Donald Trump does NOT want you to share this footage of his pathetically tiny birthday parade crowd.
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen.bsky.social) June 14, 2025 at 6:28 PM
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The contrasting images of a DC ghost town/military parade and 1800 American cities and towns with well-attended protests is going to drive Trump batty.
— Seth Cotlar (@sethcotlar.bsky.social) June 14, 2025 at 12:45 PM
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I did not edit this, this is the actual parade with the actual music being played.
CINEMATIC— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog.lol) June 14, 2025 at 7:32 PM
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Proud of my country for sub-county fair-level turnout.
— Brent S. Sirota (@brentsirota.bsky.social) June 14, 2025 at 6:45 PM
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Hometown paper (Washington Post), “Tanks, troops and flyovers in D.C. as Trump gets his military parade”::
Planes roared over the heart of Washington on Saturday evening, tanks rolled along the National Mall, brass bands resounded and thousands of soldiers marched past cheering crowds, as the Army put on the largest show of military might in the capital in more than three decades.
The parade capped a day-long extravaganza honoring the Army’s 250th birthday and fulfilled President Donald Trump’s long-held desire for the kind of grand pageant he’d witnessed in other countries. It was a source of pride for attendees and dismay for others who took to the streets nationwide, inflamed by the notion that Trump would host such a spectacle — on his birthday, no less.
With crowds pulled to the parade and to protests, the day offered one of the starkest displays of America’s divisions since Trump returned to the Oval Office. In big cities and small towns, protesters clogged streets, raised signs and their voices, denouncing what they see as Trump’s authoritarian tactics and disregard for the Constitution. The “No Kings” campaign hosted rallies across the country but opted to bypass D.C., not wanting to allow “this birthday parade to be the center of gravity,” organizers said.
Still, people poured onto the National Mall all day Saturday for the Army’s birthday festivities. Long lines formed in the heavy heat, as people waited to climb in the back of a Stryker armored vehicle, and kids clambered into front seats of attack helicopters, posing for parents snapping photos with their phones. Across the grass, combat medics demonstrated how they treat injuries in conflict zones. A face-painting stand was steps away from a display of 19th-century rifles. Red MAGA hats dotted the crowd…
For some D.C. residents, protesting within city limits was important. Not doing so would feel like “capitulation,” said Nekisha Durett, 49, a local artist who joined hundreds marching down 14th Street. “We can’t be afraid to speak up.”
Onlookers having lunch in the deep-blue city filmed and cheered them on. Protesters included teenagers and retirees, liberals holding Biden signs and self-identified Communists, local residents and visitors from as far as Arizona. Many marchers waved American flags: some upside-down, typically seen as a symbol of protest over the state of the country, though a contingent of veterans leading the crowd held flags right-side up…
When the parade began, a little ahead of schedule because of rain in the forecast, parents grabbed their children’s hands and took off at a sprint to catch the procession of colors and song of horns. Some still had their gaze trained skyward to watch the Golden Knights, the parachutists’ contrails painting red streaks on the overcast sky. They later presented Trump with the American flag.
Sweat-drenched crowds broke into chants of “USA” as troops waved from passing tanks. The lingering smell of the vehicles’ exhaust stung throats and noses. The rumble of propellers signaled flyovers as light rain began to fall…
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Can’t blame people for staying home:
I don’t know if a divine power exists, but if it does, it has quite the sense of humor.
— Seth Cotlar (@sethcotlar.bsky.social) June 14, 2025 at 1:02 PM
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Rule of thumb: if there’s more people in the parade than there are people watching the parade, it’s not a successful parade.
— Greg Olear (@gregolear.bsky.social) June 14, 2025 at 6:34 PM
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Rolling Stone, “Trump’s Military Birthday Parade Was a Gross Failure”:
On Saturday, President Donald Trump held a hideously expensive military parade in Washington, D.C., on his birthday. Trump and his top officials stood on a stage at the National Mall behind two tanks, before two large digital American flags. Military bands and troops, some on horses, some in vehicles, some in tanks, others in Howitzers, marched in the streets. So did a few robot dogs. An army parachute team jumped down. Helicopters flew over. Drones flew by. There were many, many tanks…
Trump sat next to his wife Melania and the former Fox News host, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. At points, Trump stood alone in front onstage, saluting troops marching as the 1st Cavalry Division marched by. At another point, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was pictured yawning on C-SPAN. The military officials shown on C-SPAN spoke with reverence about the Global War on Terror.
