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[Max™]

I mean, this has been a regular business practice for years now: buy in, leverage it to shit, break it up, sell the chunks to a company you own, charge them rent for shit they owned, laugh and buy another mansion or election.

[RedKing]

Also depends on how the stockbrokers make out.  If the voting stockholders get rich by plundering the company and abandoning its bankrupt husk, the cynic in me points out that there are a lot of stockholders who would be willing to take the money and run. 

EDIT: Ah, finally found the term for this that I was thinking of, since it's not an unknown phenomenon.  What folks are looking for in this analogy is a corporate raid: buy a large stake in a company and use your plurality or majority of the voting stocks to drive the company into the ground in the name of short-term profit.  If you do it right, you should buy off enough shareholders behind you to do it regardless of what the other shareholders think.

Also known as vulture capitalism. Bain Capital ring a bell for anyone?

Spoiler: No, not this one. (click to show/hide)

[smjjames]

Rofl that Mitt Romney ad...

Trump now saying he'd "love a government shutdown". If a company's CEO said "Hell yeah, I'd love to see us go out of business", wouldn't you fire that CEO?

Seems like it's supposed to be a taunt, pretty much a dare. Although he's aiming it at the Democrats when the real shutdown threat is actually coming from the Republicans this time.

[Reelya]

So I hear Trump wants a big Soviet-style military parade in Washington now.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/06/politics/military-parade-trump/index.html

[Silverthrone]

I am rather conflicted. On the one hand, it is a spectacle that is woefully uncommon in the West, which is a shame. Pomp and circumstance is always lovely. Further, the men in the crown's congress's clothes ought to be given a chance to display themselves, and have a special day out. It would boost morale, and, above all, be a fun and impressive occasion.

On the other hand, I believe that a president ought to have something in particular to show for himself before he calls what is effectively a Triumph. For it simply does not seem, on the whole, to be an occasion to praise and display the United States military. No, it more seems as an attempt for President Trump to bathe himself in glory. And, whatever one might think of his presidency thus far, there is no achivement in particular that truly accompanies well to the sound of drums, fifes, boots and tank treads. No music can match it, and him simply being on the presidential seat does not warrant it.

However, if he ties it to an occasion, say a Veteran's Day, or in the memory of some great victory or campaign, it could work. If, and that is a significant if, he has the sense to stand back a bit. President Putin has the Victory Day, and that is wise. He can bathe in the prestige that it brings, without seeming to claim it, or having to present good grounds for a personal Triumph. It does not belong to him, that day, but all of Russia, and the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. He is merely the masters of ceremonies, and reaps the rewards thus.
President Trump would be wise to arrange something similar, if he does not want the parade to seem like an act of vanity.

EDIT: It appears that the current fancy was inspired by the Bastille Day parade of Paris. Well, I can think of worse ideas, but nonetheless. It must be managed quite carefully, if it is not to become an unworthy matter of compairing big boy's toys.

[Frumple]

Asked, yes, but apparently not actually told the military muckitymucks to do it until now.

I think I'm pretty solid on my thoughts on the subject, heh. Go for it, but Trump pays for the parade and donates an extra 10-20% over the base logistics costs to the VA. If the military's going to fellate the ego of a multiple draft dodger the fuck should not piss away taxpayer dollars to have it done and should drop a few million on top of the parade costs to save the lives of americans that didn't indulge in such behavior.

[Sheb]

Is it that rare? I know France's military parade on Bastille Day is famous, and even Belgium has whatever soldiers we can scrape together parade on our national day (Fun fact, I was once arrested trying to jump in front of the parade with anti-war slogans painted on my torso during my younger, pacifist year).

Another thing I found funny is that a few years ago when then-presidential candidate Ségolène Royale proposed that teachers, students and other civilians also parade on Bastille day, the idea was shouted down as "reminischent of the USSR".

[misko27]

It's rare here. I've never seen anything like it, personally. I mean I know the military does parades, but parades for themselves mostly?

[Reelya]

The last time USA had a federal military parade was in 1991, after kicking Iraq's butt. But Bush Senior really needed that as he was facing re-election the next year, and mopping up previous US client dictators after the fall of the USSR was sort of his main thing. So, that one was really a "cold war is over USA #1 USA #1" parade.

[Strife26]

The last time USA had a federal military parade was in 1991, after kicking Iraq's butt. But Bush Senior really needed that as he was facing re-election the next year, and mopping up previous US client dictators after the fall of the USSR was sort of his main thing. So, that one was really a "cold war is over USA #1 USA #1" parade.

I think those invasions (Panama and Iraq #1) eroded a lot of trust in the USA actually: as soon as you were no longer useful, USA might crush their smaller allies / clients. Notice that USA invaded Iraq pretty soon after they signed a peace deal with Iran.

And after Iraq invaded Kuwait

[Wolfhunter107]

Is it that rare? I know France's military parade on Bastille Day is famous, and even Belgium has whatever soldiers we can scrape together parade on our national day (Fun fact, I was once arrested trying to jump in front of the parade with anti-war slogans painted on my torso during my younger, pacifist year).

Another thing I found funny is that a few years ago when then-presidential candidate Ségolène Royale proposed that teachers, students and other civilians also parade on Bastille day, the idea was shouted down as "reminischent of the USSR".

The last one that I know of was in 1991. That one was a celebratory thing right after the end of the First Gulf War, though, so the circumstances were pretty different from the one that Trump wants now.

[Reelya]

And after Iraq invaded Kuwait

USA enthusiastically helped them invade the last country before Kuwait, and Saddam then asked the US Ambassador about Kuwait, and effectively got a "knock yourself out" response. So Saddam probably was lead to believe that the USA would view them invading Kuwait the same as USA did them invading other people: which it completely backed up. Iraq and America already had an understanding about the USA giving them cover to invade other nations. Remember, they had a 10 year working relationship with the same Government in the USA, so if Saddam got the wrong end of the stick in that meeting, then it was clearly deliberate: USA wanted to throw him under the bus since he wasn't in a war with Iran anymore, and since the Cold War had ended, and misleading him on the Kuwait position was just a convenient pretext.

Remember, tons of other countries invade, occupy or otherwise get taken over by hostile forces and the USA doesn't seem to give a shit most of the time. They're selective. e.g. a US ally in Afghanistan gets wiped out by the Taliban a few years after the Gulf War, and America is like "meh not our problem, now that the Russians left".

[smjjames]

The US has done all kinds of shitty stuff diplomatically, what's new? Pretty sure every country in the world has done shitty stuff at some point in the past diplomatically speaking. It ain't pretty, but it's what it is.

[Teneb]

Around here military parades only happen to celebrate the Proclamation of the Republic. The dictatorship left a dislike of those in pretty much all other occasions.

The US has done all kinds of shitty stuff diplomatically, what's new? Pretty sure every country in the world has done shitty stuff at some point in the past diplomatically speaking. It ain't pretty, but it's what it is.

Most of them don't try to pretend to be the "Guardian of the Free World" while at it, which tends to make people not like you very much.

[Wolfhunter107]

The US has done all kinds of shitty stuff diplomatically, what's new? Pretty sure every country in the world has done shitty stuff at some point in the past diplomatically speaking. It ain't pretty, but it's what it is.

The US has done plenty of shitty stuff, but Reelya's claim that the US gave Saddam permission to invade Kuwait is pretty much a conspiracy theory.