This is not a moment for dishonesty. Contrary to the hurried efforts of some Democratic leaders to eulogize Charlie Kirk, we don’t need to pretend the far-right activist engaged in earnest politics “across ideology, through spirited debate” as California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a post on X paying tribute to Kirk.
Kirk, the founder of the far-right movement Turning Points USA, was committed to organizing America’s white young men, from college campus to college campus and beyond, into a politics of revanchist, resentment-fueled, patriarchal white nationalism.
At the time of writing, the person responsible for shooting Kirk has not been apprehended or identified. That didn’t stop Trump from delivering an official address unequivocally blaming the “radical left” for Kirk’s death in the broadest terms possible.
The Trump administration is a weaponization machine; it will transform all manner of things into an ideological arsenal to use against its opposition. Anti-genocide activism is antisemitism; immigrant workers are “the worst” criminals; addressing white supremacy is discrimination; war crimes are peace — all of these fascistic transmutations have become grimly common in the last eight months.
Yup. National Guard deployed everywhere now. Are we taking bets on martial law?
The more he abuses his authority over the military, the more likely it is that one of them will act against illegal orders. They are under oath to “defend the constitution from all threats, foreign and domestic” - there isn’t a snip after that last but saying “unless the domestic threat is the POTUS”.
The past year has shown us that our troops don’t actually take that oath very seriously, but they also aren’t just mindless stormtroopers. The military is a slice of the rest of society, to include political affiliation and loyalty to our nation. All we need is for a single one of them to recognize Trump as the domestic enemy to the US that he is.
Will it happen? Probably not. It hasn’t yet. But the more pressure Trump puts on them to attack their own country, the more likely it is one of them will finally step up to take action.
That’s what he wants, so that he can purge the dissenters before the real bad orders come out.
Deploying the national guard in Utah? Excellent.