PARANOIA OR MAYBE THERE IS SOMETHING TO WORRY ABOUT

His Orangeness, our Prevaricator-in-Chief wants a parade. His excuse is that he'd like to "honor our troops". Of course in more than a year in office he has not honored any of our troops on the front lines with a visit to boost their morale...well...perhaps this president had better go golfing and keep the troops' morale high by staying at Mar-a-Lago. The fact is that the little boy who likes to pretend to drive big rigs and fire trucks wants a parade in his honor because he thinks it makes him look powerful and momentarily fills that dark, endless void in him that demands constant attention.

While I am fairly certain the Autocrat st the Cheeseburger Wrapper is simply fulfilling a juvenile fantasy, I can't help but think that there may be a darker and more dangerous purpose in the minds of some of those who whisper Donald's thoughts into Donald's ear.

Let us say for a moment that the parade is scheduled for some date like May 19th (Armed Forces Day), July 4th or November 11th. Further let us say that the specific units assigned to this parade are commanded by officers of the ilk of Col. Oliver North, Admiral John Poindexter, Gen. John K. Singlaub or Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Let's also say that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had indicted a number of close aids to His Orangeness including Don Jr., Jared Kushner and named the Prevaricator-in-Chief himself as an unindicted co-conspirator. In the guise of the traditional parade fly-overs air wings commanded by some of those Air Force officers who have pledged themselves to Jesus Christ as their savior land at Reagan National, Dulles Airport and Andrews Air Force Base and assume command on orders from the president. The tanks and other armor units take up positions on the main highways into and out of Washington, D. C. after their review by His Orangeness. Another military unit shuts down Union Station and His Orangeness sends loyal commanders to arrest Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Special Counsel Mueller as well as many of the Democrat "traitors" who failed to stand or applaud for His Orangeness' State of the Union speech. Meanwhile FCC Chairman Ajit Pai invoking a state of national emergency that His Orangeness has declared to justify his coup takes over the broadcast and cable networks which begin sending out government sponsored messages requesting that people remain calm and assuring everyone that this state of emergency will last only a few days until the government is once again set to rights...far rights.

The shouters like Sean Hannity at the Völkische Beobachter (i.e. Fox News) have already defined the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election as an attempt at a coup. Even more such fevered nonsense comes from Alex Jones and his ilk. The neo-Fascist fundamentalist movement is busy informing its sheep that His Orangeness is the harbinger of the Second Coming selected by their bizarre take in the Christian god. Military units regularly get right-wing materials and are encouraged to believe in fundamentalist and ultra-rightist ravings. Our nation thinks of itself as a democracy but what "democracy" means to its citizens is not always anything like what it meant to our founders or Abraham Lincoln or even a majority of our current members of Congress. Militant Fascism supported by a military of questionable loyalty to our nation's principles and an imbecile president given to autocracy is not foreign to the United States. Whether our democracy can survive the next 3 or perhaps 7 years is not a given. The fact that ultra-right-wing groups and individuals have massive stockpiles of weapons while those of the Left and Centre have voluntarily disarmed does not bode well for any defense of our democracy either.

Wild paranoia? Perhaps. Something that His Orangeness and the neo-Fascists who surround him could not get away with? Perhaps. Might military units loyal to the Constitution mobilize to counter the coup? Probably but they might not be successful. Even if anti-Fascist military units succeeded in overthrowing the coup plotters including the president, vice-president and leaders of both the House and Senate who would then be the head of state? Who would have the legitimacy to assume the presidency? Might it not be another military leader whose taste of power might overwhelm his commitment to democracy? And what of plot sympathizers who hold the reigns of government in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas or the Dakotas, Wyoming and Idaho? Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania could form a wedge in the east and mid-west that would make a counter-coup difficult if not impossible. I'm sure that during the rending apart of the United States Russian hackers would be gleefully supporting Putin's man in the White House and spreading misinformation if not helping to coordinate the defense of the neo-Fascist coup.

His Orangeness' desire for a parade is probably just at one with playing in the fire truck and Peterbilt but an unnecassary expense is the least of the reasons why it should never take place.