To Support and Defend
How to Face the Military in the Streets of America
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The Republic and the Duty of the Citizen
The most powerful truth for any citizen standing in protest to defend the Constitution and the rule of law, who faces soldiers unlawfully deployed into the streets¹, is this: do not see the uniform as your enemy. The men and women standing before you are not traitors. They are not to be hated, mocked, or assaulted. They are potential allies, the most powerful allies we have, if we remember who they truly are and what they have sworn.
Our men and women in uniform have bled on distant soil so your children could sleep in safety. They have stood in deserts and jungles, on battlefields and in burning wreckage, not to advance the ambitions of kings or parties, but to keep faith with a single, sacred vow: to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. Many have suffered wounds from which they will never fully heal. Some have returned home with missing limbs, scorched lungs, or shattered minds. Others returned under flags draped over their caskets. What they endured was not abstract, not a meme or slogan to advance a party's selfish ambitions; it was flesh torn, breath stolen, futures cut short. And they did it believing their suffering was part of something noble, something that would outlast the war itself: a people still worthy of the Republic they swore to protect.
They were not asked to love a political party. They were not asked to die for partisan rhetoric. They were trained to run into fire, to hold a line, to sacrifice everything for the Constitution because they believed it protected all of us equally. They did not do this for reward or applause. They did it because the oath meant something. Because they believed we, the people, were still here, still part of that same covenant, still bearing some share of the burden they carried to the edge of death and beyond. Their service was not partisan and transactional; it was transcendent. And it is now our duty, as patriotic citizens of the United States of America, to meet that kind of sacrifice with a loyalty of our own, a loyalty not only to them, but to the Constitution they upheld with their lives.
In this hour of national crisis, when soldiers are placed in the ghastly position of having to choose between lawful duty and unlawful command, we the people are not powerless. We hold the power to call their oath back to life. Not with orders, not with threats, but with the quiet authority of citizens who also know patriotism in the true American sense.
We hold a form of authority that answers theirs, not through rank, but through reciprocated duty. As they have stood ready to suffer for our safety, so now we must stand with clarity and resolve for the Constitution they swore to defend. Our courage does not wear a uniform, but it must carry the same weight. Our role is not to command them, but to mirror back the honor they have pledged, to remind them by the way we carry ourselves, that their oath is not forgotten, not abandoned, and not in vain. We meet their sacrifice with our own, showing them that the Republic still lives in the hands and hearts of its people.
When facing the military in the streets, instead of reacting like agitated victims, venting emotional frustration, shouting, provoking, or collapsing into irrational chaos, we can become something far more powerful. We can embody the force of committed citizenship rightly lived. In our discipline, in our lawfulness, in our refusal to return insult for insult or threat for threat, we have the power to shine a light of American greatness into the soul of every soldier standing before us, by showing them that we, too, know what it means to support and defend the Constitution not in theory, but in blood-earned dignity and principled restraint. We can stir in them a reckoning. When they see that we do not lash out, that we do not desecrate their uniform with dishonorable displays of anxiety, but instead honor it with our own calm courage and unwavering devotion to the law they too swore to uphold, something sacred awakens in them.
In those moments, we are not begging for freedom; we are modeling what it looks like to be free. We are not commanding their allegiance; we are reminding them that their highest loyalty is not to any individual or party, but to the Constitution itself. Our peacefulness becomes a mirror, our respect, a challenge. Our willingness to suffer for the Constitution becomes a call to their conscience, crafted not out of resentment, but from honor, civic love, and the undying belief that our Republic still lives. In that contrast, where citizens stand unarmed yet unwavering, the soldier’s oath is reawakened, not by force, but by the unmistakable presence of real American patriotism.
This is not weakness. This is the steel of the American spirit, solemn, steadfast, and unbreakable. It is the kind of courage that does not need to shout to be heard. And it has the power, if practiced well, to turn the tide, not just of the moment, but of the nation itself.
