I realize there is a suspension of airline traffic during the fireworks, but, there is a residual CLOUD and CHEMICAL in the air after the display is over. I have no idea if that is an issue for pilots and aircraft maintenance folks, but, I would think it might.
July 3, 2019
By Jeff Greenfield
...It's true that the president has upended (click here) many of the traditions of the celebration; the location of the fireworks have been moved; the president has demanded a heavy military presence, including tanks in the streets of Washington, and he plans to deliver a speech in front of a crowd where the choicest locations will be reserved for ticket holders, a feature somewhat at odds with Trump’s rhetorical scorn for the elites and D.C. insiders....
...Celebrations of the Fourth do not tend to benefit both parties equally, and here, Trump may well be demonstrating his instinctive grasp of which way a big event tends to nudge the populace. In 2011, two academics who studied the political effect of Fourth of July festivities concluded that: "Fourth of July celebrations in the United States shape the nation's political landscape by forming beliefs and increasing participation, primarily in favor of the Republican Party. … The political right has been more successful in appropriating American patriotism and its symbols during the 20th century, [so] there is a political congruence between the patriotism promoted on Fourth of July and the values associated with the Republican Party."...
I find that odd. What is this mess all about? I suppose the Republican Party likes war and all that is affiliated with it. They certainly don't hesitate to invade a country or two at least once a decade and then the war lasts forever.
I think President Obama addressed it best when he stated every soldier would understand why they were deployed, what is expected of the deployment and when they would be returning home (exit strategy). The morality of war.
That morality rang true with JFK when he was appalled by monks in Vietnam setting themselves on fire. He had deployed advisors to Vietnam when taking office and that is where he stopped. Some historians have stated he was not entering the Vietnam conflict with soldiers. Vietnam was a war inherited by Kennedy due to SEATO and the division of that part of Asia after WWII.
President Kennedy had every right to reassess the USA's place in Southeast Asia after decades of a treaty that was being abandoned by France in South Vietnam. He asserted the moral purpose of war even after his initial decision to send advisors, 5000 I believe. In other words, he was willing to admit the Vietnam conflict was less about the USA and more about the initial division of the country after WWII. The purpose of the division had run it's course and leaving the country to the people was the right thing to do.
That type of leadership may not or may support the idea of the USA having a world class military and all the hardware to go along with it. But, one thing is certain, any President of this country needs to use the USA military prudently and not with abandon.
...Trump prefers to think of himself as the lone, overarching figure who can bend history to his will. “I alone can fix it,” he said in his 2016 acceptance speech. Neither that speech, nor his inaugural, invoked the name of any past leader. He appears to believe that the American economy turned 180 degrees on the day of his inauguration, rather than moving on the same upward trajectory it had been on for the better part of a decade. Nor is he bound by the restraints that have guided his predecessors in understanding when partisan politics ought to give way to more unifying themes....
No President should make a decision about war alone. The AUMF of 2001 needs to end. It is providing the problem of continuous war. The legislature should play a vital role in these decisions. The president should have 90 days to intervene in issues of national security. Anything beyond that needs to be the decision of people elected by the people.
...There’s also a more personal dimension to the Trumpification of the Fourth. Throughout his presidency, he has taken outsize delight in over-the-top celebrations and honors given him by foreign governments, a delight that seems to translate into bizarre foreign policies. Receive the Gold Medallion from Saudi Arabia, and you brush aside the kingdom's murder and dismemberment of an American resident. Enjoy lavish banquets in China, and the brutal crackdown on a million Uighurs goes unmentioned. Get a “beautiful letter” from Kim Jong Un and maybe North Korea can keep its nukes. (And would you really be totally shocked if Kim showed up at the White House to help Trump celebrate the Fourth?)....
...To be fair, however, that would not be the worst result of a presidential Fourth. Back in 1845, President James Polk presided over a fireworks display at the White House. During the festivities, 12 rockets were accidentally fired into the crowd, and two people were killed. If the worst thing that happens tomorrow is just a speech, we can be thankful for small favors.
Indeed. I share the same concern as Jeff Greenfield. Safety. I have wondered since the tanks arrived on the DC Mall whether or not there was live ammunition available to them. It would be tragic to make short work of the VIP section and the viewing stand.
Democrats need to claim the USA military as their own as the measure used when all diplomacy has failed. They should not shrink from the massively important reality of national security and the many layers of authority that involves.
