Posted on 08/03/2007 11:06:41 AM PDT by bnelson44
Via Barnett, this comes from one of the lefts own, Ezra Klein:
AN ODD CLOSE. As the Military and Progressives panel came to an end, a young man in uniform stood up to argue that the surge was working, and cutting down on Iraqi casualties. The moderator largely freaked out. When other members of the panel tried to answer his question, he demanded they stand down. He demanded the questioner give his name, the name of his commander, and the name of his unit. And then he closed the panel, no answer offered or allowed, and stalked off the stage,
Wes Clark took the mic and tried to explain what had just occurred: The argument appears to be that youre not allowed to participate in politics while wearing a uniform, or at least that you shouldnt, and that the questioner was engaging in a sort of moral blackmail, not to mention a violation of the rules, by doing so. Knowing fairly little about the army, I cant speak to any of that. But it was an uncomfortable few moments, and seemed fairly contrary to the spirit of the panel to roar down the member of the military who tried to speak with a contrary voice.
The yKos program lists the panelists but doesnt say who the moderator was. Im going to see if I can find the rules about political speech for soldiers while in uniform; Paul Hackett, of all people, criticized Ehren Watada last year for calling Bush a liar while wearing military dress but that had more to do with insubordination towards a superior officer in violation of the UCMJ than simple political speech.
Needless to say, though, that the left in general and Wes Clark in particular would balk at someone using their Absolute Moral Authority to advance a political agenda is an irony too enormous to be absorbed in one take.
Sounds to me like the Yearlykos is a political rally that a soldier cannot wear a uniform to—and not just a gathering of bloggers—
If so, then Yearlykos is possibly breaking McCain/Feingold
Anyone know?
Why is that considered 'political?"
If he were saying the lib/rats were wrong - etc - that's politics - but hasn't a member of the military the right to speak for his mission?
If they claim that's political - then they are condemning not him, bu themselves, out of their own mouths -
CLIP IS POSTED HERE:
Listen real carefully you can hear Wes Clark telling the moderator to be real careful and no..no..no.. as the moderator threatens to come down there and take the soldier outside.
http://186kpersecond.com/weblog/2007/08/03/yearlykos-moderator-goes-nuts-on-soldier-clip-update/
CPT Soltz is in uniform in the picture on his political website.
Yes he is
If he's Army, AR 600-20 says no. He can be there as a participant (but not as an official) as long as he is not wearing the uniform. There is a long list of rules restricting the political activities of our servicemembers.
Depends if it is a gathering of bloggers talking about blogging or a political event.
Sounds like they think it is a political event. So maybe we sould be looking at YearlyKOS violating campaign laws.
Even attending while in uniform is prohibited. However, notice that they didn't give him any grief about wearing the uniform until he challenged the party line.
After watching his tirade, I can say he is a hypocrite and a bully.
Oh...and overly impressed with his being an O-3.
Welcome to YEARLY KOS 2007!!!
Lots of that going around, ;-)
It easily fell under the definition of a partisan political activity. He shouldn't have had the uniform on. I applaud him hitting these liars with the truth right in their own nest, but still, no uniform allowed.
And in newspaper articles pertaining to his little organization.
Guys, remember, the demonrats support the troops, but are against the war. This proves their point. (sarc.)
Seems that Vote Vets likes loudmouthed jerks.
Don’t think there is any rule against it if the soldier is enlisted. He is as free to talk as the guys who spout off to a camera.
“JVB is correct. Political speech is prohibited while in uniform.”
Define political speech.
“I don’t like politics.” is political speech.
“The surge is working.” is NOT political speech.
Actually, I thought the rule was, no campaigning, but admit I’m not authority.
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