Taking their cues from the progressive left as if it were a direct order, many of the mainstream news outlets won’t be airing tonight’s 4th of July celebration from the nation’s capital because President Donald Trump has declared it awesome and so therefore he must be proven incorrect.

In a piece published July 3 at far-left Media Matters for America entitled, “Don’t air Trump’s patently ridiculous 4th of July campaign rally,” the author echoes much of what’s being said using the hashtag #BoycottTrump4thofJuly (boy are they happy it might rain!): Trump will have tanks and that’s frightening and dictatorial! And your loyalty, media, is straight-up being tested:

The Independence Day celebration will reportedly feature a military parade — including several tanks and a flyover by Air Force fighter jets and the president’s own Air Force One — culminating in a Trump speech at the Lincoln Memorial and “a spectacular fireworks display.” The rally will set up an interesting test for how and if news outlets choose to cover the event.

According to Politico’s Michael Calderone, Fox News and CSPAN are planning on covering Trump’s speech live, MSNBC has no plans to do so, and it’s unclear whether CNN will air it. Additionally, “the president’s appearance and portions of the parade will air on ABC’s streaming channel, ABC News Live, while the network will also provide a television feed of the event that may be used by local stations. CBS’ streaming channel, CBSN, will carry the event live, as will NBC’s site, NBCNews.com, and streaming platform NBC News NOW.”

…

The president’s political objective is pretty clear: He hopes to dominate the airwaves with a massive, patriotic show of red, white, and blue as we head into the 2020 election cycle. Networks shouldn’t help.

And the media has apparently complied. While some of the standard outlets will be streaming the event (I mean if it happens because it might rain! Hahahaha!), it looks like you won’t catch them on your TV.

BREAKING: NBC, ABC, CBS and MSNBC will not air Trump’s Fourth of July campaign rally. #PatriotsResist

— Scott Dworkin (@funder) July 4, 2019

Because tanks.

Happy 4th from DC pic.twitter.com/slY9woUBlQ

— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) July 4, 2019

Pictures are emerging of tanks. Tanks!…

…like they used to have dating back into the 30s and up to the recent past for many different kinds of parades honoring the country and her military.

Despite what the outrage machine wants you to think, Trump is far from the first POTUS to use military tanks for celebratory displays in Washington. FDR, JFK, Eisenhower all included tanks in their big inaugural parades. After WWI, tanks were used every year in Army Day parades.

— Jon Miller (@MillerStream) July 3, 2019

A tank at the Capitol: Army Day parade on April 6, 1939, marking the anniversary of U.S. entry into World War I. (Five months later, Germany invaded Poland.)

Photo via @librarycongress: https://t.co/GrtOo92UNj pic.twitter.com/dar2ibY1L7

— The '60s at 60 (@the_60s_at_60) July 2, 2019

While I’m sure that last image will only make the boycotters more restless (there was a tank in DC and then we went to war!), the point is Trump’s really not doing anything new. If anything, he’s revisiting a tradition we’ve put aside in favor of trashing the country and her flag, and failing the younger generations by not teaching them how this grand experiment in Democracy got started.

And anyway, tanks are awesome.