As you’ve most likely heard by now, over the weekend Donald Trump will have fun his 79th birthday in probably the most good method attainable: with a vastly expensive navy parade, the likes of which might not be misplaced in North Korea. What do you get for the man who has every little thing? The manifestation of all of his authoritarian hopes and desires, after all!
Unfortunately, there’s one slight wrinkle that won’t please the person we’re most likely mere months away from being compelled to deal with as “Dear Leader,” “His Royal Highness,” or “the Greatest President to Ever Live”: A complete bunch of Republican lawmakers are RSVP’ing “no” to the occasion, one thing they’ll suppose twice about doing when the penalty is being thrown into the gulag.
Yes, Politico surveyed 50 GOP lawmakers, and simply seven stated they had been planning to remain on the town for the festivities, that are nominally about celebrating the US Army’s 250th birthday and simply coincidentally coincide with Trump’s. Sure, folks like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Elise Stefanik and Byron Donalds can be there, however the chairs of the House and Senate armed providers committees? Skipping. Senate majority chief John Thune and majority whip John Barrasso? Skipping and skipping.
In a transparent try and let the president down simple, the reasons for not being there have been rigorously worded. West Virginia senator Jim Justice, for instance, informed Politico that, although he is not going to be current, “it’s great celebrating President Trump’s birthday and…great celebrating the military.” While he’ll be equally lacking the proceedings, House Appropriations Committee chair Tom Cole stated the occasion is “celebrating the birthday of the Army and I think it’s a good thing to do,” including: “I just didn’t get to go home last week and I’d like to get to go this week.” Oklahoma senator Markwayne Mullin informed Politico that it’s his anniversary; Tennessee consultant Tim Burchett claimed that the occasion falls on the identical weekend as his daughter’s 18th birthday. Even South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham stated he doesn’t plan to indicate up, “though he left open the possibility,” as a result of after all he did.
During a finances listening to final week, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll estimated that the price of the occasion could possibly be as much as $40 million, with the tanks’ doubtless harm to DC streets nonetheless to be seen. “Like his deployment of the military in LA, it’s a shocking waste of money at a time they are closing Social Security offices ‘to save money,’” Democratic consultant Don Beyer stated in an announcement. “They’re shutting down our regional transportation, including the airport, for this, and people I hear from in the military don’t even want it. The whole thing is just to boost Trump’s fragile ego.”
On Tuesday, Trump warned that individuals protesting on the occasion would face “very big force.” His shut private buddy Kim Jong Un can be proud!
Look, it’s solely okay to assault legislation enforcement when it’s a part of an tried coup, okay?
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