Keep in mind there are so few ICE officers. There are 176000 voting precincts, and a total of 22k ICE employees.
There’s a bit over 325,000 Army National Guard members, and despite Gen. Dan Caine’s claim two weeks ago that the Pentagon has no plans of deploying any NG, I’m not the slightest bit convinced that that claim will turn out to be written in stone - with so much idiotic upheaval going on I wouldn’t be surprised at all if there’ll be a really concerted push by Trump and his Vladministration of Republicspittles to get the Pentagon to think otherwise.
National Guard aren’t right wing idealogues intent on being deployed to control polling places. There’s a reason why their presence in LA, Chicago, etc has mostly just been them standing around.
Which is all they’d do at the polling booths (IF they were to be harebrainedly deployed), which I would wager turn off an amount of voters that could be either inconsequentially infinitesimal or, in some unfortunate instances, just barely enough to push the incorrect candidate over the finish line.
I think at that point it would come closer to antagonizing an already furious electorate, and making the most fundamental midterm argument that Trump is trying to use the armed forces to stay in power. I think that would be a massive, massive own goal.
It’s also specifically illegal to deploy federal troops or “armed men” to any polling site, and that law punishes everyone in the chain of command.
Whoever, being an officer of the Army or Navy, or other person in the civil, military, or naval service of the United States, orders, brings, keeps, or has under his authority or control any troops or armed men at any place where a general or special election is held, unless such force be necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both; and be disqualified from holding any office of honor, profit, or trust under the United States.
Hmmm. Isn’t Trump in the civil service of the United States?
Can that be pardoned?
Seems like that’s the loophole. Anyone who may vote for Democrats is, by definition. an enemy of the United States. They are armed with their votes.
It isn’t difficult to hire more, and they receive little or no training.
He is not. No elected or appointed official is. Nor are any political appointees, which comprise almost the entire population of the White House.
Yeah; civil servants are regular people who get regular jobs (usually) working for the federal government. I used to be one many years ago. By definition, civil servants are hired, not elected or appointed.
They’re the people Trump and DOGE have fired in droves.
I was a civil service hire in local government. I reported to the head of the department, who was a political appointee. And so was his secretary, who wouldn’t have had a job after he left except that he got a state political appointment and she went with him.
No, I do not think anything more than a job was involved.
OK. I wasn’t thinking civil service in that sense; I was thinking that he’s a civilian, but supposedly serving the nation — one sometimes hears politicians called public servants. Though he appears to think it’s the other way around.
They don’t have to cover every precinct in the country, just the ones that the Prez regards as…let’s just say, problematic.
So it is your contention that this administration will follow the law?
There are some things even they won’t do. Yet.
If they were willing to ignore all laws all the time we wouldn’t even have an election and this entire discussion is moot.
There’s a vast middle ground between “violate all laws” and “obey all laws”.
But if your point is that you can’t be 100% confident that they won’t try to pull this stunt then I agree with you.
It is my contention that the career sergeant who enlisted under Obama and is close to earning retirement benefits doesn’t want to be court-martialed and dishonorably discharged for ordering his platoon to occupy the middle school auditorium and isn’t counting on Daddy Trump to bail him out.
Yes, that is my point. I mean, Trump doesn’t even know what “paying for a crime” means.
My prediction is that Trump will post through it, and after he’s thrown enough racist AI slop on his timeline he’ll blame Republicans for not passing his voter suppression act and sleep for 17 hours.