Listen, don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with the local National Guard unit or the Naval Reserve color guard marching in the town 4th of July parade. But I get the impression Mr Trump is fantasizing about some Red Square spectacle with endless ranks of goose-stepping infantry and columns of tanks, artillery pieces and missile carriers, complete with flags, standards, strutting battalions and the rest of it.

Over and above the connotations of militaristic dictatorial display this conveys, it does seem to highlight yet another characteristic of fascist propaganda. The parade marches by, and we are all expected to ooh and ahh and cluck, and make approving sounds about “our brave boys”. The implication being that if you don’t immediately collapse into instant orgiastic patriotic adulation you must be some sort of traitor. Its like the Pledge of Allegiance, the Christmas nativity scene, the national anthem or any other display of honest sentiment forced down our throats in order to enforce conformity and implied approval for the Leader. If you don’t immediately fall into line, they have identified an enemy. The introduction and enforcement of spontaneous and voluntary displays is part of the whole iconography of fascism and tyranny. If you don’t salute, you must be unpatriotic. How convenient.

I’m not surprised Trump would want this sort of thing, but I’m really surprised he doesn’t see how obvious it is, what a tell it is for his brand of jingoism. I can almost hear him; “Hey, the gays are marching, the feminists are marching, the minorities are marching, what’s wrong with patriotic loyal Americans marching?” Translation: If you’re gay, feminist or black, you are not on the same side as patriotic, loyal Americans.