Just now on CNN, they showed a video of Donald Trump blasting military leaders who have pushed back on the idea that they would follow any illegal orders he issued. They played a clip and then host Chris Cuomo asked Jeffrey Lord if going after the military and calling them “babies” (his exact words) was a smart political play. Lord’s response must be seen to be believed:

[Trump speech clip plays]

Cuomo: Jeffrey, he’s talking about the Geneva Conventions.

[crosstalk]

Cuomo: We know what he’s doing here. It works with the crowd. Is this dangerous for him given this new observation of where he is on policy, whether he understands what it is to be commander-in-chief, all these military people getting nervous about him giving illegal orders, is this the right move?

Jeffrey Lord: I.. I don’t think that he makes a mistake, politically speaking, that he makes a mistake when he does this. Because he’s talking to his base, and he’s energizing his base, and all the points you just cited – good folks, I’m sure, and certainly they have a point, but they are in this context, “the establishment,” they are “the elites.”

Cuomo: Military command??!

[crosstalk]

Jeffrey Lord: The… sure! Leaders of the military are part of the establishment, are they not?

“The establishment” now is clearly a stupid, meaningless word that is used to describe “people who disagree with Trump.”