Modern is different from contemporary, and by professional I don't just mean paid.
Tinidril
joined 2 years ago
My point was that soldiers are less likely than cops to unnecessarily use lethal force, and you think that cops using lethal force is somehow a counterexample? Logic.
Modern, as in trained for flexible mission parameters in a modern urban environment where earning/keeping the respect of the local civilian population is a critical part of the mission. A step beyond the reactionary notion that Brute force and brutal suppression are always the most effective path. A military where soldiers are trained to question orders and made individually responsible for following illegal orders.
For example, say what you will about America's ultimate failure in Afghanistan, our soldiers on the ground became experts in local culture and factions and built cooperation to achieve mission objectives without alienating the population. If our political leadership was as professional as our soldiers I think things would have ended a lot differently.
No, I never heard of Kent State. If I had I might have mentioned it in my above comment. Oh, wait.
Even truer for the National Guard when it has to call up soldiers.
The average age for active duty enlisted is 28.5yo, not 18.
Yes, active duty law enforcement is more competent at the intricacies of law enforcement, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about things like trigger discipline and doing proper reconnaissance before charging into a situation.
As far as I'm aware, the guard still doesn't have the power of arrest anyways. They will have to coordinate such actions with local law enforcement. They have no prosecutors or jails store detainees.
I don't want to downplay the alarm bells going off over this move. It's definitely as bad as many are saying. On the other hand, I do want to set some right expectations. National guardsmen are modern professional soldiers and, as such, are far more disciplined than average police officers. Civilian casualties are always a possibility, and might even be what this administration wants, but I think it's unlikely that we'll see anything like another Kent State. If anything, I'll bet most of the guardsmen are pretty frustrated with Trump for being called up for bullshit reasons.
State militias were never intended to fight the national government. In fact, they were intended to help fight insurrection.
Article 1, Section 8, Clause 15. The Congress shall have Power * * * To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.
The same voices keep saying that Jan 6 was a peaceful protest that was misunderstood.
Sounds good to me. My main point was that a state could do it.
Just declare that jobs within the state no longer collect it, and provide a hotline to identify employers who don't comply. It's not like the IRS has the people to manage federal enforcement.
The order is far from certain to come. It's not like Trump or his buddies will be anywhere close to the action, and a general order to unnecessarily fire on civilians is not even likely to be passed down.