• Nougat@fedia.io
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    5 days ago

    It’s not an on/off switch. Of course the military will be less efficient and more error-prone; that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be able to do anything.

    Need to put down a big protest in St Louis? Send in troops with live rounds, none of that less lethal bullshit. Maybe it takes a couple days longer to get them there, maybe there aren’t quite as many boots on the ground as you wanted, maybe they get deployed in kind of dumb ways.

    They’re still far better armed, far more cohesive, and far more replenishable than the protesters they seek to trample. The military would still win, they don’t have to be perfect, they just have to be better enough than their opponent.

    Now imagine if the opponent isn’t “protesters,” but “these brown people we’ve conditioned you to feel animosity towards, and they’re iLlEgAlS!” Those brown people aren’t even loosely organized into a protest, and as long as the troops aren’t popping “my” people (yet), the public pushback is going to be weak as fuck.

    • dragontamer@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      Need to put down a big protest in St Louis? Send in troops with live rounds, none of that less lethal bullshit. Maybe it takes a couple days longer to get them there, maybe there aren’t quite as many boots on the ground as you wanted, maybe they get deployed in kind of dumb ways.

      This is so fucking stupid I’m wondering if you’re beginning to troll me.

      So what happens to St. Louis police in this scenario? You’re saying that the Police will give up their authority to the Federal level? That’s severely anti-Republican on all fronts.

      There’s political forces at play here that you’re seemingly completely ignorant about. Do you think the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police would allow military action to take place in their jurisdiction? Do you think that soldiers would be treated more (or less) specially than the local police? Do you not see how this causes distrust in the two groups?

      Do you think Trump is effective at recruiting and merging organizations so that such political actions proceed smoothly? (IE: Do you think St. Louis Police would deputize the US Military, or vice versa, to share authority in a way that both sides agree upon?)


      And that ignores the long-standing US Military tradition of staying the fuck out of local issues. The military command knows they’re a bunch of killers. They don’t want to deploy locally.

      • Nougat@fedia.io
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        5 days ago

        Do you think the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police would allow military action to take place in their jurisdiction?

        What are they going to do to stop it?

        • dragontamer@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          Refuse to hand over their jurisdiction to the military. Declare the military to be an unlawful invasion and a break of 10th Amendment rights. Etc. etc.

          At that point, you’re turning the local police over to the Protester’s side. And the Police hold strong sway over the local judges and politicians. FOP in particular is powerful lobbying group because they hold the blessings of the Police.

          What is Trump going to do? Order the military to fire upon the Police? Lulz. That’s not how any of this works, and its not how coups work either. Over control of fucking St. Louis? Its not even worth the hassle.

          • Nougat@fedia.io
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            5 days ago

            “Refuse.” “Declare.” “Unconstitutional.”

            Yeah, those “saying things” tactics have worked so well to ensure that criminal acts are swiftly and appropriately addressed in the face of the new paradigm of “do whatever I want and dare anyone to stop me.”