THIS PRESIDENT IS UNFIT FOR DUTY

“TRUMP DOES NOT WANT TO EXECUTE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, WHITE HOUSE SAYS” Really? That’s not what the president implied. Read his social posts. If you can stand to. Democratic lawmakers, veterans who swore an oath to the Constitution, released a video reminding military and intelligence officers that they must refuse illegal orders. But this statement of reality was enough to send DJT into one of his unhinged rants. Restating the law is not sedition. As Fox News legal analyst Andy McCarthy promptly wrote: “There is no insurrection or sedition without the use of force. Disobeying a lawful order is insubordination, not insurrection or sedition. Disobeying an unlawful order is required. That is all.” Professor of the early American republic Joanne Freeman wrote that she was “[n]ot going to repost DJT’s howling threats against Democratic lawmakers. I’ll just say: 1. We still have free speech here. 2. People can still oppose the president. 3. No—George Washington wouldn’t have hanged the lawmakers because HE WAS VERY CAREFUL TO STAY STRICTLY WITHIN THE BOUNDS OF HIS OFFICE AS PRESIDENT. He didn’t want to be a king or dictator. Plus, he was in his right mind.” And why the lawmaker concern over our military being involved in questionable actions? Maybe because of reporting that the senior JAG at US Southern Command in Miami, the command that oversees the US strikes on the small boats near Venezuela, expressed concern that the 82 deaths from the strikes were extrajudicial killings. And if so, they would expose service members participating in the operations to legal repercussions. Apparently in normal times the opinion of a command’s top JAG on the legality of a military operation would determine whether the operation went forward. It is possible for higher officials to overrule their findings, but their concerns are typically addressed before the operation begins. In this case, though, officials at the Office of Legal Counsel in the DOJ and other senior government officials overruled him. Who were the ‘other senior government officials’? These officials may be secure in their belief that there will be no future repercussions to them for decisions made that turn out to be illegal. But our military should not be required to participate in actions that would expose them to potential crimes. Like murder. And that’s what these Dem members of Congress were reminding them. Reminding them their oath was to the Constitution. Not to a president. That actions they know to be wrong could be refused. The real issue is that we should not have leaders that expect our military will do whatever they’re told, regardless. And we absolutely should never have a president promoting violence against lawmakers simply doing their jobs under the Constitution. But we crossed that particular bridge with this president more than once. The question today is will military veterans in the GOP Congress stand up for our service members too? Or is the band of brothers thing just for the movies? Would you commit murder just because a president tells you to?