There has been much discussion about the video posted by six Democratic Members of Congress to remind troops of their obligation to refuse to obey illegal orders. Many on the right have accused these Democrats of inciting mutiny or sedition. Perhaps this take seems overwrought.
But perhaps not. At first glance, this seems innocuous enough. Every soldier and sailor is trained to disobey unlawful orders in basic training. Surely, a simple reminder of that duty is harmless. Yet the video raises some questions. Who decides whether an order given is illegal? Can any private announce that he is not going to obey an order he believes to be unlawful? Can a general or admiral decide that the policies of the Commander in Chief are illegal and refuse to implement them? What happens to military discipline or the concept of civilian control over the military?
In fact, this video is far from harmless. It is part of an ongoing effort by the Democrats to delegitimize President Trump and to undermine the chain of command that gives the president the final authority over the military. Ultimately, the Democrats are endeavoring to weaken civilian control over the military, at least so long as Trump is president. They may well wish to attempt some sort of military coup against President Trump.
The efforts to delegitimize Donald Trump as President began as soon as he was elected. The Democrats concocted evidence, with the aid of our intelligence agencies, to demonstrate that Trump won with Russian assistance and is a Russian asset. They have ceaselessly compared Trump to Hitler and have claimed he is a fascist dictator. More recently, the Democrats have tried to link Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein and have accused him, without evidence, of being a pedophile. And now, they are strongly implying that Trump is giving illegal orders that the military forces under him have a duty to refuse.
The Democrats want to suggest that Trump is not the legitimate president. Either the elections he won are fraudulent due to the efforts of the Russians or Elon Musk, and/or Trump is abusing the powers of his office to set himself up as a despot. Either way, Trump is not the legitimate President. If Trump’s presidency is illegitimate, we need not confine ourselves to legitimate means to remove him from office. We need not wait for his term to end or to go through the process of impeaching and convicting him. An illegitimate president can be deposed by any means necessary, including assassination or insurrection.
The undermining of the civilian chain of command is a more serious matter. For the past year, the media and the Democrats have been trotting out retired (Clinton and Obama-appointed) flag officers who have sharply criticized the Trump administration’s efforts to reverse the destructive policies of previous administrations. While these retired generals and admirals have every right to criticize Trump, the efforts to showcase these critics are intended to suggest Trump’s policies are unprecedented or out of bounds. Even worse, the media has been publishing anonymous complaints from active duty flag officers. And then there is the video.
The idea that the Democrats seem to be groping towards is that the armed forces, and not the President, should have the final word on defense policies. They seem to be suggesting that the military should be able to determine the validity of the President’s orders and decide for themselves whether to follow them. Even worse, the Members of Congress in the video seem to regard the military as some sort of final guardian of the Constitutional order, ready to step in should the civilian government overstep its constitutional bounds.
This idea is dangerous. It weakens the constitutional order that the Congress People claim to want to protect. There are places where the military is seen as the guardian of their nation’s heritage or institutions. When the civilian government is seen as corrupt or working against the national interest, the military will seize power. Some examples of countries with this tradition include Turkey, Pakistan, and Nigeria. None of these examples is an exemplar of democratic governance.
The idea that the armed forces should serve as a check on the civilian government is completely foreign to American political tradition. It has no place in our national discourse. The Democrats who seem to be supporting such an idea are playing with fire.I have already observed crazy leftists on X fantasizing about a military force marching into the White House and placing the president under arrest. This video, posted by six foolish Democrat,s is dangerously close to making this fantasy mainstream.
David's Commonplace Book 
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