Date: 2025-08-21 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00028733
TRUMP
A PATHETIC HUMAN BEING
Toronto Star: From someone who was there, the Trump military parade was not what he expected
A PATHETIC HUMAN BEING
Toronto Star: From someone who was there, the Trump military parade was not what he expected
Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDf7MDD5j6g
Toronto Star
Jun 17, 2025
130K subscribers ... 189,788 views ... 7.8K likes
Star opinion writer Richard Warnica, who has been covering Trump events for about 10 years, was at the Trump birthday military parade in Washington D.C. over the weekend. It was not what he expected.
Peter Burgess COMMENTARY
I thought this commentary on the Trump parade last June 14th was spot on ... meaning it was very much my own experience of the day!
I am old ... actually 85 years old ... and living vicariously with my desk top computer rather than the real 'real world'!
As a spectacle, the military parade was pretty unimpressive. Numerically, it was big ... but miles of soldiers an kakhi drab uniform walking in front of a reviewing stand where the spectators seemed to be having difficulty staying awake was more 'amusing' than 'impressive!
The cost of this parade was substantial ... and the size of this parade was pretty large. Whether this represented 'value for money', I do not know.
But it did remind me of something that is somewhat related.
The cost of the US military is substantial ... and many of it units are very large. But whether ot nor the US military is cost effective and fit for purpose in 2025 is not at all clear. From what I know, I would make the case that the cost of the US military has been 'out of control' now for several decades. President Eisenauer warned Americans about the emerging 'military industry complex' in his final speech as President in 1964 but the trajectory has only grwon worse!
It is fair to say that the bright red uniforms of the British troops during the Revolutionary War was not smart ... but the bright red coats of soldiers in British military parades is a magnificent spectacle to this day. Though the British military is now small compared to the USA, it still remains probably the best in the world bar none.
Peter Burgess Transcript
- 0:00
- my name is Richard Warick i'm a senior
- opinion writer at the Toronto Star i was
- at Donald Trump's military parade in
- Washington DC Saturday and these are my
- three big takeaways
- number one surprisingly I think given
- the hype and the buildup to the parade
- was that the big story Saturday was
- absolutely not in Washington DC the
- parade ended up actually being
- overshadowed by events around the world
- and even in the United States itself um
- the weekend was obviously dominated by
- the news of Israel's attacks on Iran and
- Iran firing back um so that's you know a
- huge geopolitical story it's a military
- story and anyone having a military
- parade going up against that is is I
- think you know in newspaper terms we
- would say it's no longer the A1 story um
- but then even domestically in the United
- States there was a horrific news
- Saturday of the politically motivated
- assassination and as the parade was
- 1:00
- unfolding the accused gunman was still
- on the loose so you have this massive
- manhunt you have a politically motivated
- assassination by someone who police are
- saying has a kill list of up to 70 other
- um Democratic and uh progressive figures
- in Minnesota so it's terrifying it's
- overwhelming again it's it's bigger news
- than this parade and then of course the
- counterprogramming of the No Kings
- parades which were taking place all
- across the United States had huge
- turnout you know at best Trump's parade
- was maybe the fourth biggest story of
- the day Saturday which which is pretty
- surprising in that I think we're all
- used to at this point Donald Trump being
- the biggest story everywhere all the
- time which leads me into my second point
- which is that
- for all the hype and I think a lot of
- the hype and the fear and the buildup to
- this was legitimate um if you follow
- 2:01
- more liberal American sources commentary
- TV magazines the comparisons in the
- leadup to this parade were you know
- Nermberg rallies in Hitler's Germany
- they were um military parades in Kim
- Jong-un's North Korea in Vladimir
- Putin's Russia um having been there
- having been inside and watched this
- whole thing this event wasn't anything
- like that um this isn't on any level to
- minimize what I think are the very real
- dangers Donald Trump poses to American
- civil society to American democracy to
- the stability of the global order um but
- frankly being at the parade it felt like
- a pretty typical American event to me i
- think there's a huge constituency of
- people in the United States and a large
- one in Canada too who think looking at
- tanks looking at helicopters looking at
- fighter jets and then watching some
- 3:00
- fireworks is a great way to spend a
- Saturday and and genuinely that's what
- this felt like i I've been to I don't
- know how many Trump events over the past
- 10 years and this was about the least
- Trump focused Trump event I think I've
- ever been to um it was on his actual
- birthday and I think
- a lot of people went into it thinking
- the fact that this is being buil as you
- know the 250th anniversary of the army
- that's a fig leaf this is really all
- about Trump this is about his birthday
- but the production of it was very much
- focused on the history of the US Army um
- which leads me into my third point and
- my third takeaway which is that
- for as much as
- if you took out the Donald Trump context
- and dropped me into this I wouldn't have
- blinked twice i would have thought it
- was very typical Americana this was
- still on some level a Donald Trump
- production which meant it was pretty
- weird there there were moments that were
- 4:02
- uh you know that feeling that I think
- we've all become used to watching Trump
- over the past 10 years and that I think
- if you live in Toronto you had a preview
- of watching Rob Ford as mayor of I can't
- believe this is happening um I'll give
- you a couple examples from the parade
- one is which that uh there were
- corporate sponsors for everything so you
- you had like very loud 80s um guitar
- rock instrumental like booming all the
- time like Barracuda and Enter Sandman
- and all these like iconic hard rock
- songs and then there would be like
- helicopters flying by and tanks and
- fighter jets and then it would pause and
- be like thanks to our partner the UFC or
- thanks to our partner Coinbase uh which
- was just like so strange um and then the
- Trumpiest parts were were not I think
- 5:01
- what most people anticipated which were
- these sort of dictatorial fascist
- flourishes that people were afraid of
- they were like the weirder part of
- Donald Trump which is you know he the
- parade ends with him um delivering the
- oath of service to a graduating class of
- military cadetses and after he you know
- reads the script and does it he says
- 'And have a great life have a great
- life.' Which is just one of those like
- weird Trumpy moments of you're like 'Who
- is this guy?' Um and then unusually for
- Trump he he delivered a speech and he
- stuck I'm pretty sure almost exactly to
- his teleprompter which is very untrump
- but his speech was you know it read very
- much and I was talking to another
- reporter who lives in DC covers DC we
- had a drink after it was over and he
- brought up the idea so I don't want to
- steal it that maybe this thing was
- written by AI and I genuinely think that
- was possible because some of the lines
- in it were just so strange like on one
- level it was um
- 6:02
- uh you know
- this army's great greatest fighting
- force in the world very typical
- celebrate our military rah but then
- there would be these lines of like
- talking about uh soldiers pouring out
- blood by the bucket full and plunging
- their enemies into the circle of fire
- and you know keeping the devil on the
- run and they're just these like these
- really bizarre rhetorical flourishes
- that if someone handed you in in the
- first draft you're like 'Okay we got to
- pull this back a bit.' And like no one
- really pulls Donald Trump back but this
- isn't really usually the direction he
- goes in um so it's very strange um so
- those are my three big takeaways and
- they are not the takeaways I think I
- expected to have going down there which
- is number one it was not the big story
- of the day not even close number two it
- was it was not the Nermberg rallies this
- did not feel like being in North Korea
- it wasn't even for a Trump event a
- particularly Trumpy audience there were
- a lot of people there who I think were
- military families there were a lot of
- Trump supporters but also there were
- tourists there there were people who I
- think exist in every country there's
- lots of in this country who who just are
- really interested in military hardware
- like looking at some tanks and number
- three of course this was a Donald Trump
- event so there was plenty of weirdness