In an exclusive interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Trump also outlined a White House renovation he hopes to carry out — which he said he will pay for himself.

    • bradinutah
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      10 hours ago

      For the strongest military in the world, it’s degrading. This is pure government waste. Only a malignant narcissist could find value in this.

      • Gordon Calhoun@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        I’ve found Air Shows and AFB Open Houses to be WAY better at showcasing military assets and personnel to the public and driving recruitment. Military parades are pretty cringe.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        10 hours ago

        True.

        But what’s also true is the fighter pilot flyovers, anthem, and pledge of allegiance. All of them are problematic and should have ended long ago.

        Like, I just get tired of people acting like trump came out of nowhere and shit was perfect.

        We can’t just keep watching the right destroy shit, then settle for a pause in the damage. We need to start fixing shit before there’s nothing left to be fixed.

        America replaced patriotism with nationalism decades ago, and refusing to address it will make another trump a question of “when” not “if”.

        • Mithre@lemmy.world
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          10 hours ago

          I agree on the whole anthem/pledge thing, but flyovers do have at least some value in that they give pilots flight hours. Those planes would have to be in the air anyway for training, so they might as well use them for advertising via flyovers.

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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            9 hours ago

            Or…

            And this is a crazy thought…

            They could do the training?

            Like, you said you agree the anthem at sporting events is dumb, so when exactly will the flyovers happen?

              • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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                6 hours ago

                You think that’s adequate training for active fighter pilots?

                That would explain the downvotes, it’s not like flying commercial where you just need hours in the sky, it involves specific maneuvers and simulated dogfighting at highspeed.

                It’s like saying NBA players should practice by playing Cornhole, it makes sense if you don’t understand either activity and think throwing something thru a hole is close enough…

                • deranger@sh.itjust.works
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                  2 hours ago

                  Yes, hours are hours and fighter pilots and all the support staff involved need them too. When I was in the military the helicopter pilots would fly down to Florida and get lunch. They needed the hours and were going to by flying anyways.

                  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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                    2 hours ago

                    And when I was in the military we kept having to go out to sea so they could fly helicopters on and off the ship…

                    Because you train as close to how you’ll fight as possible.

                    If you’re talking people doing routine patrol flights, sure it’s the same as fighting. But no one is going to an airshow to watch a helicopter casually fly by.

                    Like, do you have any frame of reference how much it costs to do that shit in a f16 let alone f35? It’s around 10k/hr just got an f16, and that’s not including the pilot or mechanics, just fuel and parts.

                    It’s not taking your Prius to the grocery store, it’s taking the Lambo on a 12 hour drive for the hell of it.

                    But like, you all know this isn’t a hypothetical we’re discussing, right?

                    It’s literally propaganda:

                    As recently as 2015, the Department of Defense was doling out millions to the NFL for such things as military flyovers, flag unfurlings, emotional color guard ceremonies, enlistment campaigns, and — interestingly enough — national anthem performances. Additionally, according to Vice, the NFL’s policy on players standing for the national anthem also changed in 2009, with athletes “encouraged” thereafter to participate. Prior to that, teams were not given any specific instructions on the matter; some chose to remain in the locker room until after opening ceremonies were completed. (It’s unclear whether the policy change was implemented as a direct result of any Defense Department contracts.)

                    In 2015, Arizona Sens. Jeff Flake ® and John McCain ® revealed in a joint oversight report that nearly $5.4 million in taxpayer dollars had been paid out to 14 NFL teams between 2011 and 2014 to honor service members and put on elaborate, “patriotic salutes” to the military. Overall, they reported, “these displays of paid patriotism [were] included within the $6.8 million that the Department of Defense (DOD) [had] spent on sports marketing contracts since fiscal year 2012.”

                    https://archive.thinkprogress.org/nfl-dod-national-anthem-6f682cebc7cd/

                    I guess it was a decade ago, some people might not remember I guess.

                • peoplebeproblems@midwest.social
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                  6 hours ago

                  It’s not just the pilot. The take off crew, the landing, the comms, it’s still a mission.

                  I mean shit, based on the kind of training equipment Ive seen, the pilots being in the air is just a tiny part of the effort. Especially for naval aircraft. I would assume the same for air force, but they don’t typically land on boats.

