Where Are the Veterans When the Constitution Is Under Attack?

Veterans swore an oath to SUPPORT our Constitution, and to DEFEND the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

So where are the veterans?

Our country is in crisis. Our Constitution is being trampled. An unaccountable secret police force is killing, kidnapping, and disappearing people in the streets. The President is starting undeclared wars and bombing people across the globe. As a result, servicemembers are being injured and killed. And the Pentagon is playing games with military families—downplaying the severity of casualties and obscuring the conditions of their loved ones.

And one after another, the institutions that were supposed to protect us from an out-of-control executive continue to fail.

On Wednesday, November 11, veterans and allies from across the country will come together in Washington, D.C., for the Veterans Day Democracy March—a peaceful, lawful national action in support of constitutional government, lawful election results, and the rule of law.

The Veterans Day Democracy March is being organized through the Unite for Veterans Coalition, where I serve on the leadership team. Veterans Fighting Fascism, VALOR Media Network, and other coalition partners are helping mobilize veterans, creators, advocates, artists, and allies across the country.

We are organizing now because Veterans Day falls the week after Election Day.

For years, much of the work of protecting democracy has focused on getting Americans safely through Election Day: registering voters, staffing polling places, countering disinformation, and protecting access to the ballot.

That work is critical, and we are supporting our allies who are engaged in it.

But the work of democracy does not end when the polls close.

The votes still have to be counted. The results have to be respected. And public officials still have to honor their oaths.

We are not organizing because of some abstract or hypothetical threat.

We expect Donald Trump and his allies to challenge the legitimacy of the 2026 election if the results threaten their hold on power.

We cannot know today exactly what form that challenge will take. We cannot know how far the administration and its allies will go, how Congress and the courts will respond, or precisely what the country will require of us one week after Election Day.

That uncertainty is exactly why we are organizing now.

The objective is not to predict every possible move.

The objective is to be ready when those moves come.

There are millions of American veterans. Every one of us raised a hand and swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution—not a president, a political party, or any politician.

That oath did not expire when we took off the uniform.

It did not disappear when we received our discharge papers.

We are keeping our oath.

We expect the people entrusted with public power to keep theirs.

Every eligible voter deserves to have their ballot counted. Legitimate election disputes must be grounded in evidence and resolved through lawful processes.

The lawful results of free and fair elections must be respected, certified, and implemented.

Federal law enforcement and military forces must operate within the Constitution and the law and must never be used to intimidate voters, suppress lawful dissent, or serve partisan political purposes.

Those who serve are duty-bound to follow lawful orders—and refuse unlawful ones.

Congress has a responsibility to check abuses of executive power and fulfill its constitutional duties, including oversight of federal law enforcement, the domestic use of military forces, and decisions of war and peace.

Government power has limits, and every public official who swears an oath to the Constitution has a responsibility to honor and defend those limits.

Servicemembers deserve lawful, professional leadership and a military personnel system based on merit, qualifications, and lawful process—not partisan loyalty or ideological tests. Political leaders should not manipulate military promotions or personnel decisions for partisan or ideological purposes.

Those who serve should never be used as instruments of partisan politics.

Veterans deserve the health care, disability compensation, and benefits they earned and were promised. Congress should never meet its obligations to one generation of veterans by cutting the earned benefits of another.

The cost of war does not end when the war does.

In 1932, amid the Great Depression, thousands of World War I veterans and their families formed the Bonus Army and came to the capital to demand the compensation they had been promised.

Major General Smedley Butler—one of the most decorated Marines in American history and the author of War Is a Racket—stood with them.

Their moment was different from ours. But the principle that connects us is not:

Service gives veterans both the credibility and the responsibility to hold this country accountable to its promises.

Attempts to subvert democracy are easier when the people entrusted with power believe the public is fragmented, exhausted, frightened, or unwilling to act.

We intend to demonstrate the opposite.

Veterans are organized.

We are paying attention.

We understand what our oath means.

And we will be ready to act together when the moment comes.

This is not a campaign to elect or defeat a candidate or a political party. It is a peaceful, lawful effort to defend constitutional government, lawful election results, and the rule of law.

