Posted on 06/15/2025 11:35:32 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
I arrived for the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary parade in Washington D.C. on a drizzly Saturday afternoon with considerable consternation and concern.
I knew that President Donald Trump had been agitating for such a spectacle since 2017, but that his first secretary of defense, Jim Mattis, had refused, because he viewed this as something that occurred in dictatorships like Russia and North Korea. In private, Mattis reportedly said he would rather “swallow acid” than have troops parading through the capital.
Now Trump has a far more accommodating, and far less qualified, secretary of defense in Pete Hegseth, thereby opening the door to the potential politicization of the U.S. armed forces. That danger has been on display in the past week, with Trump deploying the National Guard and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles over the protests of local leaders and delivering a campaign-style speech at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, that produced disturbing video clips of 82nd Airborne troops cheering while he bashed Democrats and the media.
My worry was that Trump would turn the Army parade into just another political pageant. Those concerns only grew when I saw how many of the spectators were wearing MAGA hats or shirts.
But my apprehension began to melt away as soon as the music started to play and the soldiers began to march. Dear reader, I hope you do not think I am going soft on Trump if I tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed the entire parade.
As a military history nerd, I loved to see the soldiers marching by in period uniforms from the American Revolution, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War. I thrilled to the flybys from historic aircraft...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
So? Bowser is still Mayor.
Max Boot can kiss my ass. He’s a Trump hater galore.
Because E. pluribus posts nothing but Trump hating garbage here. It's what he does.
I thought it was great.
It was wonderful.
*******
Totally agree! Loved it.
maybe weather had some thing to do with attendance also.
I watched online and there were 50,000 others using the same website I did to view it all.
I can’t wait til next years US birthday celebration !
Agreed. Loved every minute of it.
Both Neo CON Jews.....When push comes to shove, they are REALLY DEMOCRATS!!
Boot has been a tool for many years now.
I despise Max Boot.
We attended online. Didn’t need to go there in person.
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Yes, metmom. This IS the point. It was a great parade, especially for those attending.
But it was also a great online history putting the defense department’s mission and value in perspective.
Super. I learned a lot and was impressed with the excellent planning and execution of the event. That alone was worth the time, as well as instilling a spirit of patriotism in Americans.
And a conceited Russian import. Sack of poo...
I thought it was wonderful and uplifting.
The author is a little full of himself, but at least he seemed to like the parade. 😏
I see. Then why is he here?
The narrator did a great job, too, although the music wasn’t my taste.
It was nice to see the occasional shot of President Trump saluting the divisions as they went by and the swearing in ceremony, at the end if I caught that right.
Those robot dogs were something else. Something of sci-fi books or movies.
They remind me of Fahrenheit 451, and tend to creep me out a bit.
Your standards are very low.
Max Boot is an ass.
Thanks for the PING. Trust you are well. Remember we were in SoufJersey then and M had been born just days earlier so we weren’t trekking up to Philly for anything then.
Oh, I missed seeing those dogs. Being a Georgia Dawgs fan is enough for me. No need for robotic dogs :-)
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