DC's airport will likely be closed for hours to accommodate Trump's military birthday parade next weekend — which would also send ripples of delays around the country: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202…
— Isaac Dovere (@isaacdovere.bsky.social) June 5, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Why aren’t Vietnam veterans being honored this year at their own memorial, for the first time in three decades?
Because Donald Trump is using the space to throw himself a birthday parade instead. https://t.co/E4Jf3faUw2
— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) May 28, 2025
Janet Zamora never had the chance to visit D.C. with her husband. They talked about it, longing to meander down the National Mall and see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial up close.
But he was too sick to travel, she said, riddled with illness from exposure to Agent Orange during his five years with the Air Force in the Vietnam War. After he died in December, days after his 80th birthday, she applied for him to be part of a ceremony held at the memorial that annually honors hundreds of veterans who fought in the war and died after they came home. She’d go alone, for him.
Then she learned that this year the ceremony won’t take place at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial or even in the nation’s capital — for the first time since its founding more than three decades ago, organizers say…
Millions of pounds of military hardware are expected to roll down the streets of DC in just over a week, fulfilling a dream of President Trump but also sparking concerns about how roads & infrastructure will fare under the weight of heavy tanks and fighting vehicles. www.cnn.com/2025/06/06/p…
— Natasha Bertrand (@natashabertrand.bsky.social) June 6, 2025 at 9:38 AM
… The largest military parade the city has seen in decades is expected to bring seven million pounds of vehicles and weaponry as well as a price tag potentially in the tens of millions of dollars, and this week the US Army has started reinforcing the roads that will carry the hardware downtown and along the parade route.
The parade on June 14 will feature dozens of M1-A1 Abrams tanks and Bradley and Stryker fighting vehicles rolling through the streets of DC, as well as Howitzers and other artillery pieces, officials said. Nearly 7,000 soldiers are set to participate.
Most of the tanks, vehicles and equipment are currently en route to Maryland from Fort Cavazos in Texas, and will arrive by train at the rail station in Jessup, Maryland, early next week. They will then be offloaded onto flatbed trucks for onward transport to DC…
The damage mitigation efforts include laying steel plates down on roads, particularly at spots where the tanks will make sharp turns; putting new track pads on every vehicle to relieve some pressure and create separation between the metal and the asphalt; and ensuring the tanks move only at a walking pace during the parade itself, the officials said…
The Army’s 250th birthday celebration has been in the works for two years, Army officials said. But adding a parade was the Trump White House’s idea, so planning for that began only two months ago.
Trump’s desire for a large military parade – featuring all of the military services – dates back to his first term. But it was scrapped at the time because defense officials said it would cost as much as $100 million and damage DC streets.
This month’s parade will focus only on the Army, making it slightly smaller and less expensive…
The Army has consulted with the National Park Services, the Federal Highway Administration, DC Water, Washington Gas, Pepco, the Department of Transportation and “all the associated authorities and utility companies that would have rightful concerns,” Curry said.
During those discussions, the Army went over the expected route with the companies, looking at their underground gas and electric lines, which Curry said largely run under sidewalks instead of in the middle of the road. That alone mitigated some of the concern over damage to critical infrastructure, Curry said…
The parade is meant to tell the story of the Army through its 250-year history, beginning with the Revolutionary War, tracing through major conflicts and ending with present day. The parade route will begin near the Lincoln Memorial on Constitution Avenue, continue east to 15th Street, and end at the corner of 15th and Independence Avenue…
www.politico.com/live-updates…
“The Army would better spend the cost of the parade on services for military families, such as child care and tuition reimbursement, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a veteran, argued at the hearing.”— OldParatroop (@oldparatrp.bsky.social) June 7, 2025 at 7:28 AM
The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee is expressing skepticism over the Army’s plan to hold a multimillion-dollar parade in Washington on June 14 — even as service leaders defend it as a vital recruiting tool.
“I would have recommended against the parade,” Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi said in an interview Thursday, shortly after learning from Army Secretary Dan Driscoll in an Army budget hearing that the event would have an estimated price tag in the range of $25 million to $40 million.
“On the other hand, the secretary feels that it will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for thousands of young Americans to see what a great opportunity it is to participate in a great military force, that it will be a recruiting tool,” Wicker added. “So, we’ll see.”
Driscoll defended the cost of the parade to members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday morning. “We believe we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fill up our recruiting pipeline,” he said.
