President Trump's Fourth of July Tanks Could Wreak Havoc on Washington's Streets
Also, there's the whole dictator vibe.
By Jack Holmes
Jul 2, 2019
American Empire may be on the wane, but our society is more militarized than ever. Things really took off after 9/11, when the horrors of that day became justification for anything that came after: torture, indefinite detention without trial (even for Gitmo residents who we determined were non-combatants), small-town police forces that look like they're ready to storm Fallujah because the Pentagon handed them some extraneous vehicles and equipment bought with the nearly $700 billion we spend each year on defense—more than the next seven countries combined, many of which are allies.
Oh, and anybody who wants one has a gun. Many people have full-on weapons of war, which they often acquired without getting any kind of license or training. That stuff is for folks who want to drive a car.
Anyway, true to form, our current president threw this vision of America into sharp relief, removing any shades of gray in which what remains of our national dignity might take refuge. We—a putative liberal democracy with military might never before seen in the history of the world—will stage a full-on military parade featuring tanks, to show just how tough we are. What we used to dismiss as pathetic theater for totalitarian strongmen is now as American as giving any movie with a sex scene an R rating.
FRANCE-BASTILLE-DAY-PARADE
The president was absolutely amazed by Bastille Day.
Donald Trump, American president, was just in North Korea, so it's tempting to think he might have gotten the idea from Kim Jong-un, the murderous gnome with whom he shares "a certain chemistry."
But in reality, he was inspired by his visit to Paris for Bastille Day in 2017, where the French roll out some tanks in no little signal of insecurity. In fact, Trump wanted a Tank Parade back in 2017, but the plans were scuttled in part because the public found out that it would have cost $92 million. But by God, our large adult president was going to have his tanks. That's right, folks: it's "A Salute to America."
President Trump: "We're going to have a great 4th of July in Washington DC... We're going to have planes going overhead, the best fighter jets in the world and other planes too. And we're going to have some tanks stationed outside." https://t.co/x9NGNaCzkm pic.twitter.com/eK3AOxUb4y
— The Hill (@thehill) July 2, 2019
Watching the world's most powerful man talk like an almost-8-year-old planning his birthday party would almost be endearing if this were not merely the latest authoritarian spasm of his presidency.
Blurring the lines between civil society and the military apparatus—or, at worst, subjugating civilian authority—is a hallmark of the kind of state we really do not want to become.
So is undermining the institutions of democracy, like the separation of powers outlined in the Constitution, or the independent system of justice and the rule of law, or the free press. So is declaring a phony national emergency in an attempt to seize money Congress did not allocate to you, a direct assault on the Legislative Branch's power of the purse.
So is using the "acting" designation to circumvent the Senate's advise-and-consent powers on Cabinet appointments—including the Secretary of Defense at a time when we're saber-rattling at Iran and, uh, holding jingoistic military parades. So is accepting payments from foreign powers, surely in violation of the Constitution's Emoluments Clause.
But the details of this little pet project are what really seal the deal. This administration is known for its meticulous planning, after all, so this thing is guaranteed to go off without a hitch. The AP has the details.
Local officials also had objected because of the damage the heavy armored tanks could do to city streets.
“We’re going to have some tanks stationed outside,” Trump said Monday from the Oval Office, appearing to acknowledge local officials’ earlier concerns.
He offered no specifics on where the vehicles would be located.
“You’ve got to be pretty careful with the tanks because the roads have a tendency not to like to carry heavy tanks,” he said. “So we have to put them in certain areas, but we have the brand new Sherman tanks and we have the brand new Abrams tanks.”
It's unclear how the M4 Sherman tanks, which, according to the Military Times, went out of service in 1957, are going to be "brand new." No matter—make the sale. The Abrams is currently the main U.S. battle tank, according to the AP, but the Military Times says it came online in 1980.
Workers build a stage and bleachers for the "Salute to America" Fourth of July event.
But that flawed timeline is the least of our problems. Tanks are heavy, you see, and the streets of Washington, District of Columbia, were not exactly designed to accommodate them. Trump seems aware of this to the extent he is aware of any inconvenient information: temporarily, in passing, until he can gin up a different story he'll tell enough times that he starts to believe it himself.
Then it becomes God's own truth. However, people who subscribe to the concept of objective reality—like folks at The New York Times and the Department of Defense—foresee some fairly significant issues.