                  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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                    5 hours ago

                    Especially for naval aircraft. I would assume the same for air force, but they don’t typically land on boats.

                    What air shows come with aircraft carriers?

                    Like, you know they can’t just roll up anywhere, that’s why LHDs are the biggest at fleet week, and NYC’s pier isn’t exactly low quality.

        • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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          10 hours ago

          But what’s also true is the fighter pilot flyovers,

          Not positive on this one, but I think pilots need to regularly fly a certain number of hours in different types of aircraft to maintain their pilot rating or improve it. If they have to fly anyway, at least this way taxpayers get to see what they’re paying for instead of the same flight hours occurring over some desert or mountain range far away from people.

          • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.worldOP
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            9 hours ago

            They do.

            However the flyovers and other military displays during sporting events were originally done as a recruitment tool.

            An advertisement for the military.

            It has nothing to do with deliberately planning flight hours for pilots, the hours are a secondary benefit.

    • CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      7 hours ago

      For the people.

      It has immense propaganda value. Look at North Korea and Russia. They regularly parade their military to look powerful.

      For them, they literally carry a big stick in the hopes that no one will challenge them.

      Trump is doing it so that he can show the world how powerful he is. Not by military might but by forcing the government to do the parade.

      This value alone is worth 10 times the cost for Trump. Remember that it’s about his ego. And also remember that Trump isn’t paying a damn cent. We are. He’s thumbing his nose at us.

      That value is worth 100 times the cost.

    • PattyMcB@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      Except to piss off your troops. I HATED being in parades to celebrate some general or another retiring. Then there’s the potential for heat injuries and troops just passing out from standing so long.

      • The_Caretaker@lemm.ee
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        10 hours ago

        Even small parades for pass and review used to result in at least a few soldiers falling out in formation. I can only imagine how long these 7000 people are going to be outside, in the heat, wasting time, before the parade even starts. Based on my own experience, these things are never well organized and with Trump’s butt-monkeys in charge, I expect worse results than usual. Some soldiers will probably die for this parade. Happy Birthday to Dear Leader, I guess.

        • PattyMcB@lemmy.world
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          7 hours ago

          Seriously… I can only imagine they’ll have to hurry up and wait extremely early and be out there for hours. If it were me, I’d be PISSED

          • The_Caretaker@lemm.ee
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            7 hours ago

            Remember to be 30 minutes early for the commander an additional 30 minutes early for the first-sergeant and another 30 minutes early for the platoon sergeant. Commander wants you there at 08:00 and by the time it passes through the chain, you have to show up at 06:00 and stand around for 2 hours so that when the commander shows up late at like 08:30 he or she can tell you to wait around in the sun for two more hours before the practice starts. By 10:00, six people have passed out and no one knows who was supposed to bring the water and the practice hasn’t even started yet. I love military parades. /s

            • peoplebeproblems@midwest.social
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              6 hours ago

              What I’m hearing is that nothing would piss off these military personnel more than if a whole lot of citizens decided to show up and slow this parade to a standatill.

              • The_Caretaker@lemm.ee
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                6 hours ago

                The military personnel aren’t the problem. Most of them are poor and working class. They aren’t there because they want to oppress Americans, that’s the police. Military members usually join because they are poor and want healthcare and education benefits for themselves and their families. They are disproportionately people of color. I am Caucasian but the unit I went to Afghanistan with was over 50% Black and we had one guy whose family was from India. Things are getting bad under Trump but the military has also long been a refuge for gay people from religious conservative rural communities. Their families disown them and refuse to support them so they join up. There are lots of lesbians in the Air Force and gay men in all branches. I hope that most would refuse orders to attack or oppress Americans but I can’t say for sure. A lot of them are also dumb MAGA redneck idiots.

        • betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world
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          9 hours ago

          People forget the standard advice: Don’t lock up your legs, bend your knees just enough to have a little movement without it being noticeable at a distance. Gotta find the sweet spot of hydrated without overshooting into the “have to pee every 10 minutes” range too.

      • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world
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        10 hours ago

        Sounds about right. You really want to honor the troops then how about taking that money and cutting every active and reservist soldier a check?