Late in the event, Trump stood at a podium onstage and swore in 250 new or reenlisting troops. “Welcome to the United States Army and have a great life,” Trump said after they recited the Oath of Enlistment. “Thank you very much. Have a great life.” …
Finally, Trump spoke. He praised the army — and armies of years past. “Our soldiers never give up, never surrender and never ever quit. They fight, fight, fight and they win, win, win,” Trump said, in what seemed like an obvious reference to his own declaration of “Fight, Fight, Fight,” after a failed assassination attempt grazed his ear in Butler, Pennsylvania, during a campaign event last year…
Even before the speech component, the C-SPAN feed gave off a vibe that alternated between military recruitment video and softcore Trump propaganda. Video played several times of Trump giving speeches. Occasionally, a small banner popped up that said: “Video courtesy of America 250.” The nonprofit America 250, which is helping organize the ongoing publicly-funded campaign celebrating the country’s semiquincentennial, has been taken over by Trump allies and one of his campaign operatives…
Around 7 p.m., the big screens onstage that displayed the American flags turned to logos for UFC, the mixed martial arts business. Later, the MC thanked “special sponsor Palantir,” a contractor hired to help Trump compile data on Americans across federal agencies…
For an event that shut down much of central Washington D.C., closed key roads, and reportedly cost up to $45 million, the promise of a spectacle of America’s military might — that just coincidentally happened to fall on Trump’s birthday — didn’t draw out legions of his fans. Instead the crowd of supporters, servicemembers, curious locals, and military adjacent spectators who braved the oppressive heat and humidity of a post-thunderstorm D.C. managed to just fill out their allotted side of the street over several blocks in front of the White House, with plenty of room to spare.
In front of the central stage a crowd befitting a midsize concert gathered in view of Jumbotrons. The lawns surrounding the Washington monument — which have hosted countless inaugurations, protests, concerts, and gatherings, were largely unused overflow space.
When the TV broadcast showed the crowd risers along the parade route, they were sparsely filled. The National Park Service issued permits for 250,000 people for the National Mall festival and the military parade. An aerial parade of historic military aircraft flew above the National Mall, traversing a course from Lincoln to Washington that — despite clear anticipation of crowds by event organizers — was more empty field and food truck line than crowd.
Though rock music blared on TV, the parade itself was eerily quiet. One video posted on X shows tanks squeaking past nearly silent crowds, sounding like a grocery cart in need of grease….
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“Special thanks to our sponsor: Coinbase”
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It is official! Despite tanks and planes, Trump’s parade was “listless and low-energy.”
— Marc Elias (@marcelias.bsky.social) June 14, 2025 at 8:14 PM
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Omgggg
— Mueller, She Wrote (@muellershewrote.com) June 14, 2025 at 7:36 PM
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Trump looking absolutely inconsolable at his fascist-themed 79th birthday party which no one turned up to other than those who had to because he's their boss.
— Adam Schwarz (@adamjschwarz.bsky.social) June 14, 2025 at 6:40 PM
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This military parade could’ve been a Signal chat
— [Sic] Burns (@sicburns2.bsky.social) June 14, 2025 at 8:11 AM
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Someone left his cake out in the rain
— ndweiss (@11tulips.bsky.social) June 14, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Suzanne – No King! Downtown Pittsburgh
Jackie
Someone left his cake out in the rain… And I can’t take it any longer Oh no… 😂😂😂
I’m dying! Sooo perfect!
lgerard
This is too funny
https://twitter.com/BaileyCarlin/status/1934035294589763641
Sister Golden Bear
San Franciso No Kings reports in:
Sister Golden Bear
This is what happens when you order your Dear Leader Kim Jong Un Birthday Parade from Temu.
feebog
Good grief, if we had been that out of step while marching out Sgt. Major would have torn us a new one. Pathetic.
Lyrebird
I’m gonna stick with the idea that their ambling was the one bit of commentary the parade marchers could offer. Like OK FINE you make us do this parade, FINE. We do the parade.
Craig
@feebog: I’m going with malicious compliance
Craig
Loved this swipe ‘the former Fox News host, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’. Haha fuck you Kegbreath.
laura
I have not seen even a scintilla of a birthday sheet cake. This shit is so lame.
frosty
Now, that’s a great line!
SpaceUnit
It’s like we’re aspiring to be North Fucking Korea.
And somehow failing.
Jay
@feebog:
So the $65 million dollar ‘parade” is actually going to cost taxpayers 55% more because of the tariffs FFS on China?
Jay
Chetan Murthy
@Sister Golden Bear: Memo to self for next time: “don’t work out right before, and then go to the rally site (b/c then you won’t have to walk); instead, go to the start, and be well-rested so you can walk no prob.” My friend who did that had a ball, whereas I sat around at Civic Center waiting for everybody else to show up! Big mistake!
But wowsers, it was a big crowd. I mean big. You could tell just from the roar when the crowd responded to a speaker’s exhortation!
Ohio Mom
I’m glad it didn’t rain on Trump’s parade. Oh yeah, the other day it sounded like delicious karma that there could be thunder and lighting and torrents of rain.
But now there is no excuse for how pathetic it all was. No one can blame the poor attendance and all around lack of enthusiasm on the weather.
Here in Cincinnati, it was cloudy but that actually made it more pleasant, not to have the sun beating down.
SpaceUnit
I threw parties bigger than that when I was a sophomore in college.
Chetan Murthy
@Ohio Mom: Here in SF it was mostly sunny. Which was perfect, b/c it was otherwise cold and windy. So standing in the sun, it was just about perfect; step into the shade of a building, and all of a sudden you were shivering.
Chetan Murthy
A friend bought 400 small American flags and gave them away at the start of the march. He had a great time doing it; I think I’ll join him next time in doing that. There were lots of American flags: one lady had three big ‘uns! Lots of flags on posters too. Takin’ back the flag!
