Dateline: August 24, 2025 — The Dead Republic

So here we go again. Washington, D.C. got the troops. Los Angeles got the troops. And now Trump and his lapdog secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, have their eyes on Chicago. Apparently, our city is the next “emergency” that requires boots, rifles, and Humvees in the streets.

You almost have to laugh. Chicago has weathered Prohibition, Al Capone, Daley’s cops cracking skulls in Grant Park, and waves of corruption that would make a Roman senator blush. But suddenly, the Windy City needs the Pentagon to come sweep up the homeless and scare immigrants? Please.

Pete “Herass” Plays General

Hegseth — who spent more time yelling on Fox News than commanding troops — now thinks he’s Patton reborn. The Pentagon, according to The Washington Post, is quietly drawing up plans to drop thousands of National Guard soldiers on Chicago streets under Title 32 status, meaning they’ll wear the uniform but answer to Washington, not Springfield (The Washington Post, 2025).

That’s the trick. Call it “crime suppression” and “public safety” and you get away with bypassing the Posse Comitatus Act, which is supposed to keep the U.S. military out of domestic law enforcement (Posse Comitatus Act, 1878/2024). It’s a shell game. The feds write the checks, the governors lose control, and the White House gets its little army on demand.

If you think that sounds like “shock and awe” tactics used in Baghdad, you’re not wrong. Hegseth has already greenlit Guard troops in D.C. to carry rifles and “support police” (Axios, 2025). In L.A., 4,000 Guard troops and 700 Marines were unleashed this summer (The Guardian, 2025). Now it’s Chicago’s turn to get the occupation treatment.

Pritzker and Johnson Say No

Governor J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson aren’t buying it. They’ve already said flat-out that there’s no emergency here — unless you count Trump’s fragile ego. Their joint statement basically told the White House to pound sand. Johnson even said Chicago is “not a war zone.” Damn right.

But Trump doesn’t care. He wants headlines, and nothing says “strongman” like soldiers standing around Union Station while TV cameras roll. It’s a show — just like the border wall, just like the “crime waves” that Fox News has been inventing for decades.

The Real Target Isn’t Crime

Let’s be blunt. This isn’t about protecting anyone. It’s about intimidating the poor, the homeless, and immigrants. If you’re sleeping in a tent under Lower Wacker, congratulations: you’re now considered a national security threat. If you’re an undocumented worker cleaning offices downtown, you just made Trump’s “enemy” list.

This is authoritarian cosplay — cosplay with real guns. And Pete Hegseth, who never met a camera he didn’t like, is only too happy to play the role of field marshal.

We’ve Seen This Movie

Chicagoans know a shakedown when we see one. Every machine boss in this town tried to scare us with “crime” to justify more cops, more crackdowns, more contracts for their buddies. Trump’s just running the same scam on a national scale, with the Pentagon as his precinct captains.

And here’s the kicker: it never works. You don’t solve homelessness with Humvees. You don’t fix immigration with rifles. You sure as hell don’t cure crime by throwing soldiers at it. You just feed the fire — and sooner or later, the fire burns you too.

The Bottom Line

This is what dictatorship prep looks like. You normalize soldiers on city streets. You normalize federal control over state Guards. You normalize treating poverty as a military problem. And by the time people wake up, the occupation is permanent.

So yeah, Chicago should tell Trump and Pete “Herass” where to shove it. We’ve seen worse than this citywide circus act. And if they think they’re going to march down Michigan Avenue with rifles slung and call it “safety”? Chicagoans will give them a welcome they won’t forget.

Because this city isn’t Baghdad. And we sure as hell aren’t bowing down to tin soldiers marching on orders from a king.

Sources

  • Axios. (2025, August 22). Hegseth authorizes National Guard to carry arms in D.C. Retrieved from https://www.axios.com
  • Posse Comitatus Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1385 (1878/2024).
  • The Guardian. (2025, August 22). Trump targets Chicago and New York as Hegseth orders weapons for D.C. troops. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com
  • The Washington Post. (2025, August 23). Pentagon plans military deployment in Chicago as Trump eyes crackdown. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com

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