Yes, There Are Some National Guard Willing To Do The Right Thing

from the patriots dept

As of this moment, the National Guard is indefinitely prevented from deploying within the Chicagoland area. The court order was issued pending the Supreme Court’s decision to rule on the matter. And because this administration is a walking, talking clown show, the information that SCOTUS is getting on the matter is hilariously stratified depending on who they’re talking to.

President Donald Trump‘s administration has told the U.S. Supreme Court he needs to deploy National Guard troops to the Chicago area in part because local police have failed to respond to what the Justice Department described as mob violence by people protesting his aggressive immigration enforcement.

Those law enforcement agencies have given the nine justices a starkly different account of protests they called limited in scale, detailing in court filings how they have responded on specific dates and explaining how a unified command they set up to coordinate efforts dealt effectively with the demonstrations.

In other words, the Trump administration is pleading the court to let it send armed troops into the third largest city in the country to protect the very people who are essentially telling the court, “Meh, we’re fine.”

That won’t stop Trump, obviously, because this was never really about safety in cities or protecting federal agents. This is purely about pushing to see just how much this administration can get away with and, to go tinfoil hat on you for a moment, to begin putting the chess pieces on the right parts of the board come election time. Major city after major city will see the attempted deployment of armed forces. Trump recently stated that he will send “more than the National Guard” if needed. I’ve seen Independence Day. I know how this works.

So, what protects us from whatever Trump’s version of “checkmate” is? Multiple things, to be sure. Popular uprising. Overcoming whatever obstacles he constructs in the midterm elections. Organizational efforts to undermine his lawless activity wherever possible.

And, ultimately, it will take good people in the armed forces refusing unlawful orders.

Two Illinois National Guard members told CBS News they would refuse to obey federal orders to deploy in Chicago as part of President Trump’s controversial immigration enforcement mission — a rare act of open defiance from within the military ranks.

“It’s disheartening to be forced to go against your community members and your neighbors,” said Staff Sgt. Demi Palecek, a Latina guardswoman and state legislative candidate from Illinois’s 13th District. “It feels illegal. This is not what we signed up to do.”

Both Palecek and Capt. Dylan Blaha, who is running for Congress in the same district, described growing unease among Guard members after the White House federalized 500 troops – including members of the Illinois and Texas National Guard – to secure federal immigration facilities and personnel in the Chicago area.

“I signed up to defend the American people and protect the Constitution,” Blaha said. “When we have somebody in power who’s actively dismantling our rights — free speech, due process, freedom of the press — it’s really hard to be a soldier right now.”

Some of this isn’t new. In other cities, we’ve had National Guard members displeased with their use as political pawns in mission-less deployments to patrol peaceful cities. But I’m unaware thus far of any instances of them actually refusing orders. Such a refusal, should the order be ultimately deemed lawful, would be grounds for discharge, imprisonment, and so on. It’s a big freaking deal and would generate a ton of attention.

Which is precisely why it needs to happen.

Asked if she would refuse a direct order to deploy to Chicago, Palecek didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely. I would definitely say no,” she said. “I’m not going to go against my community members, my family and my culture. I believe this is the time to be on the right side of history.”

“Look at 1930s, 1940s Germany,” Blaha said. “There is a point where if you didn’t stand up to the Gestapo, are you just actively one of them now?”

It’s worse than that. Nazi Germany didn’t have social media, cell phone cameras, or the internet by which all of this chaos can be shared in real time. Whatever sins the German people committed by failing to stop Hitler’s party when they could, and they very much did commit those sins, it’s still true that the average German wasn’t nearly as informed as to what the Nazis were doing compared with the access to information that the American people have today. No soldier can claim ignorance. If they participate, they are knowingly complicit, full stop.

The scary part is how unfortunately rare this sort of bravery is in the military. In fact, it seems many in the military are fully embracing Trump’s fascistic tendencies.

Both Blaha and Palecek said they’ve faced retaliation for speaking publicly. Blaha disclosed that his security clearance was suspended by the Defense Department after posting a viral video urging soldiers to disobey unlawful orders. “They twisted my words,” he said. “I have about 30 days in order to provide them with a written response.”

Retribution, Palecek added, is “real.” She’s received death threats since denouncing the deployments and launching her political campaign. “It weighs on you mentally after a while,” she said.

Still, both say silence is not an option. “We were trained to stand up for what we believe in and stand up for the American people,” Blaha said.

And stand up for the Constitution, too.

Look, it must be very difficult to be a good person in the National Guard right now. You just never know when you’re going to be asked to do battle with your fellow Americans. But an oath is an oath and we should all expect, not just hope, our soldiers to behave like patriots.

Filed Under: chicago, illinois, national guard