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Round-Up: Democrats Reveal They Dislike Celebrating America After All

The Democrat Party has been moving noticeably farther to the left, and President Trump’s pro-America policies and “Salute to America” celebration have driven many over the edge. There are countless examples of Hollywood figures, 2020 Democrats, media outlets, and businesses revealing their true colors.

Here is a handy list of notable entities and figures that have effectively turned on celebrating America.

Nike:

Just days before Independence Day, Nike decided to pull its America-themed sneakers, featuring the Betsy Ross flag. Details on the decision were scarce, but it was later discovered Nike was responding to “concerns” over the symbolism of the early flag. According to the Wall Street Journal, Colin Kaepernick reached out to Nike following its decision and said he – as well as others – viewed it as an “offensive” symbol, citing the broad era of slavery.

As many pointed out on Twitter, the “controversial” flags served as a partial backdrop during former President Barack Obama’s second inauguration.

Charlottesville, VA:

The city of Charlottesville decided it would no longer recognize the birthday of Founding Father and author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson. Instead, the city council voted to replace the April 13 celebration with Liberation and Freedom Day, which recognizes the emancipation black slaves.

George Washington High School:

Last month, George Washington High School announced plans to remove an “offensive” mural of the nation’s first president, with one speaker calling it a “visual offense.”

“Many critics of the mural have condemned its depictions of slaves and Native Americans. Now, the school is on the verge of removing the mural altogether,” Breitbart News reported.

The New York Times:

New York Times Opinion tweeted out a controversial video two days before Independence Day, which made an argument against America’s greatness and status as a Shining City on a Hill. It called U.S. greatness a myth and hit a number of common left-wing talking points, dropping sarcastic lines like, “But we have freedom in America, and everyone’s jealous, or something” and ” The truth is, how great America is really depends on how rich you are.”

Beto O’Rourke:

The presidential candidate weighed in on the Nike controversy and noted he supported the company’s decision. Interesting, though, is the way O’Rourke phrased the controversy. Emphasis added:

“I think its really important to take into account the impression that kind of symbol would have for many of our fellow Americans, respect the decision Nike made and grateful for the conversation,” O’Rourke told reporters.

It remains unclear why O’Rourke referred to the early American flag as “that kind of symbol.”

Harvard University professor Lawrence Tribe:

The Harvard University professor remarked on two tanks on the Mall – there for preparation ahead of the “Salute to America” celebration – observing what he considered a “resemblance to days before Tiananmen Square.”

He was not the only one either. There were many tank-inspired blue-check mark freakouts.

College professors:

Many college professors, in addition to Lawrence Tribe, have taken to social media to express outrage over the “Salute to America” celebration. Here is a brief sampling:

Marianne Williamson:

The lesser-known Democrat presidential contender called the “Salute to America” event – celebrating American greatness and America’s military – “heartbreaking” and “repugnant,”  just one day before July 4.

“Watching army tanks being hauled thru DC for Trump’s July 4 celebration is heartbreaking & repugnant,” she said before peddling her alternative live stream.

Pete Buttigieg:

The South Bend mayor appeared on CNN’s The Lead Wednesday and asserted that the big Fourth of July celebration in the nation’s capital “makes America look smaller.” He also accused the Trump administration of using the military as a prop.

“…the people who got our country started in the Revolution were skeptical of a presidency getting too much to look like a sort of imperial or royal office, and I’m afraid that’s the direction this president’s taking it in,” he added.

Rob Reiner:

The left-wing filmmaker went on a tangent Wednesday, essentially calling President Trump a sociopath for desiring to celebrate and honor the U.S.

“In the face of a humanitarian crisis, that this malignant narcissist would steal taxpayer dollars to stage a partisan display of Autocracy to massage his damaged psyche is nothing short of sociopathic,” he tweeted.

Stephen King:

Author Stephen King, who is no stranger to making overreaching partisan statements, declared on Twitter that Trump’s decision to celebrate the military is a clear sign of dictatorship.

Josh Gad:

Actor Josh Gad kept his critique short and wondered if “we” had lost our minds, celebrating America with such patriotic extravagance.

Bette Midler:

Not to be outdone, actress turned activist Bette Midler posted a series of tweets leading up to Independence Day, insulting Trump personally and wondering what business America has celebrating its independence while France experiences a heat wave.

She also called Trump a #FatFuck who is essentially killing Independence Day.

