As for honoring the troops, as a former private I assure you soldiers don’t take any special joy in standing in the sun for hours while the VIPs suck mimosas in the shade.

If we want to honor our troops, pass the damned defense budget.

And don’t take our already over-scheduled troops away from critical training or their families for frivolity. Not only would the sort of grand parade Trump envisions tie up tens of thousands of troops, it would paralyze staffs and logistics commands for months, play havoc with vital training and grossly misuse assets.

Of course, we’ve had big parades in the past — and worthy ones. But they weren’t displays of power but rather put our troops front and center.