Sen. Mark Kelly’s uniform jacket and medals.
Sen. Mark Kelly’s uniform jacket and medals.
Hegseth and Trump and the rest of the Republican Party for that matter, are more of a threat to the national security of this country than any foreign power could ever be.
Republished with permission from Lucian K. Truscott IV
Oh boy, is Senator Kelly in trouble now. In addition to referring Kelly for court martial, Secretary of I-wanna-start-a-war-so-bad-I-need-a-drink Hegseth has accused Kelly of displaying the medals on his uniform jacket out of order and threatened, “When/if you are recalled to active duty, it’ll start with a uniform inspection.”
First, Hegseth is utterly and completely wrong about Kelly’s medals, which are displayed the photo above in correct order. Second, I cannot even begin to describe how puerile Hegseth’s post on X is. It is utterly beneath the dignity of the office of Secretary of Defense or War or whateverthefuck Hegseth and Trump are illegally calling it these days. Kelly flew 39 combat missions during the first Gulf War in support of ground troops at the risk of his life and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with “V” device signaling “valor,” two of the medals Hegseth accuses Kelly of displaying wrongly in the photograph of his dress uniform.
There is a special place in hell for pipsqueaks like Hegseth accusing war heroes such as Mark Kelly of anything regarding their service, much less improperly displaying the medals he was given for going to war for his country and serving not only with distinction, but heroically. Hegseth has referred Kelly for court martial on the basis of the video Kelly made with five other members of Congress which did nothing more nor less than state the law regarding the obligations of service members if they are given illegal orders.
Hegseth engaged in what the military considers illegal “command influence” when he posted this on X about the actions of the six members of Congress; “The video made by the ‘Seditious Six’ was despicable, reckless, and false. Encouraging our warriors to ignore the orders of their Commanders undermines every aspect of ‘good order and discipline.’” What command influence means in the military is a commander—that would be Hegseth—judging someone guilty of a crime, in this case sedition, before he is charged with the crime, tried, or convicted.
Everyone in the military serves under the command of others—even the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is under the command of Hegseth and Trump, who under the Constitution, is the Commander in Chief. Your job in the military is to do what you’re told by your commander—to follow orders, at least when they are lawful. When a commander tells you someone is guilty of a crime, in the absence of any information contradicting that, you’re supposed to believe them.
In the case of Hegseth’s command influence, in his referral, Hegseth is telling the Secretary of Navy and everyone under him that Kelly is already guilty, so the conclusion the Navy’s chain of command should be that Kelly has done something that subjects him to court martial, and once the court martial is held, the jury of members of the Navy hearing the case against Kelly, must find him guilty.
Click here to read the rest of this article.
Lucian K. Truscott IV, a graduate of West Point, has had a 50-year career as a journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He has covered stories such as Watergate, the Stonewall riots and wars in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is also the author of five bestselling novels and several unsuccessful motion pictures. He has three children, lives in rural Pennsylvania and spends his time Worrying About the State of Our Nation and madly scribbling in a so-far fruitless attempt to Make Things Better.
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