These generals are following orders — even as they lead America off a cliff

“If you want to get into a debate with a four-star Marine general, I think that is something highly inappropriate.”

When Sarah Huckabee Sanders spoke these words about White House Chief of Staff John Kelly last week, it represented a stunning and troubling turn in the nation’s civilian-military relations. Here was a White House spokesperson indignantly suggesting that a retired member of the American armed forces is above reproach. Sanders’ words were even more disturbing because they came on the heels of Kelly telling reporters the day before that he only wanted to answer questions from someone who was a Gold Star family member or knew one.

Both moments seemed to highlight the already evident hazards of a White House dominated by military officers and a president who fetishizes members of the armed forces. Ironically, however, the greater danger may come from a different direction — a refusal of members of the military placed in positions of great political power to question the commander-in-chief.

Read the full article in the Boston Globe.