President Trump’s call for a Military Parade to honor the US Military has brought out a host of opposition, including among Republicans and conservatives. Of course, predictably, the anti-Trump #resistance has been most active in its opposition.
Liberal activists are planning to lay in front of tanks if President Trump holds a military parade.
Activist Arn Menconi issued a call to action last week asking for volunteers to block any tanks, invoking the Tiananmen Square incident. Menconi, an old-school, anti-war, anti-military industrial complex radical is determined to challenge what he calls Trump’s “Military Authoritarian State.”
Menconi announced on Twitter that he had dozens of volunteers prepared to lay in front of any tanks. He gleefully suggested a Trump Military Parade was something akin to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing where Chinese citizens protested the Communist government’s brutal oppression.
We now have nearly 50 Americans who have signed on to lay in front of the tanks if Trump brings out a Military parade. We are not an empire drifting towards extinction. Will you join us? Here's the call to action video https://t.co/gqxAoGJmAf
#TrumpParade #militaryparade— Arn Menconi (@ArnMenconi) February 7, 2018
“We would go to Washington, D.C., if such a crazy and insane act occurred and we would lay down in front of the tanks, just like the heroes and the courageous students did in China in 1989,” Menconi stated on Facebook.
Menconi, a 2016 Colorado Green party Senate candidate, says he’s aware if he’s arrested he’ll likely be charged with a felony.
Other liberals on Twitter also melted down over the president’s proposal, predictably comparing him to Adolf Hitler.
Republican reaction was mixed and decidedly more responsible.
“I think a parade showcasing our military and the sacrifices they make to our country would be appropriate as a way to say thank you,” said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham to CNN. “But I am not interested in a military hardware display that would be cheesy and project weakness.”
“I think confidence is silent and insecurity is loud,” Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters in expressing opposition to the idea. “America is the most powerful country in all of human history; you don’t need to show it off.”
Democrats were predictably opposed to the idea, with prominent former military veterans weighing in to magnify the effect. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a double-amputee Iraq War veteran, said in a statement, “our troops in danger overseas don’t need a show of bravado, they need steady leadership, long-term funding and resources so they can stay safe while protecting and defending our nation.”
Former Navy Seal, and the man who claims to have killed Bin Laden, Fox News contributor Rob O’Neill, called the idea “third-world bulls—.”
Meanwhile, pro parade advocates note that none other than Senator Chuck Schumer called for a Military Parade honoring heroes from Iraq and Afganistan who fought in the “war on terror.”
Injecting politics into honoring the military is never a great idea, but it is another time-tested tradition by both parties. The emergence of radical liberals like Menconi and his band of proposed tank speed bumps may galvanize more traditional Republican support for a parade.
Author: Committed Conservative
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