Thankfully our National Park System has a surplus of funds...

[Irrelevant]

https://thehill.com/homenews/admini...ert-25-million-for-trumps-july-4-event-report

Who needs roads, trails, gates, or drinking water, when we can have tanks and the new "marine helicopter". MAGA

 

[Deleted member 20812]

The same thoughts have been rolling around in my head as well. SMH.

 

[Schaaf]

Yeah, but he gave his first check to the NPS.

How quickly you ungrateful people have forgotten.

 

[shoots-straight]

I'm good with paying out 92 million for a nice parade. Better that than some homeless or finacially hurting dude. Those damn homeless people can use pine needles to brush their teeth and make some soup from dog bones for a little while. MAGA!!!!

 

[Nameless Range]

Enter whatboutisms, stage right.......

 

[Doublecluck]

“It has already vastly outpaced the total cost the Park Service has spent in past years on the annual July Fourth celebration, which an official told the Post usually reaches about $2 million per year.”

Eeeeh! What’s a extra .5 mil for a little extra Americanism?

P.s... and god bless America...

Back to trout catching...

 

[Deleted member 20812]

“It has already vastly outpaced the total cost the Park Service has spent in past years on the annual July Fourth celebration, which an official told the Post usually reaches about $2 million per year.”

Eeeeh! What’s a extra .5 mil for a little extra Americanism?

Shouldn't fiscal conservatives be looking to reduce the amount of money spent on things like this?

 

[noharleyyet]

Call it what it is...a 2.5 mil incumbent campaign rally....

 

[Irrelevant]

Eeeeh! What’s a extra .5 mil for a little extra Americanism?

What is it? Oh about 100 miles of trail maintenance. Or a couple miles of watermain. 5 miles of preleveling and chipseal. Just all those little things at people bitch about when talking about how big bro gubberment can't ever maintain anything.

 

[madtom]

What could be more patriotic than diverting funds from maintaining infrastructure to allow further damaging infrastructure with a parade of tanks?

 

[Sytes]

Pride in America. Independence Day.

Some people may not know... National Parks fund the majority of our Nation's D.C. Fourth of July celebration. Year after year after year. Be it Trump, Obama, Bush, Clinton.

National Parks are far more than Yellowstone Yogi's...

Phantom fireworks has donated $750k to the event.

"We saw an opportunity and approached the government in March to make the donation and try to give back to the country that has been so good to us. ... It's a privilege and an honor for us to do this."

Garden State Fireworks will do a whole choreographed event, BlueAngels, F-35's, on and on...

Going to be pretty fantastic!

***Pride in America has taken second seat to far too many other ridiculous partisan issues.***

 

[Irrelevant]

How about pride in THIS America?


Showing a little PRIDE in it includes funding it's maintenance.

 

[Ben Lamb]

$2.5 million is still less than we'd have to pay for the cheeto in charge to go play golf.

 

[LopeHunter]

Pride in America. Independence Day.

Some people may not know... National Parks fund the majority of our Nation's D.C. Fourth of July celebration. Year after year after year. Be it Trump, Obama, Bush, Clinton.

National Parks are far more than Yellowstone Yogi's...

Phantom fireworks has donated $750k to the event.

Garden State Fireworks will do a whole choreographed event, BlueAngels, F-35's, on and on...

Going to be pretty fantastic!

***Pride in America has taken second seat to far too many other ridiculous partisan issues.***

I read the other day how nationalism is receding in all countries that have easy communication back and forth with the outside world through internet. Young kids today are not bonding in America over America's achievements as a country but rather about the most recent Lady GaGa hit song or what a YouTube starlet feels is important (i.e. free stuff for being an ambassador of the brand) while on a beach in Tahiti wearing $2500 sunglasses with teeth veneers, spray tan and chin implant. Pride in democracy and free markets is not going to make the Top 10 list of a teenager trying to mimic Kim Kardashian and learn to sing with autotuned while playing micropayment games on their new cell phone.

