Tag: Parades

Ugliness Comes To Mardi Gras

Yesterday was the final day of the Mardi Gras season and now the faithful go into Lent for the next 40 days (what’s up with the number 40 in religion?).

Usually Mardi Gras is about the togetherness of the people to enjoy the parades and the events around the season but this year some ugly has creep into the celebration…..

A Mardi Gras group is investigating what it says was a “racist display” during a Friday parade in New Orleans. The Krewe of Tucks says it learned only after the parade that a float had included a Black doll apparently dangling by its neck from a strand of beads, per USA Today. A young Black girl caught the doll attached to the string, according to the City of New Orleans, which later shared photos of the girl in a birthday crown enjoying some lighter festivities with Mayor Helena Moreno.

In an initial statement, the krewe apologized for the doll display, which it described as “intolerable” and “completely contrary” to its values, and pledged that whoever is responsible “will no longer be permitted to have any association with the parade.” On Monday, the group said two members had been terminated after bringing 30 white dolls and 30 Black dolls to the parade “for the purpose of throwing them to young children,” per WWL. The group said its investigation is continuing and additional action might follow.

Moreno had denounced the imagery as “deeply offensive” and “unacceptable,” saying it runs counter to a city “built on respect, diversity, and inclusion.” City Council President JP Morrell called the doll a “disturbing effigy” meant to intimidate families and children and said no one is “above accountability.” City officials say they are working with krewe leadership to ensure consequences, as Carnival season heads toward its climax on Fat Tuesday.

It is pathetic and as well as disgusting that the hatred has creeped into this pseudo ‘religious’ celebration before Easter.

I have been around Mardi Gras for many many years and cannot remember any such racist crap before….I am not saying that it has not occurred just I cannot remember one.

Only a damn racist could mar a good time for all.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Don’t Pee On His Parade

Saturday is a day set aside to honor our national symbol, the flag…..and our clueless leader has decided to cheapen the day by staging a massive ego trip dedicated to him.

The Army’s latest estimate for its major parade to celebrate its 250th anniversary – which falls on President Donald Trump’s birthday – totals $40 million, including the cost of repairing streets in Washington, DC expected to be gnawed by tank treads.  (and yet nothing for hurricane ravaged North Carolina)

There is also protests planned around this silly ego trip  Trump administration is escalating tensions,” the coalition wrote. “Against the guidance of local leaders, they are deploying military force to suppress free speech. They do not care about our safety—it’s about silencing opposition. It’s a blatant abuse of power designed to intimidate families, stoke fear, and crush dissent.”  and of course Herr Donny has words for the would be protesters.

The protesters in Los Angeles aren’t the only ones on President Trump’s mind. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the president warned demonstrators to keep away from the military parade he ordered in DC this weekend.

  • “For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force,” Trump said in the Oval Office, per the Washington Post. “This is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force.”

He has become even more power hungry since he got a chance to flex his authoritarian muscle in LA.

With LA smouldering and the promise of more protests at his silly ego trip on Saturday Donny has reached back into our history like he did with the Aliens Act but this time it is the Insurrection Act.

President Trump still has a big, and controversial, card he could play in regard to the Los Angeles protests: invoking the Insurrection Act. “If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it,” he told reporters on Tuesday, reports Reuters. “We’ll see.” Coverage:

