Tanks, but no tanks Mr. President

It seems the cost of vanity is pretty high. President Donald Trump is scurrying to put together plans for a big celebration of America on the Fourth of July in the National Mall. Our President has been fixated on some sort of military themed celebration after attending the Bastille Day celebration in France two years ago. It will be a showy, and costly affair. The pricetag isn’t clear, but it won’t be cheap. It was estimated that a similar celebration planned last year would have cost $92 million. Those plans were pulled when the costs became public. There will reportedly be military flyovers, even though the cost of flying an F-35 stealth fighter is about $30,000 per hour. Military tanks have been spotted outside of D.C. even though they could cause serious damage to Washington’s roads, and cost thousands to repair. The National Park service, despite having some $11 billions in unfinished projects, will be responsible for cleaning up the mess left over. And President Trump is also trampling on the longtime tradition of keeping our Independence Day celebrations apolitical. No sitting President has participated directly in such ceremonies since Harry Truman in 1951. But Trump is eager to inject himself into the celebration of America’s independence, tweeting the Salute to America would include “an address by your favorite President, me.” America should celebrate its independence, but should say tanks but no tanks to such a show of vanity by a sitting President.