Is easy for groups here in America to get cheers when they announce we should not be proud of our flag or the blood soldiers have spilled attempting to defend countries that have been invaded by others. They complain our earliest leaders were not on par with standards we hold today. Washington owned slaves. Well, guess what, in 200 years JFK and MLK statues will be defaced because something they did such as adultery will be held to be unforgiveable when held to year 2219 standards of revisionism. Or perhaps that they once said something about marriage or women doctors or using internal combustion cars or they owned a dog or made a donation to a charity later exposed as anti-something. I once heard an old person say a good way to lose faith in any hero is to learn as much as you can about them. They all have flaws. We all have flaws. We are all existing in the social fabric of our day and even those of us as pure as the undriven snow will fall short as people look back 200 years ago.

So, line up some tanks and fly some planes on the 4th. Shoot off some fireworks. On the 5th, everyone who seriously cares about our growing budget deficits can offer up who should get less so we balance the budget. I predict quagmire and the main political parties doing exactly nothing but to protect pet projects and all the entitlements that keep their donors and voters happy.

 

[Ben Lamb]

You can be an enthusiastic patriot while despising the cancer of nationalism. You can love and hold our veterans dear while acknowledging bad things happened during our wars, many of which were not fought for freedom but for profit and geo-engineering. Acknowledging the past faults of our nation, while working to make it better is the quintessential American experience. We've been working towards that for 2 centuries.

A parade of military might does nothing to prove how great we are as a nation. It simply serves to bolster the egos of men who value nothing about the sacrifice of America, and only the easy life they lead. A military parade being promoted by a campaign, where major donors get VIP seats is nothing short of graft, which many of us have come to expect from this administration.

Pride in your country is hallmark of everyone I know who posts on this site. Disagreeing with this charade doesn't mean you're unpatriotic, it means you can think for yourself. It means you've seen the other nations who try to project strength through display of military might when they are in fact weak. This has the same international impact. It shows we care more about style than substance, and that our valiant men & women of the USAF are nothing more than a toy for the rich & powerful to play with.

 

[Irrelevant]

The idea that we need to spend money, to spend military resources, in order to feel patriotic is as un-American as I can think.

I will spend the 4th doing what I always do. I will take my family on a hard hike as far into the mountains as we can, pack the little one when his legs get tired, up to a high peak and enjoy the view of greatest goddamn parts of this wonderful country and be f-in' thankful that I was born here, than my grandfather pulled up stakes in Switzerland and immigrated here, that millions of American's have given the ultimate sacrifice to ensure this gravy train stays on the rails. I will preach the gospel of my gratitude for our country and our public lands to my kids. And none of that will include a f@cking tank, or a fighter jet, or a firework.

Might as well say Christmas is about presents while you're at it.

 

[VikingsGuy]

I spent a childhood mocking the May Day tank parade pictures from Moscow - sensing how truly pathetic and weak they really must be to put on such a pointless show. I am somewhere between a libertarian, a classical liberal and a conservative, who has voted mostly (but not entirely) GOP over the years, and I am ashamed that some like minded friends/family still tolerate this. I am not sure why, but on top of all the unnecessarily divisive tweeting and moral vacuum, this parade really bothers me - I can only guess that it is the juxtaposition of my childhood memories.

 

[sharpshooter97]

Well said neffa3, and I completely agree. I’m proud to be an American everyday and I don’t need some multi million dollar parade to feel patriotic. We always do some shooting in the morning, then catch a few fish for supper while enjoying a fire and lighting off some fireworks. Always spent with family and friends, those are the things that make this country great. People getting together and enjoying the rights we ALL deserve. Hope everyone has a great day

 

[VikingsGuy]

or a firework.

I was with you until you added these last 3 words - I do love my fireworks!

 

[Sytes]

Enter whatboutisms, stage right.......

Independence Day = National Park budget... as every year.
Whataboutisms... = Trail maintenance...