Well the Trumpist Fourth of July celebration has come and gone. It was, they say, unlike any celebration of the past. Of course, Trump is not interested in doing what his inferior predecessors have done. No, Trump wants to impress his peers, the despots he so much admires and whose club he is trying to join. 

But the military didn’t like their role in the show, the Park Service wanted to know who would pay for it, and much of the country objected to the Trump ist America, America Trump ist! message. Now the Dear Respected Marshal of North Korea and the Autocrat of Russia and the Crown Prince of the Saudis never hear this kind of back-talk. So the King of America has a way to go before he can join the despots’ club.

Trump should have played to his strengths and put together a parade of Bikers for Trump, neo-nazis, white supremacists, alt-righters, ICE agents, and border guards. They would all have been eager to participate and many in his base would have loved it.