Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.
You have Successfully Subscribed!
Given the results of the election in November and a look at the list of suck-ups and house pets Trump wants to serve in his Cabinet, you can guess the answer without too much mental strain.
The short answer is: look who the voters of this country, in all of their alleged collective wisdom, elected as the president of the United States. The even shorter answer is, you bet your fucking ass it could happen here with Hitler’s illegitimate son in the White House.
Donald Trump started rattling what could have been our chains since he first took office in 2017. He struts around fluffing his feathers all proud that he didn’t get us involved in a foreign war in his first term, but he came this close to loosing the 82nd Airborne Division on George Floyd protests in 2022, stymied only by a united front at the Pentagon, both military and civilian, who threw down a gauntlet in formalized letters to the troops and messages to each other that the U.S. military would not be engaged in politics. Gen. Mark Milley was the ringleader of this quiet protest, but Secretary of Defense Mark Esper made his feeling clearly enough known that Trump fired him and replaced him with a lapdog and then appointed Kash Patel as his chief of staff to keep an eye on him.
Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1792 during the Floyd protests, and that dastardly law passed by an ancient Congress has been mentioned by an increasingly large collection of his puppets since he was elected last month. The Insurrection Act contains this gem of a paragraph which seemingly gives a president an open-ended ability to do whatever the fuck he wants with our active duty soldiers any time he wants to:
“Whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, he may call into Federal service such of the militia of any State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to enforce those laws or to suppress the rebellion.”
The succeeding paragraph is equally scary:
“The President, by using the militia or the armed forces, or both, or by any other means, shall take such measures as he considers necessary to suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy.”
It’s followed by two subparagraphs that talk in a rather unfocused way about using the powers of the militia or the armed forces if “the execution of the law” is hindered, or “the course of justice” is “impeded,” or the “equal protection of the law” is obstructed.
You take Donald Trump and put him in the Oval Office with Kash Patel and Pam Bondi and Pete Hegseth, or in the event he isn’t confirmed, the equally disgustingly fascist Ron DeSantis, and you tell me that rotting meatball of a brain trust wouldn’t endorse any justification Trump came up with as an excuse to put armed soldiers on the streets if so much as a single brown-skinned shoplifter stole a stick of deodorant from a Target store in Sheboygan.
The Insurrection Act does not, as South Korea’s declaration of martial law did, suspend the Constitution, impose limits on the press or threaten punishment for publishing “fake news,” dismiss the legislature, ban strikes by unions and public gatherings, or ban “political activities.” But see if this doesn’t sound familiar, if not likely, to come from the lips of a certain makeup-caked burger-chomper: The South Korean president cited the “destabilizing force” of a foreign nation with which South Korea shares a border and the possibility of that country causing South Korea to “fall to ruin” under pressures brought to bear by “anti-state forces” within South Korea.
Haven’t we heard the phrase “enemies within” about eleventy-thousand times over the last year? How about “enemies of the people,” identified as members of the dastardly media? Stephen Miller has been calling undocumented immigrants “invaders” for eight years.
A poorly written and ill-defined law, passed in contemplation of being enforced more than two centuries ago, can be made to mean whatever the fuck Trump wants it to mean when he is surrounded by lackeys and “yes sir” men and women, backed up by a Supreme Court that seemingly didn’t even need a hearing to issue its lockstep allee-allee-in-come-free ruling removing Donald Trump of the constraints of the rule of law that have been in force since the signing of the Constitution.
The point I’m making is this: You can use the words Insurrection Act or martial law, it’s the same thing when you put the words “Donald Trump” in the same sentence with either.
In South Korea, the reaction to the imposition of martial law was immediate. Thousands took to the streets. Legislators climbed barricades to get into their capitol to cast a unanimous vote lifting the executive order of martial law. The defiance of the people and lawmakers alike was absolute, total, without question.
Raise your hand if you can see Marjorie Taylor Greene and Mitch McConnell and Jim Jordan and Mike Johnson and the rest of them breaking into the nation’s Capitol to do anything other than vote to add a crown and scepter to the trappings of the Trump presidency. Take one step forward if you think that the governors of Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, Idaho or any other red state will be on the phone to the White House telling Trump to get his troops off their states’ soil.
Donald Trump and every one of his MAGA mouthpieces have already referred repeatedly to immigrants coming across the southern border as an “invasion.” The first paragraph of the Insurrection Act spells out the right of any governor to request the president to order active-duty troops into his or her state to “suppress insurrection” within its borders. You tell me how Republican governors are likely to define what is an “insurrection” in their states. Gregg Abbott might drive past a Home Depot and eyeball a clutch of Latino laborers looking for work as “insurrectionists” and pick up his cell phone and call Trump and ask him to turn out the troops to help him suppress it.
Given the results of the election in November and a look at the list of suck-ups and house pets Trump wants to serve in his Cabinet, the short answer, the long answer, every answer is, we are so fucked.
Lucian K. Truscott IV
Lucian K. Truscott IV, a graduate of West Point, has had a 50-year career as a journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He has covered stories such as Watergate, the Stonewall riots and wars in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is also the author of five bestselling novels and several unsuccessful motion pictures. He has three children, lives in rural Pennsylvania and spends his time Worrying About the State of Our Nation and madly scribbling in a so-far fruitless attempt to Make Things Better.