Pentagon officials declined to comment on Monday as they wrestled with how to accommodate the president’s tank request only a few days before the event. Among the logistical concerns was how to transport tanks that weigh more than 60 tons into the popular downtown area where tourists gather to see the monuments. Moving and guarding the tanks would require staffing at a time when many troops are at home for the holiday.
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.
While it would be something of a tragedy—the Memorial Bridge was built in 1932 ahead of the bicentennial of George Washington's birth, marks the western end of the National Mall, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places—watching a piece of American infrastructure collapse under the weight of American military spending would be quite a metaphor for our current state of affairs.
In fact, the bridge is "crumbling" and in grave need of rehabilitation, which the Feds approved in 2018. Without the rehab, authorities said it would have to be turned into a footbridge in the next few years. So yeah, throw some 60-ton tanks on it. An AP photographer spotted some parked on a freight train at a railyard outside town. It's happening.
Two M1A1 Abrams tanks and other military vehicles sit on guarded rail cars at a rail yard on July 2, 2019 in Washington, DC
To recap, the infrastructure of the National Mall is decrepit and barely gets funding for repair. (Good luck to the 200,000 bridges nationwide that are more than 50 years old.)
Meanwhile, the president wants the flyover to feature not just the Blue Angels, but also some F-35s. That's the "state of the art" plane we bought from Lockheed Martin for—in some cases—$122 million each. In a "handshake" deal this year, we got the next batch of 478 more of the standard-issue jets for $80 million each. That's just $34 billion total! A steal.
Plus, the Pentagon puts the cost of maintaining the aircraft at almost $1.2 trillion. It's all particularly thrifty when you consider that at various points, there was concern that bugs in the F-35 ejector-seat system could cause the pilot to be decapitated, that pilots were suffering from "hypoxia-like symptoms" due to lack of oxygen in the cockpit, and most recently, that flying too fast could cause the plane to fall apart.
And of course, this Non-Partisan Event to Celebrate America and the Troops has been turned into a cynical partisan exercise bordering on a fundraiser. HuffPost has the scoop.
President Donald Trump has hijacked what for decades had been a nonpolitical Independence Day celebration on the National Mall, packing his ticketed-event speech with political appointees and Republican donors.
The Republican National Committee has been offering major donors tickets to Trump’s speech, as have political appointees at the White House and executive branch agencies.
“He’s going to have tanks out there. It’s going to be cool,” joked one RNC fundraiser on condition of anonymity. He said he received an offer for the free tickets on Friday but did not request any. “He wants to have a parade like they have in Moscow or China or North Korea.”
So nice of this person to just come out and say it. So, if you're keeping score, American taxpayers will be paying for this exercise—and the Pentagon has not answered questions about the cost—which the president and his allies have turned into a political event for themselves.
What a grotesque and gaudy extension of Bush-era patriotism, which tied militarism and partisanship to love of country in a new and ugly way. More pragmatically, though, isn't this illegal?
In truth, Trump is probably completely unaware of any of that. He's more of a Tank Guy. And a Me Guy. Anda guy with the kind of very good brain that causes him to claim credit for the supposed "filth" of American cities, which he said began two years ago (?).
Trump's brain is so broken and he's so obsessed with taking credit for everything, he just claimed homelessness started two years ago pic.twitter.com/gS4isU1FOb
— jordan (@JordanUhl) July 2, 2019
"Uh, it's a phenomenon that started two years ago. It's disgraceful. I am going to maybe, and I'm looking at it very seriously, we're doing some other things as you probably noticed, like some of the very important things that we're doing now," the president said, as his brain oozed out of his ears.
I mean, let's not forget about how this guy announced the Salute.
HOLD THE DATE! We will be having one of the biggest gatherings in the history of Washington, D.C., on July 4th. It will be called “A Salute To America” and will be held at the Lincoln Memorial. Major fireworks display, entertainment and an address by your favorite President, me!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019
"HOLD THE DATE!" the president said of...the Fourth of July. Excuse me while I ink that one on the calendar. You can ignore his Your Favorite President trolling. The rest is enough. This guy has a tenuous grasp of proceedings on the best of days, and it looks like the long trip over to East Asia has made these last couple not his best.
But we can all look forward to Thursday's proceedings, when tanks will go crashing through our nation's capital as the sun sets in the summer sky and the president's addled mind. God Bless America. God help us.