For those of you who follow my work through Veterans Fighting Fascism, VFF will remain our primary organizing and fundraising hub. Your support will help fund VFF’s recruitment, mobilization, and participation in the broader Unite for Veterans coalition effort.

Learn more, sign up, get involved, and support our work at veteransfightingfascism.org.

We kept our oath.

We expect our elected leaders to keep theirs.

That is the work ahead of us.

Ken Harbaugh is a former Navy pilot, veteran advocate, filmmaker, and founder of Valor Media Network . He produced the documentary Against All Enemies, and he has spent much of his life building organizations that give veterans the opportunity to continue serving after they leave the military.

If you follow my work, you probably already know Ken.

I join him on his show every week. He has interviewed me dozens of times—not only for his podcast, but for Against All Enemies and other projects. We have worked together for years and become close partners in this fight.

But today, we are reversing roles.

I wanted to understand Ken’s origin story: what took him from flying reconnaissance missions for the Navy to building veterans’ organizations, making films, reporting from Ukraine, and organizing to defend democracy here at home.

Our conversation begins with something deeply personal.

Ken explains how his daughter’s medical crisis challenged the mythology of rugged individualism he had inherited from generations of military service.

We talk about the encounter with a wounded Marine that helped redirect Ken’s life.

We also discuss what Ken has witnessed during his repeated trips into Ukraine.

Eventually, we bring the conversation home—to the threats facing American democracy.

One quick programming note before we begin:

This will be the final episode of On Offense for at least the next several weeks. I’m taking the month of August away from recording and publishing so I can focus on writing my book about what it means to go on offense.

I don’t know exactly when new episodes will resume, and I don’t want to promise a return date that I may not be able to keep.

Although the podcast is taking a break, the work is not. I’ll continue working as part of the Unite for Veterans leadership team, while Veterans Fighting Fascism mobilizes our community in support of the coalition effort. Visit veteransfightingfascism.org to get involved.

This episode is my conversation with Ken Harbaugh:

There is one idea from our conversation that I think is really important:

Real patriotism is not blind loyalty to a president, a party, or even to the country as it currently exists.

It is loving your country enough to hold it accountable.

It is demanding that America confront its failures, keep its promises, and become worthy of the people who have sacrificed for it.

That understanding of patriotism also defined the life of Major General Smedley Butler.

Butler was one of the most decorated Marines in American history. But after leaving the military, he became one of the country’s most forceful critics of war profiteering and the exploitation of servicemembers and veterans by the wealthy and powerful.

I wrote the introduction to a new expanded edition of Butler’s War Is a Racket, which will be published on September 15.

The book includes Butler’s original warning about the machinery of war and corporate profit, his advocacy for veterans, and his testimony exposing the Business Plot—a conspiracy that sought to exploit veterans and use Butler’s influence to overthrow the United States government.

His warnings about oligarchy, fascism, and the manipulation of veterans are not relics of the past. They are essential to understanding the moment we are living through now.

War Is a Racket is available for preorder today. If you want to understand the history behind this movement—and help bring Butler’s warnings to a new generation—please preorder a copy. You’ll find the link in the show notes.

That same tradition of active, accountable patriotism is the spirit behind the Veterans Day Democracy March.

On Wednesday, November 11, veterans and allies from across the country will gather in Washington, D.C., to defend constitutional government, lawful election results, and the rule of law.

The voters decide. The results stand.

No one is above the Constitution.

And America must keep faith with those who serve.

You can learn more, sign up, get involved, and help us build the march at veteransfightingfascism.org.

Ken mentioned that he is moving more of his work to Substack. You can follow him there at The Ken Harbaugh Show.

As I say at the beginning of this episode (and newsletter), On Offense (the podcast) will now be taking a break for at least the next several weeks. I’m stepping away from recording and publishing through the month of August so I can concentrate on writing my next book.

I don’t have an exact date for the show’s return. Make sure you are subscribed, and you’ll be notified when the next episode is released.

The podcast may be taking a pause.

The work is not.

Thank you for listening, for paying attention, and for refusing to look away.

Until next time, stay on offense.

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