Yes, it is unsettling to see military members, those we are taught to thank for their service and sacrifice, placed in such grotesque contradiction. We are not used to seeing them standing in force before citizens exercising First Amendment rights. But that disorientation must give way to understanding. These are not enemies. These are people who have been trained to bleed, to suffer mutilation, to face capture and torture, and if necessary, to die for you, for the Republic, for the Constitution of the United States of America.
They are not our foes. They are not villains. They are patriots, caught in a nearly unprecedented crisis of conflicting duty. They are men and women who have sworn an oath to support and defend the Constitution, just as we must now do. If they stand before us confused or misdirected, it is not because they are corrupt, but because they are being placed in a position of extreme conflict of duty to their oath. That makes our role all the more vital, not to provoke, but to remind, to inspire.
When we participate in a protest and find ourselves facing the military in the streets, we must never forget that we are not merely defending our own rights; we are showing these soldiers that they are not alone in their oath. We owe them our voices. We owe them our example. We owe them a solemn pledge: that we, too, stand in defense of the Constitution, and that we will do so without hatred, without chaos, and without compromise to the rule of law.
We return the gift they have offered us, not with barbecues or holiday discounts, not with bumper stickers or applause at parades, but by being willing to suffer for them as they have long been willing to suffer for us. We return the gift by showing them that we are not asking them to carry the burden of defense alone. That when they are ordered to stand against peaceful citizens, we will not scream in their faces. We will not burn cars or hurl insults. We will stand tall, calm, lawful, and clear. In our dedication to nonviolent protests focused on defending the supreme law of the land, we must be willing to bear any suffering so that they don’t have to bear shame. We will honor their sacrifice with our own.
This is the new battlefield, not of bullets, but of discipline, not of aggression, but of integrity. And in this battlefield, our behavior may very well determine whether we lose the military to tyranny, or help awaken their conscience to stand with the people, and with the Constitution, against unlawful power.
To stand in disciplined nonviolence is not to be weak. It is to be faithful to the Republic, to our soldiers, and to the rule of law that binds us all. Protest must no longer be a performance of grievance. The Constitution is a covenant binding us together as a unified people. And our protest must rise to meet the solemnity of that truth.
We are not merely civilians. We are constitutional defenders of the Republic. And when we stand facing the military in American streets, we must do so in a way that makes it unmistakable: we are not here to fight our soldiers. We are here to help them remember who they are.
If we wish to keep the Constitution alive, we must behave in its defense as those worthy of freedom, disciplining ourselves in conduct, restraint, and clarity. And in doing so, we will help to inspire the uniformed guardians of this nation to choose the Constitution above unlawful command.
We must not be the generation that provoked our military into turning against us. We must be the generation that helped them remember who they are, citizens first, protectors of the Constitution above all. We must be the generation that stood not in chaos, not in hatred, but in principled unity, calling our soldiers back to their highest loyalty by standing faithfully in ours.
Let us meet them on the common ground of sacrifice and duty, not divided by party or bitterness, but joined in the shared bond of those who bleed for the same flag, who live under the same law, and who believe the Constitution belongs to every American, regardless of tribe, class, color, or creed. True American unity is not found in uniformity of opinion, but in fidelity to the constitutional principles that make disagreement safe, dignity possible, and liberty real. It is in this spirit, disciplined, respectful, and unwavering, that we Make America Great Again.
The Primacy of The Constitution in Military Oaths
The oath for the Army and Marines is identical:
" I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."
The bolded first portion of the oath centers on the Constitution. Conflict arises when the second portion, obedience to the President and superior officers, comes into opposition with the first. When a president or officer issues orders that clearly contradict the duty to support and defend the Constitution, military members face a profound crisis of loyalty and conscience.
Which portion of the military oath takes precedence when conflicts arise? For members of the Army and Marines, the oath begins with an unambiguous declaration to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” That is not a symbolic flourish; it is the primary obligation. When the latter part of the oath, to obey the orders of the President and officers, comes into conflict with the Constitution itself, loyalty to the Constitution must prevail. It is the highest and most binding commitment in the oath, and the true foundation of every lawful order that follows.
