This Is What Retaliation Looks Like in an Authoritarian System - Decoding The Rhetoric [View all]

[Rhiannon12866]

Donald Trump publicly declared that a sitting U.S. senator engaged in “seditious behavior punishable by death.”
Now the Pentagon is acting on that threat.

Senator Mark Kelly — a retired Navy Captain with 25 years of service — warned troops they have the right to refuse illegal orders. That isn’t radical. It’s settled military law under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Trump responded by amplifying calls for Kelly’s execution. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth followed up by attempting to strip Kelly of his military pension through an unprecedented administrative process.

Kelly has now filed a lawsuit — and it exposes a dangerous escalation: an executive branch using military power to punish a member of Congress for political speech and oversight.

This case isn’t just about one senator. It’s about whether dissent is now treated as treason — and whether constitutional limits still apply. - 01/13/2026.