On the order of President Donald Trump, Washington, D.C. Saturday will host the largest military parade in the U.S. since 1991, when the nation celebrated the success of the U.S.-led Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf. Tomorrow’s parade falls on President Trump’s 79th birthday, but the administration says that is only a coincidence and that the parade intends to celebrate the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army. The parade is expected to cost about $45 million, including the cost of making repairs to the expected street damage. Many Americans say they are uncomfortable with such a militaristic spectacle, but the Oklahoma congressional delegation is in full support. Here are some comments from Senators James Lankford and Markwayne Mullin this week:
CAMERON: How do you feel about Saturday’s parade?
LANKFORD: This is the kickoff to America’s 250th birthday. It’s the 250th birthday of the Army and then, by the time we get to July the 4th next year, it’s the it’s the 250th birthday of the country and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. So this really begins a one year celebration of the freedom that we enjoy as a country. And so it’s a good kickoff for us to be able to have this parade, to be able to have the recognition. But there’ll be so many events that happened over the next year. Now, as the country stops and pauses and says, how precious is this democracy, this republic that we have in our Constitution, the beginning point of it to be able to say, how do we allow all people to be represented, to be able to be heard and to be able to just focus on what we have and how important it is that we maintain this freedom that we have, as Ronald Reagan was famous for saying, is not passed on in our bloodline. Every single generation has to speak out and be able to protect our freedoms. It’s on our generation to continue to be able to protect those freedoms, but also to pause for a moment for a year and to be able to celebrate it as well…