One of the ironies associated with recent geopolitical maneuvers is among those most empathetic towards the Russian mindset, partly projected of course, are high ranking active duty and/or retired military personnel.
Such is the case on all sides we might say, but in Smedley Butler World in particular, wherein the slogan "war is a racket" is well-known, we know that soldiers see how they get to be pawns in someone else's grand strategy great tragedy.
Insofar as West Point helps cadets see what the cosmic computer is seeing, that war with outward weapons is obsolete, it helps keep the cold war cold.
Anti-war activists, including a military that knows something about logistics, intuit the world could be a lot more promising and encouraging of the freedom-loving, were tomorrow's players not saddled with today's working misassumptions.
The challenge of protecting the Constitution remains at issue. Was it protected, or have we entered a post constitutional age? If the latter, then the US military has actually failed against its undermining. Upholding and protecting does not mean passively looking on as civil liberties are eroded.
Smedley Butler stood his ground, but when he exposed the Business Plot, few took him seriously.
