Hegseth Is Sending Us a Warning

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/opinion/hegseth-kelly-military-free-speech.html?unlocked_article_code=1.hVA.6Ks1.DKdWzQgX-RBk&smid=url-share

This week, I heard something that shocked me. In a federal appeals court, lawyers for Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, argued that military retirees were subject to freedom of speech restrictions because of their connection to the military, and that if they didn’t like those restrictions, retirees could forfeit their pension and benefits. Let that sink in. The Trump administration expects the people who have put their lives on the line for America to cede one of their basic rights, or forfeit the retirement pay and benefits they have earned over decades of service.

I’m a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, and I was in that courthouse with dozens of other retired veterans. We were there to support and defend every veteran whose right to speak freely was being challenged by the government we had served.

How did we get here? In November, Senator Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, a retired Navy captain, released a video with several other legislators reminding service members that they have a duty to disobey unlawful orders. “We know you are under enormous stress and pressure right now,” they said. “This administration is pitting our uniform military and intelligence community against American citizens.”


The duty to disobey unlawful orders is well established, but the president and secretary of defense immediately called the video outrageous. President Trump wrote that Mr. Kelly should face the death penalty and be hanged as a traitor. Subsequently, Mr. Hegseth censured Mr. Kelly and instructed the secretary of the Navy to investigate him and potentially reduce his retirement rank and pay. Mr. Kelly went to court and won, but the government appealed. Based on the reaction from the three-judge panel in the D.C. Court of Appeals on Thursday, it seems likely that Mr. Hegseth will lose in this court, too, but he has already indicated that he may appeal the case to the Supreme Court. This isn’t over, and it has implications far beyond Mr. Kelly.

[Norrrm]

1. The minor major has spoken.

The minor major has spoken.

[sheshe2]

2. Warning?

It sounds more like a threat to me!

The tsf's admin and suckretaries are a whiny bunch of asshats and prone to crying, sometimes throwing fits of drunken rage, when someone stands tall and fires back at them. Mark Kelly and the others are upholding their rights under the first amendment. It's called FREEDOM OF SPEECH!

Note, $-Kash another drunk, is doing the same damn thing!

[B.See]

3. How'd we get here? By not

prosecuting the inciter(s) and co-conspirators behind the J6 armed Capitol assault and attempted overthrow of government.

[popsdenver]

4. this is not a "KING" country

they are acting more and more like they are DICTATORS...............

Why aren't our over 200 House members and Senators screaming their heads off.........DAILY

[Amaryllis]

8. What's the difference between a king and a dictator? I know the people who put No Kings together carefully

chose that term, and it has really caught on in the culture.

[SidneyR]

12. A king is not, at least in modern times, the same as a dictator. They are symbols of the nation, under the parliament.

Even during the era of the American revolution, the king was not a dictator. In fact, what the colonial elites were fighting against (and getting the rest of the colonists to go along with) was the British parliament, which had already gained more power than the king. It's just that the king was an easier target, personified and convenient as a propaganda tool. The average colonist could easily identify with the king being the target. To focus on parliament would have confused them.

[calimary]

5. I suspect that, as the clock ticks and time marches on, many of them will find their way to regret.

Aging does things to you. It gives you long and short perspectives that you can use to check whether something fits, or doesn’t fit (ever, no exceptions? Or for this specific situation?). You may have been so tied up with work or family, or both, that you never stopped to take stock in your own particular scheme of things.

Evaluations are essential. And being objective, maybe to the point of being painfully honest with yourself, is definitely essential. Self-assess. Cuz time passes. And things change. And you may find it beneficial or necessary to act, react, or respond differently now than you did 10 or 20 years ago.

[ChicagoTeamster]

7. That time and age thing hasn't stopped people like Mitch McConnell or a lot of the fat asses in the TN legislature who

just voted to end majority black voting districts. It doesn't stop the Oil Co Executives, legal advisors, or lobbyists. And, sadly, it hasn't stopped most racists.

[BattleRow]

9. Thats assuming you have intelligence and a conscience.

And you know ...ASS (of) U (and) ME....

[calimary]

10. I first learned that one in high school.

Words to the wise! NEVER forgot it.

[BattleRow]

11. Wish I had learned it that early in life..lol.

[Iggo]

6. Hegseth IS the warning.

[struggle4progress]

13. Can anybody spell "fascist pig," boys and girls?