{"id":8351,"date":"2026-01-21T08:33:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T13:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=8351"},"modified":"2026-01-21T08:33:02","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T13:33:02","slug":"the-break-glass-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2026\/01\/21\/the-break-glass-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"The “Break Glass” Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NATO<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The United States of America ratified the North Atlantic Treaty, the basis for the defense agreement we call NATO, in July of 1949.\u00a0\u00a0That treaty went through the entire Constitutional process (US Constitution, Article 2,\u00a0\u00a72).\u00a0\u00a0President Truman negotiated the deal, then sent it to the United States Senate for ratification.\u00a0\u00a0As a treaty, it needed to receive a 2\/3 vote of the then 96 total Senators. \u00a0\u00a0It was confirmed by even more than that, 82 to 13.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Constitution establishes that once a treaty is ratified, the process has to be fully \u201creversed\u201d to get out of it.  The President cannot do it on his own (nor can the Senate). This was further strengthened by the Defense Authorization Act of 2024, requiring that either Senate approval or a separate Act of Congress was needed to \u201cquit\u201d NATO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An act of the President of the United States to violate the North Atlantic Treaty without the consent of Congress, then, simply is illegal.  And attempting to takeover a fellow NATO nation\u2019s territory is absolutely violating the treaty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Coward In Congress<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If a President of the United States tries to break a law, it\u2019s up to the Congress to check him.\u00a0\u00a0The most obvious check is to impeach and remove the offending President from office.\u00a0\u00a0That requires a majority of the House to impeach, and 2\/3 of the Senate (now 100 Senators, 67 to reach 2\/3) to convict.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0America is too familiar with the process. Donald Trump has already been impeached twice.\u00a0\u00a0The second time, after the Insurrection of January 6, 57 Senators agreed to removal.\u00a0\u00a0Several more might have joined them.\u00a0\u00a0But the Senate Minority Leader of the time, Mitch McConnell, convinced them to hide behind the \u201cfig leaf\u201d of, \u201che\u2019s out of office anyway, so there\u2019s no reason to take the political risk\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We remember McConnell\u2019s cowardice well.\u00a0\u00a0Immediately after he torpedoed the conviction, he gave a passionate (for McConnell) speech on the floor of the Senate about how \u201cresponsible\u201d Trump was for the Insurrection.\u00a0\u00a0He guaranteed that the Courts could take action, where he failed. \u00a0And we are all still paying the price for that failure today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Coward in the Court<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We reasonably expect that if any American breaks the law, from Joe Smith on Main Street to Donald Trump on Pennsylvania Avenue; he will be dragged into Court.\u00a0\u00a0But another \u201ccoward\u201d gave Trump an official, Supreme Court authorized, \u201cGet Out of Jail Free\u201d card.\u00a0\u00a0Chief Justice John Roberts created a new Presidential \u201cprivilege\u201d out of\u00a0\u00a0thin air, granting the President full immunity from criminal action for any \u201cofficial act\u201d he might take.\u00a0\u00a0Whatever boundaries the \u201claw\u201d placed on Donald Trump in his first term, Roberts tore them all down before he was elected to his second term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\u00a0\u00a0Vice President JD Vance, a Yale educated lawyer, said that the ICE “bully-boys” had absolute immunity, he was committing malpractice.\u00a0\u00a0While those masked-thugs do have heightened protection for their official acts, they still can be held to account.\u00a0\u00a0But now, according to the majority on the Court, the President cannot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Order<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So if the President of the United States orders American military forces to invade Greenland, what\u2019s left to stop him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of the officers in the US military. The Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, Navy, and Space Force all take the same oath of office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0<\/em>Their sworn duty is to support and defend the Constitution.\u00a0\u00a0Any order they receive that violates the Constitution is therefore an unlawful order.\u00a0\u00a0These officers are\u00a0required<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>to disobey unlawful orders.\u00a0\u00a0What is an unlawful order?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An order becomes unlawful when it\u00a0directly conflicts with higher law or exceeds the issuer\u2019s authority.<\/strong>\u00a0Common categories include:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n