It’d have to go all the way down the chain of command without someone saying “with all due respect, you’re a fucking idiot and we don’t want to be war criminals” so there are some extra checks and balances at play, and I’m sure Trump as heard that personally more than once
Let me paint a picture that, I think is plausible within the law. Trump directly orders an assassination. With it comes a carrot (a general immunity for the killing). And the stick (a court marshall for disobeying a direct order from your superior, plus your name on a hit list).
Then, he just has to go down the line with the same offer until someone bites. Once that happens, he will order them to go down the hit list with the same offer. Hell, he could deputise a militia to do the dirty.
Not saying he would, I’m just pointing out the outer bounds of what is perfectly legal. And if the Republicans have a clean sweep nothing can or will stop him. Even without a clean sweep, he could threaten the life of any politician.
Maybe, the chain of command and lawful orders really only work if the participants are willing and there are repercussions. A MAGA general will know who his MAGA Colonels are and so on down the line. Could it be scaled to the entire military, maybe, no one has tried. But could a General, a handful of officers and 20 or so troops be selected as superior MAGA soldiers reporting directly to the president and his appointed chief of staff? I don’t think that’s improbable at all.
I hate generalizing but the military is chock full of reasonable nerds. People who want a GI bill to further themselves join and get filled with “if you see something say something”, and people who want action go on to become cops and attend “everyone will murder you if you don’t murder them first” boot camps. If Trump wants hit squads he’d be barking up the wrong tree
You’re right, there are a lot of very liberal people in the ranks. There’s no disputing that. I’m just saying there are plenty of MAGAs around too, more than enough to cause havoc. And if shit starts going south, the GI bill nerds with degrees will head for the door because they have the qualifications to do so. They can stand up for the constitution because they will land on their feet after they get kicked out.
Generalizing myself here, the more conservative a troop is, the more likely the military is all they know. The promise of being special and fighting for the America they believe Trump will give them is more than enough to push some of them over the edge.
It’d have to go all the way down the chain of command without someone saying “with all due respect, you’re a fucking idiot and we don’t want to be war criminals” so there are some extra checks and balances at play, and I’m sure Trump as heard that personally more than once
Let me paint a picture that, I think is plausible within the law. Trump directly orders an assassination. With it comes a carrot (a general immunity for the killing). And the stick (a court marshall for disobeying a direct order from your superior, plus your name on a hit list). Then, he just has to go down the line with the same offer until someone bites. Once that happens, he will order them to go down the hit list with the same offer. Hell, he could deputise a militia to do the dirty. Not saying he would, I’m just pointing out the outer bounds of what is perfectly legal. And if the Republicans have a clean sweep nothing can or will stop him. Even without a clean sweep, he could threaten the life of any politician.
Maybe, the chain of command and lawful orders really only work if the participants are willing and there are repercussions. A MAGA general will know who his MAGA Colonels are and so on down the line. Could it be scaled to the entire military, maybe, no one has tried. But could a General, a handful of officers and 20 or so troops be selected as superior MAGA soldiers reporting directly to the president and his appointed chief of staff? I don’t think that’s improbable at all.
I hate generalizing but the military is chock full of reasonable nerds. People who want a GI bill to further themselves join and get filled with “if you see something say something”, and people who want action go on to become cops and attend “everyone will murder you if you don’t murder them first” boot camps. If Trump wants hit squads he’d be barking up the wrong tree
You’re right, there are a lot of very liberal people in the ranks. There’s no disputing that. I’m just saying there are plenty of MAGAs around too, more than enough to cause havoc. And if shit starts going south, the GI bill nerds with degrees will head for the door because they have the qualifications to do so. They can stand up for the constitution because they will land on their feet after they get kicked out.
Generalizing myself here, the more conservative a troop is, the more likely the military is all they know. The promise of being special and fighting for the America they believe Trump will give them is more than enough to push some of them over the edge.