To the editor: Aiding and abetting criminal activity has never been a defined mission of our military — up until now (“U.S. military leaders are enabling Trump’s lawlessness,” June 16). What Americans and the world are witnessing is a staggering level of institutional acquiescence favoring President Trump’s relentless authoritarian designs on our republic. Call it what you will — cowardice or rampant careerism — but the leaders of our armed forces have failed us.
Tragically, they are not alone in their AWOL status. The military is just one institution of many that has not adhered to its pledge to defend and protect the U.S. Constitution. Both houses of Congress and the Supreme Court have been acutely derelict in not upholding their oath of offices.
This is how fascism succeeds. The bulwark of a free society has to be governmental bodies that withstand the onslaught of a would-be tyrant. If they recede from their duty, all liberty is lost.
Bob Teigan, Santa Susana
