Not sure how much attention OP has been paying, but American's trust in military/government leadership has been severely eroded by the wars in the middle east.
That is only very selectively true though, considering that the party responsible for starting those wars is the one playing pacifist now. And if there is one thing we know about GOP it is that they are definitely not pacifist
It is just a very poor excuse by disingenous liars.
The parties only exist to disguise the fact that the entire thing is being run by the exact same oligarchs no matter who is in charge. Who gets elected doesn't change the meat of what gets done, but only the flavour.
If you want to go down that rabbit hole, I'd point out a few things: He was considered to lean democrat in the 90s when there was speculation he might run, and he has faced significant scorn from many established republicans as well. He's hardly an example of a typical candidate no matter what else you think of him.
Sure. Does not change that there are significant differences in policies that affect people's life dependingvon the party and as you say yourself even more in the personality of the president.
Yea, they focus on things that affect you on a personal and emotional level, not things that affect their own bottom line or the continuing function of their control systems, so you're too busy fighting the "other team," worrying about issues which are inconsequential to them, to mount any real resistance to their plans. That's deliberate by design.
Again, the important point is that neither of those issues actually affect the continuing function of their control systems, such as monetary policy. You're being trapped by your emotions so you can't see the bigger picture. Those issues are deliberately selected because they fill people with fear and anger.
Like how your wages are tied to how submissive you are to their other control systems, so that everyone who doesn't sell out completely is just barely getting by, spending all their time and energy just trying to survive rather than being capable of building any sort of momentum which might represent real competition for them. That's why wages have stagnated while actual productivity skyrockets.
The point is that those broader topics about the fundamental functions of society do actually affect everyone significantly, but they're so all encompassing that it's harder for people to wrap their heads around, especially when harassed about things which elicit an immediate and intense emotional reaction. Everyone imagines nefarious conspiracies where their enemies hide in the darkness plotting their demise, while the best way to hide things is to just make them as dry and boring as possible, such as the legal system and monetary policy, so people who are addicted to the sensational and salacious don't even look at them in any detail.
Of course those issues aren't meaningless to you. They wouldn't be capable of occupying your time and energy otherwise. It's an issue which doesn't threaten those in power though, which is why they dangle it in front of you.
Put the military aren't getting involved. The point the US doesn't actually have to send soldiers to fight an enemy of the United States and yet people are against it.