Hillary Clinton: 

Trump’s failed challenger knocked the “Salute to America” celebration Independence Day morning, reducing it to an event designed to feed what she implies is Trump’s need to “show” his patriotism.

Flag burners:

Gregory Lee Johnson, who was, as USA Today points out, “the man at the center of the 1984 U.S. Supreme Court case that protected the burning of the U.S. flag as constitutionally protected free speech” plans to burn the American flag in D.C. on Independence Day as a form of protest.

“I am going to D.C. on the Fourth of July and I’m going to burn the flag in protest (of his) whole fascist agenda,” Johnson reportedly told USA Today.

#BoycottTrump4thOfJuly:

The hashtag trended Wednesday, but it appeared to be about more than the president himself. Left-wing social media users seemingly used the hashtag to list their range of grievances against the United States.

“There is nothing to celebrate about a country where one minority privileged class enslaves and terrorizes the masses,” one user lamented. “Nothing to celebrate about the extreme lack of class mobility, opportunity or basic freedoms in this country.”

“It’s the 4th of July but I’m not very proud to be an American today. Well, I haven’t been since election night actually,” another wrote.

“I am hoping for a monsoon with a tuch [sic] of lightning and high with gusts tomorrow,” another user tweeted, ahead of the “Salute to America” celebration.

Despite the critiques, the president remains excited to celebrate the greatness of America alongside fellow American patriots across the country.

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‘Land of Hope’: An American History Textbook That Offers a Balanced View of Our Country’s Story

Amidst the bleak news from a poll that found only 24 percent of 18 to 29-year olds are “extremely proud to be an American” comes a literary ray of hope from the heartland.

The good news appears in the form of a new textbook, Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story, written by University of Oklahoma professor Wilfred McClay.

“We have a glut of text and trade books on American history. But what we don’t have is a compact, inexpensive, authoritative and compulsively readable book that will offer to American readers a clear, informative, and inspiring narrative of their own country,” the book jacket explains:

Such an account can shape and deepen their sense of the land they inhabit and, by making them understand that land’s rots, and share in its memories, will equip them for the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship in American society.

“The existing texts,” the jacket notes continue, “simply fail to tell that story with energy and conviction.”

They are more likely to reflect the skeptical or partial outlook of specialized professional academic historians, an outlook that leads to a fragmented and fractured view of modern  American society and fails to convey to American readers the greater arc of their own history. Or they disproportionately reflect the outlook of radical critics of American society, whose one-sided accounts lack the balance of a larger perspective and have had an enormous, and largely negative, effect upon the teaching of American history in American high schools and colleges.

“This state of affairs,” the notes conclude, “cannot continue for long without producing serious consequences.”

The results of the recent poll demonstrate clearly those serious consequences for our country have already arrived.

The Gallup Poll released on July 2 found that “U.S. adults’ extreme pride in being American has been steadily weakening in recent years, and the current reading, from a June 3-16 Gallup poll, marks the lowest point to date. However, the latest two-percentage-point decline from last year’s 47% is not a statistically significant change.”

The dramatically different responses by age group to this simple question illustrate the warnings for our nation’s future: How proud are you to be an American: extremely proud, very proud, moderately proud, or not at all proud?

While 45 percent of American adults are extremely proud to be an American, only 24 percent of adults age 18 to 29 are extremely proud:

Extremely proud to be an American, by age:

45 percent–All US adults

24 percent — 18 to 29

38 percent — 30 to 49

57 percent — 50 to 64

63 percent — 65 and older

 

Pride in America is clearly a partisan issue, the poll demonstrates. While 76 percent of Republicans are extremely proud to be American, only 22 percent of Democrats are extremely proud to be citizens of the greatest country on earth. Among independents, 41 percent are extremely proud.

Not surprisingly, the progressive liberal ideology of those who control K-12 public education in America–their lack of pride in our country–has shaped the political philosophy of those who are age 18 to 29, and continues to shape the world view of the 50 million plus children aged 5 to 18 who attend public schools in the country.

But the damage, though severe, is not irreversible. The challenge, however, is how to get the balanced view of America presented by McClay into the hands of America’s secondary school students.

Consider, for instance, how McClay treats the issue of slavery and the founding of the republic:

The ambivalences regarding slavery that had been built into the Constitution were almost certainly unavoidable in the short term in order to achieve an effective political union in the nation. What we need to understand is how the original compromise no longer became acceptable to increasing numbers of Americans, especially in one part of the Union, and why slavery, a ubiquitous institution in human history, came to be seen not merely as an unfortunate evil but as a sinful impediment to human progress, a stain upon the whole nation. We live today on the other side of a great transformation in moral sensibility, a transformation that was taking place, but was not yet completed, in the very years the United States was being formed.

