When you just found out that Trump took North Carolina
(twitter.com)
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Obama played the same game, pushing out every general officer he felt he couldn't 100% control. It's part of the role of commander-in-chief and part recognition of the influence the military wing of the military-industrial-congressional complex wields.
Difference is that I don't think Trump can 100% control any agency in the way that Obama is aiming for.
The military doesn't need to be controlled. In its natural state, it is fairly conservative; the propaganda machine that drives recruitment into America's martial class is primarily grounded in the sanitized legends of its founding - the same one which is a unifying pillar of the right wing in general.
Not sure what you mean by that. The 'martial class' isn't even supposed to be a thing. At the same time the actual founding of the military are all in the form of militias.
Military service runs in families, primarily in the working class and rural population. You're far more likely to meet a veteran who can list half a dozen family members who've served than one who says they're the first.
There may not be a formal caste system, but they're always drawing from the same pool of 'God, Guns, and George Washington' types.