Military law, including the Uniform Code of Military Justice (Article 92), makes clear that only lawful orders must be obeyed. If an order is unconstitutional or otherwise unlawful, service members are obligated not to follow it. Following such an order can lead to criminal and moral liability.
This principle is in agreement by the precedent set at the Nuremberg Trials, which established that ‘just following orders’ is not a valid defense for unlawful actions, a standard the United States formally adopted when it helped write the Nuremberg Principles and integrated them into military training, legal doctrine, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ)². The set of principles established at the Nuremberg trials became part of customary international law, and under both international agreements and U.S. military law, service members have a legal duty to disobey unlawful orders.
In cases of doubt, service members are expected to seek legal advice, request clarification, or report the issue through proper channels. The Constitution remains the highest authority guiding all military actions. However, when it is clear and undeniable that the orders are unlawful, it is right and is the accepted principle for military members not to follow unlawful orders.
What about the Lawless Ones?
Local police, state police, and all federal agents also swear an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the rule of law. Everything said above applies to them as well. Yet this raises a difficult and necessary question in the public mind. This question is made visible because, in contrast to military members, law enforcement officers and agents from the local to the federal operate regularly on American soil, often in full view of the communities they serve. The public sees not only acts of integrity but also the visible failures. This brings us to a deeper concern: much of what we have said about the power of disciplined, nonviolent protest seems to depend on the idea that the person witnessing it still carries some loyalty to the Constitution, some living connection to their oath.
But what happens when that loyalty is absent? What happens when the officer, agent, or soldier no longer feels bound by the Constitution and instead acts with comfort and commitment to lawlessness? This is not a theoretical concern. These institutions are made up of human beings, and human beings vary. The question is real, and it must be faced directly.
When confronting officers or soldiers who seem to have no regard for their oath, no loyalty to the Constitution, and no discomfort in their lawlessness, the path of disciplined nonviolence may appear powerless. But it is precisely in these moments that nonviolence proves its deepest strength. It does not depend on the morality of the oppressor. It exposes injustice so clearly, so publicly, and so undeniably that it forces a choice in the eyes of the nation.
Nonviolence, when carried out with courage and discipline, puts lawlessness on trial. It does not shrink from evil; it confronts it with righteousness made visible. When officers or agents act with impunity, it is the protester’s calm endurance, their refusal to retaliate, and their commitment to continue to stand for the principles that built this nation that reveal where the truth of American greatness lies. In this way, nonviolence compels attention and demands a moral accounting from the nation, even from those who feel immune to shame.
And while it may not transform every heart, it transforms the narrative. It forces the public, the courts, and sometimes even fellow officers, agents, and soldiers to reckon with what they have witnessed. Nonviolence shines a light of truth and duty that cannot be unseen. That is its strength, not in depending on the goodness of the oppressor but in stripping the mask from lawless power so that others may see what must be judged and what must be changed.
When facing those who are criminal, without conscience, and committed to their lawlessness, this is when we must strive to reach the summit of nonviolent witness. Nonviolence in protests is not a strategy of passivity but a summons to moral clarity and national conscience. When we stand before those who have forsaken their oath, we do not stand weak or begging. We stand as sentinels of the Republic, bearing with our bodies the visible weight of truth. Our discipline and suffering become a rebuke to their disorder. Our calm composure speaks louder than their shouted commands and criminal actions. Our restraint reveals the difference between formal authority and real power. And in that revelation, the lawless are unmasked, not with violence, but with lawful presence; not with accusation, but with peaceful endurance. We do not defeat the lawless ones with slogans of rage but with lives ordered by fidelity to something higher and a commitment to suffer, bleed, and die in the support and defense of the Constitution and the rule of law, without causing harm to others.
This is not idealism. It is civic courage practiced at its highest level. It is the protester who walks forward while others scatter. It is the citizen who bleeds in the street without striking back, not to submit but to rise in moral height above the machinery of force. This is the fire that does not consume but refines. This is the burden that redeems. This is the moment when the American people become again the keepers of the Republic, not by storming the gates, but by holding the line calmly, bravely, and focused until even the shameless are made to face what they have become. This is the triumph of nonviolence: it can pierce the armor of indifference, disarm the logic of tyranny, and call an entire nation back to truth.
