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As you\u2019ve probably heard by now, over the weekend Donald Trump<\/strong> will celebrate<\/a> his 79th birthday in the most perfect way possible: with a hugely costly military parade, the likes of which would not be out of place in North Korea. What do you get for the guy who has everything? The manifestation of all of his authoritarian hopes and dreams, of course!<\/p>\n Unfortunately, there\u2019s one slight wrinkle that will not please the man we\u2019re probably mere months away from being forced to address as \u201cDear Leader,\u201d \u201cHis Royal Highness,\u201d or \u201cthe Greatest President to Ever Live\u201d: A whole bunch of Republican lawmakers are RSVP\u2019ing \u201cno\u201d to the event, something they will think twice about doing when the penalty is being thrown into the gulag.<\/p>\n Yes, Politico<\/em> surveyed<\/a> 50 GOP lawmakers, and just seven said they were planning to stay in town for the festivities, which are nominally about celebrating the US Army\u2019s 250th birthday and just coincidentally coincide with Trump\u2019s. Sure, people like Marjorie Taylor Greene<\/strong> and Elise Stefanik<\/strong> and Byron Donalds<\/strong> will be there, but the chairs of the House and Senate armed services committees? Skipping. Senate majority leader John Thune<\/strong> and majority whip John Barrasso<\/strong>? Skipping and skipping.<\/p>\n In a clear attempt to let the president down easy, the excuses for not being there were carefully worded. West Virginia senator Jim Justice,<\/strong> for example, told Politico<\/em> that, though he will not be present, \u201cit\u2019s great celebrating President Trump\u2019s birthday and…great celebrating the military.\u201d While he\u2019ll be similarly missing the proceedings, House Appropriations Committee chair Tom Cole<\/strong> said the event is \u201ccelebrating the birthday of the Army and I think it\u2019s a good thing to do,\u201d adding: \u201cI just didn\u2019t get to go home last week and I\u2019d like to get to go this week.\u201d Oklahoma senator Markwayne Mullin<\/strong> told Politico<\/em> that it\u2019s his anniversary; Tennessee representative Tim Burchett<\/strong> claimed that the event falls on the same weekend as his daughter\u2019s 18th birthday. Even South Carolina\u2019s Lindsey Graham<\/strong> said he doesn\u2019t plan to show up, \u201cthough he left open the possibility,\u201d because of course he did<\/a>.<\/p>\n During a budget hearing last week, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll<\/strong> estimated that the cost of the event could be up to $40 million, with the tanks\u2019 likely damage to DC streets still to be seen. \u201cLike his deployment of the military in LA, it\u2019s a shocking waste of money at a time they are closing Social Security offices \u2018to save money,\u2019\u201d Democratic representative Don Beyer<\/strong> said in a statement. \u201cThey\u2019re shutting down our regional transportation, including the airport, for this, and people I hear from in the military don\u2019t even want it. The whole thing is just to boost Trump\u2019s fragile ego.\u201d<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Trump warned that people protesting at the event would face \u201cvery big force.\u201d His close personal<\/a> friend Kim Jong Un<\/strong> would be proud!<\/p>\n Look, it\u2019s only okay to attack law enforcement<\/a> when it\u2019s part of an attempted coup, okay?<\/strong><\/p>\n This content can also be viewed on the site it originates<\/a> from.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nX content<\/h4>\n