Jackie
@Ohio Mom:
So true! But I’m sure between FFOTUS and FAUX News, they’ll cook up some “plausible excuse” no matter how lame, and MAGA will buy it hook, line, and sinker, because…
Jackie
@Chetan Murthy: I have a bunch of tiny American flags that I add to my dad’s flowers at his niche on Veterans Day and other significant holidays. I’m placing one with his Father’s Day bouquet, because he would have been out protesting today – walker and all. He detested Trump first term, and if he was still alive… he was a WWII Veteran. Nuff said.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Is it just me or was there something off about that WaPo excerpt quoted in AL’s post?
cain
Well Trump has nothing to complain about! Look at all the crowds! He’s never gotten so much attention in his life. Protesting everywhere yeehaw!
cain
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
It seems the way they reported it about soldiers going past screaming applauding crowds. That didn’t seem like an accurate description like they allow you to read it and then you think of ticker parades from ywsteryeary
Chetan Murthy
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): haha. it isn’t just you. Over at LG&M somebody snarked that the piece was written before the parade. For sure they didn’t wipe the slobber off the piece before publishing. It is what it is, eh? Bezos has fully embraced Teh Fash [sic].
sab
I was going to hang my little flag upside down in front of rhe house, but when I heard about the amazing attendance across rhe country that distress sign seemed inappropriate.
Kent
@lgerard: That is an 80-year-old Sherman Tank from WW2.
We made over 50,000 of them during the war to KILL fascists. Not honor them as this one was being used for today.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): the writer was trying to both sides it hard and being a chickenshit about the obvious.
Craig
@Jay: of course. These Nazis are so stupid. Vlad is laughing.
Kent
@Lyrebird: Those are American troops mind you. None of that “woke” walking, walkability and marching shit for our troops. American soldiers get around on 4 wheels like God intended.
Craig
@Chetan Murthy: fuck yeah. Taking back the flag. My new motto. Thanks. I wish I’d known about awesome formation out at ocean beach. That was cool.
Jay
Chetan Murthy
@Jay: oh, I winced from laughing too hard.
Jay
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@cain:
@Chetan Murthy:
Yeah, it definitely comes across like it was written in advance. Which is sad. It reads like propaganda, honestly. The WaPo is trying to gaslight all of us. Do they seriously expect us to buy this shit when literally everything else tells us this was a failure?
Not that the WaPo was ever perfect, but this shit completely destroys its credibility as an unbiased, objective news source
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
If I were a reporter and had written this piece, I wouldn’t want it to have my byline
mark
“Someone left his cake out in the rain”
That was the best one.
And that marching, they looked like they had never been to basic training.
Even for a simple change of command ceremony we had to practice marching in formation for several days before.
Chetan Murthy
May I ask: what year would this have been? I have read comments over at LG&M that maybe this is something new, that it used to not be like this. But then Omnes points out that this is malicious compliance. Which sure, I’d love to believe that.
mark
Back in the late 70’s & early 80’s. Malicious compliance makes sense. That was bad.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Chetan Murthy:
I’d like to believe that too. I had heard that these troops in the parade had been vetted specifically for their loyalty and their “physique”, allegedly
Chetan Murthy
We’ve seen that the G(r)OP and Trumpers have a distressing habit of using Russian and Nazi imagery. Too many incidents to be accidental. For those who hadn’t seen it, here’s another: https://x.com/DrHueyLi/status/1933984312506089721
Shockingly, the DoD hasn’t deleted their original tweet (as of this writing).
NotMax
ETTD?
Extra Tasty Tuna Dish? Each Time Things Deteriorate? Elon Tried To Drive?
Jay
Chetan Murthy
@NotMax: everything trump touches dies. It’s a book title too.
JoyceH
My little town in a ruby red county had about 150 at their protest, which is immense. They report that the majority of driver responses were positive. I’m still sitting around with my sprained ankle but I enjoyed the protest cover on tv and online.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Jay:
The Keystone Kops
Chetan Murthy
@Chetan Murthy: ah yes: https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Trump-Touches-Dies-Republican/dp/1982103124
prostratedragon
Around the world
prostratedragon
@Chetan Murthy: What the fuck?
Jay
ACAB
NotMax
Today: (reality is a harsh mistress) “You call that a crowd? We’ve seen pictures of larger gatherings for dish night at a movie theater.”
Tomorrow: (White House press office) “We’re still compiling figures but this early we can tell you the big, beautiful, triumphant parade had an audience of 1.25 billion.”
//
NotMax
@Chetan Murthy
United States of Americanski.
//
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@NotMax:
Those are rookie numbers. The admin will say the entire human population showed up to come and witness His Orangeness in DC
NotMax
@Chetan Murthy
Gracias.
Proud member of SSOA. Society to Stamp Out Acronyms.
;)
prostratedragon
Arrested for wearing a medical mask.
Is our children learning?
rikyrah
I had my doubts about the NO KING protests,but it was a wonderful GLOBAL CONTRAST to that shyt show in DC
Thank you, protesters across America and the world👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Martin
This is a preview for our upcoming semiquincentennial. Trump is going to co-opt our would-be national celebration as a personal one, steer the effort around his own personal needs, and everyone is going to feel like shit about it.
JoyceH
@Jay: I would love to know how many J6ers got jobs with ICE.