But he was not able to provide an exact cost, he said, because the Army will also need to cover whatever damage its tanks do to Washington’s streets…
The Army is also bringing about 6,600 troops to Washington and will house them in several vacant federal buildings downtown, said one Army official granted anonymity to share private logistics. Those troops will hail from every active-duty division in the service, and each soldier will receive three meals a day and a $69 daily per diem for any other costs they incur…
If it was really about celebrating military families, we could put $30 million toward helping them offset the cost of their child care, food assistance and tuition… But it isn't. Trump is throwing himself a $30 million birthday parade just to stroke his own ego.
— Tammy Duckworth (@duckworth.senate.gov) June 5, 2025 at 5:20 PM
🚨Trump’s ego birthday parade isn’t about strength—it’s a spectacle for a draft dodger who’s gutting Veterans care while playing dress-up with the military.
“Weak, insecure nations do military parades… this is an absolute mockery.” — Max Rose, VoteVets Senior Advisor— VoteVets (@votevets.org) June 3, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Do the math.
Tell Congress to stop Mango Mussolini's wasteful and authoritarian military birthday parade here: bit.ly/3EQEN9l
#ResistTrump— The Democratic Coalition (@thedemcoalition.bsky.social) June 5, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Elizabelle
Fuck Trump.
Perhaps this might remind the dimmer bulbs among us, including pundits and journalamists, of the danger of having the US military under the control of an ignorant and incurious fascist.
Would love to hear more on the military’s training on identifying illegal orders.
bbleh
There is pretty much NOTHING authoritarians love more than a military parade, not even beating up Others. His basement and armchair stans will be beside themselves.
And others should correct any misimpression, but I do NOT think the TACO guy is particularly admired or respected within the military — officers or enlisted — with the exception of the usual small minority of hardcore Fasicsts.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
We all know this is the kind of parade he wants:
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/05/09/in-photos-russia-marks-80-years-since-soviet-wwii-victory-with-grandiose-military-parade-a89027
Also too, one more reason to never subscribe to my hometown newspaper, the Wa(com)Post because it’s NATIONAL Airport not Fucking Reagan NATIONAL Airport.
Richard Fox
Pathetic.
feebog
This Vet will be celebrating Flag Day at a “No Kings” rally in SoCal. Fuck that guy.
Baud
Long range forecast gives a slight chance of rain.
JoyceH
So they’re going to have all this heavy military equipment rolling over steel plates? Did they rehearse this? Do the plates stay in place? How loud is it? I can’t help but think that the driving over steel plates is going to be very loud and look goofy.
trollhattan
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
Yup, with a little taste of this added.
https://s.france24.com/media/display/d6f71f2e-2d26-11ee-a06c-005056a90284/81b311557a637b0777dbb27d3e6e814dc2698cb0.jpg
Needs more
cowbelladulation.Enhanced Voting Techniques
So, are they going to have an giant gold platted robot carry an AI portrait of Trump in his warrior Rambo guise led the parade?
NotMax
Highlight to be a line of tanks rolling over and crushing Dolt 47’s blood red Tesla.
//
WaterGirl
Shame. Shame. Shame.
Elizabelle
@feebog: Yes. No Kings Day. And maybe it will be on that date, forever more.
June 14. Easy to remember. One month before Bastille Day.
WaterGirl
No one actually believes that Trump donates his salary. Right?
Elizabelle
@Baud: I am rooting for thunderstorms and torrential downpours.
Although. It would be storming on the Army troops too, and I do not wish for that.
At least the airport will already be closed.
scav
It’s somehow hard to take the Army seriously, after witnessing how fast they folded to the toddler wanting to play with his toy soldiers after tiring of making his truck go “vroom vroom”.
bbleh
@WaterGirl: or “donates” it to whom? His campaign fund?
I’d bet a lot of his followers don’t believe it either. But it sounds good, it superficially agrees with the values they preach (if not practice), and it annoys the libz (or they think it does). Winner!
Geminid
@JoyceH: That’s what I was wondering. The steel plates I’ve seen placed on roads are heavy enough to stay put under normal use, but what will happen when a 60 ton tank pivots on them? and then the one after that et cetera? I guess we’ll find out in a couple hours.
They Call Me Noni
@feebog: This daughter, granddaughter and niece of vets will be doing the same in Southern Indiana.
Kelly
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Not a portrait, the robot will be costumed as Rambo Trump
trollhattan
@JoyceH:
Could be optical distortion but this asphalt looks pretty wavy to me.
https://static.themoscowtimes.com/image/1360/f6/999845.jpg
Melancholy Jaques
@Elizabelle:
The pundits and journalamists are dying for Trump to start a civil war. Best content provider ever.
