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Trump Is Following in the Footsteps of the Worst Traitor in US History

It makes perfect sense that the current chief betrayer of the ideals of our nation would brag to a group of American soldiers that heÆs going to rename
a military base after Robert E. Lee.

Robert E. Lee killed more Americans than Hitler. More than Khruschev. More
than King George III, Ho Chi Mihn, or Kim Il Sung. He killed more Americans than weÆve lost in every war since the American Revolution, combined. He
was the largest mass murderer of Americans in our nationÆs history.

General Lee was not a good man: He was a morbidly rich oligarch who not
only bought and sold enslaved human beings but delighted in whipping and torturing them.

Three of the 200-plus enslaved people he held at his plantationùWesley
Norris, his sister Mary, and their cousin George Parksùescaped and were captured in nearby Maryland. The report in the March 26, 1866 edition of
The New York Daily Tribune, quoting Wesley Norris at length, tells us all
about LeeÆs proclivities:

He then ordered us to the barn, where, in his presence, we were tied
firmly to posts by a Mr. Gwin, our overseer, who was ordered by Gen. Lee to strip us to the waist and give us 50 lashes each, excepting my sister, who received but 20; à

Gen. Lee, in the meantime, stood by, and frequently enjoined Williams
to ôlay it on well,ö an injunction which he did not fail to heed; not
satisfied with simply lacerating our naked flesh, Gen. Lee then ordered the overseer to thoroughly wash our backs with [excruciatingly painful
saltwater] brine, which was done.

Fearing President Abraham Lincoln might end slavery in America, Lee raised
an army and tried to use it to end democracy in the United States; he thus committed treason in a way that exceeded even Benedict ArnoldÆs wildest fantasies. His war killed almost 750,000 men, women, and children, all Americans.

No American has ever betrayed or visited as much violence on this country
as severely as did Robert E. Lee.

And so, when Lee lost the war that heÆd started against us, the federal government seized his slave plantation and turned it into a cemetery for
the Civil War dead. ItÆs today named Arlington National Cemetery.

So, perhaps it makes perfect sense that the current chief betrayer of the ideals of our nation, convicted felon and Putin toady Donald Trump, would
brag to a group of American soldiers that heÆs going to rename a military
base after Robert E. Lee.

Even more shocking, in whatÆs an astonishing indictment of how our
educational system has deemphasized civics in the years since Presidents
Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush both took an axe to civics education, the assembled soldiers cheered the news that LeeÆs name would again desecrate a military facility.

Trump then went on to repeatedly lie to our soldiers, falsely claiming
that:

He won the 2020 election, which he told them was ôrigged and stolen;ö
He sent the National Guard into Minnesota ôand I saved itö during the George Floyd protests, when in fact it was Gov. Tim Walz who did so;
He defeated ISIS ôin four weeksö; it took two years to liberate the
ISIS caliphate;
ôNobody wanted to joinö the military under former President Joe Biden,
a blatant lie;
Countries like ôCongoö dumped their prisoners and people from their
mental hospitals here, saying, ôTheir countries would bus them or drive
them right to our border and say, æGo in there. If you ever come back,
weÆre going to kill you;Æö
HeÆd brought water to LA during the fires when in fact heÆd just
ordered a field flooded in Northern California, screwing up water
allocations for agriculture; and
Echoed Hitler when he called Los Angeles protesters ôanimalsö and ôa foreign enemy.ö

And even more disgusting than that, Trump was nakedly using those soldiers
he was lying to as political props to massage his own ego and provide a made-for-Fox-ôNewsö clip, as Military.com pointed out yesterday:

Internal 82nd Airborne Division communications reviewed by Military.com reveal a tightly orchestrated effort to curate the optics of Trump's recent visit, including handpicking soldiers for the audience based on political leanings and physical appearance. The troops ultimately selected to be
behind Trump and visible to the cameras were almost exclusively male. One unit-level message bluntly said, ôno fat soldiers.ö [emphasis added]

This is the exact opposite of the instructions to keep the military
nonpartisan that President George Washington gave future generations in his farewell address:

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent
despotism.

The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds
of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual;
and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of
his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty.

That the Secretary of Defense, ôKeggerö Pete Hegseth, would not just allow
but intentionally facilitate such an offensive display of partisanship is particularly troubling when compared to the militaryÆs actual policies in Directive 1344.10, put into place years ago to respect WashingtonÆs advice:

In keeping with the traditional concept that members on active duty
should not engage in partisan political activity, and that members not on active duty should avoid inferences that their political activities imply
or appear to imply official sponsorship, approval, or endorsement, the following policy shall apply:à

A member of the Armed Forces on active duty shall not: à

Participate in partisan political fundraising activities, rallies, conventions, management of campaigns, or debates, either on oneÆs own
behalf or on that of another, without respect to uniform or inference or appearance of official sponsorship, approval, or endorsementà

Attend partisan political events as an official representative of the
Armed Forcesà

This is a lawful general regulation. Violations of paragraphs 4.1.
through 4.5. of this Directive by persons subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice are punishable under Article 92, ôFailure to Obey Order or Regulation.ö

When Trump blurs this line designed to keep our military nonpartisan, heÆs imitating the behavior of dictators like Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbßn who cultivate personal loyalty within the military, rather than
respect for constitutional processes.

TrumpÆs and ôKeggerÆsö move is apparently designed to test whether rank- and-file troops will go along with his political agenda and to build a foundation for future actions in which military force can be used
domestically to defend his regime rather than the Constitution (e.g., suppressing protests, enforcing disputed election outcomes, defending the suspension of elections, etc.).

This is deeply dangerous to any democracy, which is why such behavior is
not allowed by the military or executive of any other advanced democracy in
the world. When military loyalty becomes politicized, the risk of coups, unlawful orders, or martial law rises dramatically.

Whichùgiven the fact that TrumpÆs already tried once to stage a coup
against the United Statesùmakes this all the more alarming.

But Trump didnÆt stop there. He next attacked the media filming the event, saying to more applause from the troops:

And for a little news, for the fake news back there, the fake news,
ladies and gentlemen, look at them, look at them, aye yai yai, what I have
to put up with. Fake news. What I have to put up with.

In fascist regimes, the press is always one of their first targets,
typically labeled as ôenemies of the people,ö blamed for national problems,
and ultimately silenced or co-opted. Trump using such rhetoric normalizes contempt for independent journalism among armed agents of the state while
it suggests the possibility of state-aligned force being turned against critical media or dissenters.

Nazi Germany, Mussolini's Italy, PutinÆs Russia, and more recently OrbßnÆs Hungary all followed this script. By repeating it, Trump is conditioning
our soldiers to follow him rather than the Constitution and the law of the land.

He even brought along a vendor of Trump merchandise in violation of
military policy, including MAGA hats, T-shirts, and cards that read, ôWhite Privilege Card: Trumps Everything.ö

Historically, when democracies have slid into dictatorship, thereÆs a
moment when the military is required to choose sides, the press is cast as
a threat, and loyalty to the regime is demanded and rewarded, rather than loyalty to the law.

WeÆre there now. Today.

Every American, particularly those whoÆve served in the military, should be outraged by TrumpÆs fascist performance in front of our troops. That the
only senior active duty military officer who spoke to the press did so anonymously (he said, ôThis has been a bad week for the Army for anyone who cares about us being a neutral institution; this was shameful.ö) is a
damning indictment of how far away from American values weÆve let Trump
drag our country.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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