You can read Lucian Truscott's daily articles at luciantruscott.substack.com. We encourage our readers to get a subscription.
{"id":null,"mode":"form","open_style":"in_place","currency_code":"USD","currency_symbol":"$","currency_type":"decimal","blank_flag_url":"https:\/\/factkeepers.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/blank.gif","flag_sprite_url":"https:\/\/factkeepers.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/flags.png","default_amount":500,"top_media_type":"none","featured_image_url":false,"featured_embed":"","header_media":null,"file_download_attachment_data":null,"recurring_options_enabled":true,"recurring_options":{"never":{"selected":true,"after_output":"One time only"},"weekly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every week"},"monthly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every month"},"yearly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every year"}},"strings":{"current_user_email":"","current_user_name":"","link_text":"Leave a tip","complete_payment_button_error_text":"Check info and try again","payment_verb":"Pay","payment_request_label":"Factkeepers.com","form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","general_server_error":"Something isn't working right at the moment. Please try again.","form_title":"Help Support Factkeepers","form_subtitle":null,"currency_search_text":"Country or Currency here","other_payment_option":"Other payment option","manage_payments_button_text":"Manage your payments","thank_you_message":"Thank you for being a supporter!","payment_confirmation_title":"Factkeepers.com","receipt_title":"Your Receipt","print_receipt":"Print Receipt","email_receipt":"Email Receipt","email_receipt_sending":"Sending receipt...","email_receipt_success":"Email receipt successfully sent","email_receipt_failed":"Email receipt failed to send. Please try again.","receipt_payee":"Paid to","receipt_statement_descriptor":"This will show up on your statement as","receipt_date":"Date","receipt_transaction_id":"Transaction ID","receipt_transaction_amount":"Amount","refund_payer":"Refund from","login":"Log in to manage your payments","manage_payments":"Manage Payments","transactions_title":"Your Transactions","transaction_title":"Transaction Receipt","transaction_period":"Plan Period","arrangements_title":"Your Plans","arrangement_title":"Manage Plan","arrangement_details":"Plan Details","arrangement_id_title":"Plan ID","arrangement_payment_method_title":"Payment Method","arrangement_amount_title":"Plan Amount","arrangement_renewal_title":"Next renewal date","arrangement_action_cancel":"Cancel Plan","arrangement_action_cant_cancel":"Cancelling is currently not available.","arrangement_action_cancel_double":"Are you sure you'd like to cancel?","arrangement_cancelling":"Cancelling Plan...","arrangement_cancelled":"Plan Cancelled","arrangement_failed_to_cancel":"Failed to cancel plan","back_to_plans":"\u2190 Back to Plans","update_payment_method_verb":"Update","sca_auth_description":"Your have a pending renewal payment which requires authorization.","sca_auth_verb":"Authorize renewal payment","sca_authing_verb":"Authorizing payment","sca_authed_verb":"Payment successfully authorized!","sca_auth_failed":"Unable to authorize! Please try again.","login_button_text":"Log in","login_form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","uppercase_search":"Search","lowercase_search":"search","uppercase_page":"Page","lowercase_page":"page","uppercase_items":"Items","lowercase_items":"items","uppercase_per":"Per","lowercase_per":"per","uppercase_of":"Of","lowercase_of":"of","back":"Back to plans","zip_code_placeholder":"Zip\/Postal Code","download_file_button_text":"Download File","input_field_instructions":{"tip_amount":{"placeholder_text":"How much would you like to donate? You can change this amount to anything you would like.","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How much would you like to donate? You can change this amount to anything you would like."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How much would you like to donate? You can change this amount to anything you would like."},"invalid_curency":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How much would you like to donate? You can change this amount to anything you would like."}},"recurring":{"placeholder_text":"Recurring","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How often would you like to donate this?"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"How often would you like to donate this?"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How often would you like to donate this?"}},"name":{"placeholder_text":"Name on Credit Card","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please enter the name on your card."}},"privacy_policy":{"terms_title":"Terms and conditions","terms_body":null,"terms_show_text":"View Terms","terms_hide_text":"Hide Terms","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."},"unchecked":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please agree to the terms."},"checked":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."}},"email":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"not_an_email_address":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Make sure you have entered a valid email address"}},"note_with_tip":{"placeholder_text":"Your note here...","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"not_empty_initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"saving":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Saving note..."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Note successfully saved!"},"error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to save note note at this time. Please try again."}},"email_for_login_code":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."}},"login_code":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."}},"stripe_all_in_one":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"success":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"invalid_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is not a valid credit card number."},"invalid_expiry_month":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration month is invalid."},"invalid_expiry_year":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is invalid."},"invalid_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is invalid."},"incorrect_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incorrect."},"incomplete_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incomplete."},"incomplete_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incomplete."},"incomplete_expiry":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration date is incomplete."},"incomplete_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code is incomplete."},"expired_card":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card has expired."},"incorrect_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incorrect."},"incorrect_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code failed validation."},"invalid_expiry_year_past":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is in the past"},"card_declined":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card was declined."},"missing":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"There is no card on a customer that is being charged."},"processing_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"An error occurred while processing the card."},"invalid_request_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to process this payment, please try again or use alternative method."},"invalid_sofort_country":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The billing country is not accepted by SOFORT. Please try another country."}}}},"fetched_oembed_html":false}