NotMax
AI parade at work.
;)
Kelly
@Geminid: I’d weld the pivot point plates together.
Hilbertsubspace
I know I am a petty man, but Politico using the phrase “daily per diem” irritates me. Deeply.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Melancholy Jaques:
To be technical, a ‘hot’ civil war.
We’re in a cold one and have been for ‘x’ number of years, maybe going back to the end of Reconstruction if we wanna get all academic about it.
But at least this century.
NotMax
@Hilbertsubspace
Yuppers. Right up there with “round circle,” “new innovation” and “free gift.”
XeckyGilchrist
I imagine at some point a huge bunch of soldiers will have to stand at attention for hours while Trump fulminates about whatever bug he has up his ass at the moment. Or maybe he’ll just dance.
Kelly
@NotMax: ATM machine
Elizabelle
Speaking of more evolved creatures: Big Bear eaglet Gizmo fledged this morning.
She was flapping those wings, and hopping about this morning. When she finally left her perch, it looked more like falling (and then flapping), but maybe that’s what fledging looks like.
I hope Sunny and Gizmo return to the nest frequently. For one thing, they still need fresh fish deliveries from their parents.
Elizabelle
@Melancholy Jaques: Which would just prove they are ignoramuses with no sense of history.
But. We see and hear that several times weekly already.
Terrible thought the day after D Day’s 81st anniversary.
TONYG
@JoyceH: Would the steel plates even actually protect the streets? An Abrams tank weighs about 70 tons. Very large steel plates would spread out the impact of that massive weight to a degree — but it’s still 70 tons of pressure on a city street (below which is water mains, sewer systems, electrical systems, etc.). Did any actual civil engineers analyze this problem? Most likely not.
JMG
What if it rains? we know Trump hates the rain because it ruins his hair and makeup. Will the parade have a rain date? Or will he just sit in a plastic tent looking even more ridiculous?
Another Scott
@Baud: The weather in the DC area has been weird this year. For much of the time, some huge dome of high pressure has prevented any rain at all, even when wide bands of thunderstorms roll by. The forecasts for rain have often been off by quite a bit.
But, on the other hand, we here in NoVA got a brief, intense thunderstorm around 9 AM today. WTF??
:-/
There’s a massive amount of heat and water in the atmosphere these days. I don’t know if the weather models have really caught up with the implications yet, but they do seem to be a little better in the last week or few than they were earlier in the year.
We’ll see.
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
bbleh
@Hilbertsubspace: @NotMax: 10am in the morning
Snarki, child of Loki
If any tanks get stuck in collapsing streets, perhaps someone can get some Ukrainian farmers with tractors to pull them out.
Baud
@Hilbertsubspace:
@NotMax:
Republican traitor.
Fair Economist
@Elizabelle:
It often is, although her sister Sunny managed a pretty convincing first takeoff. (at 0:30)
Another Scott
@NotMax: Ooof.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Elizabelle
@Fair Economist: That was textbook. Yay Sunny.
Wondering if the difference was the flight departure surface. Sunny took off from a stout branch. Gizmo lurched off a small one, and was falling through space for a few. More like hang gliding.
ETA: someone dubbed them “perch potatoes.”
They Call Me Noni
@NotMax: How eerily accurate.
They Call Me Noni
@XeckyGilchrist: Or nap.
Scout211
@JMG: My guess is the viewing stands will have a roof to protect his precious coif.
He most definitely will not do any marching or riding in a vehicle.
Kelly
@TONYG: Ground pressure for an Abrams tank is only 15 psi, half that of most wheeled vehicles. I think the problem is the steel cleats on the tracks. I’ve noticed skid steer excavators with steel tracks even without deep cleats scuff up asphalt as they turn. To bad they could convince him Strykers are tanks.
Matt McIrvin
Witnessing the drippy start of my town’s first ever Pride parade. First ever.
Elizabelle
Trump and Miller are doing all this stuff because “La La La, you can’t stop me.”
trollhattan
@Snarki, child of Loki: And finders-keepers rules apply.
Baud
@Snarki, child of Loki:
Would Trump even say thank you?
They Call Me Noni
@Elizabelle: The only upside I’m seeing is the political ads that will come out of this expensive parade and its’ infrastructure destruction.
JoyceH
@TONYG: I saw an article that said they’d checked the plans and along that route the important lines – water, sewer, power etc – were under the sidewalks not the streets. Still, you’d think the lines would have to cross a street here and there. Maybe that’s where the steel plates are?
