This will be a July 4th to remember… and forget. Which is not only ridiculous, but also sad. What a week of events we’ve seen.
But let’s start with a bit of irony. What do President Eisenhower, President Kennedy, and President Trump all have in common? Simple: They all had military parades, through the streets of Washington, and none to mark the end of combat operations. Two were for inaugurations. Two has displays of ballistic missiles. But one is for the July 4th celebration, not an inauguration, which, by the way, could be construed as being “about someone”, whereas the last one is to highlight our military during our independence celebration (made possible by militias and our Continental Army and Naval forces, lest we all forget), not an inaugural event. But that’s certainly not at all what I hear the media decrying. And yes, Bush-41 did also have a military parade, after the successful end of Desert Storm.
I am absolutely convinced that seeing military parades, military fly-overs, and lots of cool military hardware driving down a main street of wherever I was at the time as a boy, played a role in my putting on the uniform later in my teens. I can point to many studies that have shown military events (parades, open base tours, airshows, etc.) are some of the best tools for national inspiration, pride, and recruiting we have. Opening days for major sports, several national holidays, and plenty of other events have military involvement. Honor Guards present flags all over the country every day.
I can say, without a doubt, that seeing troops marching in formation, eyes-right while passing the stands, invokes a deep sense of national pride and patriotism in me. It does. And it does in many around me, if not all around me. I can also say, without a doubt, that watching a battle group sail into New York Harbor during Fleet Week just leaves me wanting to be back on a ship. Bottom line: I take serious, unwavering, and deep pride in seeing our military. I enjoyed having my parents in the stands as I marched by thirty plus years ago. I was thrilled and honored to put on the uniform. My buddies that shouldered a rifle and saw combat operations on the ground… well, I deeply respect them and would very much like to salute and applaud them as they march past us all.
So yes. I support the parade for July 4th. I absolutely support our military, and want a chance to clap, cheer, and be excited when they put themselves out there for us to see. How soon we forget that others could have been marching, but were lost in combat; how soon we forget that those we see marching may be lost tomorrow in combat. If you’ve never taken that oath, you may not get it. That’s okay. Those guys do. And I want to make sure they know that I am indebted to them for standing as that sentry while we sleep every night.
But that’s not what is being talked about. Instead the mayor of Washington DC is worried the tanks may instill fear in the people. Seriously? They also worry that tanks will tear up streets and infrastructure. However, the tanks are to be more of a static display, not rolling all the way down Pennsylvania Avenue. They worry that the estimated $2.5M cost is going to be wasted money. I disagree. Money spent to encourage us to remember and re-unite is well-spent. Many of us, however, will resist that intent. That, to me, is sad and frankly disgusting. Period. How many of us really, I mean really, think about how July 4th is supposed to represent something more than a day off from work and a chance to see fireworks and have a barbeque? The one group that keeps July 4th possible is, and always will be, the military.
But let’s not stop there. This week we’ve also seen the Betsy Ross flag design of circular stars representing the original colonies appear on Nike shoes, only to then be labeled as hurtful and a reminder of a time when slavery was accepted as normal. Fueled, apparently, by Colin Kaepernick, Nike bowed to pressure and pulled the shoes from distribution. A shoe with our national colors and a flag that led the way to our independence is now suddenly offensive? No – I’m sorry, that’s not at all true, and at some point we have to all stop and call B.S. on this type of rhetoric, instead of saying “oh, we have to be respectful of their feelings”. Sorry, there is a line to be drawn, and I draw it there. I don’t give a rat’s backside if a flag from the Revolutionary War, or a Statue of Thomas Jefferson or George Washington suddenly makes *some* people feel hurt. It’s our history. It’s over. Deal with it. My advice to them is to find their heads, remove it from wherever they have wedged it, and find something more constructive and less divisive to do with their time. Like put on a uniform and get a better idea of what that flag represents.
Beto O’Rourke and Julian Castro – you both jumping on the “flag is hurtful” bandwagon makes me ill and angry. Anyone offended by our history should never, and I mean never, be president.
And finally, while I’m on a bit of a roll, let’s not forget the Antifa attack on the conservative journalist in Portland this week. This is, without a doubt, a group that deserves a label of domestic terrorists. And a mayor who (according to the police in Portland) told the police to lay low during this well-pre-publicized attack plan should be in jail, alongside those terrorists. Let’s not forget that this is also nowhere near the first time Antifa has acted violently and exactly like the Fascists they say they are trying to resist. I submit that this hate group is a threat, should be dealt with harshly, and not be tolerated in any city, at any time. I would say the exact same for groups that align with Neo-Nazism. Antifa is exactly the same, just on the left side, hiding behind the banner of “resisting the bad people”. Anyone who looks at their activity would know that they ARE the bad people.
So here we are, on the eve of a divisive July 4th. I really hope we can look back at this period in ten years and say collectively that we’ll never sink this low again.