The Strategic Necessity of Nonviolence
Nonviolence against government lawlessness is not just an option; it is the only effective strategy to fight tyranny, unify a people around their Constitution, and bring America back to its senses. History, reason, and lived experience all point to this conclusion.
Violence, even when motivated by legitimate grievances, consistently backfires. It gives authoritarian actors the justification to escalate force, pass emergency laws, and frame all dissent as criminal or dangerous. It alienates the broader public, fractures potential coalitions, and turns a moral cause into a security problem in the eyes of the media and the state. Violent resistance has been used as a reason to abandon the Constitution altogether in favor of short-term “order.”³
Nonviolence, by contrast, creates a clear moral and legal contrast. It isolates the government’s lawless behavior in the open, allowing courts, public opinion, and even members of law enforcement and the military to recognize who is upholding the rule of law. It focuses with greater clarity on the principles being upheld, communicating the message of the movement to the public by the witness of our willingness to take a stand for American heritage without damaging property or public safety, even if we suffer. It invites the public to unify around shared values instead of reacting along political or emotional lines. It builds legitimacy for reform instead of undermining it.
The U.S. government has far greater force than any citizen group can match. Any attempt to fight tyranny with violence only accelerates the collapse of civil society and increases public fear, both of which are conditions that make tyranny stronger.
Gandhi used nonviolence to bring down the largest empire in the world. Martin Luther King Jr. used it to transform civil rights law in the face of entrenched racism and violence. They succeeded not because their opponents were just but because nonviolence exposed injustice more clearly than any weapon could. That same clarity is what we need now.
If we want to preserve the Constitution, restore public trust, and stop the advance of unlawful power, then nonviolence is not a strategy of preference. It is a necessity. It is the only approach that builds the legitimacy and unifying power of a people devoted to upholding the Constitution and the rule of law while denying legitimacy to those who abuse power.
Practical Guidance for Standing Before the Military
When the moment comes to stand before soldiers in the streets of America, remember that your conduct will speak louder than your words, your restraint more loudly than your volume, your discipline more loudly than your anger. The goal is not to win an argument, start a fight, or display partisan grievances; it is to embody the lawfulness of the Republic they swore to defend with character filled with disciplined civic virtue and personal respect, so that your respectful, lawful and courageous presence calls their own oath to the Constitution back to life.
Your Bearing
Stand upright, calm, and unthreatening. You are not there to posture for cameras or provoke a clash.
Keep your movements deliberate and visible, no sudden motions that could be misread.
Wear clothing that communicates peaceful intent. Avoid masks unless needed for health, and keep hands visible.
Your Voice
If you speak, speak clearly and respectfully. Chants should affirm principles, not attack people.
Examples:
“Support the Constitution! Defend the Constitution!”
“We stand for the rule of law!”
“One nation, under the Constitution, with liberty and justice for all!”
Avoid sarcasm, ridicule, or partisan slogans. You are not speaking to humiliate them, but to remind them.
Your Actions
If ordered to move and you have lawful grounds to stay (e.g., such as a permit, or clearly within 1st Amendment rights to assemble), remain where you are, calmly and without aggression. If physically moved, go limp or walk slowly, making your nonviolence obvious.
If arrest is inevitable, comply peacefully. Do not resist, curse, or spit. Let the cameras show the movements, lawfulness, and dignity, not your rage.
Keep your hands free of weapons or anything that could be mistaken for one.
Your Mindset
See the soldiers not as obstacles, but as Americans in uniform, people who have trained to endure danger on your behalf, who are willing to bleed for the Republic, and who may yet stand with you.
Speak from the Constitution, not from party talking points. You are appealing to what they swore, not to what they may have voted.
Remember: you are taking action for history as much as for the moment. Every act of disciplined lawfulness and respect becomes historical evidence of your cause’s legitimacy.
