riyehn @ riyehn @sh.itjust.works

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2 yr. ago

The question is what will convince individual troops and units that their orders are illegal. Disobeying orders isn't something the military takes lightly. In theory a court order should be proof enough, but who knows these days.

Normally yes, but the president has the power to federalize National Guard troops in extraordinary circumstances. That power hasn't been exercised since 1965 though. Until now.

ICE refused to produce a warrant, so this wasn't an arrest, it was an abduction. The folks who were charged for trying to stop it were acting in defense of others and ought to be acquitted.

It doesn't have to be violent, but it has to be direct. You want to "deport" US citizens? You'll need someone to drive the bus full of people to the airport, someone from the airport to open the gate, someone else to fuel the plane, a mechanic to sign off on the plane, two pilots to fly the plane, and at least three separate air traffic controllers just to clear the plane out of US airspace. It just takes one of those people to say no.

It's like the old saying about free speech. I may disagree with the laws you're passing, but I will defend to the death your right to pass your own laws.

I don't know why everyone assumes the use of military force to annex Canada would take the form of a massive conventional invasion. Hybrid warfare approaches like spreading misinformation, covert ops, stirring up local pro-American militias, etc. could do 95% of the work, without the sort of overt violence that generates insurgencies.

It's very possible to defend against hybrid threats, but only if we recognize the threat exists instead of assuming a US invasion would necessarily be a catastrophic strategic blunder.

That would also make it a lot harder for the Canadian government to track whether pro-American annexationists are amassing guns. We can't assume everyone who wants a gun is a Canadian patriot, especially if the US ramps up hybrid warfare techniques to stir up unrest here.

Fucking around with the military is incredibly dangerous for both Trump and the country. This is an administration that (a) openly disregards service members (to the point of sending them into battle after publishing the war plans), and (b) directly disobeys court orders.

That's a pretty volatile combination. Soldiers are required to refuse illegal orders. What happens when Trump gives orders that clearly violate a direct court order? Will the entire military really make the same decision to comply or refuse? What happens when individual units come to different conclusions?

It may just be about dress codes for now, but Trump's way of governing, when applied to the military, is a recipe for actual civil war.

Trump is already trying to extend anti-diversity mandates to French companies that supply the US government, and at some point soon it's going to hit Canadian companies. There's a very real chance that in certain cases, complying with his demands would violate Canadian human rights laws.

It's time for companies to start picking sides - will you comply with the laws of the country you're in, or will you voluntarily let Canada become the 51st state?

You see, their wives are the good ones.

This kind of thinking happens all over MAGAland. People with undocumented spouses proudly voted for Trump because "he's going to deport the illegals", then they're shocked when ICE shows up at their door. Their minds were so quick to interpret "illegals" as "others I don't like" that they literally didn't even realize their own spouses would be targeted.

This is the power of misinformation combined with cultivated hate.

True, but so is invading someone's home.

Which just means mass protests aren't big enough. It'll take a while, but eventually they'll realize that with enough mass mobilization missing work and going into debt become irrelevant.

Unlike a lot of other countries where there's been mass mobilization, there's little recent memory of serious government oppression. Americans have generally had it pretty good when it comes to civil liberties over the last half century or so. They assume they can trust institutions like the courts to do the work of protecting democracy. So most people don't realize how much worse things will get if they don't actively resist now.