  • The 1807 act “is among the most extreme emergency powers available to a sitting president,” explains Axios. It allows a president to summon US troops to put down domestic unrest.
  • Yes, Trump already has ordered Marines and the National Guard to Los Angeles under a separate legal authority, but their duties are legally limited to protecting federal property and personnel, per Politico. If Trump invokes the act, they could directly intervene against protesters. Critics including Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal view what Trump has done as a “backdoor” way of invoking the act.
  • Trump has been using language that appears to be laying the groundwork for invoking the act, notes the New York Times. On Monday, for example, he described protesters as “insurrectionists” and “professional agitators.” However, at another point on Monday, he said, “I wouldn’t quite call it an insurrection, but it could have led to an insurrection,” per CNN.
  • The CNN piece notes that top Trump aide Stephen Miller has been using the term regularly to describe the protests. An insurrection “is generally defined as a violent revolt or rebellion against the government,” writes Aaron Blake. It “isn’t about the level of violence; it’s about the target and purpose of it.” When asked to define it, Trump himself said: “You actually really just have to look at the site to see what’s happening.”
  • The last time the act was used was in 1992 in the aftermath of the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles, notes ABC News. “Some legal experts have warned the law is overly broad and vague,” writes Alexandra Hutzler, “and there have been various calls for it to be reformed to provide greater checks on presidential power.”

For those people that spin their time whining about others and hiding in their closet a definition of the ACT will be needed….

The Insurrection Act authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the United States to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce the law in certain situations. The statute implements Congress’s authority under the Constitution to “provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.” It is the primary exception to the Posse Comitatus Act, under which federal military forces are generally barred from participating in civilian law enforcement activities.

Although it is often referred to as the “Insurrection Act of 1807,” the law is actually an amalgamation of different statutes enacted by Congress between 1792 and 1871. Today, these provisions occupy Sections 251 through 255 in Title 10 of the United States Code.

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/insurrection-act-explained

“This shows the Trump administration is ready to do whatever it takes—including deploying military forces—to target and punish those who speak out in defense of human rights,” said Paul O’Brien, executive director of Amnesty International USA. “This is not about protecting communities, this is about crushing dissent and instilling fear.”

The pimple of the presidency is coming to a head….how will this play out?

Get involved!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“No Kings Day”

Tomorrow is Flag Day and for that reason there will be no ‘News Dump’ for there are more important things to discuss.

First let me say that few people actually knows what this day means….they have their little alters to ‘god and country’ in their front yards the problem is few are actually displaying the symbol of our country properly.

Then there is this lame ass parade. a Numberburg-esques display, to celebrate the Army and that idiot that is going to make this country great again.  (A that is all I will say about this lunacy).

This day will most likely be met with protests (about damn time)….

Will marchers carry flags on “No Kings Day”? On June 14, more than 1,000 local demonstrations will challenge Trump’s North Korean-style military parade for his birthday with our defense of democracy. The 14th is also Flag Day and the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. The flag can’t replace protest signs. But it complements and amplifies them. The demonstrations send a message that even as Trump and his allies wrap themselves in their flags, they are betraying the best of America. They highlight a culture of corruption where the only Americans who matter are allies of Trump at the top and persons or institutions who would challenge this become subjects of attacks. Our flags make clear, in contrast, that we are defending Americans’ fundamental right to speak out, without which all other rights become meaningless. They’re a message to all who agree with us but also to all those Americans who voted for Trump or stayed home, rejecting both candidates. Because to change the direction of our country, the support of at least some of these people will be essential.

As “No Kings Day” reminds us, “The flag doesn’t belong to Donald Trump. It belongs to us.” But at most anti-Trump protests, flags have been absent or marginal. I counted one when several thousand people marched in Seattle this past May Day, plus scattered Uncle Sam and Statue of Liberty images. That may be because carrying the flag feels uncomfortable, a false embrace for many who’ve marched to challenge American wars, call out racial injustice, or push back against corporate power. But the flag also stands for legacies of courage and sacrifice that should give us all hope and strength, like the classic World War II image of GIs raising it over Iwo Jima.

The flag represents the imperfect but essential mechanisms of democracy that Trump’s regime so profoundly threatens, ones that allow us to keep working for justice. In defending these mechanisms and the rule of law, Thomas Jefferson condemned the very Alien and Sedition Acts whose remnants Trump is now abusing. These acts created the power of kings, Jefferson warned, writing of threats to the “constitutional rights and liberties of the States and people…marked by the suspicions of the President, or be thought dangerous to his or their election, or other interests, public or personal.” These acts first targeted “the friendless alien,” Jefferson wrote, but “the citizen will soon follow.”

https://thefulcrum.us/civic-engagement-education/no-kings-day-protest

Nationalism sucks and we are being fed it everyday…..and way too many rollover and accept this ignorance as patriotic….it is NOT!

