"Opinion by Ashton Carter, **** Cheney, William Cohen, Mark Esper, Robert Gates, Chuck Hagel, James Mattis, Leon Panetta, William Perry and Donald Rumsfeld"
All 10 living former defense secretaries: Involving the military in election disputes would cross into dangerous territory
another situation wherein the shocking aspect o' the story is not what fits within the four corners o' the piece.
"As senior Defense Department leaders have noted, “there’s no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of a U.S. election.” Efforts to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory. Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic."
every former defense secretary not in the dirt were concerned enough to state what should be axiomatic regarding a possibility which four years past woulda' been unthinkable. carter, cheney, cohen, esper, gates, hagel, mattis, panetta, perry and rumsfield is reminding military officials o' the oath they took to defend the Constitution.
dismiss as impossible trump invoking the insurrection act in a last ditch effort to maintain his grip on the resolute desk ignores the dozens o' previous trump actions which were previous unthinkable, improbable and even impossible.
am personal still in the "improbable" zone, but such does not blind us to a real possibility which for us became considerable less improbable today.