Bullying on parade

So President Trump wants us to hold a military parade, complete with weaponry, because of the one he saw in France. I’m not sure what its point would be.

On second thought, I think I know: That if the world saw just what we had it would “respect” us as a power in the world — that no one will, shall we say, mess with us.

It won’t work.

One, the military should always be the very, very last resort to resolving conflicts between nations; remember, wars start only when they aren’t resolved for whatever reason, especially when diplomacy fails. We all know that the president doesn’t really care for diplomacy, with the State Department in tatters due to his neglect and his contempt for much political leadership in the rest of the world (likely reflecting a similar contempt from his base).

Two, we tend to forget that other nations also would have intelligence on us.  They would already know what and how much of it that we have and thus won’t be swayed by our showing off.

More importantly, it’s occurred to me that too many people place too much emphasis on not just military might but on the mistaken notion that when we use it we always act with justice and prudence. Our history has shown in too many places to mention here that it often isn’t the case. That’s why over the years we’ve also created a great deal of resentment in other countries that have chafed under American “leadership.”

It appears that the president is, as has been his wont, trying to bully people into compliance. Epic fail.