Trump's speech to military leaders

[kan...@aol.com]

Yesterday may have felt like just another chaotic day in Donald Trump’s second term. But in the long list of dark days for democracy, it was among the most dangerous. While the government shutdown turned heads with its drama, the real danger unfolded elsewhere — at an unprecedented speech (and that’s saying something) Trump delivered to our most senior military officers.  

 

We are used to Trump preaching partisan politics, inventing lies, and rambling incoherently. But watching that dynamic play out in front of an audience of military officers was unsettling in ways that cannot be overstated. It was a reminder that Trump’s rhetoric is not just entertainment for a rally or noise for cable news — it is a deliberate attempt to bend powerful institutions to his will.

 

To their credit, the generals and admirals — each with decades of experience — showed remarkable discipline. They refused to applaud his disdain for the rule of law. They did not laugh at his partisan jokes. They denied him the energy he craves from an audience, and it showed on his disappointed face and in his flat delivery.

 

Trump’s message, however, was loud and clear: he believes the military works for him personally, and he intends to use it against his domestic political opponents.

 

Pulling from the dictator playbook, he referenced using U.S. cities as “training grounds” for the military, falsely claiming, “We’re under invasion from within.” Laced with vitriol aimed at Democrats, it was obvious whom he considered the “enemy from within.”

 

Combined with his recent obsession with escalating force and militarizing major U.S. cities, it seems evident we are on the verge of something very dangerous for our democracy. It is equally clear that he expects the military to do whatever it is told — even if that means turning on U.S. citizens and violating their oaths to the Constitution.

 

Trump has already deployed federal troops to Los Angeles, Portland, Memphis, and Washington, D.C. He continues to insist he will soon do the same in Chicago. It will certainly not end there. 

 

He has suggested similar action in New York and San Francisco. Red-state governors, beginning with Louisiana, are handing their residents over to the dictator-in-chief, requesting the same treatment in their own major cities. 

 

There have been many institutional failures in Trump’s second presidency, starting with Congress’s refusal to defend its constitutional prerogatives. But none looms larger than the unraveling of federalism — ironically, led in part by Republican-controlled southern states.

 

This slow erosion of checks and balances is not tumbling down in one dramatic collapse; it is happening through a series of smaller surrenders, each one making the next easier.

 

The question remains: what does Trump hope to accomplish with this show of dominance over our nation’s flag officers and our largest cities? Increasingly, the answer is clear: he wants to intimidate and punish his political opponents and prepare to undermine future elections.

 

Every single day, Trump is normalizing the idea that the military and federal law enforcement are partisan tools rather than neutral institutions. That is how democracies die — not in one sweeping blow, but in a steady corrosion of norms until the public no longer remembers what healthy institutions look like.

 

Trump may look and act like a fool, but every action he is taking is intrinsically intertwined. His speech to military leadership is directly connected to his orders to prosecute his adversaries. So are his remarks declaring “war” on cities” and his use of force against U.S. citizens. Together, these actions form a pattern: the construction of an authoritarian playbook where every lever of government exists to serve one man’s ambition.

 

In the short-term, Trump is staging parades and summoning military leaders because he wants to project power. But his long-term goal is even more nefarious: he wants to consolidate that power to achieve real-world outcomes.

 

Chief among those goals is ensuring he retains political power after the 2026 midterm elections. Alarmingly, the misuse of the military fits squarely into that plan.

 

The good news is that his success is not inevitable. An alert, engaged electorate can act now to make it more difficult for him to achieve his goals.

 

First, we must resist complacency and desensitization to the threat Trump poses to democracy and free elections. Already, too many are growing accustomed to his autocratic behavior. What once seemed abnormal now feels normal. What should be intolerable is being tolerated. We must resist the temptation to downplay the threat or give in to fatalism.

 

Second, we must speak out against Trump’s consolidation of power and his defiance of the rule of law — not only when it affects us and our own communities, but especially when it affects others. Trump wants to divide us, making organizing and resistance harder and less convenient. Solidarity, even when uncomfortable, is our greatest tool to defeat him.

 

Finally, we must insist that our institutions hold. Do not give in to cynicism or pessimism. Do not lower your expectations for what is acceptable from the nation’s most critical institutions.

 

When one media outlet fails, we must support those who do their jobs. When one law firm capitulates, we must back those who stand firm. The cracks in the system are real, but we have seen that when enough people demand accountability, they can be fixed.

 

There is no guarantee that democracy will prevail. History offers no assurance that strongmen always fail. But without concerted action, the odds are against us. Now is the time to stand up and refuse to give in.

 

The generals in that auditorium did their part yesterday — now we must do ours. The test of a democracy is not only whether its institutions hold, but whether its citizens are willing to defend them. That responsibility belongs to us, and it cannot be delayed any longer.  

This speech can be found on the 'Net. it's scary, as the author explains. Trump is basically telling the leaders that they work for him. Nothing too Hitlerian here though. For this, I'll skip over the Franco bullshit and go right to the top of the dictator shit pile. He tells the US that cities are "war zones". He then tells the military that there is a "war from within". That sounds pretty much like he's working toward asking the military to operate within our borders. Not legal. Not kosher. Impeachable.