Your Purpose
You are there to defend the Constitution by example. Your peaceful posture is not a weakness; it is a direct challenge to unlawful orders.
You are there to protect American unity by rejecting the culture war mentality and allowing the Constitution and your commitment to ensuring lawful and peaceful protest to dictate your actions.
You are there to awaken conscience without displaying your anguish, not only in the soldier before you, but in the millions who will see the images later.
When marked by good character, free from personal or criminal antagonism toward the military or law enforcement, and grounded in disciplined loyalty to the rule of law, a protest becomes more than resistance, it becomes a living civics lesson. You remind the uniformed guardians of the Republic that their oath is shared, their duty is mutual, and that the Constitution lives not just in law books, but in the disciplined courage of free citizens.
The Power of American Greatness is in our Unity
The culture war is an anti-American weapon of tyranny, designed to divide and conquer the American people by hiding the deeper truth of our national strength: that we are most powerful when united by our Constitution and committed to its support and defense. The lie of the culture war is that the diverse parts of American society share nothing but mutual hostility. It distracts the public with bizarre, irrational, and partisan animosities, blinding us to the quiet dismantling of the Constitution, the very foundation of our unity and greatness. Culture war perspectives are the opposite of real American patriotism. Founding Father John Adams, our second president, feared precisely the partisan party division we embrace today, calling it "the greatest political evil under our Constitution". That evil is now fully manifest in America today, and it is killing us.
The culture war divides Americans by identity instead of uniting them by Constitutional principles. It encourages emotional reactivity rather than disciplined action. It focuses on the chaos of partisan grievance instead of civic responsibility. It promotes loyalty to political parties over fidelity to the Constitution. It demonizes opponents rather than appealing to their conscience about our shared values, goals, and principles. It uses disagreement to provoke division and conflict, rather than to clarify or inspire national unity. It elevates fake performance over real substance, weakening moral legitimacy. It rejects the idea of shared sacrifice in favor of self-righteous outrage. It teaches citizens to treat each other as enemies rather than to recognize that the true enemy is unlawful power. Culture war mentality, when brought into a protest event, makes the protesters much more prone to falling into reactive chaos that hurts America.
In stark contrast, when we unite in the support and defense of our Constitution in all of our politics, we strengthen the principle that all citizens are equal under the law. We promote a shared civic identity that rises above political and cultural divisions. We reinforce the value of disciplined action guided by principle rather than reactive emotion. We uphold public trust by showing loyalty to the rule of law over partisan agendas. We encourage respectful dialogue rooted in reason and conscience. We elevate the purpose of disagreement to inspire new understanding rather than incite conflict. We build moral legitimacy through restraint, clarity, and integrity. We create a national focus on accountability, justice, and the preservation of liberty. We revive the spirit of shared sacrifice as a foundation of civic strength. We unify as one American people in recognizing that the true enemy is unconstitutional lawlessness and unchecked power, not one another. When the Constitution, not emotional frustration, is the known and cherished foundation of a unified people expressing their First Amendment rights, protesters are far more likely to maintain the peace and public safety during protest events, focus with discipline and commitment to the rule of law, and meet our military with the kind of character that honors their oaths and our Constitution.
Conservatives and liberals can stand shoulder to shoulder when they recognize that the Constitution belongs to them both. Democrats and Republicans can march side by side when they remember that loyalty to country must come before loyalty to party. The wealthy and the poor can find common cause when they understand that justice under the law is the only protection strong enough to guard everyone’s future. Those on the left and those on the right can unite as one when they see that their right to disagree peacefully depends on preserving the very system that makes disagreement safe. The people expressing their First Amendment rights and Military members can face each other during extraordinary conflicts of duty and oath, with the respect that comes from knowing we share one flag, one Constitution, and one duty to suffer, bleed, and die for the defense of the supreme law of our land.
This is the final truth that the oligarchs, who promote our un-American culture war, cannot bear to face: a people united under the Constitution cannot be manipulated, cannot be conquered, and cannot be broken. The Constitution dies when our culture war keeps us distracted and divided. But when citizens of every background stand together in defense of the Constitution, calm, disciplined, and determined, they become more powerful than any party, any tyrant, or any lawlessness. They become the Republic.