New subject: last week I was seeing some blogs wondering where Trump was. He hadn’t been seen for days and his schedule said nothing about what he was doing or even where he was. Then last night he’s on AF1, going to Bedminster of course. He was answering reporters questions and I thought his face looked smoother and kinda shiny. Anyone else wonder if he had some Work Done?
Melancholy Jaques
We have to keep calling them weird. Weird & stupid.
Baud
@Melancholy Jaques:
It’s funny because the last thing LA elected officials care about is chemicals in the air. Look up Cancer Alley.
Redshift
@Another Scott: Yeah, but the heat dome means the rain often goes around the city itself (like the infamous “snow hole”) in winter.
p.a
“Other than that Mrs Sadat, how did you like the parade?”
Just sayin’…
scav
@Melancholy Jaques: Kimberly’s upcoming health legislation will no doubt mandate the construction of continuous slab sidewalks in order to protect mothers’ backs.
Omnes Omnibus
@scav: On what grounds would the order to do this parade be illegal?
bbleh
Meanwhile, a spot of good news — a reversal of the reversal of the reversal:
In reversal, fencing around Dupont Circle Park is removed hours before Pride parade
(Sorry not gift link — gave up subscription)
Redshift
@They Call Me Noni: Us locals definitely need to get some good photos of the road damage.
scav
@Omnes Omnibus: There’s illegal and then there’s good sense. Merely legal is in no way necessarily equivalent to good.
Redshift
I’ll be at a No Kings protest in a pedestrian overpass on the Beltway! I bought a banner (since I’m slow and not very skillful at sign-making.) there’s a banner-shaped scalable svg file on the protest graphics site (though you have to hunt for it.)
Spanky
@Melancholy Jaques:
Just keep scheduling parades under National’s approach path, lady.
Omnes Omnibus
@scav: Right, I bet everyone in the army, from top to bottom, thinks this is a dumb idea. That doesn’t matter. If there is a legal order, they must obey it. However dumb.
Spanky
@p.a: I suspect Melania loves a good parade.
And by “good”, I mean …
jimmiraybob
@Kelly: “I’d weld the pivot point plates together.”
Asphalt is petroleum based.
Geminid
@Kelly: Yeah, maybe they’ll spot-weld those plates together. That’s sometimes done with manhole covers in preparation for special events.
Redshift
@Melancholy Jaques:
What possible natural explanation could there be for lots of contrails in an area that is known for insanely high humidity? It just be a conspiracy!
jimmiraybob
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: “… maybe going back to the end of Reconstruction if we wanna get all academic about it.”
Maybe back to when the Puritans & Pilgrims lost political control.
Suzanne
I cannot fathom how boring this event is likely to be. Good parade entertainment is marching bands and dancers and awesome floats and balloons.
Matt McIrvin
On the 14th I’m planning on attending our local protest if circumstances permit. I don’t know if these accomplish anything besides make us feel better but I’m hoping the turnout is as good as the April one, which was impressive.
Redshift
@scav: I think we can take it as a given that good sense left the building on Inauguration Day. You can call it out (and lots of people are), but that alone isn’t really grounds to stop anything.
cain
@JoyceH:
The best part is that Trump will refuse to pay for any damage to the streets and will say that DC Metro will have to pay for it. So Metro will be on the hook for a lot of money. Count on it.
Elizabelle
@Suzanne: Have to wonder about the A List entertainment at the concert following.
The Army band, fer sure. A few other service bands.
And then what? Lee Greenwood? Todd and Julie Chrisley? The Duck Dynasty crew, in full mourning attire?
Baud
@Suzanne:
This is just tanks?
Suzanne
@Elizabelle: I’m sure Kid Rock or Carrie Underwood is available on that date. Maybe special invited guests such as Jon Voight or James Woods. You know, people with real cultural cachet and relevance.
JoeyJoeJoe
@Redshift: are you on of the people on the overpass on 395 between exits 5 and 4 going south? I make sure to honk in support of them when I pass under
Suzanne
@Baud: I don’t know…. But, like, the best parts of parades are the gay parts! The gayer the better, man. Who cares about freakin’ tanks?!
Fair Economist
@Melancholy Jaques: I’m sure that Louisiana rep doesn’t have logical reasons for opposing contrails (there’s a lot of contrail nonsense about), but aircraft contrails do modify the weather somewhat by creating clouds. In the aftermath of 9/11, when there were (almost) no planes in the sky for several days, days were hotter and nights colder because of contrails absorbing IR radiation coming in and going out, respectively. This would be generally viewed as a good thing, though.
