“First to Fight for Right and Freedom”

If you’re hoping to be saved from the Philanderer-in-Chief’s militarization of America by a military that refuses to participate in his undemocratic, unconstitutional, illegal usurpation of power, forget it. Ain’t gonna happen.

Soon after I heard that the Kleptocrat-in-Chief had ordered US Marines to Los Angeles, I sent this e-mail to pretty much everyone I know:

“The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 is a U.S. federal law that restricts the use of the military for civilian law enforcement within the country. It prohibits the use of federal troops to execute civilian laws unless explicitly authorized by the Constitution or an Act of Congress.

“Marines deployed against American citizens in the streets of the United States of America. I have never before been so ashamed of the Marine Corps or of my having once been a US Marine, something I have always–until today–taken a quiet pride in over the past 56 years, regardless of my disagreements with the policies and practices of the US government, both foreign and domestic.

“This amoral, criminal, corrupt conman and grifter who cares nothing for justice or the law has step-by-step dismantled constitutional democracy and put in its place a banana republic ruled by a despot surrounded by thugs and sycophants. And huge numbers of our fellow citizens think this is all okay, and even good.

“And now the Marines are no longer on the halls of Montezuma or the shores of Tripoli, but right here at home, ready to kill other Americans because their commander-in-chief can get away with ordering them to do so.

“I am truly sorry that I have lived long enough to see this country so utterly disgraced.”

One former Marine, who had done four years as an enlisted man, including a tour in Vietnam, gotten out, gone to college, and then returned as an officer, eventually retiring as a major, replied, “I think we’re witnessing a sad chapter in the history of the Corps. I wonder what the ribbon for the L.A. Campaign will look like.”

Another Marine veteran wrote, “Let’s hope it doesn’t come down to a Kent State scenario. And of course, the next step is declaring martial law. Then what? This couldn’t be more serious. It all makes me sad and sick.”

Two men who had been lieutenants in my battalion in Vietnam back in 1967, both of whom often see this country and the world very differently than I do, nevertheless responded respectively with: “Outrageous,” and “Completely inappropriate use of Marines. Unacceptable.”

Still another Marine and Vietnam War veteran wrote, “I’m with you, Bill. How much worse can it get? The insanity is coming too fast and furious for me to keep up with it. I’m appalled and frustrated.”

An army veteran of the Vietnam War wrote, “The fucked-upness escalates,” while another sent an article from The Shovel, Australia’s version of the satirical The Onion with the headline: “Australia to Send Troops to Support America’s Invasion of America.”

A third army veteran of the Vietnam War wrote, “It is the beginning of a slow political/military coup d’etat.” He did opine, however, that the worst might be avoided if “rank and file troops start to refuse orders to deploy, and junior officers and NCOs stand aside.”

A retired Dayton, Ohio, police officer also raised the possibility of resistance/rebellion/refusal within the military itself, writing, “Yes, the Conman-in-Chief is violating the Posse Comitatus Act, but I’m sure he will declare it an emergency. I wish the Marine generals would tell the troops to stand down.”

Echoing that thought, a university professor from Texas wondered, “How can the Commandant of the Marines respond and act upon an illegal order by the POTUS and have US Marines violate US federal law?”

Still another friend wrote about the battalion of Marines deployed to LA, “It’s my grandson’s unit from Twenty-nine Palms. He mustered out last year, so he isn’t involved in this action, but he’s a complete wreck right now. This deployment flies in the face of their oath to defend the Constitution and the American people. I can promise you there are plenty of Marines who are angry and struggling right now, along with all the rest of us.”

Sadly, while this may be true, if those “angry and struggling” young Marines are ordered to make war in the streets of Los Angeles, you can bet they will. What private first class or lance corporal is going to say to his platoon commander or company gunner sergeant, “No, sir, I’m not going to obey your order”?

Moreover, Marine Lieutenant General Walter Gaskin (ret.) interviewed on NPR a few days ago, said that deploying Marines on American soil is “a misuse of talent and forces.” But when asked what these Marines would do if ordered to fight American citizens in the streets of America, he responded, “Same thing that we always do. Ours is not to reason why, but to do or die. And that’s what we are trained to do. And so they have to follow orders.”

So if you’re hoping to be saved from the Philanderer-in-Chief’s militarization of America by a military that refuses to participate in his undemocratic, unconstitutional, illegal usurpation of power, forget it. Ain’t gonna happen.

Meanwhile, the Congress has long since proven itself to be a mostly spineless collection of political hacks who have been kowtowing to the Destroyer-in-Chief for nearly a decade now. And a radically unethical Supreme Court has ruled that the Convicted Felon-in-Chief can’t be held criminally responsible for anything he does as president.

So WTF do we do? Good question, and I wish I had a good answer. Is it possible that enough of “the people” are angry enough about what is happening to our country that they might actually be able to have an impact on the course of events? It seems highly unlikely, but what else can we hope for?

One of my correspondents has been invited to speak at the No Kings rally in Lynchburg, Virginia, on Saturday, and wrote to me, “I’d like to close my remarks by quoting what you’ve written here. May I?” (I said, “Of course.”) Another wrote, “I’d like to quote your email in my own emails. Is that okay with you?” (Again I replied, “Of course.”)

The veteran who described this as a “slow political/military coup d’etat” did also say, “It is pretty dire, but things are not a fait accompli yet. The ball is in the court of the citizen.”

And as these responses show, while the Egotist-in-Chief may have a lot of supporters out there, people one friend of mine has described as “so fucking stupid it would stun even a cynic like you,” there are also tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands and even millions of our fellow citizens who recognize the danger we’re in, not just from the thoroughly inappropriate deployment of Marines or the unnecessary deployment of the National Guard, but from this entire criminal regime of our Thief-in-Chief.

Yet another former Marine and combat veteran concluded, “Just to spite these bastards I am going to keep acting optimistic even when I’m not feeling it . . . just to spite them!”

So as bad as things are, as hopeless as they appear, as powerless as you and I may be, I for one am not going down without a fight.