While I am not a big fan of Jefferson he did have a point …..

Enjoy your day and think about the direction of this country….is this what a democracy would do?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

All Hail His Royal Majesty!

Next month we will celebrate Flag Day…..a day that most Americans ignore and still display their patriotic fervor and flag all wrong….but that is not what this post is all about…..it is about wanting to turn the day into a day of worship for Donald the Orange.

A Republican congresswoman has proposed making Donald Trump’s birthday a public holiday, in an effort probably doomed to failure in Congress but obviously intended to curry favor with the president.

Claudia Tenney, a representative from New York’s Finger Lakes region, introduced legislation on Friday aiming to combine the US annual commemoration of Flag Day with a new observance of Trump’s birthday on 14 June, arguing that the president is “the most consequential … in modern American history”.

“His impact on the nation is undeniable,” Tenney said in a news release. On X, she suggested that Trump’s birthday deserved the same treatment as that of George Washington, which is observed annually as a federal holiday on the third Monday of February.

“Just as George Washington’s birthday is codified as a federal holiday, President Trump’s birthday should also be celebrated to recognize him as the founder of America’s Golden Age,” Tenney wrote.

(theguardian.com)

Some of the supporters have to say….

“From brokering the historic Abraham Accords to championing the largest tax relief package in American history, his impact on the nation is undeniable,” Rep. Tenney said in a press release. “Just as George Washington’s birthday is codified as a federal holiday, this bill will add Trump’s birthday to this list, recognizing him as the founder of America’s golden age.”

“Additionally, as our nation prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary, we should create a new federal holiday honoring the American flag and all that it represents,” Rep. Tenney continued. “By designating Trump’s birthday and Flag Day as a federal holiday, we can ensure President Trump’s contributions to American greatness and the importance of the American Flag are forever enshrined into law.”

I think I will be ill.

The federal government recognizes 11 annual federal holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Juneteenth was the most recent addition, established by Congress in 2021

Is this a not so subtle way to try and rid the calendar of holidays of the Juneteenth?

Let’s not forget the military style parade he wants for his birthday, 14 June….

Detailed Army plans for a potential military parade on President Trump’s birthday in June call for more than 6,600 soldiers, at least 150 vehicles, 50 helicopters, seven bands, and possibly a couple thousand civilians, the AP has learned. The planning documents, obtained by the AP, are dated April 29 and 30 and have not been publicly released. They represent the Army’s most recent blueprint for its long-planned 250th birthday festival on the National Mall (which happens to fall on June 14, Trump’s 79th birthday) and the newly added element—a large military parade that Trump has long wanted but is still being discussed. While the slides do not include any price estimates, it would likely cost tens of millions of dollars to put on a parade of that size.

Costs would include the movement of military vehicles, equipment, aircraft, and troops from across the country to Washington and the need to feed and house thousands of service members. High costs halted Trump’s push for a parade in his first term, and the tanks and other heavy vehicles that are part of the Army’s latest plans have raised concerns from city officials about damage to roads. Asked about plans for a parade, Army spokesman Steve Warren said Thursday that no final decisions have been made. Col. Dave Butler, another Army spokesman, added that the Army is excited about the plans for the birthday festival.

“We want to make it into an event that the entire nation can celebrate with us,” said Butler. “We want Americans to know their Army and their soldiers. A parade might become part of that, and we think that will be an excellent addition to what we already have planned.” Others familiar with the documents, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans have not been finalized, said they represent the Army’s plans as it prepares for any White House approval of the parade. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There has been no formal approval yet. Changes to the plans have been made in recent weeks and more are likely.

