By Hallie Lauer | Layout Editor
2/15/18
There are about 40,000 homeless veterans in the U.S., 44 million people without health insurance, and our president wants to spend taxpayer dollars on a military parade.
Donald Trump, in a recent meeting with Pentagon officials, said that, “I want a military parade like the one in France.” The parade he is referring to here would be the Bastille Day parade. Unlike the U.S., France has an actual reason for this event: It is a celebration of the people overthrowing the monarchy in order to gain their freedom.
The U.S., on the other hand, has no current reason to host a military parade except that President Trump has expressed his desire, and because of that, he expects it to happen.
The fact that Trump, despite being a guest of France’s president Emmanuel Macron, was only focused on the grandeur of the parade, rather than its history.
In the past, we have had military parades, to celebrate events like winning World War II, or the end of the Gulf War — not just because our president wants to throw a parade willy nilly.
And really, what is your purpose here, Mr. Trump? Is this an attempt for you to show off our military power? Or is this your way of honoring our military?
The president did express his desire for the parade to coincide with a military holiday, but has still never fully stated his intentions in planning this parade.
The Washington Post has predicted the cost of this parade to be somewhere in the millions, so where is all that money coming from? And better yet, if we have all that money, why don’t we put it to better use?
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, released an official statement confirming that these plans were already under way.
“He has asked the Department of Defense to explore a celebration at which all Americans can show their appreciation,” she said.
Honestly, there are plenty of better ways to show your appreciation to those who have served or are on active duty. You could donate time or money to the Wounded Warrior Project. You could help put flags on the graves of veterans for Memorial Day. There is no need to spend millions of dollars to mimic a parade that France has in order to show our appreciation.
My final question is, with the way modern politics is going, shouldn’t our president have better things to occupy his time?
I have so many unanswered questions here, and they could all disappear if this parade doesn’t happen. Overall, there really is no need. It is an unnecessary waste of time and money.
The military, in attempt to distance the parade from the president’s controversies, are pushing for the parade to be on Veterans Day. Nov. 11, 2018, would also be the 100th anniversary of the victory of World War I.
That seems like a valid reason to have a parade – a centennial celebration in remembrance for those who fought and were killed during World War I. Yet, that still isn’t the reason the president wants to have a military parade.
In his inaugural speech, President Trump talked about getting “our people off welfare and back to work.” With the money he wants to spend on this parade, he could do a great deal for people on welfare.
There is nothing wrong with honoring the military. These great people put their lives at risk every single day, yet this parade isn’t about them. From what it looks like, this is a way for Donald Trump to show off the military power of the U.S.
Because really, what has Trump done to deserve this parade? He mentioned in his State of the Union address that he was looking for Congress to fully fund the military, does that mean meaningless parades too?
To clarify, I am all for supporting the military, but in ways better than a parade that is going to cost millions of dollars. Mr. President, as a businessman, you have to see that the opportunity cost here isn’t worth it. Not when you have so many other better causes that you could put that money towards.
So here I ask you, set aside your ego and your desire to show off the toy you acquired when you became president. You can admire what the French do from afar, but there is absolutely no need to try and recreate it in the U.S. at the cost of taxpayers dollars.