Hence, it would be profoundly wrong to contend, as some do, that the United States was “founded on” slavery. No, it was founded on other principles entirely, on principles of liberty and self-rule that had been discovered and defined and refined and enshrined through the tempering effects of several turbulent centuries of European and British and American history. Those foundational principles would win out in the end, though not without much struggle and striving, and eventual bloodshed. The United States enjoyed a miraculous birth, but it was not the product of an unstained conception and an untroubled delivery. Few things are.

Predictably, the K-12 public education bureaucracy and “industrial complex”–the giant publishers like Pearson and McGraw Hill–are not clamoring for McClay’s book. In fact, it was left to Encounter Books to publish Land of Hope.

While turning the tide in the generational decline in a true understanding of the American story is a long and torturous project, filled with opposition at every step,  it can begin in every community by seeing that the message from Land of Hope is delivered to the generation of young Americans who have not yet reached the age of 18.

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Nolte: Disney Book Burners Remove ‘Offensive’ Joke from ‘Toy Story 2’

The far-left Walt Disney Company is now butchering its own classics to satisfy America’s Woke Fascists.

Although the company has not officially announced the burning of Toy Story 2, CBS News reports that the company chose to memory-hole a joke in the movie, a movie that is widely regarded as a masterpiece:

Disney quietly deleted a scene from “Toy Story 2” that appeared to joke about casting couch sex — a widely discussed topic when the #MeToo movement hit Hollywood. The change was made, with no announcement, to a new version of the 1999 hit that came out earlier this year.

The deleted scene came during a gag reel in the end credits, which shows blooper-style scenes involving the film’s animated characters. It depicts the character Stinky Pete the Prospector, voiced by Kelsey Grammer, flirting with two Barbie dolls.

“You know, I’m sure I could get you a part in ‘Toy Story 3,’” Stinky Pete says, as he strokes one of the Barbies’ hands. He then realizes he’s on camera and excuses the Barbies. “All right girls, lovely talking with you,” he says. “Yes, any time you’d like some tips on acting, I’d be glad to chat with you. All right, off you go, then.”

A perfectly harmless joke. What’s more, it’s a joke that treats shameful behavior as though it’s shameful, and still the un-American Orwellians at Disney censored themselves, blacklisted their own work, vandalized a classic piece of American art.

Sadly, this is not the first and will certainly not be the last time Disney chooses to appease the mob over protecting artistic integrity.

Disney has already removed Song of the South from distribution and, to appease the Clintons, buried the factual miniseries Path to 9/11.

Every time I warn of the slippery slope, as I did when a New York movie critic called for banning Gone with the Wind, as I did when no less than the Washington Post called for Baby It’s Cold Outside to be banned, when Huckleberry Finn was banned, when To Kill a Mockingbird was banned, when Little House on the Prairie was banned, when Steve Martin’s comedy was banned, when I warned that one day Blazing Saddles will be outlawed, I am howled at as a crank and alarmist. But look at where we are now…

Disney is disappearing stupid, harmless jokes.

If a casting couch joke is not safe, what is?

The answer to that question is… Nothing.

Nothing is safe.

Nothing is safe and the saddest part of all is that this is self-censorship, corporate censorship, censorship at the hands of a handful of multi-national corporations that have seized the levers of artistic distribution and ownership, that have the legal authority to do whatever they want to countless classic film and television shows.

Speaking of television shows, The Simpsons bastardized itself earlier this year because a couple of grown men now claim they were molested by a Michael Jackson who cannot defend himself because he’s dead.

I fear that what we are seeing here is only the beginning of a purity crusade, a cleansing, a literal and figurative book burning that has already begun and has done so for exactly the reasons spelled out in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451: [emphasis added]

“Now let’s take up the minorities in our civilization, shall we? Bigger the population, the more minorities. Don’t step on the toes of the dog-lovers, the cat-lovers, doctors, lawyers, merchants, chiefs, Mormons, Baptists, Unitarians, second-generation Chinese, Swedes, Italians, Germans, Texans, Brooklynites, Irishmen, people from Oregon or Mexico. The people in this book, this play, this TV serial are not meant to represent any actual painters, cartographers, mechanics anywhere. The bigger your market, Montag, the less you handle controversy, remember that! All the minor minor minorities with their navels to be kept clean. Authors, full of evil thoughts, lock up your typewriters. They did. Magazines became a nice blend of vanilla tapioca.  … It didn’t come from the Government down. There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship, to start with, no! Technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick, thank God. Today, thanks to them, you can stay happy all the time, you are allowed to read comics, the good old confessions, or trade journals.”

