Donald Trump proposes military parades in Washington DC - Polidicks

[QUOTE=Raidyr;51690050]You've shown a dogged support for the second amendment and have generally been derisive of government in general, do you really think that if they were willing to crack down on citizens they wouldn't deploy the actual military stateside?[/QUOTE] Well yeah, there's a law specifically prohibiting it lol.

[QUOTE=Jordax;51690079]Judging from this thread, mostly only Canadians.[/QUOTE] Canadians and people that see parades as shallow attempts at convincing children and idiots that your country is still the bestest most strongest country in da whole world

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;51690071]Fair enough but I see some differences between an air show for amazements sake versus demonstrating military power to show how grand America is[/QUOTE] Okay, I can see where you're coming from. But, having attended Marine days multiple times and the army's equivalent once, it's not any different. It is more like a large party than anything. It's mostly showing people "Hey, look at this cool truck we have" or "Want to give our machine guns a try on some burned out target cars?" Or "Crawl inside this Abrams, it's pretty fuckin neat". It doesn't really intimidate anyone sensible. It's a way to keep people informed, and interested in the military, and a way to give us a chance to talk to the guys in it. At worst (from a perspective similar to yours, at least) the worst you can say is that its a large recruitment drive. Granted, I may be biased since I live in an area crawling with NG/Marine/Navy and Airforce activity, their soldiers, and families so it's all been part of my life since I was very young.

[QUOTE=Silence I Kill You;51690082]Well yeah, there's a law specifically prohibiting it lol.[/QUOTE] My point is that if they are willing to go to that extreme they probably don't care about the laws. [QUOTE=RocketSnail;51690065]Who cares?? Who's against having some parades showing our military's might?[/QUOTE] I'm against them just for the cost. As a recruitment tool they aren't terribly efficient, especially when none of the branches (except for possibly the air force) is having a problem meeting recruiting demands. Quite the opposite actually; the Army and Navy are struggling under the last couple of NDAA budgets. Hopefully Trump doe something about that.

[QUOTE=evilweazel;51690099]Okay, I can see where you're coming from. But, having attended Marine days multiple times and the army's equivalent once, it's not any different. It is more like a large party than anything. It's mostly showing people "Hey, look at this cool truck we have" or "Want to give our machine guns a try on some burned out target cars?" Or "Crawl inside this Abrams, it's pretty fuckin neat". It doesn't really intimidate anyone sensible. Granted, I may be biased since I live in an area crawling with NG/Marine/Navy and Airforce activity, their soldiers, and families so it's all been part of my life since I was very young.[/QUOTE] I'm a person who enjoys guns tanks aircraft and all the like, I shoot guns and enjoy the hobby so I'm not scared of the people, who I'm sure are all good people. It's the conceptual element of this. A parade isn't a get together or a party, IMO. If it was like the "Police Days" kind of thing then that would be one thing but a parade is a far more formal display of power historically. I could be wrong but I don't trust Trump on this either

[QUOTE=Silence I Kill You;51690082]Well yeah, there's a law specifically prohibiting it lol.[/QUOTE] "..for those of you just joining us, our breaking story: newly elected President trump has just issued an executive order nullifying Posse Comitatus in light of nationwide protests today..." This summer I hear the drumming: "Four Dead in Ohio."

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;51690113]I'm a person who enjoys guns tanks aircraft and all the like, I shoot guns and enjoy the hobby so I'm not scared of the people, who I'm sure are all good people. It's the conceptual element of this. A parade isn't a get together or a party, IMO. If it was like the "Police Days" kind of thing then that would be one thing but a parade is a far more formal display of power historically. I could be wrong but I don't trust Trump on this either[/QUOTE] Well, Im sure it's different from the perspective of someone outside the country looking in on it, so I can get that. However, I wouldn't really feel intimidated seeing Britain, Australia, France, Germany, or etc. Doing parades as some grave threat to the world, I think it'd be a neat opportunity to see some equipment I normally wouldn't. Because Historically, these nations aren't ones to abuse their military, or wave it around dangerously, and are fairly close allies that treat their citizens with respect, and thus have no need to intimidate potential rebels. I think the same applies to the US, for the most part. I don't really think any decent nation has much to reasonably fear from the US Military, so I guess if you do, that's where the disconnect comes from. However, I would like you to consider that Canada and the US are probably two of the closest nations in the world in most ways, so I don't know what you'd have to reasonably be wary of.

