Today's Must-Read: He Wants One Just Like It

This is getting a little out of hand -- what's with these guys who did everything they could to avoid military service all of a sudden worshiping the military?

President Trump’s vision of soldiers marching and tanks rolling down the boulevards of Washington is moving closer to reality in the Pentagon and White House, where officials say they have begun to plan a grand military parade later this year showcasing the might of America’s armed forces.

Trump has long mused publicly and privately about wanting such a parade, but a Jan. 18 meeting between Trump and top generals in the Pentagon’s tank — a room reserved for top-secret discussions — marked a tipping point, according to two officials briefed on the planning.

Surrounded by the military’s highest-ranking officials, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., Trump’s seemingly abstract desire for a parade was suddenly heard as a presidential directive, the officials said.

“The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France,” said a military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the planning discussions are supposed to remain confidential. “This is being worked at the highest levels of the military.”

Here's where the irony meter gets a workout:

“President Trump is incredibly supportive of America’s great service members who risk their lives every day to keep our country safe,” Sanders said. “He has asked the Department of Defense to explore a celebration at which all Americans can show their appreciation.”

How about the Republicans stop cutting funding for the VA? Maybe do something to help the vets living on the street? Just a suggestion.

Now, we know he's been wanting something like this for a while, but it seems the inspiration came from France:

The inspiration for Trump’s push is last year’s Bastille Day celebration in Paris, which the president attended as a guest of French President Emmanuel Macron. Trump was awestruck by the tableau of uniformed French troops marching down Avenue des Champs-Elysees with military tanks, armored vehicles, gun trucks and carriers — complete with fighter jets flying over the Arc de Triomphe and painting the sky with streaks of blue, white and red smoke for the colors of the French flag.

Aboard Air Force One en route home from Paris in July, aides said Trump told them that he was dazzled by the French display and that he wanted one at home.

(Emphasis added.)

How very . . . what? Gotta keep up with the Joneses? The Kims? The Sadam Husseins?

We don't need to showcase the might of our military -- everyone knows we could blow them to hell and gone. This is just another display of Trump's shaky masculinity. It's of a piece with his bragging about his sexual conquests and incessant bullying of those who disagree with him. He's the type specimen for inadequacy.

Read the whole article -- it's fascinating, in a sick sort of way.

Via Joe.My.God.

Footnote: This popped up in the comments: