Posted on 08/03/2007 11:06:41 AM PDT by bnelson44
What Soltz did in pulling rank on him was foolish and caused an uproar that needn’t have happened. Gen Clark recognized that right away and tried to soften it while supporting Soltz. I think the Dems have a problem on their hands. They don’t want to be known as Copperheads, but that is what they have become.
From the Corner:
The Military and the Kossacks [Byron York]
The panel at which there was a dustup over the Iraq war is described this way in the YearlyKos program:
The Military and Progressives: Are They That Different?
This panel will examine the military, and how it embodies progressive values. We’ll also examine why conservatives gained the military vote and how progressives can get it back.
Panelists: John Soltz, Brandon Friedman, Ilona Meagher, Jon Power
At the American Prospect, Ezra Klein described the close of the discussion this way:
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 you’re not allowed to participate in politics while wearing a uniform, or at least that you shouldn’t, 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 can’t 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.
Whatever happened, there probably weren’t many witnesses. Earlier, Klein filed this post:
I’m at YearlyKos, sitting in the back of the room at the “Military and Progressives Panel.” This looked, at least to me, like the marquee panel of the hour, and the organizers seemed to agree: It was placed in the Grand Ballroom. But the place is empty — a couple dozen attendees at most, a sea of empty tables stretching out. Whether this is a function of reduced Democratic insecurity over the relationship between progressives and the military or a simple lack of interest in the subject is anyone’s guess. But it is, to me, a surprise.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NTc3Zjg3YjRlNGMwMGRlYTQ3OTJmOWE2NTYxMjYwZGY=
Yuh, right, Wes. I don't think soldiers are forbidden to correct an incorrect statement. They are just not allowed to get into partisan politics.
Interesting how they set that up, though, huh? They can lie with impunity, but someone with first hand knowledge of the situation is not allowed to counter their lies.
According to that list, the soldier’s question was not in violation of any of those prohibitions..
Liberals may be anti-war, but they sure love to use military language. Reminds me of the chubby, unathletic guys in high school and college who used to love to hang around the jocks. They would high-five the studs and cheer on their sexual conquests, yet have no love interest of their own.
Weird guys.
Some interesting comments here:
http://www.mudvillegazette.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=9126
ABOUT DAILY KOS
Markos Moulitsas — a.k.a. “kos” — created Daily Kos on May 26, 2002, in those dark days when an oppressive and war-crazed administration suppressed all dissent as unpatriotic and treasonous. As a veteran, Moulitsas was offended that the freedoms he pledged his life for were so carelessly being tossed aside by the reckless and destructive Republican administration.
seems partisan
and to think...General Petreaus will soon be testifying before these same demonrats that the surge is working...
Officer and Enlisted are under the same rules.
Officers and enlisted have different status. The enlisted are much more at liberty to express their political opinions. Neither, of course, can tapke part in a political campaign.
Kos- “libertarian democrat” or democrat?
http://www.cato-unbound.org/2006/10/02/markos-moulitsas/the-case-for-the-libertarian-democrat/
“It was my fealty to the notion of personal liberty that made me a Republican when I came of age in the 1980s. It is my continued fealty to personal liberty that makes me a Democrat today.”
“The case against the libertarian Republican is so easy to make that I almost feel compelled to stipulate it and move on. It is the case for the libertarian Democrat that has created much discussion and not a small amount of controversy when I first introduced the notion in what was, in reality, a throwaway blog post on Daily Kos on a slow news day in early June 2006.”
I heard this from someone in ROTC about conduct while wearing uniforms
1. No Politics when in uniform. Don’t even respond to those trying to talk politics. Be wary of politics even outside of uniform.
2. No Selling/making sales pitches when in uniform. Don’t respond to other’s sales pitches. No excessive buying either (IE Credit card sprees)
3. No self-promotion (IE boasting about onesself)
Negative. Nine years enlisted and the past 17 as an officer...same rules.
As a former , you may have been told to shut up, so you couldn’t speak without violating a direct order. Absent the order, you were freer to voice opinions. But as an officer, you really didn’t have the right. Terms of commission. Bit like the difference between a lay Catholic and a Priest in voicing disagreement with official policy.
The SGT might have crossed the line by wearing the uniform to the convention (not at all clear because it’s a convention of bloggers, not an overt political convention), but the CPT should be in a whole lot more trouble (even though he was not in uniform at the convention) by:
using his moderator position to pull rank in a civilian, political context and to suppress viewpoints that disagree with his,
and, using his uniformed photo on his political website at http://www.votevets.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=199&Itemid=80
In terms of the SGT making a political statement, it’s not at all clear that it is political under the meaning of the rules. Obviously, it is “political” under leftist’ definition that would punish as political a soldier in uniform who says “the U.S. is a great and good country!”
More importantly, our country cannot survive if a SGT saying that a U.S. military mission is succeeding ends up in serious trouble because of a CPT who is publicly touting his military credentials to trash and undercut the U.S. military mission. I mean, who is being the better soldier here?
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