First The Courts, Then Congress - Now the Generals

[GigiLeigh]

https://open.substack.com/pub/newsfromunderground/p/first-the-courts-then-congress-now

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Recent suggestions from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that nearly 20% of all four-star generals and admirals under the Trump administration will be fired, should not be treated as some isolated reorganizing of the ranks or simple “house cleaning.” It is the latest link in a chain of purges being conducted right before our eyes. Judges who have stalled his goals with injunctions, inspectors general whose job is to uncover misconduct, or a legislative that has been made obsolete by a shit storm of executive orders. Now, the final independent institution with the power to check the President (should he lose his fucking mind any more than he already has)—the military—is being brought to heel.

Four-star generals and admirals are far removed from the everyday rank and file. They shape strategy, doctrine, and provide oversight. They are a critical part of the military’s formation and while most enlisted troops may never meet one, their presence represents institutional greatness and unquestioned leadership.. These general officers understand that civilian control of the military is not about loyalty to the president, it’s a safeguard against a president who thinks loyalty supersedes the law. Removing so many of these officers who swore an oath to the constitution doesn’t just weaken the military’s leadership—it signals to the remaining officers that this independence may cost you your career.

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This isn’t about partisanship or politics. This is about the final institution which keeps our democracy safe, having its leadership railroaded. When the highest ranking members of our armed forces are dismissed, it should set off fucking nuclear sirens. A military stripped of integrity and independence becomes a weapon for a dictator—not a protector.

To those who say, “it can’t happen here,” I ask: What if it already is?

We can’t keep treating this like background noise. We can’t let the media normalize it, or let ourselves scroll past one more purge just because we’re tired. Authoritarianism doesn’t arrive all at once—it creeps in while we’re distracted, discouraged, or just trying to survive.

I don’t want us all to look back one day and realize that the moment we stopped fighting was the moment democracy became just another social media footnote.