Jay
Some amazing signs here, if anybody is looking for one for the next protest.
https://bsky.app/profile/patriottakes.bsky.social/post/3lrmj6yqj6c2y
Splitting Image
I’m obviously saddened by the news out of Minnesota, but apart from that I think it was a very good day for America. The No Kings marches went very well, and the sad little birthday spectacle went as badly as I could have hoped.
prostratedragon
@Martin: Well, we have a year, don’t we?
Jay
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
The town I grew up in had a population of about 100k when I was a teen. Every year we had a parade about this time of year, it was better attended than TACO’s b-day bash.
Jay
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA:
One thing I noticed, through all the comments today, is everybody, even John, got stoked to realize that they aren’t alone, even in “red” spaces, in being pissed off and furious, with TACO47, and doing it with humour and in a good natured manner.
And that you outnumber “them”.
EireIAm
Not sure WTF the headline writer at The Guardian is smoking:
Gathering stormclouds can’t wipe smile from Trump’s face as long-held dream of military parade is realised
Jay
@EireIAm:
Haven’t seen a single shot of him smiling at “his” parade.
But hey, everybody is sane washing the shit out of the Demented TACO.
Yes, he got his “perade” over objections.
Kim Il Jong is LHAO.
Xi is LHAO.
Even Pootie Poot, who’s parade this year was a joke, compared to past, is LHAO.
MagdaInBlack
@Jay: The pictures I’ve seen, the folks around him look like they know there’ll be hell to pay when they get home, cause daddy is pissed.
Jay
@MagdaInBlack:
It’s demented Donnie Shitpants in the library with the Nuclear Codes,
So, other than Pootie Poot, Kim, Xi or any 3rd world dictator,………well.
As more and more of you guys know.
But hey, since “Liberation Day” Canada has signed $1.2 trillion dollars in contracts with the EU, Australia, Mexico, etc that was supposed to go to the US. Solar panels, iron ore, wind farms, battery plants, 2 smelters, and EV plants, grain deals. so,………………….. preserved 27,000 jobs in trade ally Countries while netting a cool 68,000 new jobs in Canada, Not bad for just 5 months.
Jay
@MagdaInBlack:
Oh, and while Melanoma is going home, (did you see the side eye), it’s not to the White Supremacy House, that’s Steven Millers place.
MagdaInBlack
@Jay: I’m glad someone is winning. So much winning
@Jay: And I’m not sure that’s really her. eta: altho the side-eye is pretty good proof.
Baud
Pope Leo didn’t call Trump Satan’s spawn in his speech yesterday. Disappointed.
Princess
@Jay: Do you have a source for that? Google isn’t helping me. The only things I can find with a 1.2 trillion dollar tag is Canada’s debt as of a few years ago and the size of a deal Trump claims to have made with Qatar.
satby
Good video recapping some protests around the nation to kick off a happy Sunday morning. Proud my hometown showed up strong too.
artem1s
Would you mind providing links to these stats? This is the kind of thing that could get traction in social media. Orangemandius promised the tariffs would mean more jobs. He forgot to mention they would be in other countries.
lowtechcyclist
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
And some space aliens as well, which ICE immediately seized and deported via Musk’s ‘Starship,’ which had another rapid unplanned disassembly.
Baud
@lowtechcyclist:
Come Sail Away
Bruce K in ATH-GR
Whoever cued up “Fortunate Son” as the troops marched by is probably going to be in a world of trouble once Hesgeth and Miller and company realize what actually happened, but that person has also earned a place in Valhalla for that decision.
Suzanne
LOW EVERGY!!! SAD!!!
Man, seeing these images of well-attended protests in Pigsknuckle County contrasted with Orange Man Sad and his DUI Hire sitting next to him….. GIVING ME SOME LIFE.
mrmoshpotato
Awwww, Putin’s bitch’s birthday parade didn’t have stamina! SAD!
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@Baud: His Holiness may have been distracted by the no-pants policy proposals of Baud!2028.
Baud
@Bruce K in ATH-GR:
I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Pope in pants.
Geminid
I see Trump made time yesterday for a phone call with his “friend” R.T. Erdogan. The subject was the Iran/Israel war commenced by Israel early Thursday morning..
According to the semi-official Andalou Agency, the Turkish President expressed Turkiye’s willingness to help contain the war, and emphasized that in order to end it, Iran must return to the negotiating table and strike a deal with the Americans over its nuclear program.
Seperately there was a CNN report that Iran’s Foreign Minister Arangchi spoke to Trump envoy Steve Witkoff yesterday evening.
I assume that Erdogan’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin sat with their boss while he was conferring with his Yankee buddie. Erdogan has a lot trust and confidence in his two advisors, and with good reason.
Fidan and Kalin were featured in a photo staged a few hours into the war. It showed the two men seated facing each other, and flanking Turkiye’s Chief of Staff and another top official who were facing the camera. The intended message: “We’re on this.”
Fidan and Kalin looked very stern, but the Chief of Staff had a small but noticeable smile, and the other guy looked kind of cheerful too.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
The restored and running Shermans were cool. You see a lot of running, restored vehicles from all parties in WW2 in the UK, not here so much.
The event showed how, if you want authoritative military parades done right, one needs to go to the experts like North Korea or the Russians. Soviet military parades back in the day were, for what they were, damned impressive. The more contemporary North Korean ones show that one demographic there isn’t starving: choreographers.
