Meeting with President Emmanuel Macron of France on Monday, President Trump stated his intention to hold a military parade in Washington, D.C., come next July 4.
Trump’s idea was apparently inspired by his attendance at France’s Bastille Day parade earlier this summer. Trump described that event as “military might, and a tremendous thing for France and for the spirit of France.”
He’s right, and I believe the same would be true for the United States.
Unfortunately, not everyone agrees. Spokeswoman for the liberal advocacy group, MoveOn, Karine Jean-Pierre summed up the intelligentsia opinion by tweeting “God help us.” Regardless, Jean-Pierre’s words speak to a sustaining theme of incredulity from elites: they’re reacting as if Trump had just suggested that he intends to visit Jupiter next year.
Don’t get me wrong, I recognize that President Trump’s authoritarian tendencies are troubling and that he partly wants a parade in order to receive the salute of thousands of military personnel. Nevertheless, I support a military parade for two reasons.
First, the U.S. military serves Trump only under the lawful authority of the Constitution. Trump might be the commander in chief, but he lacks unilateral command authority absent the rule of law. Under the uniformed code of military justice, officers must refuse unlawful orders. U.S. military salutes of Trump are not pledges of personal allegiance to the leader, as in dictatorships, but rather pledges of commitment to the Constitution. In this sense, U.S. military parades represent the power of the nation’s ideals as much they do its military power.
Second, a military parade would be good for the nation. Most Americans respect our military’s professionalism and take pride in the skill of its personnel. By allowing various units to parade their equipment and mission, we would educate Americans and the world as to our unmatched capabilities. The parade might include, for example, light reconnaissance and tank forces, scout sniper teams, and Marine expeditionary units. Regardless, come Independence Day, most Americans would be proud to see that our guarantors of freedom remain strong. We already fly fighter jets over football games, send silent drill teams to basketball matches, and deploy infantry units at inaugurations, so why not double down?
It’s telling that those now criticizing Trump’s parade idea are mostly in the media or on the political left who have always judged the military as something anachronistic and impertinently aggressive. Yet there’s a delicious irony here. After all, mamy of these same individuals worship France as the purest manifestation of liberal enlightenment, but simultaneously reject one of its greatest traditions: the military parade.
I’m glad Trump listened to Macron’s example.