I read somewhere awhile back the estimated cost of this wasteful spectacle would be in the neighborhood of $92 million.

Would you consider that money well spent?

Right now there does not seem to be much enthusiasm from Congress to rush to deify this troll.

Besides all the other presidents that have been so honored are dead….

Lame ass idea from a do-nothing Congress.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“I Love a Parade”–Part 3

Closing Thought–14Feb19

Happy Valentine’s Day!

There is proof that Trump is clueless!  Yes the person YOU elected is a clueless fool!

Our Dear President went to France and saw a Bastille Day parade and was impressed so much that he came home and wanted to have a big military parade here in the US……I touched on his desire in a previous post…..https://lobotero.com/2018/08/17/i-love-a-parade-part2/

Since his military parade was crapped on he now thinks he has a better idea……

President Trump is once again proposing a parade. This time, it’s an Independence Day parade at the Lincoln Memorial. According to USA Today, Trump told Cabinet members Tuesday that a July 4 parade at the memorial “could be an exciting day” and might “become a tradition.” Trump made headlines pushing for a military parade last year that was projected to cost up to $92 million; the idea was ultimately axed. His new idea might not actually be for a parade, per se, he continued, per the Hill: “It’ll be a, really a gathering as opposed to a parade I guess you’d have to say,” the president said, calling it a “Salute to America.” Washington DC does have already-established Fourth of July events including a parade down Constitution Ave., a concert, and a fireworks show. (Trump said his military parade was scuttled due to local politicians’ greed.)

A parade with music and fireworks on the 4th of July……think about that for a moment!

Seriously….this is YOUR president….and he has NO CLUE!

Happy Valentine Day to one and all…..grab your honey and give ’em a big hug……Tomorrow y’all……chuq

I Love A Parade! (Part2)

Closing Thought–17Aug18

When Our Dear Leader was in France in his first year as leader he was treated to a parade in Paris and he fell in love with all the pomp and ceremony and all the really cool army stuff.

So when he returned to this country he told his military hierarchy that he wanted his own special military parade and they were to make it happen.

https://lobotero.com/2018/02/12/i-love-a-parade/

About $92 million will be the cost of this silly endeavor…..

The Veterans Day military parade President Trump ordered in February has been controversial from the start, with critics wondering if Trump was trolling the nation, the Pentagon saying the tanks Trump wanted couldn’t be involved, and the Office of Management and Budget warning the whole thing could cost millions. And now it turns out it may actually cost even more millions than originally thought: Officials who spoke anonymously to the AP, ABC News, and CNBC say the latest preliminary estimate is $92 million, up from an original estimate of $10 million to $30 million.

The officials say about $50 million of that is Pentagon costs including aircraft, equipment, personnel, and other support and the rest is largely related to security costs. But the estimates have not yet been finalized or released publicly, and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has yet to approve parade plans; at least one official warns that, depending on the scope of the plans Mattis signs off on, the cost estimate could change. The defense bill Trump signed this week authorized the November parade.

So should we make our plans and reserve the hotel and buy the popcorn for this Veterans Day and the parade of the century?

I would hold off making your reservations right now…….

President Trump has long sought a military parade, but it won’t be happening in 2018. The Pentagon announced on Thursday that the November parade has been postponed indefinitely, and won’t happen “until at least next year.”

There are reasons to doubt it will happen at all, as estimates of the cost of the parade are soaring, and appears to be drying up a lot of the interest in a gaudy display of America’s military arsenal. Those costs aren’t going to go down, only up.

(antiwar.com)

This is just another in the Dear Leader’s list of idiotic plans that accomplish nothing but to feed his ego and waste money, taxpayer money, that could be better used elsewhere.

If Trump wants to show support for the troops then……

American Legion National Commander Denise Rohan said they appreciate Trump’s desire to show support for the troops, but until “we can celebrate victory in the War on Terrorism and bring our military home, we think the parade money would be better spent fully funding the Department of Veteran Affairs and giving our troops and their families the best care possible.”