Burning fuel in the atmosphere releases water vapor, which is going to create contrail at least some of the time, so I don’t think there’s any realistic way to stop them, other than restricting air travel – which would actually be a good thing for climate change.
Elizabelle
We would not begrudge this parade if it was a celebration of something important to us. The Army would never ask for anything so extravagant but I can see us celebrating their 250 years.
But Trump? This is purely ego gratification and reminding the rest of us that we live under an occupation government. “You can’t stop me, and you can’t make me.
Fuck him and his ugly orange a$$.
Chetan Murthy
It’s an OT, so I’ll go a little off-topic, only for the funnies! https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=69408
The agonies of an ABC learning Chinese
A video, you -so- wanna watch this.
Wapiti
@Omnes Omnibus: Yup.
Fraud is illegal. Waste and abuse? That’s a day ending in ‘y’.
Harrison Wesley
What a great recruiting event! Well, if you’re recruiting straight white male Christianoids, that is….
Redshift
@Elizabelle: It was pretty hard to find:
A couple of country singers no one has heard of, and… a DJ no one has heard of. I didn’t see any mention of Army bands and other musical groups, but maybe they’re in another category.
Redshift
@JoeyJoeJoe: I’ve seen them too (and honked), but this is a different one, over the Beltway just north of Braddock Road, and only on the 14th.
Elizabelle
@Redshift: For all we know, those three are performing under assumed names. LOL.
Everything Trump touches, entertainment category ….
Melancholy Jaques
@Fair Economist:
All that is probably true, I have no reason to doubt you.
But I’m sticking with weird & stupid.
Elizabelle
OT: Are any of you going to watch George Clooney’s live play tonight on CNN? It will be performed without commercials (yay; no idea what they’ll load into any intermission).
Have not yet forgiven Clooney, but would like to see what his play has to say. How far we have fallen from Edward R. Murrow and William Shirer.
It amuses me that Clooney may have less of an audience due to polarization and some part of the Democratic coalition still finding him radioactive. He and CNN may both need the audience.
And. We don’t have to pay hundreds of dollars per ticket and dress up. We can watch our TVs and laptops, adult beverage and snacks at the ready.
Baud
@Elizabelle:
Why is CNN showing a play?
Elizabelle
@Baud: It’s a timely topic. About journalists who did their jobs, and stood up to the thug of their day (Joseph McCarthy). So, yeah, good question.
Hollywood Reporter story.
How George Clooney’s ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ Is Preparing to Go Live on CNN
Sounds like CNN might drop their paywall for tonight, but I am not sure.
Baud
@Elizabelle:
Gotcha. Thanks.
Scout211
@Redshift: In addition to those you named, there are acts “not yet identified.” I guess they’ll be wearing a disguise. LOL
200k? Really? Will TACO claim 2 million?
Matt McIrvin
@Melancholy Jaques: She’s definitely all in on the “chemtrails” conspiracy theory, which is that contrails are secretly dumping mystery chemicals into the atmosphere for nefarious purposes.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
There’s nothing nefarious about turning people gay.
Elizabelle
CNN article and interview with Clooney on the parallels to McCarthy’s witch hunt. People were losing their jobs. Hmmm.
And, bingo:
RevRick
Why do they keep misspelling charade?
Baud
@RevRick:
Win!
Baud
Cheap eggs are here!
rikyrah
This is patently absurd😠😠😠😠
Baud
schrodingers_cat
@Elizabelle: Fuck George Clooney.
prostratedragon
@Baud:
Touché!
Splitting Image
@Matt McIrvin:
If chemtrails were real, the Republican platform would be to deregulate the companies dumping the chemicals.
stinger
@NotMax:
Don’t forget “exact same” (and the horrendous “same exact”).
Elizabelle
@schrodingers_cat: Yeah. Why I am finding it difficult to watch the show w my friends who still have cable. They refuse to turn him or CNN on. Lol.
They Call Me Noni
@Elizabelle: Don’t know that I’ll watch it live, but I’ll definitely record it.
Do you think CNN is airing it to remind Jake what journalism used to look like? //
Baud
@They Call Me Noni:
I wonder what Murrow saved for the book.
Ken B
@Scout211: No way there’s going to be 200K people in DC for Trump’s shitty sideshow.
He can’t even fill a high school auditorium anymore.
prostratedragon
@bbleh: That is good news. Wonder, what happened?
mrmoshpotato
Putin’s orange manbaby wants a parade like his Daddy Vladdy!
Fuck this traitorous, orange, fascist trashheap!
