I’m done. You’ve proven what I already knew. You’re just an anarchist parasite living off the safety real men and women provide for you without the slightest bit of real respect. Your in the same company as Arty, Jeff ,and the gang.

          I would say God help you, but thats something else I’m sure you bitterly sneer at.

          1. Apparently you didn’t read a word I wrote. Or you read very selectively.

            I have principles. I believe in right and wrong.

            You have muscle. You believe that might makes right.

            You’re no different than Tony.

    2. Some libertarians actually have some respect and gratitude for those who risk their lives to protect our liberty.

  23. Foolish? Debatable.
    Waste of money? Depends on the intent.
    Authoritarian? You really need to explain this one, especially given the number of Veterans Day Parades today.

    1. There are parades, and there are parades.

    2. “Authoritarian? You really need to explain this one, especially given the number of Veterans Day Parades today.”

      To help you tell the difference, look for these clues.
      In one there’s a bunch of free citizens who choose to march, and in the other there’s a bunch of people who are ordered to march. If you see these as equivalent, the problem is with you.

  24. So Reason’s run out of things to bitch about? Complaining about an issue that was put to bed months ago? Just today Trump disrespected Macron for suggesting the EU needs an army to defend itself against the US. Why isn’t your hair on fire yet?

    1. It’s just a good excuse to take a potshot at veterans for Veteram’s Day. It certainly has brought out that ant American anti veteran trash like a Sarc, NYP, the Rev., and Pollock.

      1. Yeah. Opposing military parades in the style of Stalin and Kim Jong-un is anti American and anti veteran.

        Sure dood. Whatever you say.

        1. Opposing military parades that don’t exist is the style of Don Quixote .

          1. Except that the parade isn’t a windmill. It’s a show of military force that didn’t happen only because it would have cost a lot of money. Not because it’s something that Putin or Jinping might have done.

            1. There! Is! No! Parade! Now go oppose something else that aint happening.

              1. I suppose you have a point. But what does that say about those atop the windmills shooting arrows?

        2. “It’s military parades that made Stalinism bad, not the mountains of corpses”

      2. People who served are anti-veteran?

        Whatever, loser.

        1. Yeah you keep trying that. It isn’t working. You’ve shown your true colors. Thanks for playing.

          1. Whatever, loser.

  25. First, the clickbait headline is wrong.
    Second, there was a parade; all the units were special forces, and no one ever sees them.

  26. Authoritarian? Give me a break. Words have no meaning.

    1. That’s how you know you’re in postmodern Marxist land.

      Words are used for the feelings they evoke, not the concepts they refer to.

      “Trump is authoritarian” is just another way to say “I hate Trump”.

  27. “Polls show that a vast majority of American military personnel are opposed to the idea of having such a parade. ”

    Fake News, so much Fake News. That’s why I come to Reason – to get my daily 2 Minutes Hate in on their Fake News.

    Here is the fake poll among online readers of the web site:

    The parade was not about showing off military equipment, or military might, but about honoring active duty military.

    There are Veteran’s Day parades going on all across the country, so apparently Americans don’t hate the idea of military parades quite so much.

    A national parade to similarly honor active duty military would probably be quite popular. If Reason was actual journalism, instead of anti Trump propaganda, they’d put their money where their mouth is and create an honest, scientifically sampled poll, instead of pushing this propaganda poll as evidence about how the active duty personnel supposedly feel.

    And note – who expects active duty military to say “make a parade honoring us”? Kind of cheeky. How about you try a real poll of the American people generally?

    Should the US have a national parade to honor active duty military personnel?

    Reason is propaganda.

    1. “If Trump brings the troops home, he should get his parade.”

      Apparently parade to honor active duty personnel are ok and not authoritarian at all if you do them at the end of wars instead of during them. Because reasons.

  28. “Authoritarian”

    Really? A parade is now authoritarian?

    Reason is such a joke.

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