The New York Times recently published an article Are We Losing Our Democracy? where they looked at various signs of dictatorship or autocracy and whether we had crossed that line. (I also provided the text in a Facebook post for those without NY Times access). I am going to look at each segment in turn and provide my own thoughts.
#4 Using The Military For Domestic Control
Even democracies occasionally use their militaries on home
soil. The military can keep order and protect citizens after a devastating
storm. In extreme and rare circumstances, troops can enforce the law when local
authorities refuse to do so, as happened in the segregated South in the 1950s
and 1960s.
Authoritarians use the military much more frequently and
performatively — to suppress dissent, instill fear and convey supreme power.
Mr. Trump deployed the
National Guard in Los Angeles to crack down on protests, despite local
officials’ insistence that they had the situation under control. He attempted
the same in Portland, Ore., and Chicago, before being restrained by
federal courts. He has also begun to treat the military as an extension of
himself, firing several
high-ranking officials without good reason and summoning hundreds
of leaders to Virginia to listen to overtly political speeches by him and his
appointees.
In addition to the points that the New York Times made, I would add that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has, under Trump, become a quasi military/national police with branches of the military and National Guard working with ICE, blurring the supposed bright line between the military and law enforcement. Army and National Guard units have been stationed at the southern border since Day One, engaged in border security.
Trump has stated that he envisions using our cities as training grounds for the military. The repeated use of the military to support ICE, and the more dangerous use in supposed law enforcement or crime fighting roles is not only illegal and unjustified, but is a clear effort to intimidate opposition office holders as well as any citizen protesters.
Trump, via his Secretary of Defense, has purged the top ranks of generals and admirals deemed insufficiently loyal. He has purged the Judge Advocates General divisions of their most experienced legal officers. He has threatened to use the military against Venezuela and Nigeria. He has ordered the Navy to conduct extralegal executions of alleged drug smugglers—arguably illegal orders. The specter of illegally ordered operations motivated six members of Congress, mostly veterans, to remind service members to refuse to obey illegal orders. In response the Secretary of Defense is considering recalling Senator Mark Kelley, a retired Navy Captain, and court martialing him. The FBI is reportedly "investigating" the other five.
Trump is turning the military into his personal enforcement militia—ridding it of anyone who would stand up to him.
Part I - Stifling Dissent and Free Speech
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