My normie wife who used to work in R&D as a Fed at the Army’s Night Vision lab down I-95 at Ft Belvoir said yesterday she felt sorry for the Army. They were gonna have a big celebration on the Mall anyway and Hair Furor hijacked that, of course.
If anybody ever wanted to see the high-level, corporate editorial differences in cable between CNN and MSNBC, you just had to watch yesterday’s coverage. CNN did run a piece or three on the No Kings events but if they were your only news source, you’d not get a sense of things as their coverage was mostly all Israel, then the sad-fascist parade. Whereas MSNBC ignored Israel, provided some coverage to said parade but the rest was mostly No Kings.
I’m still trying to see reports of reported numbers as all the local reports from various big metro areas use the same phrase “thousands showed up”. But it seems like in a lot of places it was tens of thousands.
Baud
@Suzanne:
mrmoshpotato
Yes! We’re replacing “you could’ve heard a pin drop”.
Baud
@Geminid:
Israel and Netanyahu in particular are rightly unpopular right now (as is Trump and the US), but the number of world governments that want to see Iran with a nuke is pretty tiny. Hopefully, Turkey can exercise some leadership here.
Princess
@artem1s: I dug around a bit more and found nothing. If this were true, Canadian news would be broadcasting it widely. Unfortunately, the fact is, Canada is suffering from the trade war and it’s only going to get worse over the next while.
Matt McIrvin
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: I don’t know… there’s a long history of right-wingers using songs with protest messages or progressive messages inappropriately, and liberals mocking them for it and the artists objecting (sometimes with lawyers), to the point that by now I don’t think this is ever a mistake; I think it’s deliberate, a show of power. “We know what this song was supposed to mean, but we can override the original meaning and make it our anthem, and you can’t do anything but complain.”
It’s part of a more general pattern of behaving deliberately stupidly just to wind up smart people.
mrmoshpotato
Smile, you fat, orange, fascist sucker of Kremlin ass! It’s your birthday, you pile of shit!
artem1s
@Chetan Murthy:
Makes sense. In old Earth That Was newsPAPERS would routinely prep copy for recurring events that they could update the dates for and add a few misc details and then send to press. Easy peasy – save the real effort for actual new ‘news’. Especially for the Sunday editions which often, in the old days, had to be ready for press before the event had actually taken place.But of course that was the old timeline when there were actual journalist and not just social media influencers who cut re-pasted whatever they found on the internet or cooked up with some AI chat bot.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
TBH, I’m amazed how poorly the smart people have adapted to this thing that has been going on for decades now. People are still triggered!
bjacques
I really feel sorry for the Army but also proud for them having the discipline to endure this bullshit on what should have been their special day.
Baud
@bjacques:
The whole country is going to suffer the same thing next year for America’s 250th.
Hopefully no Harris voters were called up to participate in yesterday’s sad sack parade.
narya
I was just reminded of our Blogfather (and Professor . . .), in that I saw a pic of someone with a sign that said “You know it’s bad when a straight white guy makes a sign.”
cmorenc
For the MSM, an unfortunate side-effect of the assasination of state legislators in Minnesota was that it distracted them from coverage of No Kings protests nationwide, as if they could only really keep spotlight focus on two things: that and Trump’s military parade, with occasional passing mention of NK rallies. Both on the way to downtown Raleigh for the very well-attended NK rally at the old State Capitol grounds, and on the way home, news coverage on MSNBC and CNN was wall-to-wall “they are still hunting the perp (who assassinated the legislators) and the populace of Minneapolis is hunkering down”, and the upcoming military parade start.
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: Misusing song lyrics is at least a pretty benign version of it that doesn’t involve endangerment to self or others, like, say, refusing to wear a pandemic mask, or all the guys who liked to photograph themselves pointing guns at their dicks a few years ago.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
When the self is MAGA, I’m not the least bit triggered.
Matt McIrvin
@cmorenc: Every thing that happens is the distraction from the previous thing that happened. A man of totalitarian/narcissist instincts like Trump has to keep a constant stream of things coming, so he’s always in the spotlight but we’re overwhelmed with more theatrical stupidity than we can properly comprehend, but lately there have been a bunch that are out of his control.
narya
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: I’m seeing reports of 4-6 million, nationwide (that’s actuals plus projections based on the actuals, I think). And that wouldn’t count things like my dumb little Sharpie’d t-shirt I wore to my beer run.
mrmoshpotato
@Martin:
So we protest the orange shitstain again!
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Yeah I’m a bit of a history buff especially Civil War and WWII but a little Revolutionary War era too, and a celebration of the Army’s 250th anniversary would have been something I’d be all over. And I live in the DC area and am far from alone in being at least somewhat interested in various eras of America’s military history. So this event under ordinary circumstances would have drawn strong attendance.
But once Trump attached his grubby little traitorous image to the parade I wasn’t going to attend, and again I’m far from alone there. I HOPE the Army realizes he crapped all over their big day. And corporate sponsors?!?! Are you f’ing kidding me? Like tackiest move ever.
lowtechcyclist
@Matt McIrvin:
I think that’s a total fail with “Fortunate Son” though. We aren’t complaining or getting wound up about it, we’re pointing and laughing.