Also, there's the whole dictator vibe.
By Jack Holmes
Jul 2, 2019
American Empire may be on the wane, but our society is more militarized than ever. Things really took off after 9/11, when the horrors of that day became justification for anything that came after: torture, indefinite detention without trial (even for Gitmo residents who we determined were non-combatants), small-town police forces that look like they're ready to storm Fallujah because the Pentagon handed them some extraneous vehicles and equipment bought with the nearly $700 billion we spend each year on defense—more than the next seven countries combined, many of which are allies.
Oh, and anybody who wants one has a gun. Many people have full-on weapons of war, which they often acquired without getting any kind of license or training. That stuff is for folks who want to drive a car.
Anyway, true to form, our current president threw this vision of America into sharp relief, removing any shades of gray in which what remains of our national dignity might take refuge. We—a putative liberal democracy with military might never before seen in the history of the world—will stage a full-on military parade featuring tanks, to show just how tough we are. What we used to dismiss as pathetic theater for totalitarian strongmen is now as American as giving any movie with a sex scene an R rating.
FRANCE-BASTILLE-DAY-PARADE
The president was absolutely amazed by Bastille Day.
Donald Trump, American president, was just in North Korea, so it's tempting to think he might have gotten the idea from Kim Jong-un, the murderous gnome with whom he shares "a certain chemistry."
But in reality, he was inspired by his visit to Paris for Bastille Day in 2017, where the French roll out some tanks in no little signal of insecurity. In fact, Trump wanted a Tank Parade back in 2017, but the plans were scuttled in part because the public found out that it would have cost $92 million. But by God, our large adult president was going to have his tanks. That's right, folks: it's "A Salute to America."
President Trump: "We're going to have a great 4th of July in Washington DC... We're going to have planes going overhead, the best fighter jets in the world and other planes too. And we're going to have some tanks stationed outside." https://t.co/x9NGNaCzkm pic.twitter.com/eK3AOxUb4y
— The Hill (@thehill) July 2, 2019
Watching the world's most powerful man talk like an almost-8-year-old planning his birthday party would almost be endearing if this were not merely the latest authoritarian spasm of his presidency.
Blurring the lines between civil society and the military apparatus—or, at worst, subjugating civilian authority—is a hallmark of the kind of state we really do not want to become.
So is undermining the institutions of democracy, like the separation of powers outlined in the Constitution, or the independent system of justice and the rule of law, or the free press. So is declaring a phony national emergency in an attempt to seize money Congress did not allocate to you, a direct assault on the Legislative Branch's power of the purse.
So is using the "acting" designation to circumvent the Senate's advise-and-consent powers on Cabinet appointments—including the Secretary of Defense at a time when we're saber-rattling at Iran and, uh, holding jingoistic military parades. So is accepting payments from foreign powers, surely in violation of the Constitution's Emoluments Clause.
But the details of this little pet project are what really seal the deal. This administration is known for its meticulous planning, after all, so this thing is guaranteed to go off without a hitch. The AP has the details.
Local officials also had objected because of the damage the heavy armored tanks could do to city streets.
“We’re going to have some tanks stationed outside,” Trump said Monday from the Oval Office, appearing to acknowledge local officials’ earlier concerns.
He offered no specifics on where the vehicles would be located.
“You’ve got to be pretty careful with the tanks because the roads have a tendency not to like to carry heavy tanks,” he said. “So we have to put them in certain areas, but we have the brand new Sherman tanks and we have the brand new Abrams tanks.”
It's unclear how the M4 Sherman tanks, which, according to the Military Times, went out of service in 1957, are going to be "brand new." No matter—make the sale. The Abrams is currently the main U.S. battle tank, according to the AP, but the Military Times says it came online in 1980.
Workers build a stage and bleachers for the "Salute to America" Fourth of July event.
But that flawed timeline is the least of our problems. Tanks are heavy, you see, and the streets of Washington, District of Columbia, were not exactly designed to accommodate them. Trump seems aware of this to the extent he is aware of any inconvenient information: temporarily, in passing, until he can gin up a different story he'll tell enough times that he starts to believe it himself.
Then it becomes God's own truth. However, people who subscribe to the concept of objective reality—like folks at The New York Times and the Department of Defense—foresee some fairly significant issues.
