President Donald Trump isn’t just politicizing the military and forcing National Guard members from their homes, jobs, and families for his fascist displays of power—he’s eroding public respect and support for those who serve.
Internal National Guard assessments obtained by The Washington Post admitted the obvious: Their deployment to Washington, D.C., at Trump’s direction was perceived as “leveraging fear,” driving a “wedge between citizens and the military,” and promoting a sense of “shame” among troops and veterans. None of that should surprise anyone. Social media has already been filled with videos mocking Guard patrols as glorified babysitters for brunch crowds forced to pick up trash to pass the time. And for all of Trump’s bravado, Guard members are not trained police officers. This was never about public safety. It was political theater for the MAGA faithful.
Ari Moulitsas, son of Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas, in the California National Guard helping Altadena recover from devastating wildfires in January 2025.
For me, this isn’t just a political issue. It’s personal. Many of you know of my military service, of which I am fiercely proud. That pride only deepened when my son Ari joined the California National Guard right out of high school. He’s already done a tour of duty in Kuwait, with additional stints in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. But none of that compared to his service when the wildfires ravaged Los Angeles in January and his unit was deployed to Altadena, a hard-hit middle class neighborhood with many Black and Latino residents.
The Guard kept looters out of the burn zone, but also had the agonizing task of keeping residents from checking on their homes and pets, or retrieving vital medications. My son, fluent in Spanish and blessed with a peacemaker’s nature, quickly became indispensable. He calmed people in crisis, helped desperate families, and earned so much respect that he still volunteers with a local aid organization three times a week, driving an hour each way to keep serving that community.
When Trump sent the National Guard into Los Angeles in June to help the Department of Homeland Security suppress citizens as part of his mass deportation push, residents took to a local Altadena Facebook group—not to protest the Guard, but to defend my son and his unit. One neighbor called him “a blessing to all.” Another described him as “an angel among us.” Others wrote, “He was so understanding and helpful. What an amazing human,” and “Ari, you’ve been such an amazing help to the community between keeping our homes safe after the fire, and now volunteering your time. Thanks for reminding us that among all the bad in the world… there are still good people in the world that will go out of their way to help their fellow human.”
Dozens of comments echoed the same theme: gratitude not just for my son’s compassion, but for what his service represented—a guardsman who was there to protect, to support, and to stand with the community in its hour of need.
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And then Trump trashed it all overnight. I know firsthand that his posturing has wrecked morale. People in my son’s unit are quitting. Their annual training was canceled while they sat idle, props in a presidential photo op, their readiness degraded. And I didn’t need Washington Post articles to tell me that Guard members are being mocked and insulted in the nation’s capital. Of course they are. But they never volunteered to be cast as the strongman’s backdrop.
Trump has tarnished countless institutions; this one just cuts deeper. Because when he corrodes respect for the National Guard, he’s not just cheapening a symbol. He’s undermining the service and sacrifice of real people, like my son, who joined to protect and serve their communities—not to be conscripted into the political theater of an aspiring tyrant.
