This, from Politico:

Michael D’Antonio, a Trump biographer who spent hours interviewing him in 2014, worried that the president-elect could be “vulnerable” to the suggestions of the top brass. “I think Donald has been fascinated by military men since he was 13 years old and sent away to this [military] academy,” D’Antonio said of the school where Trump and his instructors alike wore military-style uniforms and held various ranks. “Ever since, he’s believed that a certain Hollywood version of a World War II general represents real leadership. The danger in this is he won’t be discerning when it comes to their recommendations and may not value the civilian role over the defense establishment in the way that all other presidents have.” “I think Donald is going to want to please them as much as possible and he’s very vulnerable to their influence,” D’Antonio added.

Source: Why Trump is so obsessed with generals – POLITICO

As you might guess, for a guy—a dad– such as myself who has been working to decrease the influence of the “martyr and military mindset” since– well, at least since the madness of the Vietnam war and perhaps ( I like to think, in previous lives) maybe as far back as Alexander the Great and Attilla the Hun– Donald Trump’s current fascination with retired generals, and his growing invitations to them to join his staff, gives a guy like me cause, and pause, for soul weariness.

“The wars will only end,” Napoleon observed, “when the soldiers refuse to fight.”  To their credit, a few of the soldier generals–like Retired Gen. Jack Keane–  have refused to join up with the Little-Boy-Bully.  A few of the generals have recognized the psychosis when they see it— the army is full of similar cases– and refuse the offer.

But a general is most often a general, for all of that. And the allure of power and fame and willing girlfriends is a strong allure. The good news is that what so often stops, blunts, a dictator, is when his generals recognize the danger and the generals join together for a coup. Or has that already happened?