How Things Work – A new executive order gives Trump his army. “Donald Trump is assembling a military force under his direct personal supervision that can be used to seize control of American cities at gunpoint. In light of the fact that he has already sent the Marines into Los Angeles and the National Guard into the streets of DC, this may seem like only a minor progression. But it is very important that we all take this seriously. On Monday, the White House issued an executive order titled “Additional Measures to Address the Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia.” This title is misleading for a couple of reasons. First, there is no crime emergency. This is demonstrated both by crime statistics, and by the personal experience of those of us who actually live and work in these cities, as opposed to Republicans who only experience cities through lurid online news and through the windows of their weird little fascist social clubs in Georgetown. Second, the EO will have an impact far beyond the borders of Washington. After ordering the hiring of new prosecutors and park police in DC, the order says this. Bolding added:

(ii) The Secretary of Defense shall immediately begin ensuring that each State’s Army National Guard and Air National Guard are resourced, trained, organized, and available to assist Federal, State, and local law enforcement in quelling civil disturbances and ensuring the public safety and order whenever the circumstances necessitate, as appropriate under law. In coordination with the respective adjutants general, the Secretary of Defense shall designate an appropriate number of each State’s trained National Guard members to be reasonably available for rapid mobilization for such purposes. In addition, the Secretary of Defense shall ensure the availability of a standing National Guard quick reaction force that shall be resourced, trained, and available for rapid nationwide deployment.

The order also calls on every law enforcement agency currently involved in the federal crackdown on DC to “immediately create and begin training, manning, hiring, and equipping a specialized unit that is dedicated to ensuring public safety and order in the Nation’s capital that can be deployed whenever the circumstances necessitate, and that could be deployed, subject to applicable law, in other cities where public safety and order has been lost.”…