[QUOTE=Marbalo;51690178]The point of military parades isn't to "remind the peasents whose incharge", I dont know if you guys heard but we've kind of moved past the 16th century. These days military parades are mostly done out of tradition and a carefully coordinated show of power not with any malicious intent, but rather to simply remind people that there's a standing army ready to defend them and their families should the need arise. Not attack them if they fall out of line, lmao. Literally no one interprets it like that. Could it be that you guys are just upset because A) You associate military parades with "failing regimes", and B) Donald Trump proposed this?[/QUOTE] There are better things to spend your money on than parades. If Trump wants to cut the fat he'd better start with taking those hit parades off the list and spending that money on VA instead, or offering the lump sum as a donation to its overtaxed coffers.

[t]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/07/14/1405353389862_wps_2_Tanks_rumble_down_the_Cha.jpg[/t] [I]Pictured is the extremely vulgar and terrifying show of force that is happening every year in one of the most totalitarian regimes of Europe[/I] /s But seriously, parades should first and foremost honor the different branches of the armed forces, and it's entirely possible to do that and show off some units and equipment without turning it into a dickwaving contest.

[QUOTE=evilweazel;51690167]Well, Im sure it's different from the perspective of someone outside the country looking in on it, so I can get that. [/QUOTE] I think this is the biggest takeaway and discrepancy in opinion. Most of the pro-parade people have been American, with a Russian and an Israeli to reinforce the idea that countries with a big military influence will naturally have citizenry who think such parades are cool, where as people from countries that are decidedly less militarized (not to knock Canada's military) see it as more worrying. It's also just a fact that people see parades in Russia, North Korea, and China far more often than say, Australia or Germany.

I dunno about the other Canucks but I'm also an American Citizen.

Everyone knows we have the biggest dick in the game. We don't need to pull it out and wave it around like this

[QUOTE=Silence I Kill You;51690082]Well yeah, there's a law specifically prohibiting it lol.[/QUOTE] In a situation where martial law or a state of emergency is declared, those laws get kicked to the curb.

[QUOTE=Apache249;51690203]Everyone knows we have the biggest dick in the game. We don't need to pull it out and wave it around like this[/QUOTE] yeah but it's fun no one is strapping you down and forcing you to watch

I can't help but think this has a lot more to do with Trump's almost neurotic obsession with showing off wealth and power at every opportunity than anything else. For a man with an ego like his, this would be the ultimate way to stroke it

[QUOTE=Zombinie;51690245]yeah but it's fun no one is strapping you down and forcing you to watch[/QUOTE] They're taking our tax dollars though.

[QUOTE=SelfishDragon;51690261]They're taking our tax dollars though.[/QUOTE] The Bastille Day parade (the one I pictured earlier) cost 3,5 million euros in 2014. That is half the cost of a single Abrams tank and you could have 45 annual parades with the cost of a single 185-bed hospital, calculating with a very economical dollar/bed ratio.

taking notes from putin again I see

Is anyone really unaware of US military power? It already features in a lot of your TV and films, and then you've got all the military shooter video games that get pumped out every year. Even if you ignore how much this would just be an ego stroke for Trump, what potential gain could there be from having parades? Lots of money would be spent, I know that much. Seems to me that any tax dollars set aside for parades could be better spent on healthcare.

I'm very mixed on this, I agree with having military parades on certain occasions, such as Remembrance Day here in the UK, but I don't agree with using Tanks and other military hardware, there's a difference between Honouring and Posturing. I think that if this did happen in the US it would have to be on something like the 4th of July (Love you guys for celebrating our defeat!) if it involved Tanks, not just whenever Trump needed to get a Hard-On.

[QUOTE=RainbowStalin;51689919]Massive military parades are almost always used by weak regimes to demonstrate to the population that the regime is still in control despite failings elsewhere. Nothing keeps people in line like thousands of soldiers goosestepping next to tanks.[/QUOTE] This. It can be an excellent propaganda technique. "Don't focus on all of our failings. Look at how strong, unified, and aggressive we are." Dictatorships and oligarchies always rely on false displays and concern themselves heavily with their image. [editline]18 January 2017[/editline] We don't need this in our country. We haven't just gotten back from defeating Nazism and Fascism or Communism, it's not the 1940s or the age of nationalism/imperialism anymore. Trump's just trying to put on a tough guy facade. We've really got to do something about this administration before things get even further out of hand. This isn't malicious, I'm not saying that. It's just ridiculous showmanship, and there's no point for it.

First thing I thought about is all the military parades in North Korea.

[QUOTE=Redcoat893;51690409]I think that if this did happen in the US it would have to be on something like the 4th of July (Love you guys for celebrating our defeat!)[/QUOTE] Idk if you are just kidding or really bothered about the whole "Celebrating our defeat!" thing. I've only seen and heard it as "Our nations birthday!" rather than malicious "Ha we sure taught them there redcoats a thing or two, God screw the Queen!" In my opinion the money could be better spent. Since there's a drastic need to improve healthcare and repair crumbling infrastructure, but I'd love to see parades on the 4th of July as well so..