If they want to try to make it a right-wing anthem, they can be my guest. It won’t stop being funny.
mrmoshpotato
@Bruce K in ATH-GR:
You’re assuming these dumbshits would get it even if John Fogerty explained it to them like they were 5-year-olds.
Apologies to all 5-year-olds.
lowtechcyclist
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:
I know, right? “The U.S. government, brought to you by Three-Initial Corp.” A government that needs sponsorships isn’t much of a government anymore.
Baud
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:
@lowtechcyclist:
I think corporate sponsors are common, but the tackiness was in his they highlighted their sponsors. Usually it’s just a low key sign identifying how the sponsors are.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:
I’ve actually written and had published a set of miniature wargaming rules for the American Revolution, was born in DC and my late father was an Arlington County cop for 30+ years. So yeah, the kind of event the Army was apparently planning would have been a *big* draw both locally, regionally and for your average touron from anywhere else.
And like you, if I were still back there, I would have stayed far, far away. All I needed to see were the two CNN reporters there, one on the Mall and another at the reviewing grandstand before the parade kicked off to know how awful the experience would have been.
I was surrounded by virulently red voters for decades after we moved away, no need to go back for the same experience.
Geminid
@Baud: One of the stories circulating is that the Israeli government is lobbying the Americans to join the fight. The Andalou Agency report did not say this question came up between Trump and Erdogan, but I expect it did and that Erdogan told Trump, “Don’t do it, Donald, don’t fall for Bibi’s tricks.”
The Andalou report did say Erdogan emphasized the importance of containing the war and avoiding escalation, and implies that the U.S. steers clear of direct involvement.
What struck me was how the other principal message wasn’t, “Israel must immediately stop these heinous attacks!” but was instead, “Iran must return to the bargaining table and make deal.”
I see a lot of people saying, “There’s no way Iran’s gonna make a deal now!” But Fidan and now his boss have said that is the only viable path to ending this war, and these are two fairly shrewd men.
Fidan in particular is very knowledgeble as to Iran. He apent 11 years as Erdogan’s intelligence director before being tapped as Foreign Minister, and during that time Fidan met a lot with his Iranian counterparts, including General Soleimani before he was killed.
Dave
@SpaceUnit: One thing that might work in our favor (ok is there is a genuine fairly widespread reflexive “fuck you buddy” to heavy handed authoritarianism in the American public with a lot of notable exceptions) is that the American Public tends to lose interest to quickly to follow through on anything, good or bad, to completion.
Raoul Paste
@Jay:
Amazing signs. Thanks
bjacques
@Geminid: if Hakan knows enough about Iran’s feelings right now even to say something like that in public then Iran’s (surviving) leaders’ self-restraint borders on the superhuman. Would that Israel had even a tenth of that 1-1/2 years ago.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Jay:
“I have never been so disappointed in cholesterol” is one I’ve not seen. Having the drawing of Hair Furor eating a hamberder delivers the message.
YY_Sima Qian
@Chetan Murthy: I don’t know if the story spectacle was the malicious compliance on the part of the US Army, but it was certainly the US Army phoning it in.
The parade was also a complete sh*tshow from an event planning perspective, total incompetence.
I am a bit surprised that they couldn’t round up a couple of hundred thousand MAGAs from the surround states to fill now the seats & the grounds.
YY_Sima Qian
@Jay: Canada & the PRC finally got around to renormalized relations, after quite a few years of deep freeze.
NotMax
Granted, only saw short clips but did anyone see any military people of color parading?
YY_Sima Qian
@Baud: Unfortunately, what incentive does the Islamist regime in Tehran to trust any deal Israel signs & the US facilitates, as opposed to getting nukes? They have seen Saddam Hussein & Qaddafi forego nukes & have their regimes overthrown. They have seen the Kim Dynasty acquiring nukes & no other power (great or regional) can threaten it. Iran signed the JPCOA only to have Trump 45 back out at Bibi’s behest, & the EU was powerless to keep the deal viable & was coerced into following suit on the US’ unilateral sanctions. Neither Russia nor the PRC have been truly willing to stick their necks out to defend Iran, both have substantial interests w/ the Gulf States, the Sunni Arab states, & indeed Israel.
The current Israel-Iran War (& it is a war now) has shown that Israel is becoming just as much (if not more) destabilizing & risk embracing actor as Iran has historically been, & the US is unwilling & unable to constrain Bibi & the reactionaries in power. The regime’s viability has been threatened by the Pearl Harbor style sudden attack Israel launched (& just as damaging), while negotiations were still ongoing w/ the US. The US, the UK, France & Germany have all chosen to down play the reckless Israel escalation, but instead condemned Iranian retaliation. (Russia, the PRC & Pakistan have chosen to stand w/ Iran, but only rhetorically. The Gulf States condemned Israel, but are probably secretly smiling. Japan interestingly strongly condemned both the Israeli attack & the Iranian retaliation. India is staying neutral.)
w/ all of that, & w/ the regional network of allies & proxies that formed Iran’s deterrence against Israeli attack now in tatters, the only way to secure the regime is to acquire nukes. Unsurprisingly, the sudden Israeli assault seems to have caused much of the Iranian population to rally around the flag & embrace patriotism, even if they remain just as dissatisfied & disillusioned w/ the theocratic regime. Even critics of the regime, & those who have been victimized by the regime, are voicing outrage at what they see as unprovoked & naked Israeli aggression.