To Make America Great Again, the culture war must die and the Constitution must rise. The Constitution must rise as the sacred bond that unites a free people across every difference of class, color, and creed. It must rise as the unwavering standard by which every leader, law, and movement is judged. It must rise as the shared inheritance of patriots who choose principle over party and courage over comfort. It must rise as the moral compass that guides our protest, our service, and our sacrifice. It must rise as the voice of our highest civic ideals, calling us to build a nation ruled by law, not ruled by partisan division. It must rise, not as a relic remembered, but as the living covenant of a people who refuse to be divided, and who will not be ruled by anything less than liberty and justice for all.
When protesters root their American loyalty in the Constitution rather than in grievance, in a party, or an individual, they draw nearer to the character required to meet our military in the streets with integrity and purpose. The culture war teaches citizens to shout, provoke, and divide, but a Constitution-centered patriotism teaches us to stand firm, to endure, and to unify. When the values, goals, and principles of the Constitution matter more than comfort, partisan pride, or safety, citizens become capable of suffering for its defense in a way that does not escalate conflict but awakens conscience. It is this transformation, from culture war reactionaries to constitutional patriots, that makes peaceful protest powerful enough to call soldiers back to their oath and inspire a nation back to its founding covenant.
End the Culture War!
Long Live the Constitution of the United States of America!
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For those moved by the call to disciplined, principled resistance in To Support and Defend, the companion essay E Pluribus Unum offers essential depth and grounding. While this essay lays out the moral posture, patriotic courage, and constitutional focus needed to face the military in the streets, E Pluribus Unum provides the philosophical foundation and practical reasoning that support that posture, courage, and focus. It expands on the value of the Constitution, what it means to defend it, and offers detailed information on training for nonviolent participation in protest events, while dismantling the illusions that fuel our political divisions. If To Support and Defend is the call to stand, E Pluribus Unum is a framework that helps you understand where to stand, why it matters, and how to hold that ground with clarity.
E Pluribus Unum: Defending the Constitution, Conserving American Heritage
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¹ The unconstitutionality or other unlawfulness of a federal military deployment could arise as a matter of violating First Amendment Rights, a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, a violation of the separation of powers, transgressing Insurrection Act limitations, an abuse of Title 10, or as a violation of due process concerns.
² "From 1914 until 1944, U.S. Service members could assert the defense of superior orders as a complete defense to a crime so long as they could demonstrate they acted in accordance with superior orders. Alongside the other milestones of the Nuremberg trials, such as individual responsibility for violations of jus cogens and war crimes, the IMT and “subsequent proceedings” addressed the defense of superior orders, navigated the assertion of the defense, and established a standard that endures to today.", Army Lawyer, Issue 6, 2020
³ Examples of violent resistance leading to constitutional overreach include: Kent State (1970): Protesters became angry, shouted, and threw rocks at the National Guard. This led to the National Guard shooting nine people, killing four. Ferguson (2014): militarized policing and curfews followed protesters, initiating violent acts and rioting.
This essay was produced using an AI to first read the essay, which I wrote on my own, then paraphrase and refocus it so that my overly technical and geeky focus is shifted to something that is easier to read. I then manually re-edit the output, which can take longer than writing the original essay. The essay below describes my workflow for optimizing human creativity while allowing the AI to be a mere tool, not an author. The key to optimizing human creativity in my workflow is “work”.
To learn more about my workflow and to learn more about how to optimize your own creativity when using an AI, read my workflow essay, which was not rephrased using an AI.
A quote from that essay, “The mindless ease of using an AI often serves to undermine the most productive learning experience…struggle. The best learning comes with chewing hard on questions, grappling with ambiguities, and wrestling with conflicts between data and theory. We learn more from doubting, examining critically, and tearing apart our own ideas than can ever be gained when students passively use AIs as an easy shortcut.”
Thank you for an inspirational and helpful essay. This needs to be taught in every resistance group.
Well done!