Ken B
@They Call Me Noni: More likely they see themselves as Murrow’s fearless heirs, rooting out the truth no matter the stakes.
So this is all unearned self-congratulatory preening, at least as far as CBS is concerned .
trollhattan
This shit might cause more blowback than Trump’s SS thinks.
scav
@Omnes Omnibus: Well, then, I can take individual soldiers seriously. The army doesn’t inherit their brains, ethics or value.
mrmoshpotato
@Suzanne: It’ll be a good weekend to avoid the news.
trollhattan
Awful people doing awful things because fuck you, that’s why. Tate edition.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Baud: I wouldn’t think military vehicles would make for a visually satisfying parade, unless your goal is to demonstrate your might.
mrmoshpotato
@Elizabelle: Saw the movie 20 years ago. That’s enough.
bbleh
@prostratedragon: from the story, my impression is simply continued pressure, from activists on the city, and from the city and activists on the Park Police.
Ie a genuine win.
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Only insecure people need a parade to demonstrate their might.
They Call Me Noni
@Ken B: I hope a majority of the audience will be either reminded of or learn what real journalism looked like back in the day.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: It’s just killing me that something that has been a subject of bitter jest through the last decades of the 20th century in Russia — google “Brezhnev jokes” — is now coming to my own country.
zhena gogolia
@Baud:
Ooh, got it in one:
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
Tanks for the memories…
Dorothy A. Winsor
An immigration demonstration in California seems to be getting hot. A federal vehicle apparently struck a demonstrator.
A large contingent of federal vehicles letft, pursued by protesters. One protester appears to have been hit by the vehicle, and was unconscious.
satby
@Ken B: relatives of the Army personnel in the parade will be. Still a stretch to get to 200k from that though.
bbleh
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Protester Arrested For Assaulting Federal Vehicle
Warrant Served In Nearby Hospital Emergency Room
“This terrorist viciously attacked a vehicle driven by Federal
law enforcement officials by repeatedly beating it with his
head and body,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi.
JoyceH
@Baud: It occurs to me that however well this parade goes, it’s going to look second rate to Trump because we don’t trundle our missiles down the streets like the Russians and North Koreans do.
japa21
@JoyceH: And the soldiers won’t be goose-stepping
trollhattan
@bbleh:
Yup, big “Who’s gonna pay for my fucking paint?” vibes.
Baud
@JoyceH:
Also, no big parade ground.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@Baud: pouring rain and some hail would be lovely.
Ohio Mom
@trollhattan: Like the couldn’t eyeball Tate was going way over the speed limit.
Chetan Murthy
@HopefullyNotcassandra: I would be satisfied with 105F and 100% humidity. People falling over with heat exhaustion all over, ambulances working over time. I have no sympathy for anybody who goes to that goddamn parade, and that includes the soldiers.
Every one of those soldiers needs to stage a sick-out.
ETA: they all swore a goddamn oath to defend our nation. They’re -all- violating it right fucking now.
brendancalling
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Follow this threadthread for what went down.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@WaterGirl: does it matter? Publicly, he has looted much more right than his salary is since he returned to office
That Qatar plane alone will cost us billions to make just right for him.
Booger
@stinger: Y’all have a very unique take on the language.
Baud
@HopefullyNotcassandra:
I’m holding out for a volcanic eruption.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@Hilbertsubspace: no doubt. Will no-one hire a copy editor anymore?
HopefullyNotcassandra
@Chetan Murthy: the soldiers cannot disobey an order to parade. Otherwise, sounds like the right kind of weather to me.
@Baud: oh my! That would be a kibosh on the dear leader’s North Korea day celebration to be certain.
bbleh
@HopefullyNotcassandra: forecast right now (a week away, so at best maybe 50-50 reliable) is for thunderstorms all afternoon beginning about 3. That would be nice, especially a few well-timed lightning bolts for some god-ain’t-happy drama.
Baud
@HopefullyNotcassandra:
God likes to say he exists. This is his chance to prove it.
Melancholy Jaques
@Matt McIrvin:
She didn’t mention precious bodily fluids and she didn’t say the words “purity of essence,” but we all know that’s what she means.
Baud
@bbleh:
Nothing a sharpie can’t fix.
Matt McIrvin
@Splitting Image:
Much like RFK Jr. seems to believe that all diseases are caused by environmental toxins, yet he joined the pro-toxin party. Toxins seem to only come from vaccines or conspiracies, not from industrial effluent.
Timill
@Baud: How about a cataclysmic earthquake? Would you accept that?
