As the election approaches, more and more ominous evidence is quickly piling up that the U.S. military’s nearly 250-year separation from national politics is eroding. Frightening signs indicate that senior members of the military are open to an anti-Trump coup d’etat. If such a coup happens, Democrats will gleefully cheer it on.
Revolver wants make clear that this article is not based on any inside information. Nobody on the Joint Chiefs of Staff is passing on warnings about what the military is planning. Instead, this article is based on a reading of public statements and events, which are already worrisome enough.
The first red flag is buried in Bob Woodward’s latest book on the Trump Administration, Rage. According to the book, former Defense Secretary James Mattis spent much of his tenure in office plotting to undermine the elected leader who appointed him.
The book documents private grumblings, periods of exasperation and wrestling about whether to quit among the so-called adults of the Trump orbit: Mattis, [then Director of National Intelligence Dan] Coats and then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Mattis quietly went to Washington National Cathedral to pray about his concern for the nation’s fate under Trump’s command and, according to Woodward, told Coats, “There may come a time when we have to take collective action” since Trump is “dangerous. He’s unfit.” [Washington Post]
The Post glances over this incident quickly, treating it as just one more example of a disgruntled senior Trump official. But it is far more than that. This is the top defense official in the United States, himself a former general, discussing “collective action” against the president with a top intelligence official. “Collective action” could take many forms, perhaps a concerted effort to invoke the 25th Amendment and have the president declared incapacitated and removed. This would be a coup, and it would be motivated not by Trump’s incapacity, which is justa fig leaf, but by political disagreements.
Later, when the President had rioters cleared from Lafayette Square after several days of violence and destruction, Mattis suggested the president’s decision was illegal.
When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens—much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside. [The Atlantic]
Dispersing violent rioters who have already nearly burned down a church is not “violating the Constitutional rights of fellow citizens.” Make no mistake, Mattis knows exactly what he is suggesting. When soldiers are given an illegal order, they must refuse. Mattis is laying the groundwork for soldiers and generals to refuse the president’s orders. From there, it is a very small step to simply removing the president entirely.
Mattis is now a private citizen. But there are worrying signs the current military brass, the commanders, are steeling themselves to intervene in civilian politics. On June 2, after the worst week of rioting in America since the MLK assassination riots, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley issued a public memo that served as a public warning to the president.
“As members of the Joint Force…you embody the ideals of our Constitution,” Milley wrote. “Please remind all of our troops and leaders that we will uphold the values of our nation, and operate consistent with national laws and our own high standards of conduct at all times.”
Remember the context. President Trump had just publicly floated the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act to suppress rioting in cities where local mayors were unable, or unwilling, to protect ordinary citizens. Press outlets like CNN suggested that this law, which has been used in many cases exactly like this summer’s riots, would be illegal for President Trump to use. In the middle of that crisis, Milley’s rhetoric about the Constitution and “the right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly” was, in essence, a repetition of the press’s propaganda that that deadly riots across the country were “mostly peaceful protests.”
In this context, Milley’s vow to “uphold the values of our nation” takes on a darker tone. It sounds less like a promise and more like a warning that if Trump invokes the Insurrection Act against rioters, the military will defy him.
Milley should have been removed from command for his memo. But of course, President Trump is not remotely the authoritarian that perhaps he should be. Milley remains in office, ready to defy the president whenever he feels like it.
Democrats and their allies are counting on commanders like Milley to swing into action if necessary. In June, Joe Biden himself explicitly floated the idea that the military will help remove Trump from power.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden sounded an alarm Wednesday about GOP moves to limit voting access, saying his “single greatest concern” is that President Donald Trump will “try to steal this election.” But, the former vice president said, he is “absolutely convinced” the military would escort Trump from the White House if he loses the election but refuses to leave office.
Asked by Trevor Noah on “The Daily Show” if he’s ever considered what would happen if Trump would not leave the White House if he loses, Biden responded, “Yes, I have.”
…
Still, Biden said Wednesday, he believes if Trump has lost the election, military leaders would not allow him to refuse to leave office.
Saying he was “so damn proud” of the military leaders who have recently criticized Trump, Biden continued, “you have so many rank and file military personnel saying, well, we’re not a military state, this is not who we are. I promise you, I’m absolutely convinced, they will escort him from the White House in a dispatch.” [CNN]
Not to be outdone, former Democrat presidential candidate Al Gore chimed in.
If Trump lost the election but refused to accept the results, Gore said he believes the military would intervene. He noted that under the parameters of the Constitution, Trump’s last day in office is Jan. 20, 2021.
“It’s important to say that it’s really not up to him. I hear people saying, ‘Well, would he accept that decision?’ Well, it doesn’t matter because it’s not up to him,” he said. “Because at noon on January 20th, if a new president is elected… the police force, the Secret Service, the military, all of the executive branch officers, will respond to the command and the direction of the new president.” [Fox News]
Biden and Gore envision a scenario where Trump clearly loses the 2020 election and then throws a temper tantrum and refuses to leave the White House. Such a scenario is an absurdity. It is far more plausible that the 2020 election will be hotly contested, and Democratic leaders will simply declare victory, and then turn to the press and big tech to endorse their claims. Then, they will turn to the military to enforce what they have decided. It is also possible that, in a contested election, Democrats will order their “peaceful protesters” to invade and menace the capital. If President Trump orders the use of force to maintain order, the establishment will seize upon this as an excuse for the military to revolt against him.
The press is obediently doing its part to lay the groundwork for a military coup as well. The Atlantic story accusing President Trump of disrespecting U.S. soldiers isn’t just a standard election-time hitpiece. It serves the double purpose of trying specifically to alienate Trump from the military rank and file. The very same press which had no problem undermining the military in every way imaginable during wars like Vietnam and Iraq, is now filled with outraged articles about the president’s “attacks” on the military and defense contractors.
The president has responded perfectly. He pointed out the real reason he has enemies in the military establishment.
President Trump: "I'm not saying the military's in love with me. The soldiers are. The top people in the Pentagon probably aren't because they want to do nothing but fight wars so all of those companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy.” pic.twitter.com/XhxKV9lMku
— TV News HQ (@TVNewsHQ) September 7, 2020
The Democrats and their establishment allies in the media and military-industrial complex will do everything in their power to ensure that the American people will never be able to meddle in their own elections again.
The evil forces that control much of the United States will rule out nothing in their desperate quest to hold onto power—not even the military option. That current and former high ranking military brass such as Mattis are willing to entertain such talk, even indirectly and with plausible deniability, should alarm anybody who cares about the future of the American republic.
Just as Americans had to learn the hard way that corporate America has become fully corrupt with woke ideology, so must we now confront the difficult reality that the same disease has thoroughly infiltrated institutions that Americans traditionally thought of as “patriotic” and “conservative.” This includes the police forces, the FBI, and even the Military — and goes all the way to the top.
This of course does not mean that everyone in law enforcement or the military is an agent of the corrupt ruling class — far from it. Many, and probably most who serve in these institutions — especially rank and file — are some of the best Americans we have. It is precisely due to the natural orientation of the military toward patriotism that the ruling class has dedicated so much energy to subvert this institution. At the highest levels, they have unfortunately been successful.
We must acknowledge the difficult reality that every single institution in the country, including much of the upper military brass, has come under the control of forces that are utterly hostile to the interests of the American people. It is only on the basis of this sober, clear-eyed understanding that we will be able to stop these would-be usurpers from stealing the election in 2020 — and, with the election secured, go about the long, challenging, and ultimately triumphant process of taking back our country for good.
Story cited here.