…

“We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against. So! A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man’s mind. Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man? Me? I won’t stomach them for a minute.”

…

“Coloured people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it. Someone’s written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book. Serenity, Montag. Peace, Montag. … Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs or the names of state capitals or how much corn Iowa grew last year. Cram them full of non-combustible data, chock them so damned full of ‘facts’ they feel stuffed, but absolutely ‘brilliant’ with information. Then they’ll feel they’re thinking, they’ll get a sense of motion without moving. And they’ll be happy, because facts of that sort don’t change. Don’t give them any slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy.

And like the books in Fahrenheit 451, the original, un-vandalized copies of Song of the South, The Simpsons, Toy Story 2, Huckleberry Finn, and Path to 9/11 can only be grabbed up before they are burned.

And then we will have to whisper about, share, and pass them on in the hopes they will be remembered as they were before the Woke Firemen brought their conflagration.

Censoring art is as un-American as it gets.

It starts with Confederate statues, leads to George Washington’s birthday, the Betsy Ross flag, and Toy Story 2, and ends … well, it never ends.

Don’t say you weren’t warned.

 

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.

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Man Paints Giant Flag on His Lawn to Honor Military, Law Enforcement

A Florida resident decided to go big this year with his 4th of July decorations to show support for military and law enforcement.

Jason Stanley of Plant City, Florida, said he used 15 gallons of paint to create a massive American flag display on his lawn.

 

Jason Stanley of Plant City, Florida said he used 15 gallons of paint to create a massive American flag display on his lawn (Fox 32).

Jason Stanley of Plant City, Florida said he used 15 gallons of paint to create a massive American flag display on his lawn (Fox 32).

“I’m a true believer that if it wasn’t for soldiers and law enforcement being there for us and giving their lives on duty, that I wouldn’t be able to do this,” he told reporters.

Stanley said it took him and his daughter six hours to complete the project, adding that he wanted to dedicate the time because military and law enforcement sacrifice so much for the country.

“Without those people, we couldn’t take the time out of our lives,” Stanley commented. “The world is too ugly right now, the way people are — they don’t stop to think and cherish the things they have. One day isn’t enough to give thanks to those giving their lives.”

A Texas teenager had a similar idea when he decided to mow a flag into his front lawn after a friend who served in the Army was killed recently while on duty.

Cameron James, 17, told reporters he changed the settings on the mower to create the flag that took him four hours to complete.

“Our mower has different settings, so I just changed the settings so the grass would be different lengths for the stripes,” he said, adding, “It was a lot of work. But it was worth it.”

President Trump is planning to celebrate July 4th during a “Salute to America” event that will take place at the Lincoln Memorial on Thursday evening. Plans include an address given by the president, military aircraft flyovers, and military musical performances, Breitbart News reported.

“We’re gonna have a great Fourth of July in Washington, DC. It’ll be like no other. It’ll be special, and, I hope, follow a lot of people … and it’s going to be about this country, and it’s a salute to America,” the president said Monday.

In response to his critics who said the celebration is too costly, President Trump tweeted Wednesday that the cost “will be very little compared to what it is worth.”

“We own the planes, we have the pilots, the airport is right next door (Andrews), all we need is the fuel. We own the tanks and all. Fireworks are donated by two of the greats,” he said.

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Christian Student Kicked out of Uni for Gay Marriage Views Wins Latest Court Battle

A Christian who was expelled from his university for expressing a biblical view on marriage has celebrated winning his latest legal battle, calling it a victory for freedom of speech and religious conscience.

In 2015, Felix Ngole had defended U.S. state official Kim Davis, who had refused to register same-sex marriages in her state of Kentucky, writing on an open Facebook page: “Same-sex marriage is a sin whether we like it or not. It is God’s words and man’s sentiments would not change His words.”

Mr Ngole at the time had been studying for a Master’s degree in social work at the University of Sheffield, but two months after the Christian student stated the biblical position on marriage he was informed by university administrators that his comments were being investigated. After a professional fitness to practice (FtP) hearing, the university panel deemed Mr Ngole’s comments “derogatory of gay men and bisexuals” and he was expelled from the course.

