Last week, political candidate Donald Trump announced, then doubled down, that he would use the military against political opponents.

Republicans are split between opposing his plan while others are trying to once again explain away or are hoping to rationalize or deflect his words. But make no mistake, this abuse of the military would destroy our Constitution and our country.

John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College in Georgia. He can be reached at jtures@lagrange.edu. His Twitter account is @JohnTures2.