Pentagon officials declined to comment on Monday as they wrestled with how to accommodate the president’s tank request only a few days before the event. Among the logistical concerns was how to transport tanks that weigh more than 60 tons into the popular downtown area where tourists gather to see the monuments. Moving and guarding the tanks would require staffing at a time when many troops are at home for the holiday.
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.
While it would be something of a tragedy—the Memorial Bridge was built in 1932 ahead of the bicentennial of George Washington's birth, marks the western end of the National Mall, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places—watching a piece of American infrastructure collapse under the weight of American military spending would be quite a metaphor for our current state of affairs.
In fact, the bridge is "crumbling" and in grave need of rehabilitation, which the Feds approved in 2018. Without the rehab, authorities said it would have to be turned into a footbridge in the next few years. So yeah, throw some 60-ton tanks on it. An AP photographer spotted some parked on a freight train at a railyard outside town. It's happening.
Two M1A1 Abrams tanks and other military vehicles sit on guarded rail cars at a rail yard on July 2, 2019 in Washington, DC
To recap, the infrastructure of the National Mall is decrepit and barely gets funding for repair. (Good luck to the 200,000 bridges nationwide that are more than 50 years old.)
Meanwhile, the president wants the flyover to feature not just the Blue Angels, but also some F-35s. That's the "state of the art" plane we bought from Lockheed Martin for—in some cases—$122 million each. In a "handshake" deal this year, we got the next batch of 478 more of the standard-issue jets for $80 million each. That's just $34 billion total! A steal.
Plus, the Pentagon puts the cost of maintaining the aircraft at almost $1.2 trillion. It's all particularly thrifty when you consider that at various points, there was concern that bugs in the F-35 ejector-seat system could cause the pilot to be decapitated, that pilots were suffering from "hypoxia-like symptoms" due to lack of oxygen in the cockpit, and most recently, that flying too fast could cause the plane to fall apart.
And of course, this Non-Partisan Event to Celebrate America and the Troops has been turned into a cynical partisan exercise bordering on a fundraiser. HuffPost has the scoop.
President Donald Trump has hijacked what for decades had been a nonpolitical Independence Day celebration on the National Mall, packing his ticketed-event speech with political appointees and Republican donors.
The Republican National Committee has been offering major donors tickets to Trump’s speech, as have political appointees at the White House and executive branch agencies.
“He’s going to have tanks out there. It’s going to be cool,” joked one RNC fundraiser on condition of anonymity. He said he received an offer for the free tickets on Friday but did not request any. “He wants to have a parade like they have in Moscow or China or North Korea.”
So nice of this person to just come out and say it. So, if you're keeping score, American taxpayers will be paying for this exercise—and the Pentagon has not answered questions about the cost—which the president and his allies have turned into a political event for themselves.
What a grotesque and gaudy extension of Bush-era patriotism, which tied militarism and partisanship to love of country in a new and ugly way. More pragmatically, though, isn't this illegal?
In truth, Trump is probably completely unaware of any of that. He's more of a Tank Guy. And a Me Guy. Anda guy with the kind of very good brain that causes him to claim credit for the supposed "filth" of American cities, which he said began two years ago (?).
Trump's brain is so broken and he's so obsessed with taking credit for everything, he just claimed homelessness started two years ago pic.twitter.com/gS4isU1FOb
— jordan (@JordanUhl) July 2, 2019
"Uh, it's a phenomenon that started two years ago. It's disgraceful. I am going to maybe, and I'm looking at it very seriously, we're doing some other things as you probably noticed, like some of the very important things that we're doing now," the president said, as his brain oozed out of his ears.
I mean, let's not forget about how this guy announced the Salute.
HOLD THE DATE! We will be having one of the biggest gatherings in the history of Washington, D.C., on July 4th. It will be called “A Salute To America” and will be held at the Lincoln Memorial. Major fireworks display, entertainment and an address by your favorite President, me!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019
"HOLD THE DATE!" the president said of...the Fourth of July. Excuse me while I ink that one on the calendar. You can ignore his Your Favorite President trolling. The rest is enough. This guy has a tenuous grasp of proceedings on the best of days, and it looks like the long trip over to East Asia has made these last couple not his best.
But we can all look forward to Thursday's proceedings, when tanks will go crashing through our nation's capital as the sun sets in the summer sky and the president's addled mind. God Bless America. God help us.
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