a commander in chief who only cares for himself, few so lightly invoke the prospect of mass death

[Demovictory9]

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https://newrepublic.com/article/150085/trump-russia-war-threats

A Commander-in-Chief Who Cares Only About Himself
The president's latest defense of his cozy relationship with Russia underscores his warped view of war.-----


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Trump’s latest excuse for appeasing Putin reveals his unserious, performative approach to the role of commander-in-chief. Though Trump’s predecessors made frequent use of the military in armed conflicts, few if any so lightly invoked the prospect of mass death and destruction. For Trump, war appears to be a largely abstract concept, one he invokes as a political threat without regard for the consequences of doing so.

Trump clearly enjoys being commander-in-chief of the nation’s armed forces. If nothing else, he appears fond of the aesthetics. In the summer of 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted Trump at that year’s Bastille Day festivities in Paris. Trump reportedly returned to the U.S. eager to stage a similar parade in the streets of Washington.

Large-scale reviews of troops, tanks, and other materiel in peacetime are usually more familiar in defunct authoritarian states like East Germany and the Soviet Union. But in France, the annual march down the Champs-Élysées reaffirms the endurance of the country’s revolution and the power of the French Republic, not any one leader. On this side of the Atlantic, the idea is largely unprecedented. American political culture didn’t shed the founders’ fear of standing armies in peacetime until the mid-twentieth century. Open displays of armed might were taboo for most of U.S. history, except to celebrate the end of major wars. The U.S. has achieved no such victory in recent years, but Trump nonetheless touted the parade as a way to honor the nation’s armed forces.

In reality, the parade’s true focus appears to be honoring Trump. His staffers originally asked the Pentagon for tanks, missile launchers, and other military hardware to take part in his inauguration in early 2017. The Pentagon turned down the request, offering the diplomatic excuse that the large tire treads would likely damage the streets in the nation’s capital. Now the military is halfheartedly planning a parade for this fall that would pass muster with the White House and its eager occupant—a stunt that does little but assuage the president’s personal insecurities.

[dalton99a]

1. The crazed traitor is a clear and imminent danger to all humanity.

[PSPS]

2. "(the military parade) does little but assuage the president's personal insecurities."

But he wants to show off for Vlad! "Do you like me now? Are we friends? Will the mob money keep flowing into my trump organization? Can I build the Moscow Tower now?"