Huckabee's
claim to see that Trump gets a third term moves us toward dictatorship. All that stands between that eventuality and third world dictatorship is our nonpartisan military.
The Marine Corps issued guidance this month on why and how its troops and employees can and cannot engage in politics: Active-duty Marines can like or follow a candidate’s social media page or otherwise “express personal views,” for example, but can’t attend campaign events in uniform, engage in partisan fund-raising, display candidates’ yard signs or share their online appeals, or volunteer for their campaigns.
[...]
"Here's the things you can do, here's the things you cannot do, and a reminder of why ... these are the rules," [Gen. David Berger, the commandant of the Marine Corps,] said. "It's not open for interpretation."
The chief of naval operations issued a related message to the fleet this month, telling sailors they "must not give anyone cause to question our fundamental values.”
One of those values is the U.S. military's apolitical character, which has long been central to its identity and has been instilled in both the enlisted ranks and the officer corps — especially since the end of the draft and advent of an all-volunteer force nearly five decades.
[...]
"We have seen several societies and nations in our hemisphere — and throughout history — [that] when the military has lost sight of that there has been problems, especially in democracies," [Charles Allen, a retired Army colonel] said.
In the United States, "there has not been a fear of a military coup or threat to the government" since the Civil War, Allen said.
But multiple current and former leaders see new pressures eroding the military's apolitical tradition.
They cite the increasing temptations that Twitter and other social media sites pose for undermining the Pentagon’s rules on political conduct — now supercharged by the upcoming impeachment of the commander in chief.
Trump’s own actions are adding to the problem, his critics say. They include his recent pardons of three military personnel convicted or charged with war crimes, two of whom he later invited to attend a Florida fundraiser for his reelection campaign.
The Pentagon’s leadership has been “very sensitive" to the challenges it faces "at this moment in history,” said retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Charles Dunlap, the executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security at Duke University School of Law. But he worries that impeachment takes the dangers to a new level, with the potential of embroiling the military in an unusual level of partisanship and possibly sowing confusion in the ranks about who is in charge.
Politico
Now tell me why that should be any different than it was during Nixon's or Cliton's impeachment proceedings.
"We know there is a tendency [for Americans] to go towards news sources that affirm and confirm their own belief," said Allen. "The military is not immune from those types of engagements."
And that's different than the other two. Plus, social media is rank with Russian and alt-right disinformation.
Berger, the Marine commandant, described how the challenge has grown since he came up the ranks: “The instruction I got was, 'These are the bumper stickers you can and can't put on your truck or the sign you can and can't put it on your front yard.' Well, now controlling social media is a whole other animal, right?”
[...]
Lt. Gen. John Broadmeadow, the director of the Marine Corps staff, issued updated guidance to all Marines on Dec. 2.
[...]
"Because an active duty member may not engage in partisan political activity,” it outlines, “the active duty member may not post or make direct links to a political party, partisan political candidate, campaign, group, or cause; such activity is akin to distributing literature on behalf of those entities."
However, troops can express their personal opinions, pen a letter to the editor on a political issue, and even "like" a candidate's web page. But they are expressly prohibited from engaging in advocacy, including attending a campaign rally in uniform — which is why donning "Make America Great Again" hats or displaying campaign paraphernalia on duty is considered verboten.
The fun thing about social media is you don't have to use your real ID.
The guidelines governing political activity apply to all members of the active-duty military. Spokespeople for the Army and Air Force say they have yet to issue any new directives and are waiting for Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s office to update department-wide guidance, which hasn't been revised since 2008, according to Pentagon spokesperson Jessica Maxwell.
Ultimately, defending the military against political pressures is the defense secretary’s job, said former Secretary Ash Carter, who served in top Pentagon roles under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Esper to discourage MAGA propaganda.
Berger insists he is remaining vigilant. "I have not gotten dragged into a divisive political role at all yet," he told POLITICO. "It could happen, but it hasn't happened yet. The next 12 months is going to be a little different.”
In so many ways.
