The situation with Mark Kelly is interesting, especially considering the First Amendment. Especially as a retired military person, he has the right to exercise his First Amendment right to freedom of speech. I watched his video more than once. It was obvious to me the message he intended to send — resist any order from President Trump or Secretary Hegseth — but, most importantly, that is not what he actually said. The literal message was to refuse illegal orders, which should be an unnecessary reminder, but OK, let’s be reminded: no military person is ever required to follow illegal orders. That is made clear in the UCMJ, which all active duty personnel know inside and out (😜).
The subtext — we all know it was there, because we are all familiar with Mr Kelly’s politics — was that any order from President Trump should be considered as illegal. Of course, we all also know that isn’t true; and, again, that is not what he said.
Simply based on what was clearly stated in that video, Mr Kelly did nothing for which we can legally or morally chastise him. Any legal action would only serve to waste time and money on a forgone conclusion.
It’s frustrating, I know, because we all “know” what he meant when he very carefully paraphrased the UCMJ. But there is no Constitutional basis for charging him with anything simply for stating the obvious. Without proof of intent, there is no case. Which is essentially what the grand jury decided when it refused to indict him. 😎🇺🇸
The only one punished after the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan was an army officer who criticized the way the withdrawal was executed (causing the unnecessary deaths of servicemen). I didn’t see any calls for freedom of speech protections from anyone, but that was also the time when questioning the origin of Covid or suggesting the covid vax was neither safe nor effective; and questioning the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election could get you thrown in jail, or disbarred or sued. True free speech has certainly been severely eroded, but hiding behind the first amendment to justify senator Kelley’s obviously politically motivated rhetoric which possibly violates military code is an incredible insult to the people whose actual freedom of speech was violated.
The situation with Mark Kelly is interesting, especially considering the First Amendment. Especially as a retired military person, he has the right to exercise his First Amendment right to freedom of speech. I watched his video more than once. It was obvious to me the message he intended to send — resist any order from President Trump or Secretary Hegseth — but, most importantly, that is not what he actually said. The literal message was to refuse illegal orders, which should be an unnecessary reminder, but OK, let’s be reminded: no military person is ever required to follow illegal orders. That is made clear in the UCMJ, which all active duty personnel know inside and out (😜).
The subtext — we all know it was there, because we are all familiar with Mr Kelly’s politics — was that any order from President Trump should be considered as illegal. Of course, we all also know that isn’t true; and, again, that is not what he said.
Simply based on what was clearly stated in that video, Mr Kelly did nothing for which we can legally or morally chastise him. Any legal action would only serve to waste time and money on a forgone conclusion.
It’s frustrating, I know, because we all “know” what he meant when he very carefully paraphrased the UCMJ. But there is no Constitutional basis for charging him with anything simply for stating the obvious. Without proof of intent, there is no case. Which is essentially what the grand jury decided when it refused to indict him. 😎🇺🇸
I also support Mark Kelly's right to demonstrate that he is slick hustler on TV, so that everybody can see.
The only one punished after the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan was an army officer who criticized the way the withdrawal was executed (causing the unnecessary deaths of servicemen). I didn’t see any calls for freedom of speech protections from anyone, but that was also the time when questioning the origin of Covid or suggesting the covid vax was neither safe nor effective; and questioning the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election could get you thrown in jail, or disbarred or sued. True free speech has certainly been severely eroded, but hiding behind the first amendment to justify senator Kelley’s obviously politically motivated rhetoric which possibly violates military code is an incredible insult to the people whose actual freedom of speech was violated.