Chetan Murthy
@HopefullyNotcassandra: Sure they can disobey. All they need to do is stay in their bunks and not don their uniforms. Yeah, they’d get court-martialed. So what? Next we’ll be excusing the po-po that support ICE in their raids. Nopes. They’re all complicit.
Matt McIrvin
@Melancholy Jaques: I do not fear women, Mandrake…
Baud
@Timill:
Depends on intensity.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@TONYG: yes. Somebody did. With this regime, we can no longer trust somebody competent did.
Apparently, the infrastructure lines run under the sidewalks. I agree about the plates. I think DC residents and visitors will be experiencing Trump blighted roads for a long time to come. We shall see.
prostratedragon
@bbleh:
“Keep on Pushing”
bbleh
@Chetan Murthy: hmm, I kinda don’t think leaving a few gaps in the TACO guy’s parade is worth a wholesale repudiation of centuries if not millennia of military discipline, not to mention the 250-year Constitutional principle of the primacy of the civilian command, but ymmv …
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
That’s just the tanks you get.
Omnes Omnibus
@Chetan Murthy: Did you pay your taxes this year?
Gvg
The Russians built their street to have that kind of parade on. It’s a big wide boulevard. I don’t know how long but it’s always the same one year after year in all the photos. China has a parade place too and so do some other countries. I imagine they have heavy railroads at either end and the streets are correctly reinforced for doing it. That means it’s a permanent need in that country.
We didn’t do that and even now I don’t think it will resonate well with many people. It’s just not our tradition and besides i can tell you summer is not a good time for parades without a really good reason. It’s too darn hot in most of the country. And the soldiers will be stuck in tanks or marching in formal ranks in dress uniforms? I am sure they are not going to love this.
Chetan Murthy
@bbleh: What Constitution? You mean the one that they’re wiping their asses with right now?
Professor Bigfoot
@Chetan Murthy: A Bad Conduct Discharge can be as debilitating as multiple felony convictions.*
(*obviously does not apply to the Commander in Chief)
lowtechcyclist
@Harrison Wesley:
Who else would they want? Anyone else would be a ‘DEI hire,’ y’know. //
Chetan Murthy
@Professor Bigfoot: I know, I know, sworn oaths mean nothing.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@Redshift: No Kanye?
Baud
@HopefullyNotcassandra:
Maybe they’ll name some potholes after Trump.
They can call them assholes.
Professor Bigfoot
@Chetan Murthy: Sworn oaths that include “obeying the officers appointed above you,” and therefore “carrying out legal, legitimate orders however stupid and anti-Constitutional.”
These guys shouldn’t even consider destroying their futures for the sake of a making some kind of ridiculous statement.
They’re teenagers to young adults with futures and frankly, this would be a fucking STUPID hill to sacrifice those futures on.
Baud
Wow. I didn’t realize until now how well Detroit is doing in baseball.
prostratedragon
Was just thinking that the hammer of god should immediately strike jackasses who suggest that only precise calibration could determine that they were roaring through a rural village at 4 times the speed limit. Then see that several of us are thinking in parallel.
bbleh
@Baud: ooo, I like “Trumpholes.” It has SO many uses. Great insult too — “you Trumphole!”
Shades of Dan Savage’s repurposing of “Santorum.”
Baud
@bbleh:
Definitely should be a tag here.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@Chetan Murthy: a court martial can result in prison time. Everybody working for ICE should ( and can ) quit.
just my opinion
Glidwrith
@Professor Bigfoot: Completely OT, but I want to thank you. A few months back you mentioned a wonderful knife you purchased on Etsy. I followed your link and purchased a lovely knife set for my husband. I just gave it to him for his birthday and his reaction was everything I could have hoped for. Thank you for the link!
prostratedragon
White flight
Professor Bigfoot
@Glidwrith: That’s fantastic, you’re so very welcome! And happy birthday to the hubster, may it be filled with love and laughter and of course, CAKE!
stinger
@Booger: ISWYDT :-)
trollhattan
Yup, slugged by a 4YO.
You hate to see it.
Baud
@trollhattan:
Good sign for the next Trump protest.
Aziz, light!
I would watch the DC parade only if it features the Kyoto Tachibana High School Marching Band.
prostratedragon
It’s an option:
prostratedragon
@Aziz, light!: Seen some excellent school marching bands out of Japan, SKorea, and Taiwan in recent years.
mrmoshpotato
Texas GOP rejects proof of citizenship for voting. Afraid it might fuck over the voters who vote to fuck themselves over.
