The military might actually be much more suited to oversee the protests than the cops.

[redgreenandblue]

At least in the current situation.

The chance of the military behaving in a disciplined, professional and measured way is much higher than for the average police force. That, and people tend to actually respect / like / identify with the military. And also, unlike the police force, the military is not the actual target of the protests in the first place.

[DrToast]

1. Completely agree

[roamer65]

2. Not with Dump in the WH.

No thanks.

National Guard under control of the state governors.

[Squinch]

3. Sure. Have the US military fight against US citizens. What could go wrong?

It works so well in Russia.

[redgreenandblue]

8. My point is that the likelyhood of actual fighting would be much lower.

[tazkcmo]

11. Sure.

Until it's not.

Our military is drawn from the general population. That means there are the same attitudes in the military as in the civilian population and yes, this includes bigots, racists, MAGAts and assholes. Add to that lots of training in killing people.

As a veteran, I do not want our military patrolling our streets and if I were active duty today, I would refuse the order to do so.

[redgreenandblue]

19. Point taken.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Do you really want to see armed American soldiers in the streets

with guns pointed at other Americans? That's a horrible idea and it smacks of the worst sort of fascism.

[DSandra]

5. I've seen armed soldiers in public places in France and the Netherlands

It’s not something totally undemocratic.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. I *don't* want to see that. I want the police forces to clean up their act

and do their jobs of protecting their communities according to the law. Anyhow, federal law prohibits the use of the military for domestic law enforcement (posse comitatus), and Trump's talk of using the Insurrection Act to authorize the military to take over that function won't go anywhere, and shouldn't.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. No, it's not.

[rzemanfl]

7. Years ago I attended classes in a building guarded by the National Guard.

They had bayonets on their rifles. It was not comforting in the least.

[Mme. Defarge]

9. Not the answer, not in our DNA as a nation and society.

Anathema. That said, our methods of policing must be reformed and transformed to truly serve justice for all and preserve liberty.

[crickets]

13. +1

[marble falls]

12. All depends who's giving the orders.

[stillcool]

14. just like Iraq?

chickens have all come home to roost. What was done unto others is being done unto us. But how will they tell their own kind vs. the enemy combatants? Oops.

[AntiFascist]

15. The problem comes about from the use of the word "dominate"...

as was clearly illustrated yesterday in DC, Trump will try to turn peaceful angry protesters into angry, destructive mobs. Then we will ultimately have peace without the change required for justice.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. Have you forgotten about Kent State?

That worked out so well - and those were just National Guard troops. Four dead in Ohio. That was 50 years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday.

[greenjar_01]

17. How utterly useless are US police for this even to be a reasonable argument

(Nota bene: I consider it to be, at the very least, a reasonable argument).

[think4yourself]

18. Oh, hell no!

You do not want to open that can of worms. That is unAmerican on it’s face.