Friend,

At this point, most of you probably know how important the military is to me.

That shouldn't be too much of a surprise: I've been in the Army -- Active and Reserve -- for 17 years now. Some people see their university time as their "formative years" -- I had Iraq. The upshot is that I'm a bit more sensitive to military issues than the average American.

On Monday, the big national news was the raid on Mar-a-Lago. That is big, and we'll see how that develops. However, what hit me was the news that Trump had asked his Chief of Staff why his generals could not be more like Hitler's. Trump saw Nazi generals, with their "total loyalty to Hitler," as ideal. 

There are two massive issues here.

Number one, this is yet another example of Trump's historical illiteracy. The German military was not particularly loyal. There were three assassination attempts on Hitler by German military officers. Rommel was famously forced to commit suicide for backing one of them. It's embarrassing how wrong Trump is about clear historical facts.

Number two, and this is far more important, no sane person should be asking the U.S. military to be more like the Nazis. Members of the military swear an oath to the Constitution, not the President. Trump's misunderstanding of his powers as the Commander-in-Chief is yet another example of his anti-American autocratic impulses.

The fact that GOP politicians continue to treat Trump as a political kingmaker shows how hollow GOP "ideals" really are. Trump is a wannabe tyrant who would use the military against his political opponents if he thought he could get away with it. With a few notable exceptions, it looks like most GOP politicians would be completely okay with this. They cannot be allowed to retake Congress.

Doug LaMalfa showed that he didn't care about veterans when he voted against the PACT Act. His complicit support of Trump shows his disdain for every ideal that makes the U.S. military truly great. He does not belong in Congress.

November is our chance to send a message that we're through with guys like LaMalfa running the show. If you’re with me, chip in $10 to stand up to these hypocrites and flip this seat.

Thank you, 

Max Steiner

Democrat and Combat Veteran For Congress