Now that is a much better plan than some silly worthless parade.

Update:  While I was writing this draft more news has come to light…..

The Hill also reports that these weren’t Trump’s only recent tweets on the subject. After Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Thursday called for the money to go toward veterans’ causes (“health care, more jobs & skills, end vet homelessness & suicides”), Trump responded: “How can ‘Senator’ Richard Blumenthal, who went around for twenty years as a Connecticut politician bragging that he was a great Marine war hero in Vietnam (then got caught and sobbingly admitted he was neither a Marine nor ever in Vietnam), pass judgement on anyone? Loser!”

Seriously?  This from a coward that took 4 or 5 deferments to get out of Vietnam…..

Then Kellyanne had to say the most pathetic thing of the day……

Kellyanne Conway appeared on Fox & Friends ahead of Trump’s tweets. “We don’t need a parade to celebrate all this president has done for those brave men and women in uniform,”

Someone please tell the clueless Kellyanne…the parade is for Our Dear Leader has nothing to do with honoring our brave troops….it would be an ego trip not anything else.

Let’s hope that  this worthless idea has met its match and we NEVER see a stupid military parade…..

Turn The Page!

Come on let’s start the weekend…try it it will be fun!

Let’s Beat The Dead Horse!

Okay I know that the parade debacle is pretty much over….we have shootings and a budget debate and other stuff to entertain our brain….but I just cannot let the whole moronic idea of a military parade to massage the ego of this poser president.

If the parade were to celebrate something other the ego of some idiot that loves being slapped on the back then I might be in favor of it.

We already have parades on Memorial Day, 4th of July and Veterans Day why do we need another?

The American Conservative asked the important question….what would we be celebrating?

Remember when military parades actually celebrated victories? Those were the days, or, better yet, the day—June 8, 1991 actually. A few months after the U.S. military’s 100-hour lightning ground war ejected Saddam Hussein’s forces from Kuwait, some 8,800 soldiers marched down Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. President George H.W. Bush and General Norman Schwarzkopf presided. The White House called it the National Victory Celebration.

The world seemed simpler then. Sure, some openly questioned Bush’s motives (no blood for oil!), the Senate authorization vote was uncomfortably close, and matters got messy when the Kurds and Shia rose up in postwar Iraq. Still, America had won a “victory” of sorts. At the cost of fewer than 200 dead (experts had predicted thousands), a highly professional U.S. Army and its coalition allies had liberated Kuwait and devastated the Iraqi military. Its objectives clearly set and now achieved, the army mostly returned home. Bush wisely ignored hawkish calls to seize and occupy Baghdad. Saddam, after all, was “in his box” and could be contained. It was time for the parades.

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/parade-of-defeat-trump-prefers-spectacle-over-strategy/

This dead horse regained a bit of life when the figures of such a parade came out of the OBM……..

The White House budget director said Wednesday that a military parade envisioned by President Trump won’t come cheap: It could cost between $10 million and $30 million, although that money isn’t included in the administration’s new budget request. Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told the House Budget Committee that estimates are “very preliminary,” reports the AP. “I’ve various different cost estimates from between I think $10 million and $30 million, depending on the size of the parade, the scope of it, the length of it,” Mulvaney said. “We’ve not accounted for it in this year’s budget simply because it’s come up at the last minute.”

Officials such as Defense Secretary Jim Mattis have confirmed that Trump has pushed for a large-scale parade to trumpet the US military, but Mulvaney said the administration hasn’t decided to go forward with it. “We’ll continue to work with you folks if we decide to push forward,” Mulvaney told the lawmakers. Mulvaney said the administration would have to seek an appropriation from Congress or redirect existing funds to finance the parade. Trump’s new budget requested $686 billion for the Pentagon’s budget next year.

Maybe this will put the idea of a parade to massage an ego can now be put down forever……or until we have something to celebrate other than the election of a reality star as president.

