August 03, 2007
To see the enemies-of-all-that-is-good in squalid panic...
What could be sweeter? (No time to comment, but here's the quote...)
--Ezra KleinPosted by John Weidner at August 3, 2007 11:08 AM
AN ODD CLOSE. As the Military and Progressives panel [at Yearly Kos] 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.
You can speak publicly about the issues of the day while serving in the military, but you have to bear in mind that military service curtails your free-speech rights. Basically, you can't speak out against the military or government policies that relate to the military. It's like they say-- before the brass issue the orders, you can argue all you want, but once the orders are issued, it's time to shut up and soldier.
In this case, it looks like the soldier was trying to support the government's position (which is permissible, though doing so in uniform may be bad form), and the moderator got huffy at the thought of having to actually deal with an actual soldier (perish the thought!) and walked off-stage to demonstrate their authority (that will show that soldier who dared to speak out!).
Posted by: Hale Adams at August 3, 2007 08:23 PMWell, I don't disagree with those speech policies (though it sounds like the soldier was just giving information) but it's no job of the moderator to enforce military policy--what a joke. And if the guy were arguing against the government's policies they would have worshipped him.
But it's the "moral blackmail" line that fascinates me.
Posted by: John Weidner at August 4, 2007 06:41 AMWesley Clark , the candidate bes t known by Michael Moore's embrace of him" nad Jon Soltz,
"most recently floating" the Govt had murdered
Pat Tillman" really wish for the world of the zampolit, the political officer, who keeps the
military on a proper orientation. Do they mean
to say, that Nav. res. Lt JF Kerry, violated the rules when testified before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, and slandered his comrades
in 1971. Or when he attended the "Winter Soldier"
conference in 1971, where participants suggested
selective assasination of pro war political figures.