Finally, I was struck by the videos of Syrians cheering as the IDF planes flew overhead to drop bombs on Iran, & Lebanese dancing on rooftops to saxophone music as Iranian ballistic missiles rained down onto Israel. I think that about sums up regional sentiments, at least at the “street” level.
YY_Sima Qian
@NotMax: Not in the clips I saw, & not for the 1st time in military events hosting Trump.
RaflW
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Not just you. It’s jingoistic drivel. I know people need jobs, and journalism is in serious decline as a career, but I cannot fathom how people go to work there every day as Bezos and his criminal Brit just wreck the place.
Geminid
@bjacques: Hakan Fidan knows Iran’s security leaders as hardheaded, calculating and ruthless men. He’ll expect them to get past their feelings and respond to the strategic realities of their situation. Those are not good. The Islamic Republic is isolated; with Hezbollah crippled and Syria in unfriendly hands, it has no allies in region except for the Houthis and some Iraqi proxy militias; and no real friends either unless you count Qatar.
And the Islamic Republic cannot control its own airspace. That is a huge failure. The Islamic Republic spent 40 years and $40 billion building an “Axis of Resistance” to Israel that collapsed last year. They also sank a lot of resources into a nuclear weapons program they never really needed in the first place, and more resources into an offensive ballistic missile capability That was intended to deter attacks on nuclear program, but it did mot in fact deter them.
Now they’ve got Israeli planes and drones flying at will around the western half of the country, that can strike anywhere in Iran they want to.
For years on end, Iranians have heard the regime boast about the Axis, the centrifuges and the missiles. Instead of yelling, “Death to the Little Satan!” Death to the Great Satan!” Iranians might be more like, “Where the fvck is our air defense?!!”
RaflW
@Martin: “Trump is going to co-opt our would-be national celebration as a personal one, steer the effort around his own personal needs, and everyone is going to feel like shit about it.”
And his team’s legendary lack of advance work, weak logistics, and general slapdash sleaze will be on full display.
YY_Sima Qian
@Geminid: Türkiye had urge Israel to halt its attacks on Iran 2 days ago.
As for a negotiated deal, Unless Türkiye can guarantee such a deal & ensure that Israel will stick to the terms, why would the now an order of magnitude more paranoid regime in Tehran agree? It’s not like Erdoğan has that much leverage over Bibi.
Bibi (& the usual über-hawkish suspects in the US) urging the US to “finish the job” is entirely predictable. Bibi’s theory of victory rests on the US bailing him out of any strategic recklessness & take on great risks on Bibi’s behalf. Despite quickly achieving air dominance over the skies of western Tehran, no one I have read seem to assess that Israel is capable of dismantling the Iranian nuclear program & collapse the theocratic regime through an air campaign. The Israeli Air Force probably can’t keep up this operational tempo for long. Absent a decisive US intervention, the Israel-Iranian War will probably settle into a tit-for-tat stalemate, albeit one that strongly favors Israel in purely military terms, .
RaflW
@MagdaInBlack: Rubio’s “yawn heard ’round the beltway” (clipped dozens of times already) will mean he’s gonna get Trump’s scorn, and go kick some more Cuban immigrants out of the US as succor.
RaflW
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: Popes wear floor length gowns, so … no problemo!
Geminid
@YY_Sima Qian: That might have been a tough sell. People in the surrounding states know DC is a crappy place to visit in the summertime. And they have their own local 4th of July parades to look forward to.
bjacques
@Geminid: ouch. Still…
YY_Sima Qian
@Geminid: Israel has killed a lot of the hardheaded, calculating & ruthless men leading Iran’s security apparatus, especially the IRGC. Trump assassinated the hard man par excellence, Suleimani. As Adam L. Silverman alluded to in yesterday’s Ukraine post, the forces filling the vacuum could be even more extreme, uncompromising, & risk embracing.
The theocratic regime’s incompetence in national defense, & maladministration in general, could eventually catch up to it, some time after the war ends. In the mean time, they can bank on railing against the “dastardly Zionists cowardly attacking w/o provocation, while Iran was duped into negotiating in good faith w/ its proxy the US”. After all, Bibi himself has provided a template in delaying being held accountable for the Oct. 7 disaster. For now, it seems Iranians across the spectrum are focusing their anger & outrage at Israel.
Geminid
@YY_Sima Qian: Oh, I’m sure Turkiye has called on Israel to halt its attacks. But as summarized by Clash Report’s summary, Fidan’s statement on the war yesterday emphasized that:
But if we’re talking about trust here, how is the Islamic Republic any more trustworthy than Israel? Neither can be trusted, and it will be up to the IEAE to monitor any agreement, and for the Security Council and other major countries to back them up.
As for being a destabilizing force, Israel has not been nearly the destabilizing force in the region that Iran has been. This might seem counter-intuitive to msny Westerners because Israel and everything it does is under an international media spotlight, while Iran’s destabilizing activities in Syria and Lebanon tend to be dismissed as minor regional affairs.
That’s not the case for Turkiye and the Gulf states. They’ve seen at close hand the instability the Islamic Republic brought to the region, and the widespread bloodshed and misery that has caused.
