Jingoistic Military Fetishization Is As American As Bald Eagle McNuggets By Caitlin Johnstone!!!!
(2019-07-03 at 20:39:02 )

Jingoistic Military Fetishization Is As American As Bald Eagle McNuggets by Caitlin Johnstone

"Putins America," tweeted Anand Giridharadas, a pundit who was genetically engineered in a Monsanto laboratory to appeal to NPR listeners on every possible level.

Giridharadas used these words yesterday to caption a short video clip of two tanks being carted through the streets of DC in preparation for their appearance in a parade for Independence Day, a holiday in which Americans gather to eat hot dogs and drink Mountain Dew in celebration of the anniversary of their lateral transfer from monarchy to corporatist oligarchy.

The military hardware parade is taking place at the behest of President Boltons social media assistant Donald Trump, and critics have been vocally decrying it as alien and un-American.

Pundits like Giridharadas and Steve Silberman have been saying it is something Russia would do.

The Independent said it is a spectacle you would see in "authoritarian regimes such as North Korea, Iran and China."

Adam Best and Charles Pierce both likened it to something that would be done in a "banana republic", an interesting choice of phrase for a gratuitous display of American military bravado given that terms blood-soaked origins in United States corporate colonialism.

All of these people are of course being ridiculous.

There is nothing alien or un-American about President Trumps parade at all.

Jingoistic fetishization of the military is as American as a deep-fried trademark symbol.

All this parade is, actually, is just one of the many, many, many many times over the last two and a half years that President Trump has shown America its true face, and United States of Americans have not liked what they’ have seen.

"That is not my reflection!" the Americans scream at the mirror he holds up for them. "That is Putin!"

"That is not my reflection!" they protest. "That is North Korea!"

"That is not my reflection!" they say. "That is a banana republic!"

No, United States of America.

That is you.

It has been you all along.

This is the same country, after all, in which someone simply mentioning that they were in the armed forces often elicits a reverent "Oh, thank you for your service!" from whoever happens to hear them, as though spending four years protecting Raytheon profit margins and crude oil is something ordinary civilians should be grateful for.

You guys know no other country does that, right?

In Australia if you tell someone you were in the army they will tell you "Aww, bonza mate. I am a plumber meself."

It is not a thing, because when you are not part of the most powerful military force in the history of civilization, powerful people do not have nearly as much invested in making a thing out of it.

This is the same country where every second house and every single McDonalds has its flag flying over it, a cult of idolatry that has become so ubiquitous that a football player choosing to kneel instead of stand before that stupid piece of cloth generates national outrage.

The same country where simply bleating "Support the troops!" or "Freedom is not free!" was in and of itself seen as a be-all, end-all debate-winning argument for the rape of Iraq.

The same country that spent weeks on end mourning the death of bloodthirsty psychopath John McCain on the grounds that he is a "war hero" when they should have loaded his heartless cadaver onto a trebuchet and launched it into the nearest tire fire as part of a telethon benefit for Syria.

All that is considered perfectly normal by mainstream United States of America, and liberals are getting their knickers in a knot over a few tanks and "Blue Angels”" (another ridiculous yet perfectly normalized American spectacle)?

Hell, it is not even like President Trump invented presidential parades full of instruments of mass military slaughter. Check out this photo from JFKs inaugural parade:

Or this one from Eisenhowers:

Or this one from FDRs:

And the fact that it is mostly Democrats kvetching about this parade is especially absurd, given that in 2019 they have somehow managed to become even more hawkish and jingoistic than the Republicans.

This is the same crowd that just the other day was attacking President Trump for having the audacity to meet with Kim Jong-Un, the same crowd that is constantly accusing President Trump of being weak on Syria and Afghanistan, the same crowd that has made heroes of the United States intelligence community and the "grownups in the room" generals in the administration, and the same crowd that has been shrieking hysterically for the last three years demanding greater and greater escalations against a nuclear superpower because something-something Putins cock holster.

The biggest problem with President Trumps tank parade will be that male Democrats in attendance will have trouble hiding their erections.

United States of Americans are the most aggressively propagandized people in the world, and United States service personnel are the most aggressively propagandized people in America.

That is the group that all this special reverence and fetishization has been attached to: a bunch of kids who have been manipulated into killing and dying for plutocratic investments and the mommy-shaped hole in John Boltons heart.

That is what this parade is meant to manufacture even more support for in a culture that is saturated past the brim in a relentless barrage of war propaganda.

Face it, America.

President Trumps tank parade is not in any way alien to anything you have ever stood for.

The only way to make it more United States of American would be to add a few monster trucks and a Kardashian.

This parade is your reflection.

This parade is you.

Thanks for reading!!
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