Gloria DryGarden
@Elizabelle: josh johnson has a show in dc that night. I’d go see him…
Gloria DryGarden
@Suzanne: indeed. Or like our on the road parade pix of giant animal costumes.
this military parade thing, besides being a misuse of a lot money, and a chance to put a bunch of guys out in hot sun in too hot clothes, is like a big dick ego display.
I’m flashing on the Japanese penis festival, where they march through the streets w giant penis sculptures. I don’t begin to understand this culturally. At least they’re overt about it.
And when the resultant potholes are repaired, I hope they use red colorant in them, to signify … either “military was here,” or, “we had to use ketchup to fill these to honor mr taco.”
I’m wishing for disruptive weather too. But I agree, I don’t wish harm of 7000 soldiers. Maybe a gust of wind comes up and the awning over the vips is ripped loose, and then it’s just slightly grey and drizzly, or hazy and smokey if the Canadian fires are still burning.
Gloria DryGarden
@Scout211: if we don’t want to rain on his parade, what about raining on his speech and the “concert”?
let me find my sharpie. I just draw an arrow, right?
YY_Sima Qian
@Gvg: Thr PRC holds 2 parades every decade, once on the 10th year anniversary of the founding of the PRC (years that end in -9), & once on the 10th year anniversary of the defeat of Imperial Japan (years that end in -5). The parade occurs on a stretch of the Chang’an Boulevard between the Tiananmen Gate & the Tiananmen Square. The concrete on that stretch is specially reinforced, & all track vehicles have rubber pads installed on their tracks to minimize damage to the road surface. Otherwise, tracked vehicles are transported on transporter vehicles to & from the ends of the parade route.
There is a big one coming in early Sept. this year.
lowtechcyclist
@trollhattan:
“Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!”
Gloria DryGarden
@YY_Sima Qian: y’all are masters of foresight and long range planning over there. Ancient long lasting civilization. Roads and tanks prepared appropriately for parades, well-planned in advance.
USA must look like impulsive upstarts in contrast. Esp w the fast food guy in charge lately
Gloria DryGarden
@bbleh: I do so hope the goddess of wrath shows up for the smiting department….never mind proof, don’t they have important work to do?
YY_Sima Qian
@Gloria DryGarden: Nah, the 1st major parade in decades in ’84 (for the 35th anniversary of the founding of the PRC), after Deng felt half a decade of Reform of Opening had produced good results in terms of recovering from the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution & wanted to celebrate, tore up the pavement of the Chang’an Avenue & took weeks to repair.
Lesson learned, & the next parade was not until ‘99, by then the PRC had much greater means. (Holding military parades down the heart of Beijing would not have been positively received in the aftermath of 6/4/89).
One thing going for the longevity of the CPC regime, although it very rarely admits error, it does tend to learn from its mistakes.
Bill Arnold
@JoyceH:
The Russian Orthodox Churches regularly blesses Russia’s thermonuclear weapons.[1]
Perhaps that crowd of right wing evangelicals that blesses the Orange Antichrist, on video, could also lay hands on/annoint/whatever they all it USA’s thermonuclear weapons, on video.
[1] Blessing Bombs, Putin’s Altar Boy, and Twisting Russian Orthodoxy to Sanctify Nuclear War – Why the Russian Orthodox Church is blessing nuclear weapons in a once-atheistic society (Cathleen Falsani, July 6, 2022)
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: Musk’s out now so there’s not much sense wasting anti-Trump protest energy on him–though anti-Musk protests are still welcome as a separate thing entirely.
ascap_scab
Please let there be a live-fire artillery display where they knock down the Washington Monument. Oopsie!
Ruckus
If it was really about celebrating military families, we could put $30 million toward helping them offset the cost of their child care, food assistance and tuition… But it isn’t. Trump is throwing himself a $30 million birthday parade just to stroke his own ego.
$30 million to stroke an ego worth about maybe 7 cents – or is it less?
So this is where we are as a democracy after over 2 centuries of learning how to be one – and entirely missing the concept of spending a lot of money not being one, by celebrating selfishness and ego?
Gee, I’m stunned……
Ruckus
@YY_Sima Qian:
One thing going for the longevity of the CPC regime, although it very rarely admits error, it does tend to learn from its mistakes.
That’s about 12 thousand legs up on shitforbrains.
I could be way under estimating. WAY UNDER.
Ruckus
@Gloria DryGarden:
I believe you’ve got that wrong.
It’s a tiny dick ego display. Usually by someone who’s either never served or has far more power than they know how to properly handle. Which in this case seems to be both.