Troops in the Streets, Questions in Congress: Mass. reckons with role of military in civil society

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It wasn't a matter of whether U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton was going to fire some hardball questions at President Donald Trump's Pentagon chief on Thursday — it was instead a matter of how many he could squeeze in and how intense they would be.
It didn't take long to find out.
Moulton, D-6th District, cut right to the chase during the five or so minutes he had with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as the former Fox News anchor defended his agency's budget request before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee.
The Salem lawmaker pressed Hegseth repeatedly on whether he'd accept any personal responsibility for his role in the headline-grabbing national security meltdown known as 'SignalGate,' as well as his purge of senior Defense Department officials.
'You said accountability is back [at the Pentagon], Mr. Secretary,' the Salem Democrat jabbed at one point.
" And you know what? The Houthis were held accountable for shooting at our forces," Hegseth responded.
Moulton, an ex-Marine, jumped back in: 'I'm just asking if it applies to you.'
'I serve at the pleasure of the president,' Hegseth responded.
It was a vivid reminder that the place and primacy of the American military — not to mention its role in a civil society — has been at the center of the public conversation recently in a way that it has not been for a while.
That conversation largely has been dominated by the headlines emanating from Los Angeles over immigration protests and the U.S. Marines and National Guard soldiers who have been deployed there as a result.
And that's not to leave out Trump's military parade on the streets of Washington, D.C., on Saturday.
And Americans have thoughts.
A text survey of 1,000 Americans, including more than 200 Californians, by the Washington Post and the Schar School at George Mason University, found deep divisions over Trump's management of the protests.
The survey found that Californians were more critical of Trump's actions, as were Democrats and self-identified independents, the newspaper reported. Americans were mostly negative on Trump's handling of immigration.
Read More: Poll reveals how Americans feel about Trump sending troops into LA over ICE protests
A plurality of respondents to a similar YouGov poll said they didn't approve of the White House's decision to deploy the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles, Axios reported.
Nearly 8 in 10 respondents to a new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll said they don't have an opinion one way or the other on Trump's military parade on Saturday.
But even within that cohort, 6 in 10 respondents said they don't think it's a good use of public money.
And if you think that the White House's power play only applies to California, think again. The order Trump signed authorizing the National Guard deployment also opens the door to similar actions in other states.
That's according to Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell, who joined with nearly two dozen colleagues nationwide in support of a lawsuit by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, challenging the White House's action.
'The unlawful deployment of armed forces under the guise of public safety to suppress protests, invoke fear, and silence dissent against the president's cruel policies is dangerous, and every resident should be concerned,' Campbell said in a statement.
On Thursday night, a U.S. District court judge in San Francisco ruled that Trump had to return command over those National Guard soldiers to Newsom, The Associated Press reported.
Hours later, a federal appeals court reversed the order and restored Trump's authority over the Guard.
Elsewhere on Capitol Hill on Thursday, U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, the acting ranking Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee, blasted the White House's decision to deploy Marines to one of the nation's largest cities.
'Our Marines are often the first responders in a war zone. But American neighborhoods are not war zones,' Lynch, D-8th District, said as the committee held a hearing on the White House's immigration policies.
'Protesters are not enemy combatants — they are Americans who have the constitutional right to peacefully assemble and speak up," the South Boston lawmaker continued.
U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-4th District, also a former Marine, told CNN that he never expected to see active-duty Marines deployed to Los Angeles or any other American city.
That's because 'in this scenario, as in almost every scenario imaginable, it is unnecessary, it's illegal and it's deeply unfair to these Marines,' the Newton lawmaker said, according to Mediaite.
At times like this, we're often inclined to look for historical parallels. Many people look to ancient Rome — although direct comparisons aren't always easy, convenient, or even immediately apparent.
Still, the Romans did have a prohibition against allowing legions within the city walls.
Returning generals were required to dissolve their armies and enter the city as civilians. It was the ultimate expression of the civil government's authority over the military.
When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon in January 49 B.C., and eventually entered Rome itself, in defiance of that edict, it marked the beginning of the end of the Roman Republic.
Again, there are no easy parallels. But the United States has had a similar tradition of a rigidly apolitical military that swears to defend and uphold the Constitution, and not an elected leader, for all of its history.
And once the legions are within the city walls, it can be awfully hard to get them to leave.
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Read the original article on MassLive.