excalibur
Diamond Member
- Mar 19, 2015
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Stalinism at work. Simple as that.
thefederalist.com
The U.S. military is going after a young Marine from Georgia who dared to show his face at a Donald Trump rally in September.
What we know is pretty straightforward: a man went on stage in civilian clothes at a “Save America Rally” with President Trump, introduced himself as Lance Cpl. Hunter Clark, said he was “the guy that pulled the baby over the wall” in Afghanistan, thanked the crowd for their support, shook Trump’s hand, and walked off. Now Task & Purpose reports the military is investigating Clark to see if he violated any Department of Defense policies.
The very existence of an investigation is a clear message that only partisanship on behalf of the left will be tolerated in the U.S. military. That is the clear message sent by investigating Clark and others such as Space Force officer Matthew Lohmeier while military higher-ups like Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley openly lie to the president, commit treason on behalf of China, and defend anti-American neo-Marxist teachings to Congress.
It would be easy for the military to make an example of Clark for allegedly violating Department of Defense Directive 1344.10, “Political Activities for Members of the Armed Forces.” The excuse for harassing Clark is that he was supporting President Trump as a political partisan. Never mind that Clark was not in uniform, didn’t endorse Trump or Republicans or any other election matter (he didn’t even praise Trump), and said nothing political at all. He was just there.
Or they might check to see if he violated some COVID policy while on leave, something that has been, in my experience and the experience of my military friends, selectively enforced for the last year and a half based on rank and personal connections.
Using administrative procedures like these keeps it in the realm of arbitrary judgment with no real recourse for Clark—the “wild west,” legally speaking, as my own lawyer in a similar situation once explained to me, where the law does not actually matter. That means the entire decision is up to the commanding officer’s judgment rather than clearly defined parameters for infractions.
The outcome of administrative procedures is less severe than from the military justice system, but it is much faster and easier, can be done with less oversight, and has essentially no burden of evidence. Using arbitrary administrative procedures instead of military code is so common, in fact, that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis made a point to try to use it less in 2018.
If Clark receives an administrative reprimand after all this, it will either stop his advancement until he is forced out of the Marines or force him out of the Marines simply with an administrative separation. This is how the U.S. military has dealt before with conservatives or people with traditional mores silly enough to put themselves out publicly: harassment, administrative reprimands, and public shaming.
Such methods are, of course, disproportionately used for conservatives. Besides the public and recent examples of Milley and other top officers receiving safe harbor for rank and treasonous partisanship so long as it supports the left, there are other numerous examples of this double standard. Here’s just one close parallel to the Clark case in which the scenario went entirely the other way, for clearly political reasons.
In 2017, about 12 months after Hillary Clinton lost an election, West Point sent their highest-ranking cadet, a black woman who is now a well-known social justice activist in uniform, to meet with Clinton at Teen Vogue to talk about social justice activism in politics. There, Cadet First Captain Simone Askew posed with Clinton, in uniform, for an article titled “We Resist.” This image was initially published online, although it was quietly taken down soon after.
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U.S. Military Investigating Marine For Shaking Trump’s Hand At Rally
The U.S. military is going after a young Marine from Georgia who dared to show his face at a Donald Trump rally in September.
thefederalist.com
