Happy Birthday American Fascism

I’m so glad we got to celebrate Donald Trump’s birthday with tanks rolling through the nation’s capital. Nothing says “healthy democracy” quite like armored vehicles rumbling past monuments meant to honor freedom.

History offers plenty of examples of governments that use military spectacle to project strength, intimidate dissent, and flatter fragile leaders. Those moments rarely age well. When tanks roll into a capital city, it’s usually not because a country is confident, it’s because power feels threatened.

Americans once looked at such displays abroad with horror and disbelief. Now we’re expected to applaud them as patriotism, so long as they come wrapped in red, white, and blue bunting.

Tanks are for war zones, not birthday parties. And when a leader confuses the two, it’s worth asking who the show is really meant to impress, and who it’s meant to warn.