I Love A Parade!

I admit it…I have been lazy for the last couple of weeks since I came home from the hospital….just have not been interested in writing much.

I decided to get back into the saddle as they say….but with what subject?  DACA….nope there is enough bullshit flowing around that subject…the possible shutdown….nope that is something that happens at least once a year and is not that interesting….what then?  How about the parade thingy?

Good idea!

As usual this subject breaks down along the lines of those with Trump support and others in opposition to him….my opinion is why?  I mean we already have these things especially on Memorial Day, 4th and Veterans Day…..so we do not need to plan any others…period.

I find myself in agreement with Sen. Paul……we seem to agree on the stands of war and foreign policy (mostly)….he wrote an op-ed about the parade idea.

A military parade in the nation’s capital? The last military parade in Washington was in 1991, after our victory in the first Iraq War.

Though the martial image of high-stepping soldiers is not one I tend to associate with our nation’s Founders’ distrust of a standing Army, I’m not against a victory celebration. So I propose we declare victory in Afghanistan, bring home our 14,000 troops and hold a victory parade.

We defeated the enemy in Afghanistan. We killed or captured the terrorists who planned, plotted, or aided in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. We killed the ringleader, Usama bin Laden. We disrupted the terrorists’ camps where they plotted and trained. We dislodged the Taliban government that aided and abetted bin Laden.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/02/07/sen-rand-paul-trump-s-military-parade-is-good-idea-if-bring-troops-home-from-afghanistan-first.html

There!  The perfect reason to have a parade….this president and his need for a pat on the back at every turn can have his day….he gets a thank you and the admiration of the nation…..the perfect formula to keep this president happy and off Twitter.

Then there is a Naval response to the parade thing……

In recent days, news has emerged of potential plans for a military parade in the style of France’s annual Bastille Day défilé. Perhaps the spectacle of the French military parading through Paris inspired our Commander-in-Chief to investigate the possibility of a similar event here.

As an active duty officer in a sea command, I ask you, as my appointed leadership, to respectfully decline this request.

Our fleet faces a readiness crisis. Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer has said that every readiness question must start with the mention of our 17 dead shipmates on the USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) and Fitzgerald (DDG-62), and this proposed movement of people, parts, and equipment must be considered through the same lens. Our reasons for rejecting this proposal fall into three categories: The fiscal, the material, and the philosophical.[1]

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2018/02/12/i_oppose_the_parade_of_the_grand_armies_of_the_republic_113052.html

I like Sen. Rand Paul’s suggestion.

Closing Thought–21Sep17

I Love A Parade!

Take a good look at any authoritarian regime on earth….what is the one thing they all have in common?

Huge military parades to celebrate this thing or that…..the ones where they showcase all aspects of the military…..tanks, troops, guns, rockets, etc.

You will never guess who thinks these are good ideas.

Who doesn’t love a parade? To a city that already offers many, President Trump wants to add one that showcases US military might. It would take place on July 4 in Washington with, as Trump envisions it, tanks and planes rolling down and streaking above Pennsylvania Avenue. Trump talked up the idea of a “really great parade to show our military strength” Monday as he sat down with French President Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the president and first lady Melania Trump for France’s military parade in the center of Paris on Bastille Day in July, the AP reports. Trump said the two-hour procession was a “tremendous thing for France and for the spirit of France.”

In typical Trump fashion, the president said he wants the DC parade to be bigger and better than the one he saw in France. “It was one of the greatest parades I have ever seen,” Trump said. “It was two hours on the button, and was military might.” And “because of what I witnessed, we may do something like that on July 4th in Washington, down Pennsylvania Avenue,” Trump said. “We’re going to have to try and top it.” Trump said he has discussed the idea with his chief of staff, John Kelly, a retired Marine general. A State Department spokesman says what will happen is “unclear,” but Trump was “very inspired” by the French parade.

Seriously!