Mr Ngole took his case to court to have the university’s decision overturned, stating that the decision was a violation of his right to freedom of thought and speech. In 2017, deputy high court Judge Rowena Collins Rice sided with the university.

However on Wednesday, three Court of Appeal judges overruled that judgement, saying Sheffield University’s disciplinary proceedings were flawed and that the institution should reconsider its decision through another FtP hearing, reports The Guardian.

The university had ruled that because Mr Ngole was taking a “professionally qualifying degree” in social care, the openly-shared comments may be of offence to people he may encounter or work with in the future.

“This is great news, not only for me and my family, but for everyone who cares about freedom of speech, especially for those working in or studying for caring professions,” the 41-year-old from Barnsley, south Yorkshire, said.

“As Christians we are called to serve others and to care for everyone, yet publicly and privately we must also be free to express our beliefs and what the Bible says without fear of losing our livelihoods,” he added.

Despite expressing regret that four years of his life were lost to battling his case for religious freedom and freedom of speech, Mr Ngole said: “…I feel overwhelming joy that what I have lost will be so much gain to Christians today and in the future as a result of this important ruling for freedom.”

A Sheffield University spokesman claimed that, while the institution “supports the rights of students to hold and debate a wide range of views and beliefs”, with regards to students enrolled on courses leading to a professional registration, it has a “responsibility to look at how any concerns raised could impact a student’s fitness to practise once registered”.

The spokesman added that the institution “will be considering its response to the judgment”.

Last month, a Christian NHS nurse who was fired for “religious fervour” in the workplace lost her appeal for unfair dismissal. Mother of three Sarah Kuteh had been dismissed for a number of alleged offences including giving a cancer patient a bible and asking them to pray with her.

Last July, Christian doctor David Mackereth was fired for standing by his faith and acceptance of science that there are only two immutable genders, when he referred to patients by their biological sex.

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Thomas Jefferson’s Home Town Trashes His Birthday

Everything American is racist, according to the left. Via Washington Times: CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Charlottesville, Virginia, will no longer celebrate Thomas Jefferson’s birthday as an official city holiday and instead will observe a day recognizing the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans. The city council voted Monday night to scrap the decades-old April 13 holiday honoring the […]

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Oberlin Refuses to Apologize to Gibson’s Bakery to Avoid Offending Students

Oberlin College has refused to apologize to Gibson’s Bakery after losing to the bakery in a multi-million dollar libel lawsuit to avoid offending students with “different perspectives.”

According to a report by The College Fix, Oberlin College has refused to Gibson’s Bakery for their role in spreading misinformation about the family-owned business.

Gibson’s Bakery sued Oberlin College after it coordinated with students in a smear campaign against the bakery over a shoplifting incident during which three black Oberlin students assaulted the store’s white shopkeeper. The students, who pled guilty to the assault charges, acknowledged that race played no role in the altercation. However, Oberlin students and administrators disagreed with the official record. They engaged in a widespread movement to smear the bakery as “racist.”

An Ohio jury awarded Gibson’s Bakery $44 million in total damages for Oberlin College’s role in the college’s campaign against the bakery.

Now, Oberlin College President Carmen Twillie Ambar says that the college won’t apologize to Gibson’s Bakery for their role in spreading the misinformation. Ambar said that she doesn’t want to offend those with “different perspectives” on the situation.

“Those different lived experiences are abso[l]utely true, but they are in conflict with each other,” Ambar said. “The college didn’t issue an apology because it was hearing these different perspectives and didn’t think it should apologize for issues it didn’t create.”

Ambar, who was interviewed by CBS News about the verdict, suggests that the college is likely to continue to fight the lawsuit in an appeal.

Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more updates on this story.

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Socialist 4th Of July Protester: ‘We’re Going To Burn That F*cking Flag … That Flies Over Concentration Camps’

Degenerate POS. “You’d think we’re in Gilead, but actually we’re in the United States which is on its way to becoming a fascist regime. And, you know, we’re out here because tomorrow in Lafayette Park at 5:00 P.M., revolutionaries and the revolution tour is going to burn that f*cking flag in front of the White […]

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Terrific! Philly Flag Store Sells 1,000 Betsy Ross Flags a Day after Nike and Colin Kaepernick Sh*t On America (VIDEO)

A popular flag store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was selling about six Betsy Ross flags a day. Then Nike and Colin Kaepernick attacked this symbol of American greatness.