YY_Sima Qian
@Geminid: Historically, Israel’s destabilizing & immiserating activities have been limited to the WB, Gaza Strip & southern Lebanon, hemmed in as it had been by hostile governments in Syria & Iraq, frenemy in Türkiye, & constrained by peace treaties w/ Jordan & Egypt. Now, Israel is no longer as constrained & has been clearly looking to assert regional hegemony back by force of arms. More than a few analysts are interpreting Israel’s pattern of attacks as aiming at regime change, & not denuclearization.
Yes, neither Bibi nor the Islamist regime are trust worthy, but Iran did sign the JPCOA & was in compliance. It was Bibi who had consistently worked to undermine the deal. Just weeks ago the US intelligence community was assessing that Iran was not weaponizing its nuclear program. Ever since Suleimani’s assassination, we have seen Tehran mostly go for face saving tit-for-tat, rather than escalation, suggesting a risk averse mindset aimed at securing the regime’s hold on power domestically.
Right now, we still only have Israel’s word that Iran was racing toward weaponization, to justify its sudden attack.
chemiclord
@Jackie:
“We work fer a livin’ unlike you unemployed shit libs suckin’ on the gubbermint teat!” – MAGAt narrative.
WTFGhost
Fuck you, you mendacious, lying, two-faced, untruthful, propagandist sack of shit.
It was a source of hubris for the attendees, and a source of no interest to those concerned about the state of democracy in the United States! GET THE FUCK OVER YOURSELF YOU PATHETIC DICKWEED GROWING IN A FIELD OF DICKS, SOON TO BE PLUCKED AND SALTED FOR YOUR OWN VERY CONSUMPTION!
NO ONE gave a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut for Trump’s little Army stiffee-wannabe. People did give a damn about his criminality, his unlawfulness, his breaking of his oath of office, his violation of every human standard of morality (except for those invented by panty-sniffers), and his attempted destruction of the United States of America.
That he was wasting time, money, and resources on something he thought makes him look like a big man, rather than a pathetic, weak, cowardly, wimp, who thinks he’s a real man, because he can order actual responsible adults to put on a show for him, doesn’t cause any dismay; it does cause some rancid disgust, but that’s an entirely different emotion, you goddamned lickspittle of a journalist!
Also: fuck you, and you’re ugly, and your mother dresses you funny.
Geminid
@YY_Sima Qian: Iran was not in compliance with the JCPOA. They blew past all the limitations it agreed to with the five other parties, and this has been reported in detail by IAEA inspectors and by IAEA Director Raphael Grossi himself.
The British, French and Germans have complained loud and long about this, and it was their pressure that finally induced the IAEA board to find that Iran was not in compliance with its obligations under the Neclear Proliferation Treaty which it signed.
That action happened Wednesday night, and Iran’s response was to announce it would open up a new centrifuge installation, and replace some of its older centrifuges with their latest sixth generation models. This news was overshadowed by Israel’s strike a few hours later.
WTFGhost
@Geminid: Why was Iran expected to comply with the pact, when Trump had withdrawn during his first term?
That Iran had gone past the enrichment limits, etc., has been in the news for *years*. It was all seen as diplomatic performance, reminding the world that the US had defrauded the rest of the dealmakers.
Are you seriously arguing that Israel has the right to commit acts of war, because of a failure of a diplomatic agreement to which they’re not a party?
The Pale Scot
Damn I feel sorry for those troops, wearing utilities and shuffling along in the humidity. Mirroring the pathetic show of the First Felon. Where are the Class A uniforms? Where are the Marines? No gunny would allow such an display. The First Felon thought he was getting a pantimeme Bastille Day. But how can you have a military parade. without the pipes?
1st Battalion Scots Guards – Homecoming Parade
or a Drill Team?
https://youtu.be/iE9j3RGLJCM?t=208
Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon Performs in Times Square
This is what The Creature known as Trump wanted
Macron leads France’s traditional military parade
Never did I think all this shit going on would be, it’s like a Bizarro year has populated everywhere
Geminid
@WTFGhost: Iran signed the JCPOA with five nations. The U.S. was only one of them. France and the UK also signed that treaty, and they do not accept the position you assert.
And the extensive upgrading of Iran’s centrifuge capacity since then was not some “diplomatic performance.” It was a major investment far exceeding any peaceful purpose. They’ve put themselves in a position to produce material for at least six bombs in short order. You don’t have to take my word for that; IEAE Director Rafael Grossi has said as much.
Geminid
@WTFGhost: I’m not saying Israel has the right to commit acts of war based on an agreement they’re not a party to, any more than I’m saying that Wednesday’s IAEA ‘s finding that Iran was not in compliance with their NPT obligations sanctioned Israel’s strike. Those facts provide context, not legal justification.
The Israelis aren’t saying that either either. They did this on their own and did not cite any other authority beyond their right to self-defense.
But the commenter asserted that Iran is in compliance with the JCPOA and that is just not so, not by a long shot.
Gvg
@NotMax: yes, but far fewer than I thought were the true numbers in troops these days. It was a squad of maybe a 100 in camo and I saw two black faces amount the troops. I had been wondering if there would be any given Trump’s known opinions.