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Can The Military Remain Apolitical?

Last week, Donald Trump deployed the National Guard and active-duty Marines to Los Angeles over the objections of state leaders, delivered a highly partisan speech to uniformed troops at Fort Bragg, and held a military parade in Washington, D.C. on his birthday.

Can The Military Remain Apolitical?
Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash. Unsplash+ License obtained by IVN Editor Shawn Griffiths.

Last week, Donald Trump deployed the National Guard and active-duty Marines to Los Angeles over the objections of state leaders, delivered a highly partisan speech to uniformed troops at Fort Bragg, and held a military parade in Washington, D.C. on his birthday.

None of these actions are entirely without precedent, but taken together, they raise a pressing question: Can the U.S. military remain apolitical in an era of hyper-partisanship and hyperpolarization?

Dan and Shawn dig into the historical context of domestic troop deployments, the shift to an all-volunteer force, and how political realignment may be reshaping the military’s cultural identity and threatening America's tradition of an apolitical military.

Dan Sally

Dan Sally serves on the Digital Strategy Council for Rank the Vote and is host of the podcast ‘You Don’t Have to Yell’, which discusses today’s most pressing issues without the partisan spin.

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