Captain Dylan Blaha has served in the Illinois National Guard for over 12 years, which includes a deployment in Afghanistan and a three-year tour in Germany. Upon witnessing 2,000 armed National Guard members being unleashed by Donald Trump to terrorize fellow Americans, Captain Blaha released a video reminding his colleagues of the oath they took to disobey an unlawful order. He also warned them that “just following orders” is not a valid defense for war crimes, as soldiers were prosecuted in Nuremberg after WW2.
Captain Blaha’s post has gone viral, and he hopes it encourages other veterans and National Guard members to speak out publicly against Trump’s use and abuse of the armed services to cement his authoritarian agenda. However, Blaha is going a step further and running for Congress as a Democrat for Illinois’ 13th district.
As a veteran and scientist, Captain Blaha tells me he was compelled to run after being fed up listening to the milquetoast centrism and status quo politics of his representative, especially when it comes to supporting billionaires and Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Captain Blaha wants more Democrats to use the word “genocide” and vote to stop sending arms and money to Israel’s current extremist government. He also believes Democrats can win by uplifting immigrant and transgender communities, instead of throwing them, and “the woke,” under the bus.
I asked Captain Blaha about what inspired him to make the video, what Democrats need to do to evolve and adapt to meet the current moment, and how he is preparing to take on both MAGA and the Democratic Establishment that is threatened by his populist agenda.
Thank you Pam Smilow, Noble Blend, PamC, P. J. Schuster, Glen Goodnough, and many others for tuning into my live video with Dylan Blaha for Congress! Join me for my next live video in the app.
