the Rubicon and the Pentagon finally stepped in. Or should we say,the Pentagon legal Beagles did.

Everyone else best Lawyer Up right quick.

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Apologies from all of those who labeled the military as bullies, thugs and trained killers?

They were 100% positive the troops would obey any order, even to fire on the crowds with live ammunition.


I probably shouldn't hold my breath.

you apologies are horrible.

Poor, poor thing.

You misunderstand me, I am not asking anyone to apologize to me. I have not been offended.

I have been taught however that if you slander someone or even speak falsely in error you should apologize. At the very least a person should retract a falsehood and acknowledge their error, would you agree that is the right thing to do?

I am merely pointing out that there were many condemning the military for going along and that there was nothing they would not do if ordered. My faith was with the military and that their ultimate loyalty is to the Constitution, not the administration.

My faith has been justified.

So we’ll never really (and I hope, never have to) know how it would have played out.

and the memo from General Miley is as close to a coup as you will ever, or should ever, see in this country.

I have no doubt the troops were ordered to return to base. That is as it should be, the military should not make unilateral moves.

The reason the order was given, I believe, is because Trump was told there is a line the troops will not cross. They are ultimately loyal to the country and Constitution. The President may be CinC but if he gives an order not supported by the Constitution, the reply will be "No sir, we will not do that."

The troops are staying so they can potentially be used against American citizens.

It had appeared that maybe a cabinet member was actually growing a pair.

I still maintain my faith in the rank and file. There are orders they must obey, even if they would prefer not to, because the order is legal.

There is a line, however, that must not be crossed. That exact point is difficult to determine because it depends on the situation.

Example- 'patrol Federal property and apprehend trespassers', clearly legal.

'Drive the streets of DC and shoot anyone out after curfew', clearly illegal.

'The President is invoking the Insurrection Act and troops will be used to restore order', very situational- what is the disturbance justifying the order? Has civilian authority requested or approved the deployment? What are the rules regarding use of force? Are the troops expected to enforce the law or will arrest be made under the supervision of civil law enforcement?

I could list a dozen more questions. To active duty military these are not just food for thought. They want to be assigned a clear mission with set parameters as it is very easy to run afoul of the Constitution and UCMJ.

And just to be clear, I am not claiming each and every member of the military takes this to heart, reads the Constitution daily and sleeps with a copy of the oath under their pillow. As the saying goes, there is always the 10%. It is a reminder that you can never screen out every bad person. It is the duty of the 90% to keep the 10% in line.

possible for the 90% to control the 10%.

And the ones in charge appear to be trump toadies.

So it is reasonable to be very frightened about what this could turn into and furious that they have been brought anywhere near US citizens in an adversarial capacity.

It can be difficult, especially when the 10% is in leadership. I was on duty while Cheney was SecDef.

It is also very concerning the we have almost twice as many troops active against US citizens than we do in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

30k+ National Guard have been activated for civil disturbances vs. approx 17k troops in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Add to that 200-500 active duty troops in DC and 40k National Guard active due to Covid, we have over 4 times the number of troops working/ patrolling the US than the Middle East. 31 states have activated members of their National Guard. Just prior to the Civil War there were 33 states.

Yes I have faith in the members of the armed forces, but I do not sleep well.

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the only reason they are going back to base is because of the huge uproar this caused including the resignation of the under secretary. It was a trial balloon . I am not convinced they would not have done so had they been ordered. It happened several times in our history before.

The Constitution is before Dumps sorry ass.

They should not have been deployed. Military officials should not have marched to cathedral with tRump. Black Hawk helicopters should not have been circling DC.

made daily by hundreds of millions of people: acts of assent, acts of indifference, acts of dissent, sarcastic quips, slight public hesitations, spittle-laced rage, small gestures of kindness ...

Well, to be honest...I'd NEVER want to be around Bunker Baby, but you get my drift!!

If I hadn't called off those troopes and sent them home we would have had thousands dead in the streets." Expect something similar.

I got a nice belly laugh out of this until it occurred to me: what about all of the other forces trump called out -- the DEA/ATF/etc, the federal prison guards, and Erik Prince's lovely gang? Are they all leaving too?

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Since Barr is the one coordinating them, sounds like they might be sticking around for a while. Great.

Guessing the military quickly withdrawing their troops is why. Trump wants his "strong" (i.e., fascistic) show to continue.

And FL's corrupt idiotic counterpart, Gov. Desantis, is proud to help protect our capital.

Okay! Another 2-fer dumbfuck mistake.