Now the company is selling 1,000 Betsy Ross flags a day.

TERRIFIC!

Via FOX and Friends:

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Debate Over July Fourth DC Festivities Shows How Out of Touch Elites Are

With the upcoming White House-sponsored ceremony honoring
the U.S. military on the National Mall, this Independence Day will look a
little different in Washington, D.C.

A quick scan of headlines, opinion columns, and social
media shows this is apparently quite upsetting to many in the political class. But
to borrow the oft-used social media exclamation, “I’m sorry, I thought this was
America.”

The reaction to the president’s Fourth of July plans has
been a textbook case illustrating the disconnect between the “elites” and the
majority of Americans.

In addition to the usual festivities on the National Mall, the White House is hosting “Salute to America,” an event specially focused on honoring the military, which will feature flyovers by the F-22 Raptor, the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, and the Navy’s Blue Angels; various armored vehicles stationed around the area for tourists to see up-close; and remarks from the president himself.

Controversial, right?

The political commentariat seems to think so. “The
president is fulfilling, sort of scratching, a long-term itch to have a
military parade on the taxpayer dime,” opined John Avlon on CNN Wednesday
morning.

The Washington Post’s James Hohmann claims, “This is not the first federal holiday Trump has politicized,” while drawing a not-so-subtle comparison between the event and the antics of adversarial dictators:

Trump seems to sincerely believe that tanks, jets and brute force are what make a country great. … The hard truth is that even the most odious regimes in the world are perfectly capable of rolling tanks into their capitals.

The bad takes don’t stop there, however. Responding to a photo of several armored vehicles being trucked into D.C. for the event, former CIA analyst Nada Bakos tweeted late Wednesday, “In a democracy, a military show of force is an indicator things aren’t going well.”

>>> It’s Actually OK to Be Proud of the Military on Independence Day

Not to be
outdone, Sarah McLaughlin of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education tweeted, “Nothing signifies celebration of a holiday
about breaking free from an oppressive government better than ‘tanks in the
streets.’”

These examples of partisan sniping raise the simple question:
What exactly is wrong with such a celebration?

Tuesday’s USA Today headline sums it up perfectly: “Trump’s 4th of July military show has visitors pumped, but critics slam it as an ego trip.”

It might be easy for those in “the swamp” to take for
granted what the military does every day, and how they do it. As a veteran, the
same is sometimes true for me.

We make a grave mistake, however, when we assume that Americans as a whole—indeed, those who make up the “true” America outside the Beltway—aren’t interested. We are wrong to assume they don’t appreciate every chance to show their gratitude for what the military does on a daily basis.

Part of the rich American tradition is celebrating those who not only secured our freedom more than two centuries ago, but who have stood up every day and every night since to maintain it.

>>> America’s Long History of Military Parades

It is wholly appropriate to emphasize the military’s vital role
in our ongoing independence, and to give Americans the opportunity to see for
themselves what our service members are doing with their tax dollars.

Indeed, while Washington Post’s Hohmann is correct that military might alone does not a great nation make, a strong and vibrant military—under the leadership of a commander in chief elected by the people—is the first line of defense against all threats to our nation and our Constitution, and a deterrent to an array of evils abroad.

That’s why the meltdown over “Salute to America” is so dissonant. Not only has our nation’s capital hosted numerous such celebrations of our military before—as CBS’ Maj. Mike Lyons points out—but getting so stridently upset just because Trump is doing so lacks a certain sense of perspective:

If you are losing your mind and your 4th of July is ‘ruined’ because two tanks, a Bradley, a recovery vehicle and maybe a few HUMVEEs are going to be on the National Mall tomorrow, just stay in bed under the covers until it’s over.

“But Trump is politicizing the military,” some argue.

This makes little sense. Is the president truly supposed to
remain silent on the day most central to our national identity? Is it wrong for
his administration to take the initiative in emphasizing the military’s
importance to that identity?

If this was truly just a political stunt, one would expect a
far more robust list of assets on display, or even a true military parade, like those in France
every Bastille Day.

“Salute to America” is about one thing: reminding our nation
of those who stand vigilant in defense of our liberty. It’s about honoring
those who have given, and continue to give, so much for our nation. And it’s
about remembering why we can celebrate this day year after year.

Instead of making it political, let’s focus on those
things.

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