Will American Soldiers Follow Illegal Orders?

In the era of Der Furor, we find ourselves asking a lot of uncomfortable questions nobody ever thought would need to be asked, and the answers aren't very comforting.

We know now, courtesy of a severely compromised Supreme Court, that it is all but impossible for a President to be held legally liable for anything that might be construed to be within his Constitutionally-granted authority: 

" Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority. And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts."*

In earlier times, when our presidents were generally judicious and more or less morally upright, we seldom worried about what they might do with the awesome powers they held. Today, not so much.

The same holds true for their appointees and Congressional supporters. 

During the confirmation hearings for the execrable Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense, Mr Hegseth was reminded that in June of 2020, Der Furor had directed former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to shoot protesters in the legs during demonstrations in Washington, and that Mr Esper had refused to comply with the order. Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono asked Hegseth directly: “Would you carry out such an order from President Trump?”

Hegseth dodged and weaved and, in the end, would not say "no."

So, would American soldiers serving under such a Defense Secretary follow orders to shoot fellow Americans in the legs?

I have no doubt that, in today's fractured and morally ambiguous political climate, serving under a proudly authoritarian president and a compliant Secretary of Defense, some would. It's well known that the US Armed Forces have a significant number of members espousing extreme far-right ideologies, and it doesn't take much to imagine their reaction if ordered to shoot "radical leftists who hate America" and "libtards" by a President who has already wanted to do it and a Secretary of Defense willing to pass on the order without question.

In the war crimes trials that followed World War II, many Nazi soldiers and government functionaries tried to excuse their barbaric behavior by maintaining that they were simply doing their duty, following the orders of their military or political superiors. "I was only following orders" is the stereotyped plea of those seeking to avoid personal responsibility by blaming their superiors**, and it doesn't usually work, although it can sometimes argue for a lesser punishment for people further down the totem pole.

I don't know about you, but I would hesitate to trust that many soldiers in today's Army wouldn't shoot me if ordered to do so, and that has to be one of the most terrible legacies of Der Furor and his sadistic and twisted MAGA ideology.

Have a good day, and be careful when you exercise your First Amendment right "peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Nowadays, the only grievances that matter are those of Der Furor and his besotted followers.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo 

* Trump v United States, 23-939, July 1, 2024

** The "Superior Orders" defense argues that a person, whether civilian, military or police, should not be considered guilty of committing crimes if ordered to do so by a superior officer or official. It's also known as the "Nuremberg Defense."