I I haven’t really seen anything that led me to believe they would disobey unlawful orders. Most of them will obey. We have relied upon thoughtful Presidents and leaders who cared enough about the country or at the very least, their own legacies, to ultimately obey the checks and balances built into the system. Trump knows this.

The overwhelming majority of them absolutely worship Trump. And the more he shits on veterans and service personnel and gold star families, the more devout they become.

It's a fascinating and tragic pathology.

It's why so many people are up in arms about how the uniform somehow is inherently deserving of respect. Claiming that something deserves respect might as well be a demand - And if you have to demand respect, you never deserve it.

It's good to see that people are now opening their eyes to this, but it's a little to late given that we've been priming ourselves for a authoritarian takeover through military glorification for decades.

Everything and everyone folded like a cheap lawn chair for a mob boss president.
Congress, courts, military, universities, law firms, corporations, etc etc.

Our country was held together just by spit and a prayer.

Destroy us. They finally figured out that they do NOT have to go by the playbook,(constitution) while WE have to go by that playbook. (constitution)

And to control and punish the rest of us.

They will happily murder citizens just as easily as those innocent people on those boats off the coast of Venezuela. It's not complicated. It's literally right in our face.

about defying orders in the military. In fact, the way you do it is be incompetent. You do not do it directly, even if the two civilians you report to are stark raving mad.

If you think the military can't see what a moron they have in charge, you insult their intelligence and their integrity. Furthermore, you are stereotyping them.

They've not been issued an order that would require them to ignore it. Therfore, they must follow their command. Otherwise, there would be chaos and any organized refusal to follow orders could be tantamount to a coup. Does anybody here think that's where we are? I don't. We would all lose at this point in time. Let's keep our powder dry until if and when that moment comes.
Right now, he's testing the waters. Everybody from the citizenry, the military, politicians, police and judges to see reactions. He may be acting out like the vindictive child that he is but you can be sure, somebody else is pushing the buttons, taking notes about reactions and making the real plans. November of '26 might be when we see who is behind the curtain.

Meanwhile he's playing fast and loose with retribution, budget cuts and extorting the nation's institutions resulting in increasing disapproval and plummeting polls and insuring Republican defeat. In the end, they may be forced to take their own guy out. That's called a bloodless coup. How far down will Republicans allow the ship to sink before they jump?