President Donald Trump’s brainstorm to stage a flashy military parade has been met with considerable skepticism. Trump reportedly was inspired by France’s Bastille Day celebration, where he watched a military parade last year as the guest of French President Emmanuel Macron. But France is hardly a military power, and the president apparently wants a gaudy show of America’s firepower. That’s more in line with the strongman regimes in North Korea and Russia, and it hardly reflects this nation’s values. As the former Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden tweeted Thursday, "We prepare. We deter. We fight. Stop this conversation." President Theodore Roosevelt’s description of his approach to foreign policy was to "speak softly, and carry a big stick." He didn’t say show it off.