It's the Military, Stupid!

We must now face the elephant in the room.

With the second Trump administration’s daily flooding of the zone, it’s damn near impossible for journalists and influencers of good will to focus on what is most important.

• Is it the hollowing out and destruction of government agencies?

• Is it extrajudicial street abductions by masked ICE thugs?

• World-economy destroying tariffs?

• Presidential terrorism against law firms and universities?

Yes, yes, yes and yes.

But what is getting less attention is the massive elephant in the room: the US Military.

In other less stable countries, it is common to consider the disposition of the military (both in leadership and among the rank and file) in discussions of political power. In the US, we’ve typically had the luxury of thinking of the military as having no relevance to domestic politics.

But with the current administration ignoring the rulings of federal courts and the Department of Justice abdicating its enforcement duties (having been converted into Trump's personal constabulary), the implied power of the military becomes a relevant factor in whether we are able to preserve our constitutional democracy..

Unfortunately, Hegseth and Trump are in the process of replacing our competent, serious military leaders, who view their role as protecting our constitutional democracy, with reliable supplicants who will obey all orders, legal or otherwise, from their dear leader. In time, this will effectively eliminate the implied backstop that the military might normally provide.

Given the military’s rapid march to mediocrity, we urgently need every spotlight to be turned on Hegseth and the dangerous changes being implemented with each passing day. And we need to better explain to Americans what this means for their cherished freedoms and rights.

We are in a race against the clock, with enormous stakes.

Trump, through Hegseth, is rapidly executing a political takeover of our armed forces, rendering the judiciary powerless against what would amount to a personal army.

Through muscular speech and protest, we need to draw the nation’s attention to what Trump and Hegseth are trying to do. We must enlist ordinary citizens, businesses, and elected representatives to insist that our military remains non-partisan and dedicated to constitutional order.

The upper echelons of the military have to help, too. There would likely be no need for troop movements or any physical steps. Just a well-timed written or verbal flex. The Joint Chiefs could privately (or publicly) remind the White House that the military has a duty to uphold the Constitution, as interpreted by the courts. And that it will do so, if the administration, by defying clear orders from the court, creates a constitutional crisis, whereby such a choice becomes necessary.