[QUOTE=Govna;51690423]This. It can be an excellent propaganda technique. "Don't focus on all of our failings. Look at how strong, unified, and aggressive we are." Dictatorships and oligarchies always rely on false displays and concern themselves heavily with their image. [editline]18 January 2017[/editline] We don't need this in our country. We haven't just gotten back from defeating Nazism and Fascism or Communism, it's not the 1940s or the age of nationalism/imperialism anymore. Trump's just trying to put on a tough guy facade. We've really got to do something about this administration before things get even further out of hand.[/QUOTE] This inauguration is basically a nationalist celebration of the loss of liberal elites and how patriotic working people repeatedly made their voice heard, much like brexit it proved democracy and grass roots dissent is still powerful. It'd be very fitting for the military, which is composed of middle class and working people and inherently has more of a stake in the land and the country than the bicostal centers of finance, technology, and social fads (the latest being 'open society' progressivism), to parade. They are an outgrowth of our communities, our men and women in uniform, and represent a collective effort towards our common defense. On top of that, the military is disproportionately full of more lower class workers who can't find steady or full time work, aka trump's base. But yea, this is just evidence trump is hitler

Honestly something like this would be cool to see imo. I always found it a little strange how the US would host air shows where they display a lot of the air power they have but never showed anything to do with the ground stuff. Military displays can be entertaining, there is no way you can deny that since that is pretty much the entire reason why they spend the money to send other vehicles out on display with groups like the Blue Angels.

[QUOTE=mecaguy03;51690517]Honestly something like this would be cool to see imo. I always found it a little strange how the US would host air shows where they display a lot of the air power they have but never showed anything to do with the ground stuff. Military displays can be entertaining, there is no way you can deny that since that is pretty much the entire reason why they spend the money to send other vehicles out on display with groups like the Blue Angels.[/QUOTE] Tanks and SCUD trucks don't do flips and barrel rolls, at least not normally...

[QUOTE=Revenge282;51690534]Tanks and SCUD trucks don't do flips and barrel rolls, at least not normally...[/QUOTE] Never given the opportunity. Seeing an armored corps version of the blue angels flourish would be badass as h*ck. Abrams ripping sik skidz and doing jumps? Sign me up.

[QUOTE=Revenge282;51690534]Tanks and SCUD trucks don't do flips and barrel rolls, at least not normally...[/QUOTE] The majority of the other stuff in the air show I went to a couple years ago didnt do any of that either, basically they just flew them past. They had A-10s, an Osprey that flew in and hovered, and they also had a Sea Stallion do a mid-air refuelling drill. There were a bunch of Apaches that pretty much flew past and I think they also had some really old vietnam era aircraft that flew by. They dont need to do crazy things to be cool, you could easily have tanks drive up in formation, show off their stabilized gun and turret and then fire a blank. I have seen it done before with a leopard 2 somewhere. Also maybe crush a car or something with a tank, that would be pretty sick.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSpqvhVbVH4[/media] [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmMnTHokLQo[/media] [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f2zSmSI1jk[/media] [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmytBdVqvk8[/media] [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EOy92uTjJg[/media] [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG0e2MXaPXE[/media] Look at these evil, putin-type countries holding their evil parades that serve the purpose of reminding the people who to be scared of! Fucking come on guys. Parades can definitely be a tool of totalitarian regimes but it doesn't instantly mean nazi/communist type shit.

[QUOTE=mecaguy03;51690517]Honestly something like this would be cool to see imo. I always found it a little strange how the US would host air shows where they display a lot of the air power they have but never showed anything to do with the ground stuff. Military displays can be entertaining, there is no way you can deny that since that is pretty much the entire reason why they spend the money to send other vehicles out on display with groups like the Blue Angels.[/QUOTE] it's because letting the government rub one out isn't worth the thousands upon thousands of dollars it'll take to bring a significant amount of armor into a heavily populated street we don't need it because we don't have to try to make our military look like it's still relevant, and because we aren't a nation which is under the threat of invasion to save the ethnic whoevers [editline]18th January 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=Araknid;51690678]Look at these evil, putin-type countries holding their evil parades that serve the purpose of reminding the people who to be scared of! Fucking come on guys. Parades can definitely be a tool of totalitarian regimes but it doesn't instantly mean nazi/communist type shit.[/QUOTE] we don't have to remind anyone that we have a military because i'm pretty sure everyone living here is quite aware of it not like we have a shortage of enlistments either