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In reply to the discussion: Trump's troops: The far-right has a tight grip on too many in uniform [View all]maxrandb
(16,190 posts)Last edited Tue Jan 11, 2022, 11:36 AM - Edit history (2)
This does not need to be "hard".
We didn't give up ALL of our Rights as Americans when we joined the military, but we were governed by something civilians were not, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). There are many Articles of the UCMJ that can be used to clear this "extremism" out of the military.
If we were resolved to stamp out extremism in the military, the very first thing to do is to RECALL MIKE FLYNN to Active Duty to face a Courts Martial for sedition.
But that is just a start.
There needs to be Courts Martial for ANY and ALL Active Duty, or Retired military that participated in the attack on our nation's Capitol. Nothing sends a message to the troops like some Dishonorable and "Big Chicken Dinner" Discharges and confinement in Federal Prison.
This alone will send a message that WE ARE NOT FUCKING AROUND! This should have been done the second that an Active Duty or Retired member was identified as storming the Capitol.
But we can do more than that.
We already have standards that must be met for entry into the military. You already are rejected for service for association, or membership with white supremacist and other hate groups or gangs.
Just as you have to be subjected to a physical to be approved for entry, that screening must now also extend to a review of Social Media activity. You can refuse that, but just as if you refuse a physical, you will be rejected for service.
But again, that's not hard.
Which brings me to what is the real problem
Extreme views are NOT the problem. The problem is what we have allowed to become "normal".
Requiring a woman to carry her rapists baby to term used to be "extreme". Now it's Retrumplican Party policy.
Gerrymandering minorities into Picassoest districts to limit their rights and freedom used to be racist and extreme. Now it's Retrumplican Party policy.
Demanding the Birth Certificate of the nation's first African American President used to be racist and extreme. Now it's Retrumplican Party policy.
Storming the nation's Capitol at the behest of an authoritarian dipshit used to be extreme. Now it's Retrumplican Party policy.
This didn't happen in a vacuum. It didn't happen overnight.
For the first 20 years of my Navy service, our shipboard entertainment was pretty sparse. On my first ship, we had Movie Night on the Mess Deck with a reel-to-reel projector. We eventually got two channels of CCTV with 3 movies a night on each channel to choose from.
It's funny, but as the amount and type of entertainment expanded, a strange thing happened in my Navy.
I walked into a gym in Lemoore, CA that had 5 TVs. All tuned to Fox News.
I don't remember any "hard" discussions about the gym manager deciding that's what he wanted.
I don't remember any "hard" discussions when the CO, Master Chief or Leading Chief Petty Officer made sure that the Wardroom, Chief's Mess, or Workshop TV was continuously tuned to Fox News.
I don't recall any "hard" decisions when Armed Forces Radio was mandated to broadcast the likes of Rush and Hannity.
I don't recall any "hard" discussions on the impact to African American troops "good order and discipline" when they had to hear the "Barack the Magic Negro" song courtesy of Rush, or hear Hannity describe Obama as a "Kenyan born terrorist".
Yes, there has been an increase of extremism in the military. It's cause is the same thing that has increased extremism throughout America.
Ridding it from the military is going to be easy in comparison.
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